1 94 SATAPATHA-BRAHMA2VA.
he is this Agni, and him they are indeed going to
fit together (or, restore); — 'may Savitrz speed
them!' — that is, 'may they perform this holy work,
sped by SavitrzV
16. [Va£*. S. XI, 4] 'They harness the mind,
and they harness the thoughts/ — for both the
mind and the vital airs he harnesses for this holy
work; — 'the priests of the priest/ — the priest is
Pra^apati, and the priests are the gods; — 'of the
great inspirer of devotion/ — the great inspirer
of devotion1 is Pra^apati; — 'he hath assigned
the priestly offices/ — now when he (Agni-Pra^a-
pati) is built up, then he assigns the priestly offices,
for the priestly offices are assigned over the built-up
(fire-altar) ; — 'the finder of rites/ — for he indeed
found this rite ; — ' he alone/ for he alone found this
whole holy rite; — 'mighty is the praise of the
god Savitrz'/ — that is, 'great is the praise of the
god SavitrzV
17. \VZg. S. XI, 5; Rik S. X, 13, 1] 'By
devotions I harness your old inspiration/ —
the old inspiration (brahman) doubtless is the vital
air, and devotion is food, and that food is this obla-
tion : by means of this oblation, by means of this
food, he harnesses the vital airs for this holy work, —
'May the praise spread abroad on the lord's
path/ — this he says in order that there may be for
the Sacrificer the praise of fame among both gods
and men; — 'may all sons of the immortal
hear!' — the immortal one doubtless is Pra^apati,
and his sons are all the gods; — 'who have resorted
1 See III, 5, 3, 1 2, where ' br/hat vipa^it ' (in the same formula) is explained as referring to the sacrifice.
VI KANDAy 3 ADHYAYA, I BRAHMAiVA, 20. 1 95
to the heavenly abodes ;' — the heavenly abodes
are these worlds : the gods that are in these worlds,
with regard to them he says this.
18. \V$g- S- XI> 6> Ri^ S. V, 81, 3] < Whose
course the others have followed/ — for Pra^a-
pati first performed this rite, whereupon the gods
performed it; — 'the gods with vigour, the
god's greatness/ — the greatness is the sacrifice,
thus : ' the gods with vigour (followed) the god's
sacrifice, his energy;' — 'that dappled steed who
hath measured the terrestrial (regions)/ — what-
soever is on this earth that is terrestrial, all that he
measures out ; for with his rays he reaches down to
it; — 'the regions, he the god Savitrz by his
greatness/ — the regions are these worlds, and the
god Sdivitri is yonder sun : he measures them by
his greatness.
19. [Vag*. S. XI, 7] 'God Savitrz, speed the
sacrifice, speed the lord of sacrifice unto his
share!' — the god SavitW is yonder sun, and
his share is the sacrifice, that he means to say
when he says ' speed the sacrifice, speed the lord of
sacrifice!' — 'May the heavenly, thought-cleans-
ing Gandharva cleanse our thought!' — the
heavenly Gandharva is yonder sun, and thought is
(sacrificial) food ; thus, ' May the food-cleanser
cleanse our food!' — 'May the lord of speech
render agreeable our speech !' — this sacred rite
is speech, and the lord of speech is the breath :
thus, ' May the breath render agreeable this rite
of ours ! '
20. \\T&g. S. XI, 8] 'Further, O god Savitr/,
this our sacrifice!' — the god Savitrz is yonder
sun, and whatever sacrificial rite he furthers, that
I96 DATAPATH A-BRAHMAiVA.
reaches its end safely and auspiciously; — 'as one
pleasant to the gods/ — that is, as one which shall
please the gods; — ' friend-gaining, ever-winning,
wealth-winning, heaven-winning/ — that is, one
that may gain all this; — 'Make the hymn-tune
successful with the rik (verse), the Rathantara
with the Gayatra (metre), and the Brzhat,
moving in Gayatra measures!' — thus the sa-
mans (hymns); — ' Hail!' thus the sacrificial formu-
las : this threefold science is first produced, even as
it was there and then produced. And the Agni
who was produced, he is this Agni (fire-altar) who
is built up from hence upwards.
21. These then are the eight Savitra (formulas1) ; —
the Gayatri has eight syllables, and Agni is Gayatra :
as great as Agni is, as great as is his measure, by
just so much he pours him out as seed. There
are nine of them, the call of 'Hair (being) the ninth, —
there are nine regions, and Agni is the regions;
nine vital airs, and Agni is the vital airs : as great
as Agni is, as great as is his measure, by so much
he pours him out as seed. There are ten of them,
the libation (being) the tenth, — the Vira^* has ten
syllables, and Agni is Vira^* (the widely shining 2) ;
there are ten regions, and Agni is the regions ; ten
vital airs, and Agni is the vital airs : as great as
Agni is, as great as is his measure, so great does
this become.
22. This libation having been offered, Agni went away from the gods. The gods said, 'Agni is the
1 Or, the single oblations, as distinguished from the whole con- tinued libation.
2 Dipty& vira^amana^, Say.
cattle (or, an animal), let us search for him by
means of the (different kinds of) cattle : he will be-
come manifest unto his own form/ They searched
for him by means of the cattle, and he became mani-
fest to his own form: and hence even to this day the
animal becomes manifest to its own form (kind) 1y
cow to cow, horse to horse, and man to man.
23. They said, ' Surely, if we search with all of
them, they will become used up and affording no
livelihood ; and if not with all, we shall get him
(Agni) incomplete.' They saw one animal (as a
substitute) for two animals 2, namely, the ass (as a
substitute) for the cow and the sheep ; and because
they saw that one beast (would do) for two beasts,
therefore that one (the he-ass), whilst being one,
doubly impregnates 3.
24. The sham-man4 (they saw to be a substitute)
for man, — a sham-man doubtless is he who pleases
neither the gods, nor the fathers, nor men. Thus
they searched by means of all the beasts, and yet
they (the beasts) did not come to be used up and
affording no livelihood.
25. With three he searches, — Agni is threefold:
as great as Agni is, as great as is his measure, with
so much he thus searches for him. They are five
1 That is to say, it shows itself openly, appears fearlessly before others of its kind; — Svaya rupayeti tadarthye ^aturthi; avi^ praka^o bhavati, tadanukare/zedanim api paju^z svaya rupdya samanag-atiyaya praka.ro bhavati, Say.
2 That is to say, they saw that one animal might do for two, — pa^ami pratinidhau, Say. (Fan. II, 3, 11.)
3 Viz. the she-ass and the mare.
4 Anaddha-purusham alika-purusham purushat pratyapajyan
purushasthane kalitavantas, Say. Thus probably a counterfeit of
a man, a doll or human effigy.
1 98 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
by way of (mystic) correspondence \ — Agni (the
fire-altar) has five layers ; five seasons are a year,
and the year is Agni : as great as Agni is, as great
as is his measure, so great does this become.
26. They are fastened with halters of reed-grass
to guard (Agni) against injury2; — Agni went away
from the gods ; he entered into a reed, whence it is
hollow, and whence inside it is, as it were, smoke-
tinged : .(thus) that, the reed, is Agni's womb, and
Agni is these cattle ; and the womb does not injure
the child. For 3 it is from a womb that he who is
born is born : ' from the womb he (Agni) shall be
born when he is born/ thus he thinks.
27. They (the halters) are triple (strings), for Agni
is threefold. They are made like a horse's halter,
for the horse's halter lies all round the mouth, and
the womb lies all round the child : thus it is made
like the womb.
28. They (the animals) stand facing the east, first the horse, then the ass, then the he-goat; for this
1 That is, in order that this item of the sacrificial performance should correspond with the nature of Agni. The number of five is obtained by the three beasts actually led forward, — a horse, an ass, and a he-goat — and the two beasts for which the ass was stated to be a substitute, viz. the cow (or bullock) and the sheep. — Saya;za, whose comment is very corrupt in this place, remarks, — nanaddhapurusho^tra garayate.
2 In the text the dative of purpose (' ahi^sayai ') is as usual shifted right to the end of the train of reasoning explaining the raison cPttre of this item of the performance.
8 This final clause with fvai' supplies the reason why Agni entered the womb, viz. because otherwise he could not be born ; — just as the preceding clause with ' vai ' (the womb does not injure the child) supplies the reason why reed grass is used ; whilst the preceding clauses explain how the reed comes to be the womb whence Agni sprung.
VI KANDA, 3 ADHYAYA, I BRAHMAiNTA, 3 1. 1 99
is their proper order. For that horse (asva) is the
tear (ami) which there (at the creation) formed itself ;
and that ass (rasabha) is that which, as it were, cried
(ras) ; and that he-goat (a^a, unborn) is the juice
which adhered to the shell ; and that clay which they
are about to fetch is nothing else than the shell (of
the egg) : for it was from these forms that he was
created at first1, and from them he thus produces
him.
29. They stand on the south side ; — for the gods
at that time were afraid, lest the Rakshas, the
fiends, should smite their sacrifice from the south.
They saw that thunderbolt, yonder sun ; for this
horse is indeed yonder sun ; and by means of that
thunderbolt they drove off the Rakshas, the fiends,
from the south, and spread this sacrifice in a place
free from danger and devilry. And in like manner
does the Sacrificer now by this thunderbolt drive off
the Rakshas, the fiends, from the south, and spread
this sacrifice in a place free from danger and devilry.
30. On the right (south) side is the Ahavaniya
fire, and on the left (north) lies that spade ; for the
Ahavaniya (m.) is a male, and the spade (abhri, f.)
a female, and the male lies on the right side of
the female 2. [It lies] at a cubit s distance, for at a
cubit's distance the male lies by the female.
31. It should be made of bamboo. Agni went
away from the gods. He entered into a bamboo-
stem ; whence that is hollow. On both sides he
made himself those fences, the knots, so as not
1 See VI, 1, 1, 11.
2 Dakshiwato vai vnsM yosham upa^ete; — compare: uttarato hi stri puma#zsam upajete, I, 1, i, 20; II, 5, 2, 17.
200 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
to be found out ; and wherever he burnt through, those spots came to be.
32. It (the spade) should be spotted, for such a
one is of Agni's nature. If he cannot procure a
spotted one, it may be unspotted, but hollow it must
be, to guard (Agni} from injury l ; — (for) such a one
alone is of Agni's nature ; that, the bamboo, is
Agni's womb ; and this (lump of) clay is Agni ; and
the womb does not injure the child. For it is
from a womb that he who is born is born : ' from
the womb he (Agni) shall be born when he is born/
so he thinks.
33. It may be a span long, for the voice here
speaks but as far as a spans distance 2. It is,
however, a cubit long, for the cubit is the arm, and
strength is exerted by the arm : it thus becomes
equal to his strength.
34. It may be sharp on one side only, for on one
of the two sides is there a keen edge to this speech
of ours 3. But indeed it is one that is sharp on both
sides, for on both sides is there a keen edge to this
speech of ours., inasmuch as it speaks both what is
divine and what is human 4, and both truth and un-
truth : therefore it is one that is sharp on both sides.
1 For the construction, see p. 198, note 2.