208 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
him to the gods, as if (it meant to say) x, ' Just here he is!'
10. And, again, why he makes it step thereon; —
the gods then were afraid, thinking, ' We hope the
Rakshas, the fiends, will not slay here this our
(Agni) ! ' They placed that thunderbolt upon him
as a protector, to wit, yonder sun ; for that horse is
indeed yonder sun ; and in like manner does this
(Sacrificer, or priest) now place upon him that thun-
derbolt as a protector.
ii. \}J&g. S. XI, 19] 'Having come upon the
earth, O courser, seek thou Agni by thy light!'
— the light is the eye : thus, ' Having come to the
earth, thou, O courser, seek Agni with thy eye ! ' —
'by pawing2 the ground tell us where we may
dig him out ! ' — that is, ' by pointing out that (spot)
of the ground tell us where we may dig him out.'
12. He then pulls it up3; for the gods now endowed
it with vigour (for) having indicated (Agni) to them ;
and in like manner does this one now endow it with
vigour (for) having indicated (Agni) to him. He
does so, with [Va^*. S. XI, 20], 'The sky is thy
back, the earth thy resting-place, the air thy
body, the sea thy womb;' — whereby he says, 'Such
1 Or, as if one were to say, — yathayam iha-sthana astha(?) iti ka^id bruyad eva#z proktavan, Say.
2 Or, by covering ; — it is not easy to see what the author makes of ' vrz'ttvaya,' for which the St. Petersburg dictionary suggests ' vn'tvaya/ Mahidhara derives it from ' vart/ in the sense of ' to touch/ Perhaps, however, ' bhumer ' depends on ' yatas ; ' hence ' moving about, tell us from what spot of the ground we may dig him out/
8 That is, he pulls up its head (?) ; ' he rouses it, shakes it up/ St. Petersb. Diet. — Sayawa, on the other hand, in accordance with Katy. XVI, 2, 18, interprets 'unmrwati' by 'he holds his hand over its back/ — przsh/^asyopari pamw dharayati.
VI KANDA, 3 ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMAiVA, 1 4. 209
thou art, such thou art;' — 'Looking about with
thine eye, tread down the assailers!' — that is,
' Looking about with thy eye, tread down all evil-
doers V He does not touch it, lest this thunderbolt
should injure him, for the horse is a thunderbolt l.
13. He then makes it step off (the lump of clay) ;
— for the gods now said, ' What shall we cause it to
obtain 2 ? ' — ' Great beauty 3 ! ' — They caused it to
obtain great beauty ; and in like manner does this
one now cause it to obtain great beauty, — with
(y&g". S. XI, 21), 'Go thou unto great beauty!'
— that is, * Go to thy great beauty ! ' and therefore,
indeed, the horse is the most highly-favoured of
animals; — 'from this standing-place/ — that is,
'where thou now standest ; ' — 'wealth-giver V —
for wealth it does give them; — ' Courser !' — for
this is a courser; — 'May we be in the Earth's
favour, whilst Agni we dig in her lap!' — that
is, ' May we be in the favour of this earth, whilst
digging (for) Agni in her lap ! '
14. When it has stepped off he addresses it; —
for as one would extol him who has given a gift, so
the gods now praised and magnified it (for) having
indicated (Agni) ; and in like manner does this one
now praise and magnify it, with (Va£*. S. XI, 22),
'He hath come down,' — for it has indeed come
down, — 'the wealth-giver/ — for wealth, indeed,
is given them; — 'the racing courser/ — for it is
indeed a racer and a courser; — 'hath made good,
well-made room on earth/ — that is, 'thou madest
good, well-made room on earth;' — 'thence let us
1 For the construction, see on paragraph 6, p. 205, note.
2 Literally, to step off to.
8 Saubhaga, ' the state of being well-endowed, well-favoured.'
2 I O SATAPATHA-BRAHM ANA.
dig out the fair-looking Agni,' — ' fair-looking/
he says, for Agni is indeed fair-looking on every
side ; — 'ascending the heaven, unto the highest
sky/ — the sky is the heavenly world : thus, 'mount-
ing the heavenly world, unto the highest sky.' He
makes it come up on the right side (of the lump) to
where the two other beasts are : they stand on the
right side, facing the east. The significance of the
right-hand (southern) position here is the same as it
was on that former occasion.
15. Sitting down he now offers upon the lump of
clay; — for the gods then said, ' Meditate ye (^etay)/
whereby, doubtless, they meant to say, ' Seek ye a
layer (/£iti) ! ' Whilst meditating they saw this liba-
tion, and offered it : after offering it, they saw the
fire-pan (representing) these worlds.
16. They said, ' Meditate ye !' whereby, doubtless,
they meant to say, * Seek ye a layer ! ' Whilst
meditating they saw this second libation, and offered
it : after offering it, they saw the Vi^va^yotis (all-
light bricks), that is, those deities Agni, Viyu,
and Aditya ; for these deities are indeed all the
light. And in like manner does the Sacrificer
now, after offering those two libations, see the fire-
pan, these worlds ; and those all-light deities. He
offers with two interlinked (verses) x : he thereby
interlinks these worlds, and those deities.
1 7. And, again, why he offers these two libations ;
— he thereby gratifies both the clay and the water ;
and having offered to, and gratified, these two, he
then brings them together. With two interlinked
1 The two halves of the two verses (Va^. S. XI, 23, 24) are uttered in the order 1 a, 2 b, 2 a, 1 b.
VI KANDA, 3 ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMAiVA, 21. 211
(verses) he offers : he thereby interlinks (combines thoroughly) the clay and the water.
18. He offers with ghee ; for the ghee is a thunder-
bolt : he thus makes the thunderbolt its (or his,
Agni's) protector. The ghee, moreover, is seed : he
thus pours forth seed, — with the sruva-spoon; for the
sruva (m.) is a male, and the male pours forth seed, —
with ' SvSha (hail !)/ for the Svahakara (m.) is a male,
and the male pours forth seed.
19. [Va£\ S. XI, 23 x] 'Upon thee I sprinkle
with thought, with ghee/ — that is, 'upon thee
I offer with thought and ghee;' — 'that dwellest
near all beings/ — for he (Agni) indeed comes to
dwell near every being; — 'thee, large and great
with side-spent force/ — for large he is, and
directed sideways, and great with force, with smoke ;
— 'most ample through food, and fierce to
look at/ — that is, 'capacious with food, a consumer
of food, and flaming/
20. [Va£\ S. XI, 24] ' From all sides I sprinkle
the hitherwar.d looking/ — that is, 'from every
side I offer upon the hitherward looking;' — 'with
spiteless mind let him relish this/ — that is,
'with unchafing mind may he relish this;' — 'Agni,
glorious as a wooer, and of pleasing colour/ —
for Agni is indeed glorious as a wooer2, and of
pleasing colour; — 'not to be touched, while
raging with his body/ — for not to be touched is
he, whilst flaming with his body.
21. With two (verses) he offers ; for the Sacrificer
1 JRik S. II, 10, 4, beginning, however, ' I sprinkle Agni with a ghee-oblation.'
2 Mahidhara and Sayawa {Rik S. II, 10, 5) take 'maryajri' in the sense of ' resorted to, or worshipped, by men.'
2 I 2 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
is two-footed, and the Sacrificer is Agni : as great
as Agni is, as great as is his measure, by so much
he thus pours him forth as seed ; — with two (verses)
relating to Agni : it is Agni he thereby pours forth
as seed. Inasmuch as they relate to Agni, they are
Agni ; and inasmuch as they are Trish/ubhs, they
are Indra; and Agni (the fire) belongs to Indra and
Agni : as great as Agni is, as great as is his measure,
by so much he thus pours him forth as seed. More-
over, Indra and Agni are all the gods, and Agni
(thus) contains all deities : as great as Agni is, as
great as is his measure, by so much he thus pours
him forth as seed.
22. He offers on the horse's footprint ; — the horse
is the same as that Agni, and so, indeed, these two
libations come to be offered over Agni.
23. He draws lines around it (the lump, with the
spade) : he thereby puts a measure to it (or, to him,
Agni), as if saying, ' So great thou art ! '
24. And, again, why he draws a line around it ; —
the gods now were afraid, thinking, ' We hope the
Rakshas, the fiends, will not smite here this (Agni)
of ours ! ' They drew that rampart round it ; and in
like manner does this one now draw that rampart
round it, — with the spade, for the spade is the
thunderbolt, and he thus makes the thunderbolt its
(or his, Agni's) protector. He draws it all round :
on every side he thus makes that thunderbolt to be
its (or his) protector1. Three times he draws a
line: that threefold thunderbolt he thus makes to
be a protector for him.
25- [Va£*. S. XI, 25-27] ' Around the wise lord
1 Or, he makes that protecting thunderbolt for it (or him).
VI KANDA, 3 ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMAiVA, 26. 213
of strength — V * Around (us) we (place) thee, 0
Agni, as a rampart — V 'With the days, thou
Agni — 3/ in thus praising Agni he makes a fence
for him by means of (verses) containing the word
' pari ' (around), for all round, as it were, (run) the
ramparts ; — (he does so by verses) relating to Agni :
a stronghold of fire he thus makes for him, and this
stronghold of fire keeps blazing ; — (he does so) by
three (verses) : a threefold stronghold he thus makes
for him ; and hence that threefold stronghold is the
highest form of strongholds. Each following
(circular) line he makes wider, and with a larger
metre : hence each following line of strongholds is
wider, for strongholds (ramparts) are lines.
26. He then digs for him (Agni) 4 in this earth.
For the gods then were afraid, thinking, * We hope
the Rakshas, the fiends, will not smite him here * !
For the sake of protection they made this earth to
be a self (body, atman) for him, thinking, 'His own
self will protect his own self/ It (the lump of clay)
should be as large as the hole : thus this earth (or
clay) becomes his (Agni's) self. And as to its (being)
as large as the hole, — this earth is the womb, and
this (clay) is seed ; and whatever part of the seed
1 V%. S. XI, 25 ; Rik S. IV, 15, 3, 'Around the offering, Agni, the wise lord of strength, hath come, bestowing precious gifts upon the worshipper.'
2 Va£\ S. XI, 26 ; Rik S. X, 87, 22, 'Around we place thee, the priest, as a rampart, O mighty Agni, the bold-raced slayer of the wily day by day/
3 V&g. S. XI, 27; Rik S. II, 1, 1, 'With the days, O Agni, thou, longing to shine hither, art born forth from the waters, out of the shore, from the woods, from the herbs, thou the bright, O man -lord of men/
4 Or he digs out that (lump of clay).
2 1 4 SATAPATHA-BRAHMA2VA.
exceeds the womb, becomes useless ; and what is
deficient, is unsuccessful ; but that part of the seed
which is within the hole is successful. Four-cornered
is this hole, for there are four quarters : from all the
(four) quarters he thus digs him.
Fourth Adhyaya. First Brahma^a.
i. He now digs it (the lump of clay)1 up from
that (hole) ; — for the gods, having found him (Agni),
then dug him up ; and in like manner this one, after
finding him, now digs him up, — with (Va^*. S. XI, 28),
* At the impulse of the god Savit/% by the arms
of the A^vins, by the hands of Ptishan, I dig
thee, the Agni Purlshya, from the lap of the
earth, Angiras-like ;' — impelled by Savitrz, he
thus, by means of those deities, digs him up, the
Agni favourable to cattle, as Agni (did).
2. 'Thee, O Agni, the bright, the fair-
faced/ — for this Agni is indeed bright and fair-
faced; — 'glowing with perpetual sheen/ — that
is, 'shining with perpetual light;' — 'thee, kind
to creatures, and never harming, the Agni
Purishya we dig up from the lap of the
earth, Angiras-like;' — that is, 'thee, kind to
creatures, and never harming, the cattle-loving Agni
we dig up from the lap of the earth, as Agni (did)/
3. With two (formulas) he digs, — two-footed is
the Sacrificer, and the Sacrificer is Agni : as great
as Agni is, as great as is his measure, with so much
he thus digs him up. And twofold also is that form
of his, (consisting as it does of) clay and water.