1 According to Ait. Br. V, 24, its fruits ripen three times a year. [4i] S
258 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
(wood) which has lain on the ground is one kind of
food (for the fire) : it is thereby he now gratifies
him. [V^. S. XI, 74; Rik S. VIII, 102, 21]
'What the red ant eats, what the white ant
crawls over/ — for either the red ant eats it, or the
white ant crawls over it; — 'let all that be ghee
for thee, do thou relish that, O youngest!' as
the text, so its meaning : whatever (wood) has lain
on the ground, that he makes palatable for him ;
and having made it food for him, he sets it before
him.
7. The remaining (kindling-sticks) are of palcUa
wood (butea frondosa) ; — the Palasa tree is the Brah-
man, it is by the Brahman he thus kindles him
(Agni). And, again, why they are palasa ones; —
the Pala^a tree is Soma, and he, Soma, doubtless is
the supreme offering : it is that he now offers on
this (fire), and by that he gratifies him (Agni).
8. [He puts them on, with Va£\ S. XI, 75-82]
'Day by day bearing unremittingly/ — that is,
'Day by day bringing not unmindful;' — 'food to
him like unto a standing horse/ — that is, * food
as to a standing (resting) horse;' — 'we, rejoicing
in wealth-thrift and sap/ — that is, 'rejoicing in
wealth, and thrift, and sap ; ' — ' O Agni, let not us,
thy associates, suffer injury!' this he says with
a view that his (Agni's) associate (the Sacrificer) may
not suffer injury.
9. 'While Agni is kindling on the earth's
navel/ — that (place) where he is now being kindled
is indeed the navel of the earth; — 'we call for
great wealth-thrift/ — that is, 'we call for wealth
and great thrift;' — 'Unto him, the draught-
delighted/ — for he is indeed delighted (or, in-
Vi Kanda, 6 Adhyaya, 3 Brahma2va, I 3. 259
ebriated) by the draught, — 'of high praise/ — for
he is indeed highly praised; — 'the adorable' —
that is, 'worthy of adoration;' — 'Agni, the con-
queror, overpowering in battles;' — for Agni is
indeed a conqueror, and overpowering in battles.
10. 'Whatever aggressive armies there are,
onrushing with drawn-up lines; whatever
thieves and robbers, those I cast into thy
mouth, O Agni.' — 'Devour thou in a lump the
waylayers with thy two tusks, the thieves
with thy teeth, and the robbers with thy jaws,
0 holy one!' — 'What waylayers there are
among men, what thieves and robbers in the
wood, what miscreants in the lurking-places,
1 throw them into thy jaws.' — 'Whatever man
may plot against us, and whosoever may hate
us, or abuse and seek to hurt us, every one of
them burn thou to ashes!'
11. For the gods then made food of whosoever
hated them, and of whomsoever they hated, and
gave them up to him (Agni), and thereby gratified
him ; and this, then, became his food, and he burnt
up the evil of the gods : and in like manner does
the Sacrificer now make food of whosoever hates
him, and of whomsoever he hates, and give them up
to him (Agni), and thereby gratify him ; and this,
then, becomes his food, and he burns up the Sacri-
ficer's evil.
12. These eleven (kindling-sticks) he puts on for
one who is not either a noble, or a domestic chaplain
(purohita) ; for incomplete are those eleven, and
incomplete is he who is not either a noble, or a
domestic priest
13. Twelve (he puts on) for a noble or a domestic
260 satapatha-brAhma^a.
chaplain ; for those twelve are a complete whole (or
everything), and he who is either a noble or a
domestic chaplain is everything.
14. In the case of a Purohita, he puts it on, with
(Va£\ S. XI, 81), ' Perfected is my sanctity (brah-
man), perfected the vigour, the strength, per-
fected the victorious power (kshatra) whose
Purohita I am P — he thus perfects both his sanctity
and power \
15. And in the case of a nobleman, with (Va^. S.
XI, 82), ' I have raised their arms, their lustre
and strength : by the spiritual power I destroy
the enemies, and elevate mine own (relatives) ! '
this he says with the view that he may destroy his
enemies, and elevate his own relatives. Let him
put on both these (kindling-sticks) ; for both the
Brahman and the Kshatra are this Agni ; and it is
this Agni he thus kindles by those two, by the
Brahman and the Kshatra.
16. These (kindling-sticks) amount to thirteen ; —
thirteen months are a year, and Agni is the year :
as great as Agni is, as great as is his measure, by
so much food he thus gratifies him.
17. They are a span long, for Vish/m, as an
embryo, was a span long ; and this is (Agni's or
Vishnu's) food : he thus gratifies him with food pro-
portionate to his own body. But the food which is
proportionate to one's body satisfies, and does no
injury; but what is too much that does injury, and
what is too little that does not satisfy. Standing he
puts them on — the significance of this (will be ex-
1 Or, his spiritual and political power, his priesthood and nobility.
VI KANDAy 6 ADHYAYA, \ BRAHMAiVA, 2. 26 1
plained) further on ; — and with the Svaha (' hail ! ') ;
for seed is infused here (in the sacrifice, — to wit,)
this Agni ; and were he to put on the logs unconse-
crated by SvaM, he would injure him (Agni). Now
inasmuch as they are kindling-sticks, they are not
oblations ; but inasmuch as (they are put on) with
the Svaha, they are food, for the Svaha is food ; and
thus he does not injure him (Agni).
Fourth Brahma^a.
1. Having then stridden the Vishnu strides, and
reverentially stood by (the fire) with the Vatsapra x
(hymn), after the sun has set, he in the first place
throws out the ashes (from the fire-pan). For at
that (former) time he regales him (Agni) with that
food, those kindling-sticks ; and the foul part of that
eaten food sinks to the bottom as ashes. He now
clears him thereof, and infuses speech into him2,
thus freed from foulness. Having infused speech,
he puts on a kindling-stick, — and thereby regales
him with food for the night, — with, ' Night for night
bearing unremittingly 3 ' — the meaning of this has
been told : he prays for that same security and well-
being for the night ; and whatsoever he puts on
thereafter by night, that he puts on as a libation
offered to him \
2. And in the morning, when the sun has risen, he
in the first place throws out the ashes. For at that
(former) time he regales him with that food, that
kindling-stick ; and the foul part of that eaten food
which he puts on during the night sinks to the
1 See VI, 7, 4, 1 seq. 2 Or, sets free the speech in him.
3 See above, VI, 6, 3, 8. 4 Lit. ' made into a libation for him/
262 DATAPATH A-BRAHMAiVA .
bottom as ashes. He now clears him thereof, and
infuses speech into him thus freed from foulness.
Having infused speech, he puts on a kindling-stick,
— and thereby regales him with food for the day —
with, ' Day by day bearing unremittingly ; ' — the
meaning of this has been told : he prays for that
same security and well-being for the day ; and what-
soever he puts on thereafter by day, that he puts on
as a libation offered to him.
3. Verily, day and night passing on come up to a
year, and the year is everything here : he prays for
that security and well-being for a succession of days.
4. And when they give him (the Sacrificer) the
fast-milk, he puts on a kindling-stick, after dipping it
into the fast-milk. Some, however, say, ' Let him
not dip it into the fast-milk : he would be offering a
libation, and it would be improper were one who is
initiated to offer a libation/
5. Let him nevertheless dip it in, for that (Aha-
vaniya fire) is his (the Sacrificers) divine body, and
this (real body of his) is his human one. Now were
he not to dip it in, he would not be satisfying that
divine body of his ; but when he dips it in, he does
so satisfy that divine body. And in that it is a
kindling-stick, it is not a libation ; and in that it is
dipped into the fast-milk, it is food, for the fast-milk
is food.
6. And having put on the kindling-stick, he drinks
the fast-milk ; for that (fire) is his divine body, and
this (body of his) is the human one ; and the gods
(come) first, and then men : hence he drinks the
fast-milk after putting the kindling-stick on (the
fire).
7. [He puts it on, with V$g. S. XI, 83] ' O
VI KAiVDA, 6 ADHYAYA, 4 BRAHMAiVA, IO. 263
Lord of food, give us of thy food ! ' — that is, ' O
Lord of viands, give us of thy viands!' — 'of the pain-
allaying, strengthening ' — that is, * of the hunger-
allaying, strengthening (food)/ — ' Onward, onward
lead thou the giver!' — the giver, doubtless, is the
Sacrificer : thus, ' Onward lead thou the Sacrificer!'
— ' Give us sustenance for the two-footed and
the four-footed!' — he thereby asks a blessing.
Now as to the expiation in case of (the fire-pan being)
broken which, he said, would be explained ' in a sub-
sequent chapter1/
8. If the fire-pan were to break, let him pour
that (fire in the pan) into any such unbroken, new
pot with a wide mouth as there may be; for the
pan which is broken indeed suffers injury, but un-
injured is this deity (Agni) : ' Uninjured I will bear
him in the uninjured ! ' so he thinks. Into that (pot)
he first throws a potsherd of the (broken) pan, and
thus he (Agni) is not deprived of that womb of his.
9. He then takes the (remaining2) clay, and having
pounded both the (broken) pan and that remainder,
and mixed it, he makes a (new) pan in the very same
way, without using any formula, quite silently. Hav-
ing baked it, he pours (the fire) over. The expiation
in this case is one of performance only. Having
again thrown that potsherd into the (new) pan, and
pounded both the (temporary) pan and the remaining
clay, and mixed it, he lays it aside for expiation.
10. And if the fire in the pan (Ukhya Agni) were
to go out, it is doubtless to the Garhapatya that it goes,
for from the Garhapatya it has been taken. Having
then taken it out of the Garhapatya eastwards (to the
place of the Ahavaniya), and put fuel on it, let him
1 See VI, 5, 2,22. 2 See VI, 5, 3, 7.
264 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
put the fire-pan on it in the same way (as before),
without using any formula, quite silently. When the
fire rises up to it, —
11. He performs two expiations. For it is for (the obtainment of) all his wishes that he makes up that (fire) ; and whatever part of his wishes is here cut off when the fire goes out, that he thereby joins together and heals. He performs both expiations, that of the (Soma) sacrifice and that of the fire-altar, — first that of the sacrifice, then that of the fire-altar : the signifi- cance of this has been explained1.
12. Having cut out with a kindling-stick some of
the butter, he offers sitting a libation, with (Va£*. S.
XII, 43), ' To Vi^vakarman, hail!' Then step-
ping near he puts the kindling-stick on the fire, with
(V&g-. S. XII, 44), ' Again the Adityas, the
Rudras, the Vasus may kindle thee, again the
Brahmans with sacrifices, O bringer of good
things!' — that is, 'May those deities again kindle
thee ! ' — ' With ghee make thou grow thy body,
let the wishes of the Sacrificer be true ! ' — that
is, ' With ghee indeed make thou grow thy body, and
for whatever wishes the Sacrificer makes up a fire,
may they all come true ! '
1 3. And if the Garhapatya fire were to go out, it
is doubtless to the churning-sticks that it goes, for
from the churning-sticks it has been taken. Having
churned it out with the churning-sticks, and put fuel
on it, he performs two expiations.
14. And if the Ahavaniya fire were to go out
whilst the pressing (of Soma) proceeds, it is doubtless
to the Garhapatya that it goes, for from the Garha-
patya it has been taken. Having taken it straight-