1 Or probably, a barren spot, see p. 43, note 2.
2 That is, whilst himself remaining north of the place, and facing the south, he puts them down in the direction from north to south.
8 That is, he performs the formal ceremony of 'laying down (upadhana) ' whilst muttering the respective verses. In the present case the ' laying down ' of the bricks is to be performed by him whilst muttering the formulas, but without touching the bricks themselves. The direction that the bricks are to be deposited in a direction ' away from him ' perhaps refers to the ' laying down ' instead of to the actual placing them.
32 2 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
this iron bond!' for it is indeed with an iron
bond that Nirrzti binds him whom she binds ; —
* being of one mind with Yama and Yami,' —
Yama doubtless is Agni, and Yami is this (earth),
and by these two everything here is kept in check :
thus, 'being of one mind with those two/ — 'raise
him unto the highest firmament ! ' the firmament
is the heavenly world : thus, ' raise the Sacrificer up
to the heavenly world ! '
ii. 'Thee, O awful (goddess), into whose mouth
I offer — ' Nirrzti is indeed awful, and into her
mouth he now offers when he performs this divine
rite; — 'for the unloosing of these bonds;'
that is, of those bonds with which he has been
bound ; — ' Thee whom people rejoice in calling
Earth/ — the Earth is this (world), and he who
exists, exists thereon, — 'but I know thee to be
Nirrzti everywhere!' that is, in every respect I
know that thou art Nirrzti. Now Nirrzti is this
earth, and this earth makes him decay who becomes
corrupted : in speaking thus, it is as if he were to
say, ' Thou art So and So, the son of So and So, I
know thee, do not injure me ! ' for in no wise does
he who is known injure one when spoken to.
12. He does not touch (the bricks), — Nirrz'ti being
evil, — lest he put himself in contact with evil. He
does not ' settle ' them, — settlement being a firm
footing — lest he give a firm footing to evil. He
does not pronounce the Sfidadohas verse upon them,
— the Sudadohas being the vital air, — lest he should
join Nirmi (corruption) together, and restore her.
13. Now some lay (the bricks) down from the
farther end towards themselves, — Nirrzti (corruption)
being evil, — lest they themselves should go the way
Vii Kanda, 2 Adhyaya, I Brahmawa, 1 6. 323
to corruption. Let him not do so, but let him lay
them down in the direction away from him : he thus
drives evil, corruption, away from him,
14. Three bricks he lays down, — threefold is
Agni : as great as Agni is, as great as is his
measure, by so much he thus repels evil, corruption.
15. The seat, the netting, the sling of the gold
plate, and the two pads he throws down on the
farther side (of the bricks), — the sling 1 is sacred to
Nirr/ti : from NirWti's sling he is thus freed. [He
throws them down, with Va^. S. XII, 65] 'The
indissoluble bond which the divine Nirrzti
hath fastened upon thy neck/ — indissoluble in-
deed for him who does not know this; — 'that
(bond) of thine I unloose, as from the middle
of Ay us/ — Ayus 2 doubtless is Agni, and his middle
(body) is that Garhapatya which has been built ; —
not yet built is the Ahavanfya : hence whether a
youth builds the altar, or an old man, he says ' as
from the middle of Ayus ; ' — ' now, being urged
forward, eat thou this nourishment ! ' nourish-
ment means food : thus, ' now, set free, eat thou this
food/ With Trish/ubh verses (he performs this
rite), for the Trish/ubh is a thunderbolt : it is thus
with a thunderbolt that he repels evil, corruption.
16. There are three bricks, the seat, the netting,
the sling of the gold plate, and the two pads ; that
makes eight ; — the Gayatrt consists of eight syllables,
1 According to Sayawa the sling of the gold plate is here singled out, because the other objects have necessarily been damaged by the hot fire-pan and are consequently thrown away as a matter of course.
2 See III, 4, 1, 22. In the formula 'ayus* may rather have to be taken in the sense of 'life/ or c vital power/ Mahidhara takes 'na' in the sense of 'now (samprati)/ instead of ' as/
324 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
and Agni is Gayatra : as great as Agni is, as great
as is his measure, by so much he thus repels evil,
corruption.
17. On the space between (the Sacrificer and the
bricks) he pours out a jarful of water, — water is a
thunderbolt : with a thunderbolt he thus separates
from himself evil, corruption. With * Homage to
(the goddess of) Prosperity who hath done this ! '
they rise, for it was with a view to prosperity that
the gods at first performed this rite, and to that
(goddess) they then rendered homage ; and for
prosperity indeed this (Sacrificer) now performs this
rite, and to that (goddess) he now renders homage.
They go back (to the sacrificial ground) without
looking back : they thus abandon evil, corruption,
even without looking back to it.
18. Having returned, he stands worshipping by
the fire ; for when he goes into that (south-western)
direction whilst Agni is only half built up, he does
what is improper : he now makes amends to him to
prevent his doing any harm.
19. And again, why he stands by (the fire). The
Garhapatya (hearth) is this (terrestrial) world ; for
the Garhapatya is a foundation, and the foundation
doubtless is this (earth). Now when he goes into
that direction, he goes where there is no path ; and
when he stands by (the fire), he thereby returns to
this (earth), the foundation, and establishes himself
upon this foundation.
20. [He worships, with V&g. S. XII, 66] 'The
harbourer and gatherer of riches/ for a har-
bourer this world indeed is, a gatherer of riches ; —
'all form he watches over with his favours,' — ■
that is, ' all forms (of being) he watches over with
Vii Kanda, 2 Adhyaya, 2 Brahma2va, 2. 325
his favours ;' — ' like the god Savitrz, like Indra,
he of true covenant stood at the meeting of
ways1;' as the text, so its meaning.
PREPARATION OF THE SITE OF THE GREAT (AHAVANIYA) ALTAR.
Second Brahma^a.
1. He then prepares the Praya^iya2 (opening
sacrifice). With the Havishkrzt of that (oblation)
he releases (the Sacrificer's) speech 3. Having
released his speech, he throws away the grass-bush
(stambaya^us 4). Having thrown away the grass-
bush, and drawn the first line of enclosure 6, and the
lines (across the maha-vedi), he says, ' Throw thrice ! '
and the Agnfdhra throws thrice (the wooden sword) V
2. Having returned (to the offering, or hall-door
1 Mahidhara takes ' samare pathinam ' in the sense of ' in the battle of (i. e. with) the waylayers (paripanthibhi^ saha)/
2 See part ii, p. 47 seq.
8 Viz. by calling out three times ' Havishkr/t, come hither,* whereby the Adhvaryu summons one of the priests, or maid- servants, to assist in preparing the material for offering. See part i, p. 27 seq.
4 Part i, p. 55 seq.
5 Part i, p. 59 seq.
6 See part i, p. 55. It must, however, be borne in mind that the passage here referred to relates to the construction of the Vedi of an ordinary ish/i, whilst in the present instance we have to do with a Mahavedi, as prescribed for Soma-sacrinces (cf. part ii, p. 1 1 1 seq., where, however, only a few distinctive points are ad- verted to). The plan of the Mahavedi, given at the end of part ii, shows at the eastern end a square mound, the so-called uttara-vedi, or higher, upper altar, on which the Ahavaniya, or offering, fire is maintained. On a similar earth mound, but raised in the centre of the square site (see VII, 3, 1, 27), the AgnLfcayana requires the erection of the large brick fire-altar, the preparation of the site of which is explained from the next paragraph.
326 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
fire) he proceeds with the opening sacrifice. Having
performed the opening sacrifice, he yokes a plough.
For the gods at that time, being about to heal him
(Agni-Pra^apati), first supplied him with food, and
in like manner does this (Sacrificer) now that he is
about to heal him, first supply him with food. It
(the food) is the plough (sira), for ' sira ' is the same
as ' sera * ; ' he thus puts food into him.
3. It is made of udumbara (ficus glomerata)
wood, — the Udumbara tree being sustenance, life-
sap : he thus supplies him with sustenance, with
life-sap. The cordage of the plough consists of
mu^a grass, triply twisted : the significance of
this has been explained.
4. Standing behind the right (southern) hip of
Agni (the site of the fire-altar) he (the Prati-
prasthatrz) addresses it (the plough) while being
yoked (by the Adhvaryu) in front of the left (northern)
shoulder, with (Vaf. S. XII, 67, 68 ; Rik S. X, 101,
4, 3), 'The skilful yoke2 the ploughs, and
stretch across the yokes/ — the skilful are those
who know, and they do yoke the plough and stretch
the yokes across; — 'the wise, with mind devoted
to the gods/ — devotion means sacrifice: thus, 'the
wise, performing sacrifice to the gods/
5. ' Yoke ye the ploughs, and stretch across
the yokes!' — they indeed yoke the plough, and
stretch the yokes across; — 'into the ready womb
here cast ye the seed!' it is for the seed that
that womb, the furrow, is made ; and if one casts
1 That is 'sa + ira/ with draught or food.
2 Or rather, put (the oxen) to the ploughs. Professor Ludwig takes < sira ' in the sense of ' straps, traces/—the skilful fasten the traces.
VII KAiVDA, 2 ADHYAYA, 2 BRAHMAiVA, 9. 327
(seed) into unploughed (ground), it is just as if one
were to shed seed elsewhere than into the womb.
'And plentiful yield1 be there through our
song! ' — the song is speech, and yield means food ; —
'and let the ripe crop go anigh the sickle!'
for when food gets ripe, people approach it with the
sickle. With two (verses) he yokes, a Gdyatri and
a Trish/ubh one : the significance of this has been
explained.
6. He yokes the right (ox) first, then the left one :
thus it is (done) with the gods, differently in human
(practice). It is a team of six oxen, or one of twelve
oxen, or one of twenty-four oxen : it is the year (he
obtains) as the consummation.
7. He then ploughs through it, — ploughing means
food ; and the gods at that time when they were
about to heal him (Agni-Pra^apati) first put food into
him ; and in like manner does this (Sacrificer) now
when he is about to heal him, first put food into him.
8. Only the body (of the altar-site) he ploughs
through, not the wings and tail : he thus puts food
into the body. And, indeed, the food which is put
into the body benefits the body as well as the wings
and tail ; but that which (is put) into the wings and
tail does not benefit either the body or the wings
and tail.
9. On the right (south) side of the fire-altar, he
ploughs first a furrow eastwards2 inside the enclosing-
stones, with (Va£\ S. XII, 69; jRik S. IV, 57, 8),
'Right luckily may the plough-shares plough
up the ground, luckily the tillers ply with their
1 Or, concession (Erhorung).
2 That is, from the right thigh to the right shoulder (south-west to south-east).
328 tfATAPATHA-BRAHMAJVA.
oxen ! ' — ' luckily — luckily/ he says, ' for what is suc-
cessful that is lucky : ' he thus makes it (the furrow)
successful.
10. Then on the hindpart (he ploughs a furrow)
northwards1, with (Va£\ S. XII, 70), 'With sweet
ghee let the furrow be saturated/ — as the text
so its meaning; — 'approved of by the All-gods,
by the Maruts ! ' for both the All-gods and the
Maruts have power over the rain; — 'sapful, and
teeming with milk/ — milk means life-sap : thus,
'teeming with life-sap and food;' — 'with milk, O
furrow, turn thou unto us ! ' that is, 'with life-sap,
O furrow, turn thou unto us ! '
11. Then on the left (north) side (he ploughs a
furrow) eastwards2, with (Va^. S. XII, 71), 'The
share-shod 3 plough/ — that is, 'the plough abound-
ing in wealth/ — 'propitious, offering prospect for
the Soma-cup4' — for Soma is food ; — ' it throweth
up the cow, the sheep, the lusty wife, the swift -