1 Literally, a conclusion previously, or at the beginning of the performance.
VII KAA7)A, 2 ADHYAYA, 4 BRAHMAiVA, 4. 335
same as Agni : it is Agni he thus builds up. With
fivefold-taken (butter he offers), — the altar consists
of five layers, — five seasons are a year, and the year
is Agni : as great as Agni is, as great as is his mea-
sure, so great he thus builds him up. He offers
raising (the spoon) upwards : he thus builds Agni
upwards by means of the layers (of the altar).
Fourth Brahma^a.
1. He then pours out jarfuls of water, — for the
gods then said, ' Meditate ye (/£etay) ! ' whereby they
doubtless meant to say, ' Seek ye a layer (/£itim) ! '
Whilst meditating they saw the rain to be a (suitable)
layer, and put it on that (altar-site); and in like
manner does this (Sacrificer) now put it thereon.
2. Jarfuls of water are (poured out) ; for rain is
water : it is rain he thereby bestows on it. With
an udumbara jar (he pours them on) : the signifi-
cance of this has been told ; — with a four-cornered
one ; — four quarters there are ; from all quarters he
thus bestows rain thereon,
3. Three jarfuls he pours out each time1, — three-
fold is Agni : as great as Agni is, as great as is
his measure, with so much he thus bestows rain
thereon.
4. Twelve jarfuls of water he pours on the
ploughed ground, — twelve months are a year, and
the year is Agni : as great as Agni is, as great as
is his measure, by so much he thus bestows rain
thereon.
1 On every four of the sixteen furrows, in the order in which they have been ploughed, he is to empty three jarfuls of water, making altogether twelve jars of water.
336 DATAPATH A-BRAHMAiVA.
5. On the ploughed ground he pours (water),
whence it rains for (the benefit of) the ploughed
land. Now were he only to pour it on the ploughed
ground, and not on the unploughed, it would only
rain for the ploughed land, not for the unploughed.
And were he only to pour it on the unploughed
ground, and not on the ploughed, it would only rain
for the unploughed land, and not for the ploughed. He
pours it both on the ploughed, and the unploughed,
ground ; whence it rains both for the ploughed, and
the unploughed, ground.
6. Three (jarfuls)1 he pours both on the ploughed,
and on the unploughed, ground ; — threefold is Agni :
as great as Agni is, as great as is his measure, with
so much he thus bestows rain thereon.
7. And, again, why he pours out jarfuls of water;
— at that time the gods, being about to put him
(Agni-Pra^apati) together, in the first place put
water into him ; and in like manner does this one
now, being about to put him together, in the first
place put water into him.
8. Three jarfuls he pours out each time, — three-
fold is Agni : as large as Agni is, as large as is his
measure, by so much he thus puts water into him.
9. Twelve jarfuls he pours on the ploughed
ground, — twelve months are a year, and the year is
Agni : as great as Agni is, as great as is his measure,
by so much he thus puts water into him.
10. On the ploughed ground he pours it: he
thereby puts water into the vital airs. But were he
to pour (water) only on the ploughed ground, and
1 These are additional three jarfuls poured over the whole Agnikshetra, or site of the altar.
VII K AND A, 2 ADHYAYA, 4 BRAHMAiVA, 1 4. 337
not on the unploughed, there would be water only
in (the channels of) the vital airs, and not in the
other (parts of the) body. And were he to pour
(water) only on the unploughed ground, and not on
the ploughed, there would be water only in (the
other parts of) the body, and not in the vital airs.
He pours it both on the ploughed, and the un-
ploughed, ground, whence there is water here both
in (the channels of) the vital airs and in the body.
11. Three (jarfuls) he pours both on the ploughed,
and on the unploughed, ground ; — threefold is Agni :
as great as Agni is, as great as is his measure, with
so much he thus puts water into him.
12. Fifteen jarfuls of water he pours out, — fifteen-
fold is the thunderbolt : by that fifteenfold thunder-
bolt of his he thus drives away all evil.
13. He then sows all (kinds of) herb (-seed) ; — for
the gods then said, * Meditate ye ! ' whereby doubt-
less they meant to say, ' Seek ye a layer ! ' whilst
meditating, they saw food to be a (suitable) layer,
and put that on (or, into) him (Agni) ; and in like
manner does this one now put it into him.
14. It is (seed) of all herbs, — all herbs means all
food ; he thus puts all (kinds of) food into him. Let
him omit one of those kinds of food, and not eat
thereof as long as he lives. By means of the udum-
bara jar (he sows the seed) : the significance of this
has been explained ; — with a four-cornered one, —
there are four quarters : from all quarters he thus
puts food into him (Agni). He sows it with anu-
shAibh (verses), — the AnushAibh (metre) is speech,
and by means of speech (the mouth x) food is eaten.
1 See p. 200, note 3. [41] z
33^ SATAPATHA-BRAHMAJVA.
1 5. With three verses he sows each time \ — three-
fold is Agni : as great as Agni is, as great as is his
measure, with so much he thus puts food into him.
16. With twelve verses he sows on the ploughed
ground, — twelve months are a year, and the year is
Agni : as great as Agni is, as great as is his mea-
sure, with so much he thus puts food into him.
17. On the ploughed ground he sows, whence
food ripens on ploughed ground. Were he to sow
only on the ploughed ground, and not on the
unploughed, food would only ripen on ploughed
ground, not on unploughed; and were he to sow
only on unploughed ground, and not on ploughed
ground, food would only ripen on unploughed
ground, and not on ploughed ground. He sows on
both the ploughed, and the unploughed, ground :
hence food ripens both on ploughed, and on un-
ploughed, ground.
18. With three (verses) he sows both on the
ploughed, and on the unploughed, ground, — three-
fold is Agni : as great as Agni is, as great as is his
measure, by so much he thus puts food into him.
1 9. And, again, why he sows all (kinds of) herb
(-seed), — the gods at that time, being about to put
him (Agni-Pra^apati) together, in the first place
healed him by healing medicine ; and in like manner
does this one now, being about to put him together,
first heal him with healing medicine.
20. It is (seed) of all herbs ; — all herbs is the
1 The sowing of the seed is done after the manner of the water- ing of the site, viz. so as to finish the sowing of every four furrows with the completion of the muttering of three verses (Va£\ S. XII, 75-86); whereupon the remaining seed is scattered over the whole site with additional three verses (87-89).
Vii Kanda, 2 Adhyaya, \ Brahma2va, 26. 339
same as all (kinds of) medicine : by all (kinds of) healing medicine he thus heals him.
2 1 . With three verses he sows each time, — three-
fold is Agni : as great as Agni is, as great as is his
measure, with so much he thus heals him.
22. With twelve verses he sows on the ploughed
ground, — twelve months are a year, and the year is
Agni : as great as Agni is, as great as is his mea-
sure, with so much he thus heals him.
23. On the ploughed ground he sows : he thereby
heals the vital airs. And were he to sow only on
the ploughed ground, and not on the unploughed,
he would only heal the vital airs, and not the other
(parts of the) body ; and were he to sow only on the
unploughed, and not on the ploughed, ground, he
would only heal the body, and not the vital airs : he
sows both on the ploughed, and on the unploughed,
ground ; and thus he heals both the vital airs and
the body.
24. With three (verses) he sows both on the
ploughed, and on the unploughed, ground, — three-
fold is Agni : as great as Agni is, as great as is his
measure, with so much he thus heals him.
25. Fifteen jarfuls of water he pours out, and
with fifteen verses he sows, — that makes thirty, —
the Vira^ (metre) consists of thirty syllables, and
the Vira^* (the far-shining, or far-ruling) is the whole
food : the whole food he thus puts into him.
26. [He sows, withVa^*. S. XII, 75 seq.; Rik S. X,
97] ' The herbs first grown three ages before
the gods1/ — the gods doubtless are the seasons,
1 Thus the St. Petersburg dictionary; while Professor Ludwig construes ' triyugam pura ' together, — ' the herbs first come from
34-0 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
and from them those (herbs) used to grow thrice, in
spring, in the rainy season, and in the autumn ; —
* of the brown ones will I ponder/ — the brown
one, doubtless, is Soma, and the herbs are related to
Soma, and the Purusha (Pra^apati) is related to
herbs * ; — ' the hundred powers/ — inasmuch as he
here lives a hundred (years), and has a hundred
merits, and a hundred energies, there are in him
those hundred powers ; — ' and seven/ — he thereby
speaks of those seven vital airs in the head.
27. ' Yours, O Mother, are a hundred powers,
and yours a thousand growths/ — inasmuch as
(the plants) here are shooting out a hundredfold,
and a thousandfold ; — 'Ye of a hundred virtues,
render ye free from sickness this one of
mine ! ' that is, him whom I am now healing.
28. These (verses) 2 have one and the same ex-
the gods before the three ages ; ' — but is there any other example of ' purd ' with the accusative ? The author of the Brahmarca, on the other hand, takes * triyugam pura ' as adverbs independent of each other, — ' formerly at three periods/
1 Or, consists of herbs.
2 That is, the two verses just explained, as well as the remaining thirteen verses (Vag\ S. XII, 77 seq.; Rik S. X, 97, 3 seq.), viz. : —
3. Rejoice ye at the plants, the full-budded, abounding in shoots : like victorious mares, the herbs are eager to win (or, to save).
4. As plants, O divine mothers, I call upon you : horse, and cow, and raiment would I win, and thine own self, O Purusha !
5. On the Ajvattha tree is your abode, on the Paraa dwelling is made for you : possessed of cattle shall ye be, when ye save the Purusha.
6. Wherein the herbs have met together, even as the nobles in the assembly, that priest is called physician, demon-killer, pain- remover.
7. The (herb) rich in horses, the one rich in Soma, the
VII KANDA, 2 ADHYAYA, 4 BRAHMAiVA, 30. 34 1
planation with regard to this (Agni-Prajfapati), —
how he may heal him, and preserve him. They are
anushAibh verses, — the Anush/ubh is speech, and
speech is all healing medicine : by means of all
healing medicine he thus heals him.
29. Now, then, regarding the defined and the un-
defined (ceremonies) ; — with prayer he yokes two
oxen, silently the others ; with prayer he ploughs
four furrows, silently the others ; silently he puts on
the grass-bush, with prayer he makes a libation
thereon ; silently he pours out the jarfuls of water,
with prayer he sows.
30. This Agni is Pra^apati, and Pra^apati is both the defined and the undefined, the limited and the
strengthening, most powerful, — all herbs have 1 found for health- fulness to him (the Purusha).
8. Forth rush the energies of the plants, like kine from the stable, eager to win wealth, eager to win wealth, O Purusha !