? Viz. inasmuch as the food is introduced into the body from above. It might also mean, he makes the food superior to the body, inasmuch as the body cannot exist without it. Similarly as regards the breath in the next paragraph.
3 78 tfATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
naturally-perforated (brick) ; — thus when he now puts
it on, he thereby puts upon this (altar-site) that (foun-
dation1) which there was for his body : that is why
he now puts it on.
5. He puts it on by means of Pra^apati, for Pra^a-
pati thereby took back to himself (that foundation) of
his body. [Vajf. S. XIII, 16] ' Steady thou art/
that is, ' Firm thou art, or established thou art ; ' —
4 supporting/ for that which supports is a founda-
tion;— 'laid down by Visvakarman ; ' Visvakar-
man is Pra^cLpati, thus, ' laid down by that one ; ' —
' May the ocean, may the bird not injure thee!'
the ocean doubtless is the gold plate, and the bird is
the man : thus, * May those two not injure thee ! ' —
'Not shaking, steady thou the earth !' as the
text, so the meaning.
6. [Va§\ S. XIII, 17] 'May Pra^apati settle
thee ' — for Pra^apati saw this first layer2; — ' on the
back of the waters, on the way of the ocean/
the back of the waters doubtless is this earth, and
the way of the ocean is this earth ; — ' thee, the
wide, the broad one ! ' for this earth is both wide
and broad ; — ' broaden thou : thou art the broad
one ! ' that is, ' broaden thou, and thou art the broad
(earth, przthivi)/
7. \V$g. S. XIII, 18] 'Thou art the earth
(bhti)/ for this is the earth ; — ' thou art the ground
(bhftmi)/ for this is the ground ; — ' Thou art Aditi/
— Aditi is this earth, for this earth gives (dad)
1 The ' pratish/M ' (basis) of the bird-shaped Agni includes the parts on which the bird stands or sits, viz. the feet, and the hind- part of the body. Sayawa, on the other hand, takes it to mean the ' pu/rclihga/ which seems very improbable.
* See VI, 2, 3, 1.
Vii Kanda, 4 Adhyaya, 2 Brahma^a, Io. 379
everything here ; — ' the all-containing/ for on this
earth everything is contained ; — ' supporter of all
the world/ that is, supporter of the whole world; —
' sustain the earth, steady the earth, injure not
the earth!* that is, sustain thyself, steady thyself,
injure not thyself!
8. \y$g. S. XIII, 19] « For all breathing, out-
breathing, through-breathing, and up-breath-
ing ; ' for the naturally-perforated (brick) is the
breath, and the breath serves for all that ; — ' for a
resting-place, for a moving-place;' the natur-
ally-perforated (bricks) are these worlds \ and these
worlds are the resting-place, the moving-place; —
* May Agni guard thee ' — that is, may Agni pro-
tect thee! — 'with mighty well-being!' that is,
with great well-being; — 'with the safest roof/
that is, with whatever roof (abode) is the safest.
Having ' settled ' it 2, he pronounces the Sudadohas 3
on it : the meaning of this has been explained. He
then sings a Saman : the meaning of this (will be
explained) further on.
9. Here now they say, ' How is it that that (gold)
man is not held (weighed) down by the naturally-
perforated (brick) 4 ? ' Well, the naturally-perforated
(brick) is food and breath ; and man is not held down
either by food or by his breath.
10. He then lays the Dftrvi-brick5 thereon; — the Dtirva-brick being cattle ; it is with cattle he
1 See p. 155, note 8.
2 That is, by adding the formula, ' By that deity, Arigiras-like, lie thou steady ! '
3 See p. 301, note 3.
4 That is to say, How will he (the Sacrificer) be able to rise upwards to heaven, when that brick is lying on him ?
6 See p. 187, note 3.
380 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
thus endows it : these are the same cattle together
with which Agni on that former occasion approached1;
it is them he now puts thereon. He lays it down
immediately on the naturally-perforated (brick) ; the
naturally-perforated (brick) being this earth, he thus
places the cattle immediately on this earth. Upon
(the brick he places it) : upon this earth he thereby
places cattle.
11. And, again, why he lays down the Durva-
brick. The hair of Pra^apati which were lying on
the ground when he was disjointed became these
herbs. The vital air then went out from within
him, and, that having gone out, he fell down.
12. He said, ' Verily, this (vital air) has undone
me ! ' and because he said, ' it has undone (dhtirv)
me/ hence (the name) ' dhtirva ; ' ' dhtirva ' doubtless
being what is mystically called ' dtirva,' for the gods
love the mystic. That (durva grass) is the ruling
power (Kshatra), for it is this vital sap, the breath ;
and the other plants are the hair : in laying down
that (durva plant) he lays down all (kinds of) plants.
13. When the gods restored him, they put that
life-sap, the breath, inside him ; and in like manner
does this (Sacrificer) now put it into him. He lays
it down immediately on the naturally-perforated
(brick) ; the naturally-perforated one being this earth,
he thus places the plants immediately on this earth.
Upon (the brick he lays it) : upon this earth he
thus places the plants. It should be with root and
top, for completeness' sake. Let him lay it on in
such manner that while lying on the naturally-
perforated (brick) it touches the ground (with its
1 See VI, 2, 3. 2.
VII K AND A, 4 ADHYAYA, 2 BRAHMA2VA, 1 6. 38 1
tops)1, for on this earth those (plants) spring up, and along her they grow.
14. He lays it on, with (Va£\ S. XIII, 20-21),
' Growing up joint by joint, knot by knot ;' for
joint by joint, and knot by knot that (grass) does
grow up; — ' so do thou prolong us, O Dtirvsi
(plant), by a thousand, and a hundred (descend-
ants) ! ' as the text, so its meaning.
15. * Thou that spreadest by a hundred, and
branchest out by a thousand (shoots) ; ' for by a
hundred (shoots) it spreads, and by a thousand it
branches out ; — 'to thee, O divine brick, we will
do homage by offering ; ' as the text, so the mean-
ing. With two (verses) he puts it on : the meaning
of this has been explained. Having ' settled ' it, he
pronounces the Sudadohas upon it : the meaning of
this has been explained.
16. He then puts down a Dviya^us2 (brick).
Indra and Agni desired, ' May we go to the heavenly
world ! ' They saw that dviya^us brick, even this
earth, and laid it down ; and having laid it down, they
went to the heavenly world from that foundation. In
like manner when this Sacrificer lays down a dviya^us
(brick), (he does so) thinking, ' I want to go to the
heavenly world by the same means (rupa), by per-
forming the same rite by which Indra and Agni went
to the heavenly world ! ' And as to its being called
' dviya^us/ it is because two deities saw it. And as
to why he lays down a dviya^us one : the dviya^us
doubtless is the Sacrificer.
1 The root is to lie on the brick from which (as representing the earth) it is supposed to have sprung; the tops then spreading along the ground.
2 This brick is placed close beside the svayamatrzwwa (naturally- perforated one) in front (east) of it, on the ' anuka ' or spine.
382 satapatha-brAhmajvta.
17. Here now they say, * If (the dviya^us) is that
same Sacrificer who is that gold man, which then is
that (real) form of his ? ' Well, that (gold man) is
his divine body, and this (brick) is his human one.
As to that gold man, that is his immortal form, his
divine form ; gold being immortal. And as to this
(brick) being made of clay, it is because this is his
human form.
18. Now were he only to lay down that (golden
man), and not to let this dviya^us (brick) remain \
the Sacrificer surely would quickly pass away from
this world ; but now that he allows this (brick) to
remain, he thereby leaves to him this human form
of his ; and so he attains with this body the full
(measure of) life.
19. And were he not to put it on after (the gold
man), he assuredly would not afterwards find out
that divine body 2 ; but now that he puts it on there-
after, he does so afterwards find out that divine
body. He lays it down close to the dtirvi-brick :
the dtirva-brick being cattle, he thus establishes the
Sacrificer in (the possession of) cattle.
20. Here now they say, * How do those two
bodies of his come to be connected together by the
breath, and not severed?' Well, the naturally-
perforated (brick) is the breath, and the durva-brick
is the breath, and the dviya^us (-brick) is the Sacri-
1 The verb * apa-jish ' is taken similarly by Sayawa (ava^eshayet) ; whilst the St. Petersburg dictionary assigns to it the meaning ' to omit, leave out ' (weglassen), which can hardly be correct (? misprint for iibriglassen). It might, however, possibly be taken in the sense of 'vi-jish,' to specify, to single out.
2 That is to say, — he would not, after quitting his mortal body, know or find out that divine body with which he wishes to invest himself.
Vii Kanda, 4 Adhyaya, 2 Brahmajva, 23. 383
ficer : and inasmuch as he lays down the dfirv£-brick
close to the naturally-perforated one, he thereby
connects and joins breath with breath ; and inasmuch
as he lays down the dviya^*us one close to the
durv^-brick — the dftrv&-brick being the breath, and
the dviya^us the Sacrificer — those two bodies of his
(the human one and the divine one) thus become
connected together by the breath, and not severed.
'21. [He lays down the dviya^us brick, with V&g.
S. XIII, 22,23] 'O Agni, what lights of thine
in the sun overspread the sky by their beams,
with all those help us to light and to people!
— O ye gods, what lights of yours are in the
sun, and what lights are in kine and horses,
O Indra and Agni, with all those bestow light
upon us, O Brzhaspati ! ' for ' light' he prays each
time : light being immortality, it is immortality
he thus bestows on him (Agni, and the Sacrificer).
With two (verses) he lays it down : the significance
of this has been explained. And, moreover, it is
because that material form (of the brick) is a two-
fold one, (consisting as it does of) clay and water.
Having ' settled' it, he pronounces the Sudadohas
upon it : the significance of this has been explained.
22. He then lays down two Reta^si^ (seed-shed-
ding bricks) ; — the seed-shedders doubtless are these
two worlds, for these two worlds do shed seed ; —
this (terrestrial world) sheds seed upwards from
here (in the form of) smoke; it becomes rain in
yonder world, and that rain yonder world (sheds)
from above : hence (creatures) are born within these
two worlds, and therefore these two worlds are
seed-shedders.
2^ [He lays them down, with Va£\ S. XIII, 24]
384 DATAPATH A-BRAHMAiVA .
* The wide-ruling one contained the light ;' the
wide-ruling one1 doubtless is this (terrestrial) world : it
contains this fire, the light. — 'The self-ruling one
contained the light/ the self-ruling1 one doubtless
is yonder world : it contains yonder sun, the light.
And the wide-ruling one and the self-ruling one being
these two worlds, he lays them down separately, for
separate are these two worlds. He ' settles ' them
once : he thereby makes them one and the same
(or, joined together), whence the ends of these two
worlds meet.
24. And, again, why he lays down two seed-
shedders ; the seed-shedders are the testicles, for
only he who has testicles sheds seed. ' The wide-
ruling one contained the light ; — the self-ruling one
contained the light/ he says ; for the wide-ruling and
the self-ruling ones are the testicles : they contain
that light, the seed, Pra^apati. He lays them down
separately, for separate are these testicles. He
' settles' them once : he thereby makes them one and
the same, whence they have a common connecting-
part. He lays them down close to the dviya^us
(brick) 2 : the dviya^us being the Sacrificer, he thus
puts the testicles together with the Sacrificer.