32. He then offers upon it; — now seed was poured into it before, (in the shape of) sand 2 ; that he now
of the more usual ablative— see VI, 2, 2, 38, 'pnbasya tad anta- riy&t/
1 VII, 4, 2, 5. 2 See VII, 1, 1, 41.
VII KANDA, 5 ADHYAYA, I BRAHMAiVA, 35. 399
fashions1, whence the seed injected into the womb
is fashioned. He offers with the dipping-spoon, with
* Hail !' with two Gayatri verses relating to Agni :
the significance of this has been explained.
33. [Vag. S. XIII, 36-37; Rik S. VI, 16, 43;
VIII, 75,1] ' O Agni, harness those good steeds
of thine : they draw equal to thy mettle ! — Like
a chariot-fighter, harness thou the steeds, the
best callers of the gods, O Agni! take thy seat
as the old Hotrz!' with two (verses) containing
the (verb) ' yug"' (to harness, fasten), — he thus
settles that seed injected into the womb, whence
the seed settled in the womb does not escape.
34. If (the fire in the pan) has been carried about
for a year 2, in that case he should now offer ; for
(the fire) which has been carried about for a year is
everything, and that also whereon he offers is every-
thing. But if it has not been carried about for a
year, let him only stand by (worshipping) it ; for (the
fire) which has not been carried about for a year is
not everything ; and that by which he stands (wor-
shipping) is not everything. Let him nevertheless
offer thereon.
35. Now that Agni is an animal, and even now
he is (being) made up whole and complete : the
naturally-perforated (brick) is his lower vital air, the
1 The verb ' abhi-krz" is here taken in the sense of 'vi-krz*' (he gives form to it) ; and in that sense I would now take it at II, 3, 1, 4, ' he fashions (gives human shape to) that embryo/ instead of ' he benefits that embryo/ The St. Petersburg dictionary proposes the meaning, ' to do something with reference to (or, for the benefit of).' The proper German meaning would rather seem to be ' bearbeiten/ The preposition ' abhi ' is probably used here with reference to the ' abhi-gnhoti/
2 See p. 269, note 3.
400 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
dviya^us the hip, the two reta/£sL£ the ribs, the
vLsva^yotis the breast-bone, the two seasonal ones
the back, the asha^a the neck, the tortoise the
head, and the vital airs in the tortoise are those
vital airs in the head.
36. Now that (Agni) he builds upwards from here
(as flying) towards the east, and that Agni being
yonder sun, he thereby places yonder sun upwards
from here in the east ; whence yonder sun is placed
upwards from here in the east
37. He then turns him towards the right1, — he
thereby turns yonder sun towards the right, whence
yonder sun moves round these worlds (from left) to
right.
38. The fire-pan is the belly, the mortar the
womb ; — the fire-pan is above, and the mortar be-
low; for the belly is above, and the womb below.
The pestle is the sisna. ; it is round-like, for the
sisna is round-like. He places it to the right (south
of the mortar), for the male lies on the right side
of the female. And what food there is for the
consecrated animal, that is the durva-brick. The
left (north) side of that (Agni or altar) is more
raised, — that Agni is an animal, and hence the left
side of the belly of a well-filled beast is more raised
(than the right side).
Second Brahma^a.
1. He puts the heads of the victims in (the fire-
pan),— the heads of the victims being animals (or
cattle), it is animals he thus puts thereon. He puts
them in the fire-pan ; — the pan being these worlds,
and the heads of the victims being beasts, he thus
1 ? Viz. by filling up the vacant spaces of the altar from left to right.
VII KAiVDA, 5 ADHYAYA, 2 BRAHMAiVA, 5. 4OI
puts animals in these worlds ; whence there are animals in these worlds.
2. And as to why (he puts the heads) in the fire-
pan ; — the fire-pan being a womb, and the heads of
the victims being animals, he thus establishes the
animals in the womb : hence animals, though being
eaten and cooked, do not diminish, for he establishes
them in the womb.
3. And, again, why he puts the heads of the
victims therein ; — what (animal) perfections (sri) x
there were, they are these victims' heads ; and what
rumps there were, they are those five layers (of the
altar). Now those five layers are these worlds, and
these worlds are this very fire-pan : thus, when he
puts the heads of the victims in the fire-pan, he
thereby unites those rumps with those heads.
4. He puts them in the fore-part, so as to look
towards the back (west). For when, on that (for-
mer) occasion, Pra^&pati wanted to slaughter these
animals, they, being about to be slaughtered, wanted
to run away. He seized them by (the organs of) the
vital airs 2 ; and having seized them by the vital airs,
he took them into himself from the front (mouth)
towards the back (inside).
5. Now the same thing which the gods did is
done here. The animals do not, indeed, want to
run away from him ; but when he does this, it is
because he wants to do what the gods did : having
thus seized them by (the outlets of) the vital airs, he
takes them into himself from the front towards the
back.
1 See VI, 1, 1, 4; 2, 1, 7.
2 That is, by the head, according to Saya/za. [41] D d
402 DATAPATH A-BRAHMAiVA.
6. And, again, why he puts the heads of the vic- tims thereon. Pra^apati alone was here at first1. He desired, ' May I create food, may I be repro- duced ! ' He fashioned animals from his vital airs, a man from his soul (mind), a horse from his eye, a cow from his breath, a sheep from his ear, and a goat from his voice ; and inasmuch as he created them from the vital airs, people say that 'Animals are vital airs/ The soul is the first of the vital airs ; and inasmuch as he fashioned man from his soul, they say that ' Man is the first, and strongest of animals.' The soul is all the vital airs, for in the soul all the vital airs are established. And inasmuch as he fashioned man from his soul, they say that ' Man is all animals/ for they all belong to man.
7. Having created that food, he took it into him-
self from the front towards the back ; and hence
whosoever prepares for himself food, takes it into
himself from the front towards the back (inside).
That (animal food being put) in the fire-pan, and the
fire-pan being the belly, he thus puts the food into
the belly.
8. He now (in the first place 2) thrusts gold chips
into each of them, — gold is vital air, and the vital
airs go out of these animals when slaughtered : thus,
when he thrusts gold chips into each of them, he
puts the vital airs into them.
9. Seven (chips) he thrusts into each, — seven vital
airs there are in the head : these he thereby puts
into it. And if there are five victims, let him thrust
in five times seven (chips) ; for those five victims
he puts on (the fire-pan), and there are seven vital
1 See J. Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, V, p. 391.
2 That is, before putting the heads in the fire-pan.
VII KANDA, 5 ADHYAYA, 2 BRAHMAiVA, 12. 403
airs in each victim : he thus puts the vital airs into all of them.
10. Now, even if there is only one victim1, some
people thrust five times seven (into that one head),
thinking, 'Those five victims he puts down (symboli-
cally), and there are seven vital airs in each victim :
thus we put the vital airs into all of them/ Let him
not do so, for in this animal the form of all animals
is contained 2 ; and when he thrusts (seven chips)
into this one, he thereby puts the vital airs into all
of them.
1 1. The first (chip) he thrusts into the mouth, with
<y&g. S. XIII, 38 ; RtY S. IV, 58, 6, 5), ' Fitly flow
the draughts of milk like rivers,' — draughts of
milk are food, and that indeed flows fitly into this
mouth; — 'purified within by the heart, by the
mind,' — for the food is indeed purified by the heart
and mind within him who is righteous; — 'the
streams of ghee I behold/ he thereby means
the libations he is about to offer on that fire ; —
' the golden reed (is) in the middle of Agni,' he
thereby means that gold man.
12. With(Va£\ S. XIII, 39), ' For praise thee!'
(he thrusts one in) here (into the right nostril) ;
praise (or splendour) means breath, for with breath
one praises ;— with, 'For sheen thee!' here (into
the left nostril) ; sheen means breath, for by breath
one shines ; and also because everything here shines
for breath; — with, ' For brightness thee!' here
(into the right eye) ; — with, ' For lustre thee ! ' here
1 Viz. a he-goat, as the animal sacrifice to either Prag-apati, or (Vayu) Niyutvat; see pp. 178, 184.
2 See VI, 2, 2, 15.
D d 2
404 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
(into the left eye), for bright and lustrous these two
eyes indeed are; — with, ' This hath become the
fiery spirit of all the world, and of Agni
Vai^vanara/ here (into the right ear) ; — with (Va£\
S. XIII, 40), * Agni, bright with brightness, the
golden disk, lustrous with lustre/ here (into the
left ear), — thus with two (formulas) containing 'all1/
for the ear is all.
13. He then lifts up the human head — he thereby
exalts it — with, ' Giver of a thousand thou art :
for a thousand thee!' a thousand means every-
thing : thus, ' the giver of everything, for everything
(I bestow) thee ! '
14. He then puts them (the heads) in (the fire-
pan), first (that of) the man — having taken possession
of the man by strength he sets him up ; — the man in
the middle ; on both sides the other victims : he thus
sets the man, as the eater, in the midst of cattle ;
whence man is the eater in the midst of cattle.
15. The horse and ram on the left (north) side:
he thereby puts those two (kinds of) cattle in that
region ; whence those two (kinds of) cattle are most
plentiful in that region.
16. The bull and he-goat on the right (south)
side : he thereby puts those two (kinds of) cattle in
that region ; whence those two (kinds of) cattle are
most plentiful in that region.
17. The (head of the) man he places on the milk2,
— milk means cattle : he thus establishes the Sacri-
ficer among cattle, — with (Va£\ S. XIII, 41), ' With
1 Only the first of the two formulas, however, contains the word ' vLrva/ all.
2 The pan was partly filled with sand and milk, see VII, 1,1, 41. 44.
VII KAiVDA, 5 ADHYAYA, 2 BRAHMAiVA, 1 9. 405
milk anoint thou Aditya, the unborn child!'
that unborn child, the man, is indeed the sun : thus,
Him anoint thou with milk! — 'the all-shaped
maker of a thousand/ the maker1 of a thousand
is man, for to him belong a thousand; — ' spare
him with thy heat, harbour not evil thoughts
against him!' that is, spare him with thy fire, do
not hurt him! — 'make him live a hundred
years, while thou art built!' he thereby makes
man the one among animals (capable of) living a
hundred years ; whence man, among animals, lives
up to a hundred years.
18. Then on the left side (he puts the head of) the
horse, with (Va^. S. XIII, 42), 'The speed of the
wind,' — this one, the horse, is indeed the speed of the
wind ; — ' Varu/za's navel' — for the horse is Varu/za;
— 'the horse, born in the midst of the flood;'
the flood is the water, and the horse is indeed the
water-born; — 'the tawny, rock-founded child of
rivers ;' rock means mountain, and the waters are
indeed founded on the mountains; — 'harm him
not, Agni, in the highest region!' the highest
region means these worlds : thus, do not harm him
in these worlds !
19. Then on the right side (the head of) the bull,
with (Vag\ S. XIII, 43), 'The imperishable, red
drop/ the drop doubtless is Soma; and that bull is the
same as the imperishable Soma; — 'the eager one
(bhura^yu),' that is, the bearer (bhartrz) ; — 'Agni, the
forward-striving, I glorify with homages;' for