The present volume completes the theoretic exposition of the sacrificial ceremonial, and thus brings us to the end of our task. The remaining six chapters of the last book of the Br&timdJia. form the so-called Brihad-&ra//yaka, or great forest-treatise, which, as one of the ten primitive Upanishads, is included in Professor F. Max Miiller's translation of those old theosophic treatises, published ip the present series. The portion of the work contained in this volumeforms practically a continuation of the first five k4«rfas, the intervening five books being devoted to the consideration of the Agni^yana, or construction of the sacred brick-altar, which had come to be recognised as an important pre- liminary to the Soma-sacrifice. The circumstances which seem to have led to this somewhat peculiar distribution of the different sections of the work have been explained in the introduction to the first volume of the translation. As was there shown, the inclusion of the Agni^ayana 'in the sacrificial system of the Vd^asaneyins, or theologians of the White Ya^s, appears to have resulted in a definite settle- ment of the sacrificial texts of the ordinary ritual, as con- tained in the first eighteen adhyiyas of the V^asaneyi- safwhiti, as well as of the dogmatic explanation of that ritual as given in the first nine ki«rfas of the 5atapatha- brahma«a. Considerable portions of the remaining sections of both works may have been, and very likely were, already in existence at the time of that settlement, but, being ex- cluded from the regular ceremonial, they were naturally more liable to subsequent modifications and additions than
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those earlier sections which remained in constant use. Whilst the tenth k4«rfa, included in the preceding volume of the translation, consisted of speculations on the sacred fire-altar, as representing Purusha-Pra^pati and the divine body of the Sacrificer — whence that book is called the Agnirahasya, or mystery of the fire-altar — the present volume contains the supplementary sections connected with the sacrificial ceremonial proper.
The eleventh and twelfth k&nddis are mainly taken up with additional remarks and directions on most of the sacrifices treated of in the first four kkndsLS, especially with expiatory ceremonies and oblations in cases of mishaps or mistakes occurring during the performance, or with esoteric speculations regarding the significance and mystic effect of certain rites. In this way the eleventh book deals with the New and Full-moon sacrifices ; the Seasonal offerings (XI, 5, a), the Agnihotra (XI, 5, 3 ; 6, 2), the Soma-sacrifice (XI, 5, 5; 9), and the Animal-sacrifice (XI, 7, 2-8, 4); whilst the twelfth kd«rfa treats of the * Gavdm ayanam ' — or most common sacrificial session lasting for a year, thus offering a convenient subject for dilating upon the nature of Pra^pati, as the Year, or Father Time; — of additional expiatory rites for Soma-sacrifices (XII, 6), and of the SautrAma«i, consisting of oblations of milk and spirituous liquor, supposed to obviate or remove the unpleasant effects of any excess in the consumption of Soma-juice (XII, 7-9). Though supplementary notes and speculations on such ceremonial topics cannot but be of a somewhat desultory and heterogeneous character, they nevertheless offer wel- come opportunities for the introduction of much valuable and interesting matter. It is here that we find the famous myth of Puriiravas and Urva^t (XI, 5, i) ; and that of Bhr/gu, the son of Varu«a, vividly illustrating the notions prevalent at the time regarding retribution after death (XI, 6, i) ; as also the important cosmogonic legend of the golden egg from which Pra^pati is born at the beginning of the evolution of the universe (XI, i, 6). Of considerable interest also are the chapters treating of the way in which
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the dead body of the pious performer of the Agnihotra, or daily milk-offering, is to be dealt with (XII, 5, i-a) ; of the initiation and the duties of the Br4hma«ical student (XI, 3> 3 ; 5> 4) ; a^^d, last not least, of the study of the Vedas (XI, 5, 6-7) and their subsidiary texts amongst which we meet, for the first time, with the Atharvdngiras as a special collection of texts recommended for systematic study.
With the commencement of the thirteenth kSinda, we enter once more upon a regular exposition of a series of great sacrifices like those discussed in the early books ; the first and most important of them being the Ajvamedha, or Horse-sacrifice. Like the R^asdya, or inauguration of a king, the Ajvamedha is not a mere sacrifice or series of offerings, but it is rather a great state function in which the religious and sacrificial element is closely and deftly interwoven with a varied programme of secular ceremonies. But whilst the R^^sQya was a state ceremonial to which any petty ruler might fairly think himself entitled, the Ajvamedha, on the contrary, involved an assertion of power and a display of political authority such as only a monarch of undisputed supremacy could have ventured upon without courting humiliation^; and its celebration must therefore have been an event of comparatively rare occurrence. Perhaps, indeed, it is owing to this exceptional character of the A,rvamedha rather than to the later origin of its ritual and dogmatic treatment that this ceremony was separated from the R^fiasiiya which one would naturally have expected it to succeed. It is worthy of remark, in this respect, that, in Kdtydyana's Anukrama«i to the V^gTisaneyi-sawhit^, the term ^ khila,' or supplement, is not applied to the Ajvamedha section 2 (Adhy. XXII-XXV), while the subsequent sections are distinctly characterised as such. As a matter of fact, however, the A^amedha has
* Cf. Taitt. Br. Ill, 8, 9, 4, — pari v& csha slfeyate yo»baloxfvamcdhena ya^ate : — * Verily, poared away (dislodged) is he who, being weak, performs the Arramedha ;' Ap. ^r. XX, i, i> ' a king ruling the whole land (sirvabhauma) may perform the Anramedha ; — also one not ruling the whole land.'
' Cf. Weber, History of Indian Literature, p. 107 ; Max MUlIer, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 358.
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^ Besides the two chapters referred to, nothing more than quotations are known of this work. Possibly, however, the difference between it and the KaashStaki-brShma^a consisted merely of such supplements which would thus be very much of the same character as the last two pa^ikls of the Aitareya- br&hmaira, except that they never became so generally recognised.
' Though this circumstance seems to favour the supposition of the more recent ritualistic treatment of the Ai'vamedha, it may not be out of place to notice that, in the Maitr&yawt Sai^ihitE, the Ajvamedha section is followed by several Br&hmaiva sections ; amongst them that of the R^^^asfiya which is not found in the KM&ka, at all. iat. Br. XIII, 3, 3, 6, calls the Axvamedha an ' ntsanna- yi^a ' ; but it is not quite clear what is meant thereby, seeing that the same term is applied to the A^turm^y&ni, or Seasonal ofifertngs (II, 5, a, 48).
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brihma//a^ — the Axvamedha is treated immediately after
the Rd^^asOya, and followed by the Purushamedha and
Sarvamedha; these four ceremonies being characterised
at the end as the Kshatriya s sacrifices ^ (medha).
With regard to the earliest phase of Vedic religion, there is no direct evidence to show that the horse-sacrifice was already at that time a recognised institution. Two hymns of the /?/g-veda (I, i6a; 163), it is true, relate to that sacrifice ^ but they evidently belong to the latest pro- ductions* of that collection, though still sufl^ciently far removed from the time of the oldest of the ritual works just referred to. Seeing, however, that animal sacrifices generally are not alluded to in the /^ttcsaf^hitd ^ whilst there is every reason to believe that they were commonly practised from remote antiquity, this absence of earlier positive evidence regarding the horse-sacrifice cannot be taken as proving the later origin of that institution. As will be seen further on, there are sufficient indications to show that even human sacrifices were at one time practised amongst the Aryans of India, as they were amongst their
^ See Professor M. Bloomfield's paper on < The Position of the Gopatha- brihmana in Vedic Literature,' Joam. Am. Or. Soc, vol. xix.
' Cf. Mahdbh. XIV, 48, where these four sacrifices are specially recom- mended by Vy^ to Yndhish/^iira as worthy of being performed by him as King.
* Haug, Ait. Br. I, introd., p. la seqq., argues against the assumption of a comparatively late origin of the hymn I, i6a ; but his argument meets with serious lexical and other difficulties.
' We may leave out of account here one or two vague allusions, such as X, 155, 5 ' these have led around the cow (or bull) and have carried around the fire ; with the gods they have gained for themselves glory : who dares to attack them ? ' The question also as to whether the so-called Aprt-hymos, used at the fore-offerings of the animal sacrifice, were from the very beginning composed for this purpose, cannot be discussed here.
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European kinsmen. The fundamental idea which underlay this practice doubtless was the notion that man, as the highest attainable living being, could not but be the most acceptable gift that could be offered to the gods, and, at the same time, the most appropriate substitute for the human Sacrificer himself. For the same reason no doubt only- domesticated animals were considered suitable for sacrifice ; and amongst these the horse was naturally looked upon as ranking next to man (5at. Br. VI, 2, i, 2), although con- siderations of practical expediency and even of social distinc- tion might prevent its use for ordinary sacrificial purposes. In the speculations of the Br&hma^as, a deep mystic significance is attached to the Horse-sacrifice. In the last two chapters of the ' Mystery of the Fire-altar ' {Sat. Br. X, 6, 4, I ; 4), the Ajvamedha — 1. e. the sacrificial horse itself— is coupled with the Arka, the mysterious name of the sacred fire, as the representative of Agni-Pra^pati, the Sun. The horse-sacrifice is called the bull (XIII, i, 2, 2), and the king (XIII, 2, 2, i), of sacrifices^ just as the horse itself is the highest and most perfect of animals^ (XIII, 3, 3, I ; Taitt. Br. Ill, 8, 7 ; 8, 9, i) ; the horse selected for sacrifice, in particular, being said to be worth a thousand cows (XIII, 4, 2, i). The connection of the sacrificial horse with * the lord of creatures ' is, of course, fully accounted for by the theory of the identity of the sacrifice generally with Purusha-Pra^pati, discussed in the introduction to part iv of this translation. The sacrificial horse accordingly belongs to Prajf fipati, or rather is of Pra^pati's nature (pr^patya) ; nay, as the Taitt. Br. (Ill, 9, 17, 4) puts it, it is a form of Pr^pati himself (prs^pate rQpam arvaA), and is, of all animals, the one most conformable (anuriipatamaA) to Pra^apati. Hence also, in the cosmogonic account at the commencement of the Agni^ayana section (VI, i, i, 11), the horse is represented as having originated, immediately after the Brahman (sacred lore) and Agni, directly from the
^ * They (the Massagetae) worship the sun only of all the gods, and sacrifice horses to him; and the reason for this custom is that they think it righ^to offer ihe swiftest of all animals to the swiftest of all the gods.' Herod. I, 216.
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Introduction. Xix
egg produced by Prs^g^pati from the cosmic waters ; whilst, according to other accounts (VII, 5, 2, 6 ; XIII, 3, i, 1), the horse originated from Pr^fdpati's eye. But, since the ofTering also represents the offerer himself, or rather his divine self awaiting him in the other world (XI, t, 8, 6 ; 2, 2, 6), the sacrificial horse is also identified with the Sacrificer (yag^ixn&no v4 axvaA, Taitt. Br. Ill, 9, 17, 4) who thereby obtains the fellowship of the Lord of creatures and a place in his world (ib. Ill, 9, 20, 2).
