* Or, 'meditate upon these' (? worship these); see p. 155, note I.
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XII KANDA, 2 ADHYAyA, 4 BRAhMAYA, 5. 161
(opening) day^ is speech, for by means of speech men undertake (4rabh) whatever they do undertake.
2. The Abhiplava-sha//aha is this right hand^
This (little finger) is the first day thereof, — this
(upper joint ^) is its morning-service, this (middle joint)
its midday-service, and this (lower joint) its evening-
service : it is in place of the Giyatr!, whence this
(little finger) is the shortest of these (fingers).
3. This (third finger) is the second day, — this
(upper joint) is its morning-service, this (middle
joint) its midday-service, and this (lower joint) its
evening-service: it is in place of the Trish/ubh,
whence this (third finger) is larger than this (little
finger).
4. This (middle finger) is the third day, — this is
its morning-service, this its midday-service, and
this its evening-service : it is in place of the 6^agatl,
whence this is the largest of these (fingers).
5. This (fore-finger) is the fourth day, — this is its
morning-service, this its midday-service, and this
its evening-service : it is in place of the Vir^ ; for
the Vir^ is food, whence this (fore-finger) is the
most food-eating * of these (fingers).
^ Hereby the Aaturvi^n^ day would seem to be meant (as, indeed, it is also taken by Harisvdmin), see p. 157, note 3 ; p. 167, note i.
' The right hand is apparently taken here to represent the four limbs-— the arms and legs. In Sanskrit the terms for finger and toe (as for thumb and large toe) are the same.
' That is, apparently the bone joining the palm ; though possibly the one forming the extreme end of the finger may be intended. But inasmuch as the morning-service has five stotras as compared with the two of the evening-service the former might be expected to be compared with the larger of the two bones.
* Prof. Weber, Prat^g'^iitra, p. 97, refers to II, 4, 2, 18, where, in his opinion, the passage '(thus) they ladle out (food) for men' [44] M
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1 62 5ATapatha-brAhmajva.
6. This (thumb) is the fifth day, — this is its
morning-service, this its midday-service, and this
its evening-service : it is in place of the Paiikti, for
the Pankti is broad \ as it were, whence this (thumb)
is the broadest of these (fingers).
7. This (right arm) is the sixth day, — this (fore-
arm 2) is its morning-service, this (upper arm) its
midday-service, and this (shoulder-blade) its evening-
service : it is in place of the Atii^andas, whence this
(arm) is larger than those (fingers). That day is a
G4yatrl one, whence this shoulder-blade is the
shortest : this Abhiplava-sha^js^aha (extends) in this,
in this, in this, and in this, direction*; and the
Pr/shMya is the body (trunk).
8. Now, as to this, Paingya, knowing this, said,
* The Abhiplavas leap about (plavante), as it were,
and the Pr^sh/^ya stands (sth&)*, as it were; for
points to the fore-finger as the finger used most in eating. This is not improbable, though Saya^a, as well as the commentary on Kdty. IV, I, 10, it is true, does not interpret the passage in that way.
^ Viz. inasmuch as it consists of five pddas, — instead of three, as in the case of the Giyatrf, or four, as in that of the others.
^ Thus also Harisvdmin (hardly, the palm ; but see p. 16 1, note 3).
' Viz. in the direction of the two arms and the two legs. There being, in nine of the twelve months of the year, four Abhiplavas and one Pr/shMya in each month, the two kinds of six- days' performances as regards numbers, certainly offer an analogy to the limbs and the body.
^ This etymological quibble seems to refer to the &ct that the Abhiplavas are performed before the Pr/sh/^ya in the first half of the year, and after them in the second half; though the same feature of change might, vice versd, be applied to the Pr/shMya. It is possible, however, that the author may refer here to other characteristic features of the two kinds of Sha^ahas ; and it cannot be denied that the Abhiplava days are liable to much greater change than the Prxsh/^ya days. The constant change in the
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XII kA-YDA, 2 ADHYAYA, 4 BRAhMA-YA, IT. 163
this (man) leaps about, as it were, with his limbs, and he stands, as it were, with his body/
9. The TrWrzt (stoma) is its head, whence that (head) is threefold (trivm) — skin, bone, and brain.
10. The Pa^i^da^a (fifteen-versed hymn-form) is
the neck-joints, — for there are fourteen of these
(joints) ^ and the vital force is the fifteenth ; hence
by means of that (neck), though being small, man
bears a heavy burden : therefore the Pa»iada5a is
the neck.
11. The Saptadaya (seventeen-versed hymn-form) is the chest ; for there are eight *^tru ^ ' on the one
' sequence of stomas ' in the Abhiplava has already been referred 10 (p. 148, note i). Another source of change, in the Abhiplava, is the peculiar way in which the Brahmasdman (or Brdhma»d>&^a;7fsin's Prish/Aastotra) is varied from day to day. For, whilst during the months preceding the Vishuvat day, the Abhtvarta tune is used for this stotra on each day, but with different Pragdtha verses chanted thereto from day to day ; during the second half of the year, on the other hand, the same text (SSma-veda II, 806) is used throughout, whilst its tune is varied from day to day. Since in the second half of the year the order of the days of the Pr/shMya-sha<faha must be reversed, whilst this. is optionally the case as regards the Abhiplava, this feature can hardly be referred to here.
^ The 'grivd^' thus, as far as man is concerned, include not only the seven cervical vertebrae, but also the upper seven dorsal vertebrae, being those to which the true ribs are attached. It is worth remarking, however, that in large birds such as the eagle, the neck itself consists of fourteen vertebrae.
• The St Petersb. Diet, takes *^atru' in the sense of * tuberculae costarum,' or tubercles of the ribs, the projections near the ' heads ' of the ribs where these join the spinal vertebrae ; this conjectural meaning being based on VIII, 6, 2, 10, where the ribs are said to be fastened on both sides to the kikas&^ (? sternum) and the ^trava^. Against this conjecture (as the Diet, remarks) is the circumstance that the ^trava^ are here said to form part of the chest ; and, besides, the tubercle of the rib is not a separate bone, and would hardly be likely to be specially singled out in this
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1 64 ^ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiSTA.
side, and eight on the other, and the chest itself is
the seventeenth : therefore the Saptadaya (stoma) is
the chest
1 2* The Ekavi^^ja (twenty-one-versed hymn-form)
is the belly, for inside the belly there are twenty
* kunt4pa \' and the belly is the twenty-first : there-
fore the Ekaviw^a (stoma) is the belly.
13. The Tri^ava (thrice nine-versed hymn-form)
is the two sides (p4r5va); — there are thirteen ribs
(par^u) on the one side, and thirteen on the other *,
and the sides make up the thrice ninth : therefore
the Triwava (stoma) is the two sides.
14. The Trayastri»/5a (thirty- three- versed hymn- connection. Perhaps, therefore, the ^travail may rather be the costal cartilages connecting the seven true ribs with the sternum, and along with them the ligament of the collar-bone where it joins the sternum ; in which case the former passage would have to be understood in the sense that the ribs are on both (the right and left) sides fastened on to the costal cartilages and (through them) to the *k!kas^,' the breast-bone, or rather the several bones or plates of which the sternum consists, as articulated with the clavicles and the true ribs. It is possible, however, that ' kikasaA ' may have a different meaning from that here assigned to it, in ace. with the St. Petersb. Diet. Indeed, one would expect the ' ktkasd>l ' and *^trava>4 ' on different ends of the ribs.
* The meaning of 'kuntipa' is likewise doubtful. The St. Petersb. Diet, suggests that certain glands may be intended thereby; but possibly the term may refer to the transverse processes (forming spikes, so to speak ; cf. kunta) on both sides of the ten lower spinal vertebrae below the vertebra of the last true rib, — i. e. of the five lower dorsal, and the five lumbar vertebrae.
' The clavicle, or collar-bone, would thus seem to be classed along with the ribs. Rather peculiar, in the anatomical phrase- ology employed in the Brdhma»a, is the collateral use of *parju' and * pri'sh/i ' for ' rib ' ; and it is by no means clear that there is no distinction between the two terms. In connection with the Reta^i^ bricks the term ' pri'sh/i ' seems to be invariably used, — cf. VIII, 6, 2, 7, as against ib. paragraph 10 (parju).
Digitized by
XII KkNDA, 3 ADHYAYA, I BRAhMAYA, I. 1 65
form) is the spine ; for there are thirty-two * karQ-
kara ^ ' of that (spine), and the sptne itself is the
thirty-third : therefore the Trayastriw^a (stoma) is
the spine.
15. The Abhi^it is the same as this right ear;
the first Svaras&man is this white part of the eye, the
second the bkck part, and the third the pupil ; the
Vishuvat is the nose, the first backward Svarasdman
is this pupil of the eye, the second the black, and
the third the white part thereof.
16. The Vi^vafit is the same as this left ear ; the
Pf7'shMya and Abhiplava have been told ; the Go
and Ayus are the two downward breathings which
there are (in the body) ; the Da^ardtra the limbs,
the Mahivrata is the mouth; and the Udayanlya
Atiritra the up-breathing, for by means of the up-
breathing men go upwards (ud-yanti) : such is that
year as established in the body ; and, verily, whoso-
ever thus knows that year as established in the body,
establishes himself by offspring and cattle in this,
and by immortality in the other, world.
Third AdhyAya. First BrAhmaa^a.
I. * Seeing that all this threefold universe keeps
passing into one another, O Bildki, how is it that
* This is another term, the exact meaning of which is somewhat doubtful. The St. Petersb. Diet, takes *kar(ikara' to refer to the vertebrae of the spinal column ; and if that be correct, the term would seem to include not only the twenty-four joints of the back- bone down to the last lumbar vertebrae, but also the appendages of the spine, viz. the sacrum with its five, and the coccyx with its four pieces : this, it is true, yields thirty-three, instead of thirty-two, parts, but it seems scarcely possible in any other way — as, for instance, by taking into account the epiphysial plates between the vertebrae, alcmg with the latter — ^to arrive at a total approximating that mentioned in the above passage.
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1 66 ^atapatha-brAhmajva.
these, — to wit, the sacrifice, Man, and Pra^pati, — do not exceed one another ?
2. Seeing that the upward Stomas follow the
sacrifice, fitting themselves by repetitions with
Sftmans, how do they enter man, and how do they
become united with the vital airs ?
3. The Pr^ya^tya Atiritra, the ICsLtxxrvimsa, day,
the four Abhiplavas, and the Pr/sh/>6ya (sha^ha) : —
how do these enter man, and how do they become
united with the vital airs ?
4. Fitted out with the Abh^t, the Svarasfimans
join the Vishuvat on both sides : — how do these
enter man, and how do they become united with
the vital airs ?
5. Setting out with the Trivm, fitted out with the
(Pa^^ada^a and) Saptada^a, and ending with the
TrB.y3iStr\msB, ; with (the series of stomas increasing)
successively by four (syllables*) : — ^how do these
enter man, and how do they become united with
the vital airs ? '
6. The Trivrtt is his head, the Pa»iadaya his
neck ; and the chest, they say, corresponds to the
Saptada^ ; the Ekavi»wa they make the belly, and
