Digitized by
2 50 DATAPATH A-BRAHMAi^A.
northern, and two on the southern altar-ground ^
for the northern vedi is this (terrestrial) world, and
the southern one the world of the Fathers : he thus
consecrates him for both worlds.
7. Concerning this, Gaurlviti ^'fiktya, knowing
this, once said, * Like rulers *, assuredly, we shall be
in yonder world!* Perhaps* it was y?^"shabha
YS,^»atura, king of the ^'vikna, who had told
him so.
8. He places the throne-seat, with (V^, S. XX, i),
*Thou art the womb of the Kshatra, thou art
the navel of the Kshatra!' for it indeed is the
womb and navel of the Kshatra (ruling power).
9* He then spreads the black antelope skin thereon, with, *May it not injure thee! do not
* For the two special Vedis, see p. 22 s, note i.
* * A kind of Kshatriyas,' Delbrtick, Altind. Synt, p. 494.
* For this or some such meaning (* probably' — German, ' woW or ' vielleicht ') which seems to me to suit best the use of ' ^ajvat' in the Brdhma«as, see part iii, p. 98, note 2. — ^Thus, at I, a, 3, 2, I would now translate ' and perhaps it was Trita who slew him, — Indra at all events was exonerated from that (guilt), for he is a god.' Similarly, I, 8, x, 4, 'perhaps it was a ^^^a, for that (fish) grows best (fastest);' II, 2, i, 2, *If, on the other hand, that oblation were not ofifered up in him, he would perhaps bum either the Adhvaryu, or the Sacrificer/ Somewhat peculiar is the passage, I, 6, 3, 10, where jarvat occurs both in the relative and in the demonstrative clause, and where we can hardly translate otherwise than * If, perchance, he had said, " Grow thou, the foe of Indra ! " he (Vr/lra) would perhaps have slain Indra.' — Hitte er vielleicht (etwa) gesagt : * Wachse, du Feind Indras I ' so wQrde er (Vritra) vielleicht (? gewiss) Indra erschlagen haben. — If this be the right interpretation of these passages, they would have to be transferred, in the St. Petersb. Diet., from meaning b (?) to c, where * vielleicht' would have to be added, as it certainly suits better than ' gewiss' (most likely) the last of the foregoing passages, at all events. The comm. explains ' jarvat ' by ' bahukrilva^'
Digitized by
XII KANDA, 8 ADHYAyA, 3 BRAHMAiVA, 1 3. 25 1
injure me!' for the black antelope skin is the
sacrifice : (thus it is spread) for the safety of the
sacrifice and his own self.
10. He then mounts it, with a verse to Varu«a
(y&g. S. XX, 2), for Varu«a is the king of the
gods : by means of his own deity he thus con-
secrates him\ — *He hath sat down, the up-
holder of the sacred law, Varu«a, in the
home-steads, for supreme rule, he the wise ! *
11. He then throws down a gold and a silver
plate (beneath his feet, the silver one beneath the
left foot) with, 'Protect (me) from death!'
(the gold one beneath the right foot^ with,)
* Protect (me) from lightning!' The VirS^,
doubtless, is the rain, and of this there are these
two terrible forms, lightning and hail ; of these the
gold plate is of the form of lightning, and the silver
one of that of hail : against these two deities he
affords protection to him, whence he who has per-
formed the Sautr4ma«l has no fear of these two
deities, as he also who thus knows this.
12. He consecrates him by sprinkling him with
the fat gravy of the sacrificial animals, for the gravy
of the animals means excellence : with that excel-
lence, the essence of cattle, he thus sprinkles him.
But that gravy is also the highest kind of food : with
the highest kind of food he thus sprinkles him.
13. There are hoof-cups (of gravy), for on hoofs
cattle support themselves : he thus causes him
to obtain a support. There are thirty-three (such)
' Cf. V, 4, 4, 5, where the verse is explained.
* Or, on the head, according to others. The plates are of the
usual round shape.
Digitized by
252 ^ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
cupfuls, for thirty-three in number are all the
deities: by means of all the deities he thus con-
secrates him. He offers them with ^gatl verses,
for animals are of ^gata (movable) nature : by
means of the 6^agatl he thus secures cattle for him.
With sixteen verses (VS^f. S. XIX, 80-94) ^^ offers,
for animals are of sixteen parts : he thus bestows
excellence (or prosperity) on him part by part
14. 'With lead the wise, with wool and
thread^ the sages weave the web, the sacri-
fice: the A^vins, Savitre, Sarasvatl, and
Varuwa healed the form of IndraV Each
time he has offered two (cupfuls) together, he
pours the residue into a bowl (sata) : he thereby
establishes the days and nights, the half-months,
the months, and the seasons in the year, and hence
these days and nights, half-months, months, and
seasons are established (contained) in the yean
15. The bowl is made of reed, for the reed has
its birth-place in the waters, and the waters are all
the deities: by means of all die deities he thus
consecrates him.
16. A rubbing down (of the Sacrificer) with all
manner of sweet-smelling substances takes place
(before sprinkling him with fat), for such a rubbing
down with all manner of sweet-smelling substances
means supreme fragrance: with fragrance he thus
consecrates (anoints) him.
17. He sprinkles him (with the fat gravy) in front while (himself) looking towards the back (west), for
* See p. 219, note 3.
' Only the first pdda of this, the first of the sixteen verses, is given in the text. Regarding the allusions in this verse, see XII, 7, I, loseqq.; 2, 17; 7, 3, 3.
Digitized by
XII kAjvda, 8 adhyAya, 3 BRAnMAiVA, 19. 253
from the front food is visibly eaten. On every side (he
sprinkles him) whilst moving round : he thus bestows
food on him from all quarters, whence food is se-
cured from all quarters by him who has performed
the Sautr&manl, or even by him who thus knows
this.
18. With a formula to the A^vins he sprinkles
him first \ then with one to Sarasvatl, then with one
to Indra : it is by means of these deities he thus
consecrates him. Now, some consecrate him by
means both of these deities and those utterances,
•bhM, bhuva^, svar,' *for,' say they, * these utter-
ances (" earth, air, heaven '*) mean all this (universe) :
it is by means of all this (universe) we thus conse-
crate him.' Let him, however, not do so, but let
him only consecrate him by means of those deities,
for those deities, indeed, are all this (universe).
19. He consecrates him prior to the Svish/akret
(offering), for the Svish/akm is the Kshatra : he thus
consecrates him by means of the Kshatra (or, by a
Kshatriya). And he consecrates him between (the
oblation to) the Lord of the Forest ^ and the
^ According to Kdty. St. XIX, 4, 14-17, he sprinkles him up to the mouth, letting it flow down on all four sides ; and with each sprinkling he pronounces one of the formulas, first, the Sdvitra one, YSig, S. XX, 3, * At the impulse of God Savitn (1 consecrate) thee by the arms of the Axvins, and the heads of PQshan ! ' followed by the Axvina one, *with the healing medicine of the Axvins I sprinkle thee for energy and holy lustre I ' and the Sdrasvata one, ' with the healing medicine of Sarasvat! I sprinkle thee for vigour and food !' Then a fourth time with a formula referring to all the deities (or with the three great utterances), or with the Aindra text, * With India's power I sprinkle thee for strength, for excel- lence, and for fame 1 '
• For this oblation, see III, 8, 3, 33 ; IV, 5, 2, 11 ; in both cases it is followed immediately by the oblation to Agni Svish/aknt
Digitized by
254 ^ATAPATHA-BRAHMAJVA,
Svish/akm, for the lord of the forest (or the tree) is
Soma, and the Svish/akr^t (maker of good offering)
is Agni ; he thus consecrates him after encompassing
him by Agni and Soma ; whence both those who
know, and those who do not, say, * A Kshatrijra is
the consecrator of a Kshatriya^'
20. They then lift him up^ knee-high, then navel-
high, then as high as the mouth ; for the VS^peya
doubtless is the same as the consecration, and the
Sautrdma»l is a consecration ; and even as there, at
the VA^peya, he (the Sacrificer) mounts the sacri-
ficial stake ^, like that is this rite.
21. As to this they say, * But, surely, he who is
consecrated by the SautrAma^l moves away from
this world/ Well, he descends again upon the
black antelope skin, and, the black antelope skin
being the sacrifice, he thus finally establishes him-
self on the sacrifice.
22. [He descends*, with Vdf. S. XX, 10,] * Firmly^
I establish myself in the Kshatra (lordship),
in royal sway,' — in lordship and royal sway he
thus establishes himself so as not to lose lordship
and royal sway; — 'firmly in horses I establish
* Kshatriyo ra^o*bhishekti bhavati, pQrvam hi i%aiva vr/ddhaA kumdra/72 ^dbhishi^i^tfty artha^ ; comm.
* According to Kdty. St. XIX, 4, 19-21, the Adhvaryu first touches him, with (V^g. S, XX, 4), * Thou art Ka, thou art Katama, — to Ka thee I ' and the Sacrificer replies, * O thou of good fame ! O most propitious one I O true king 1 ' and touches his limbs one after another with XX, 5-9.
' See part iii, p. 32 (V, 2, i, 9 seqq.).
* That is, when the throne-seat has been lowered again, he rises from it and stands on the deer-skin.
* The function of 'prati' here seems to be to strengthen the preposition in the verb ' prati-tish/MmL'
Digitized by
XII KANDAy 8 adhyAya, 3 brAhmaya, 24, 255
myself, and in kine/ — in the midst of horses and
kine he thus establishes himself so as not to lose
horses and kine; — * firmly in the limbs I estab-
lish myself, and in the body/ — in the limbs
and in the body he thus establishes himself so as
not to lose his limbs and his body; — 'firmly in
the vital airs I establish myself, and in pros-
perity,'— in the vital airs and in prosperity he thus
establishes himself so as not to lose the vital airs
and prosperity; — * firmly in heaven and on earth
I establish myself, and in the sacrifice,^ — he
thus establishes himself in these two, heaven and
earth, within which is all this (universe).
23. He^ then sings a S&man (hymn-tune), for the
Sdman means lordship (kshatra) : with lordship he
thus consecrates him ; or the S4man means imperial
sway : by means of imperial sway he thus causes
him to attain imperial sway. And, indeed, the
Siman is the essence of all the Vedas : he thus
consecrates him with the essence of all the Vedas.
24. He sings it on a hrth^tl verse*, for established on the Brthsiti, as his excellence and foundation,
* According to the commentator on Katy. XIX, 5, i, the Brahman angSy whilst JJJy. V, 4, 16-19 gives directions from which the Udgdtn would seem to be expjected to perform this duty. When the Sacrificer is being anointed, the Udgdtr/ is to step between the (northern and southern) fires and, as soon as he is called upon by the Adhvaryu, he is to commence the Sdman. It would probably depend on the Brahman's previous studies, whether or not he was sufficiently conversant with the complicated details of the hjonnology.
* Viz. V^. S. XX, 30 (^/ks. VIII, 89, 1), * To Indra, O Maruts, sing ye the great (hymn), most destructive to Vri'tra, whereby the promoters of sacred rites produced the light, the wakeful god for the god/
Digitized by
256 ^atapatha-brAhmajva.
that sun shines': he thus establishes him on the Br^'hatt, as his excellence and foundation.
25. He sings it on a br/hatl verse relating to
Indra, for this sacrifice, the Sautrima^f, belongs
to Indra, and even now he who sacrifices has Indra
for his support : he thus consecrates him on his
own support (or resting-place).
26. And as to why (these hymns) are called
'bracers*;' it is because by means of these Simans
the gods braced Indra up to energy, or vital power :
in like manner do the officiating priests, by means of
these Simans, brace the Sacrificer up to energy, or
vital power. ' Sa;«jravase, vi,nravase, satya^ravase,
.yravase ' ' — these are the S&mans : they proclaim
