XIII kAjvDA, 2 ADHyAyA, I BRAHMAiVA, 6. 297
he thus gratifies. He offers whilst mentioning
names, with (Vi^. XXII, 23-33), * To the in- (and
out-) breathing hail! to the off-breathing
haiPl' . • . he thus gratifies them by mentioning
their names. [V4f. S. XXII, 34], *To one hail!
to two hail! • . . to a hundred hail! to a
hundred and one hail!' He offers in the proper
order: in the proper order he thus gratifies them
(the gods). He performs oblations successively
increasing by one ^ for single, indeed, is heaven :
singly he thus causes him (the Sacrificer) to reach
heaven. Straight away' he offers in order to the
winning of heaven ; for straight away, as it were,
is heaven.
6. But, verily, he who offers the oblations straight
^ These eleven anuv&kas consist of altogether 149 such short dedicatory formulas — addressed to the vital airs, the regions, the waters, wind, fire, &c. — each ending with 'svdhS (hail)/ These are followed, in anuvdka 34, by formulas addressed to the cardinal numbers from i to loi ; succeeded by two formulas addressed to the dawn and to heaven respectively, — all of these again ending with 'svihS/ The Annahomas themselves, offered by the Adhvaryu's assistant, the Pratiprasthfttn, are not, however, limited to any number; but their performance is to be continued throughout the night in such a way that each of the four three- hours' watches of the night is to be taken up with as many oblations of one of the four kinds of offering materials — in the order in which they are enumerated in the text — as can be got into the space of three hours. The formulas addressed to the cardinal numbers — (which are on no account to extend beyond loi) — are apparently supposed amply to suflBce to fill up the time till dawn, when the Adhvaryu makes an oblation of ghee to the Dawn, followed by one to Heaven (or the realm of light) after sunrise.
' That is, in offering with the formulas addressed to the cardinal numbers.
' That is to say, without repeating any formula, or commencing again from the beginning, when the whole series is exhausted.
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298 5ATAPATHA-BRAHMAJVA.
awayS is liable to fall (pass) right away. He does
not go beyond a hundred and one : were he to go
beyond a hundred and one, he would deprive the
Sacrificer of his vital power. He offers a hundred
and one, for man has a life of a hundred (years),
and his own self is the one hundred and first : he
thus establishes himself in a self (or body), in vital
power. With *To the Dawn hail! to Heaven
hail!' he offers the two last' oblations; for the
dawn is the night, and heaven (the realm of light)
is the day : it is day and night he thus gratifies.
7. As to this they say, *Were he to offer both
either by day or by night, he would confound day
and night with one another ^' With * To the Dawn
hail ! ' he offers before the sun has risen, and with
* To Heaven hail ' when it has risen, to avoid con-
fusion between day and night.
Second BrAhmajva. The Second Soma-day (Ukthya).
1. Verily, this — to wit, the A5vamedha — is the
king of sacrifices. But, indeed, the A,rvamedha is
the Sacrificer, (for) the sacrifice is the Sacrificer:
when he (the priest) binds victims to the horse (or,
at the horse-sacrifice), he then, indeed, takes hold'
of the sacrifice at the sacrifice.
2. * A horse, a hornless he-goat, and a Gomrzga * '
^ That is, without stopping.
* There is no *iti' here; and the quotation, therefore, may perhaps extend to the end of the paragraph.
' Arabhate prdpnoti, comm. ; it might also be rendered by ' he enters upon the sacrifice.'
^ This (and the identical passage XIII, 5, i, 13) looks like a quotation, as if quoted from V^. S. XXIV, i ; where are
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XIII kXnDA, 2 ADHYAYA, 2 BRAhMAJVA, 3, 299
these they bind to the central stake : thereby, in-
deed, he (the priest) sharpens the front of his (the
Sacrificers) army^ whence the front of the kings
army is sure to become terrible.
3. A black-necked (he-goat), sacred to Agni, in
front (of the horse) to its forehead * : the original
(hall) fire he makes it, whence the kings hall-fire
is sure to be (efficient) \
likewise found the references to the other victims and their places, in paragraphs 2-9. Possibly, however, the 'iti' may be used here with a kind of 'deiktic' force (cf. the similar use in XIII, 2, 8, i) ; if, indeed, it does not simply refer to * gomr/ga/ i.e. 'the animal called Gomrrga' (lit. 'bovine deer*), regarding which see note on XIII, 3, 4, 3. — Though the victims to be immolated on this day are first dealt with in this and the following Brdhma^as, their slaughter only takes place at the usual tune at every Soma-sacrifice, viz. after the Sarpawam (XIII, 2, 3, i seqq.), the chanting of the BahishpavamSna Stotra, and the drawing of the Ajvina-graha. On the present occasion these ceremonies are preceded by the drawing of the Mahiman cups of Soma (see XIII, 2, II, I seqq.); whilst the chant is followed by the driving up of the victims, and the putting to of the horse, and the driving to the water, treated of in XIII, 2, 6, i seqq.
^ Harisvimin takes this to mean that he makes the (sacrificial) horse, i. e. the king, alone the head of the army, — r^^bhiitam apy ajva/n senimukham eka/n karotfty artha^.
* According to the comments on V^. S. XXIV, i, and Kity. XX, 6, 4, a rope is wound round the horse's body in the same way as it is done with a bottle-gourd (lagenaria vulgaris), and it is to this rope that these so-caUed ' paryahgyS^ (circumcorporal),' or victims surrounding the (horse's) body, would then be tied.
* The commentator explains 'bh&vuka' by 's&dhur bhavati;' and he adds that this is important inasmuch as numerous magic rites, such as rites for insuring success and averting evil (j&ntika- paush/ika), and incantations (dbhiHrika) are performed thereon. It is the name here assigned to this, the Avasathya, fire, viz. ' p{ir- vigni ' or, original fire — with its secondary meaning * front-fire ' — which is seized upon by the author for symbolically identifying it with the victim ^sistened in front (or to the front) of the horse.
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300 5atapatha-brAhmana.
4. An ewe, for Sarasvatl, beneath the (horse's)
jaws : he thereby makes women to be dependent,
whence women are sure to be attendant upon man.
5. Two (he-goats), black on the lower part of
the body \ for the A^vins, (he ties) to the front legs :
he thereby lays strength into the front legs, whence
the king is sure to be strong in the arm K
6. A dark-grey (he-goat) for Soma and POshan
at the (horse's) navel : a foothold he makes this
one; for Pfishan is this (earth): it is thereon he
establishes himself.
7. A white one and a black one, for Sflrya and
Yama, on the flanks : a suit of armour he makes
those two ; whence the king, clad in mail, performs
heroic deeds.
8. Two, with shaggy hind thighs, for Tvash/r?,
to the hind legs; he lays strength into the thighs,
whence the king is sure to be strong in his thighs.
9. A white one, for VSyu, to the tail, — an elevation
he makes this one, whence people in danger betake
themselves to an elevated place*; — a cow wont to
cast her calf, for Indra, the ever active, in order
to associate the sacrifice with Indra; — a dwarfish
one for Vish«u ; for Vishwu is the sacrifice : it is in
the sacrifice he (the Sacrificer) thus finally establishes
himself
ID. These, then, are the fifteen 'paryangya' (body-encircling) * animals, — for fifteenfold is the
* Mahldhara takes ' adhor^ma ' to mean * white-coloured on the lower part of the body.'
* The word * bdhu ' means both * arm ' and * front leg.'
' That is, a mountain, a palace, high ground, &c., comm. ('vdyur hi skandhasyoit^^rita ity abhipriyaA').
* Here the encircled horse itself, and the other two victims
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thunderbolt, and the thunderbolt means manly
vigour: with that thunderbolt, manly vigour, the
Sacrificer now repels evil from in front ^ (of the
sacrifice).
11. And fifteen (victims), indeed, are (bound) to
each of the other (stakes) ; — for fifteenfold is the
thunderbolt, and the thunderbolt means manly
vigour: with that thunderbolt, manly vigour, the
Sacrificer now repels evil on both sides* (of the
sacrifice),
12. As to this they say, *Does he really repel
evil by these?' And, indeed, he does not make
up the complete Pra^pati, and does not here gain
everything.
13. Let him rather bind seventeen animals to
the central stake*; for seventeenfold is Pra^pati,
and the A,fvamedha is Pra^pati, — thus for the
lied directly to the central stake, are improperly included in the term 'paryangya.'
' Viz. inasmuch as the sacrificial stake to which the horse is tied (and hence the victims fastened thereto) is the so-called 'agnishMa' stake, or the one standing opposite to (directly in front of) the Ahavaniya fire.
* Viz. inasmuch as these other stakes stand in a line to the north (left) and south (right) of the central stake. Whilst, in the case of a simple *ek4darint' (cf. III, 7, a, i seqq.) there would be five stakes on each side of the central one, at the A^vamedha there are to be twenty-one stakes, or ten on either side of the central stake. See XIII, 4, 4, 5 seqq.
• These seventeen victims do not include the twelve paryangyas which are tied to different parts of the horse's body, but only to those which are actually tied to the central stake, — viz. the horse and its two immediate neighbours (paragraph 2), then twelve victims (enumerated V^. S. XXIV, 2, beginning with three victims of different shades of red, rohiia), and lastly two beasts belonging to two sets of eleven victims finally superadded to the sets of fifteen victims tied in the first place to the stakes. Cf. note on XIII, 2, 5, 2,
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302 5'ATAPATHA-BRA HMAJ\rA.
obtainment of the A^vamedha. And sixteen
(victims he binds) to each of the other (stakes),
for of sixteen parts (kald) consists all this * (universe) ;
all this (universe) he thus gains.
15. Now some make the invitatory-formulas and
the offering-formulas (to be pronounced) separately
for the ' paryangyas/ saying, ' For these we find
(formulas) — for the others, on account of not finding
any, we do not use them*.' Let him not do so;
^ Regarding this division into sixteen parts, as applied to man, the animal, and the universe, see Weber, Ind. Stud. IX, p. 1 1 1 with note.
* Or, ' what Apris (appeasing verses) is he to pronounce over them?' These verses are pronounced as the offering-formulas (y^yd) at the fore-offerings of the animal sacrifice. Sec part ii, p. 185, note I.
» Viz. VS^. S. XXIX, i-ii.
* Viz. V^g, S. XXIX, 25-36, beginning, * Enkindled in the house of man this day, a god, thou worshippest the gods, O (rdtavedas.'
" The commentator takes this to mean that, inasmuch as these paryahg}'as — ^here improperly including the horse itself and the two other victims of Pra^paii at the central stake — are assigned to commonly invoked deities, formulas relating to these would easily
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for the horse is the nobility (chieftain), and the
other animals are the peasantry (clan); and those
who do this really make the peasantry equal and
refractory to the nobility; and they also deprive
the Sacrificer of his vital power. Therefore the
horse alone belongs to Pra^^patiS and the others
are sacred to the gods: he thus, indeed, makes
the peasantry obedient and subservient to the
nobility; and he also supplies the Sacrificer with
vital power.
16. The slaughtering-knife of the horse is made
of gold, those of the * paryangyas ' of copper, and
those of the others of iron ; for gold is (shining)
light, and the A^vamedha is the royal office: he
thus bestows light upon the royal office. And by
means of the golden light (or, by the light of the
gold), the Sacrificer also goes to the heavenly world ;
and he, moreover, makes it a gleam of light shining
after him, for him to reach the heavenly world.
17. But, indeed, the horse is also the nobility; and this also — to wit, gold — is a form (symbol) of
