* The Kanshttaki-br&hxna/fa (VIIJ, 3), on the other hand, seems to justify the prohibition on the ground that, piior to the first complete Soma-sacrifice, the body of the Sacrifice (and Sacrificer) is incomplete, and therefore not ready to receive its head, in the shape of the Pravargya. Hence also the same work allows the Pravargya to be performed at the first Soma-sacrifice of one who is thoroughly versed in the scriptures, since such a one is himself the body, or self, of the sacrifice.
» See XI, 1,6, 10.
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1 5ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
(eighth) adhySya of kdWa XIII of the Mlldhyandina re- cension, and is stated ^ to include also the Pravargya sectioa (Madhy. XIV, 1-3). Now it is a strange fact that the six adhydyas of the BrAad4ra«yaka (XIV, 4-9 in the Midh- yandina text) are counted 3-8 in the K4«va text, — a circumstance which manifestly can only be explained by the Pravargya section being taken to form the first two adhydyas of the last book of that version. This, indeed, is probably implied in the remark added to the description of a MS. of the KAnvsL text in the catalogue of the MSS. of the Sanskr/t College, Benares (p. 44), according to which
* Pl-avargyak^fwJasya patrd/ii ' are * bhinnapramA«4kshara;ii,* — that is, * the leaves of the Pravargya section have a special pagination * (? i. e. they are numbered independently of the section on funeral rites preceding them).
And now my task is done, and I must take leave of this
elaborate exposition of the sacrificial ordinances of Indian
theology. For well-nigh a score of years the work has
* dragged its slow length along,' and during that time it has caused me — and, I doubt not, has caused some of my readers, too — not a few weary hours. In the early stages of the work, my old teacher, Professor Albrecht Weber, than whom no one is more deeply versed in the intricacies of the sacrificial ritual, wrote to me : * You have undertaken a difficult, a most difficult task ; and I can only hope that your courage and patience will not fail you before you are through with it.' And, indeed, I must confess that many a time I felt as if I should never be able to get through my task ; and but for Professor Max Muller's timely exhorta- tions and kindly encouragement, the work might perhaps never have been completed. * I know,' he once wrote to me, * you will thank me one day for having pressed you to go on with your work ; ' and now I do indeed thank him most sincerely and with all my heart for the kindness and patience he has shown me these many years. But, strange to say, now that the work is completed, I feel as if I could not do without working at it ; and certainly, if
* Cf. A. Weber, .S'atapatha-br&hma/fa, p. xi.
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INTRODUCTION. ll
a second edition could ever have been required of a work of this kind, it would have found me ready once more to work my way through the bewildering maze of rites ; and I know only too well that I should have to correct many a mistake, and could improve many an awkwardly ex- pressed passage. In conclusion, a word of cordial thanks is due to the staff of the University Press, whose patience must often have been severely tried in the course of the printing of this work, and who, by the excellence of their presswork, and by their careful supervision, have materially lightened my task, and saved mc much tedious and irksome labour.
J. EGGELING.
Edinburgh, Decembtr 30, 1899.
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5ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
ELEVENTH KANDA.
The Full and New-Moon Sacrifice
First Adhyaya. First Brahmaj^a.
1. Verily, Pra^pati, the Sacrifice, is the Year: the
night of new moon is its gate, and the moon itself is
the bolt of the gate.
2. And when one lays down the two fires at new
moonS — even as one would enter a stronghold by
the gate, when the gate is open, and would thence
reach the world of heaven, so it is when one lays
down the fires at new moon.
3. And if one lays down the fires under a (special)
asterism*, — just as if one tried to enter a stronghold,
when the gate is closed, in some other way than
through the gate, and failed to get inside the strong-
hold, so it is when one lays down the fires under an
asterism : let him therefore not lay down the fires
under an asterism.
4. On the same day on which that one (the moon) should not be seen either in the east or in the west,
' For the performance of the Agnyidhana, or setting up the sacrificial fires, see part i, p. 274 seqq.
' For the Nakshatras, or lunar mansions, under which the Agnyddhina may be performed, see II, i, 2, i seqq., and especially II, I, 2, 19, where the practice of regulating the time of the ceremony by the Nakshatras is discouraged.
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let him fast, for it is then that he (the moon) comes
to this worlds and on that (day) he abides here (on
the sacrificial ground).
5. And all the gods abide (here), all the spirits, all
the deities, all the seasons, all the Stomas (hymn-
forms), all the P;"/sh/>6as*, and all the metres.
6. And, verily, it is for all the gods, for all spirits,
for all deities, for all seasons, for all Stomas, for all
Presh/^as, and for all metres that the fires of him
are laid down who lays them down at new moon :
he should therefore lay them down at new moon.
7. He may lay down the fires on the new moon
which falls in the (month) Vai^dkha, for that coincides
with the Rohi»l (asterism); for the Rohi^^i means
the self, offspring and cattle®; he thus becomes
established in a self, in offspring and cattle. But,
indeed, the new moon is the form of the Agnyi-
dheya : let him therefore lay down the fires at new
moon ; — let him perform the preliminary ceremony*
at full moon, and the initiation ceremony at new
moon.
Second BrAhmajva.
I. Now when they spread (and perform) the sac-
rifice, they kill it; and when they press out king
Soma, they kill him ; and when they * quiet * and cut
up the victim, they kill it, — it is by means of the
mortar and pestle, and by the two mill-stones that
they kill the Havirya^»a (grain-offering).
1 See I, 6, 4, 5.
" For the six Pr/shMa-simans, see part iii, introd., p. xx seqq.
* See II, I, 2, 6. 7.
* For the Anv&rambha/ft)'&-ish/i, lit. * taking-hold offering,' see part ii, p. 40, note i.
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XI KANDA, I ADHYAyA, 2 BRAHMAiVA, 6. 3
2. And having killed the sacrifice, he pours it, as
seed, into the fire as its womb, for, indeed, the fire is
the womb of the sacrifice, from out of it it is pro-
duced : let him therefore perform those ten oblations^
for which the Vasha^ is uttered.
3. And, indeed, this sacrifice is the blowing
(wind): he blows here, as it were, as a single one,
but when he has entered into man, he is divided into
ten parts ; — with the vital airs thus distributed, it
(the sacrifice) is born from out of its womb, the fire :
this is that Virfi^ of ten syllables, this is that per-
fection, the sacrifice.
4. There may, however, be nine (oblations)^; — he
thus forms a defective (lesser, lower) Vir^ with
a view to production; for from the lesser ^ indeed,
creatures are produced here : this is that perfection,
the sacrifice.
5. But there may be one additional (oblation)^, —
that one remains over for Pra^^pati : this is that
perfection, the sacrifice.
6. And there may be two additional (oblations)^,
* These ten oblations of the New and Full-moon sacrifice (as the model for Havirya^^fas generally), as enumerated by Sdyana, are {a) at lull moon — five fore-offerings, two butter-portions, two cake-offerings to Agni, and Agni-Soma, and a low-voiced offering to Agni-Soma, (d) at new moon — five fore-offerings, two butler- portions, a cake to Agni, a low-voiced offering to Vishnu, and an offering of (sweet and sour) milk, or Sdnniyya, to Indra.
* Viz. inasmuch as, according to Sdya^a, at the Full-moon sacrifice the offering to Agni-Soma only takes place in the case of one who is a Soma-offerer. I find, however, no authority for this.
' Or, from the lower part (nyiina); cf. II, i, i, 13 ; 5, i, 20.
* That is, if the oblation to Agni Svish/akri't (part i, p. 199 seqq.) is taken into account.
* According to Sdya^ia, the second additional offering is the oblation of clotted ghee to Vanaspati (the lord of the forest, or
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iSATAPATHA-BRAhMAJVA.
— a productive pair consists of two : thus a productive pair is produced ; this is that perfection, the sacrifice.
7. And there may be three additional ones\ —
a productive pair consists of two, and that which is
produced is the third: this is that perfection, the
sacrifice.
8. And there may be four additional ones*, — ^as
the one so the four. There are these three worlds :
these worlds he thus gains by three (oblations); and
Pra^pati, indeed, is the fourth beyond these worlds :
by the fourth (oblation) he thus gains Pra^pati, —
this is that perfection, the sacrifice.
9. That (sacrifice) which is defective in two (obla-
tions)' is indeed defective, it is not a sacrifice; and
that which is excessive in respect of five (oblations)
is indeed excessive, it is not a sacrifice : this is that
perfection as regards the ten, the twenty, thus up to
a thousand*.
10. Verily, they who perform the Full and New-
moon sacrifice, run a race*^. One ought to perform
it during fifteen years ; — in these fifteen years there
are three hundred and sixty full moons and new
the tree, i. e. the sacrificial stake, or Soma) at the animal sacrifice. Cf. part ii, p. 208.
' These three oblations, according to Siya^a, are the three after-offerings (to the Barhis, to N&rajawsa, and to Agni), see part i, p. 230 seqq.
■ Viz. either the Svish/aknl and the three after-offerings; or the four PatnfsamyS^s (to Soma, Tvash/ri, the wives of the gods, and Agni Grihapati), cf. part i, p. 256 seqq.
' That is, if it includes only eight oblations, see paragraph 4.
* That is, counting every ten (oblations) one Virig^, or metrical pida of ten syllables.
' Viz. running along, as they do, with the revolutions of the moon and the sun.
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XI KANDA, I ADHYAYA, 3 BRAhMAJVA, I. 5
moons ; and there are in a year three hundred and sixty nights : it is the nights he thus gains.
11. He should then offer for another fifteen years ;
in these fifteen years there are three hundred and
sixty full moons and new moons ; and there are in
a year three hundred and sixty days : it is the days
he thus gains, and the year itself he thus gains.
12. Now, indeed, the gods were at first mortal;
and only when they had gained the year they were
immortal; for the year is everything, and the im-
perishable means everything : thereby then accrues
to him imperishable merit, the imperishable world.
13. He who, knowing this, offers (the Full and
New-moon sacrifice) for thirty years, becomes one
of the race-runners, whence one ought to offer sacri-
fice for not less than thirty years. But if he be
a performer of the D4ksh&ya»a sacrifice \ he need only
offer for fifteen years, for therein that perfection is
brought about, since he performs (every month) two
Full-moon and two New-moon offerings, and thus
that perfection is indeed brought about therein.
Third BnAHMAisrA.
I. When he has performed the Full-moon sacri-
fice, he prepares an additional (cake) for Indra
Wimridh (the repeller of scomers), and offers it
in accordance with the procedure of an ishri^; and
when he has performed the New-moon sacrifice, he
prepares an additional rice-pap for Aditi^ and offers
it in accordance with the procedure of an ish/i.
' For this modification of the New and Full-moon sacrifice, see part i, p. 374 seqq.
• That is to say, after the model of the Full-moon sacrifice.
• See part i, p. 375, where read * Aditi' for * Aditye.'
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.SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiyrA.
2. And as to why, after performing the Full-moon
sacrifice, he prepares (a cake) for Indra Vimr^'dh, it
IS because Indra is the deity of the sacrifice ; but the
chief oblation of the Full-moon sacrifice belongs to
Agni and Soma, and nothing is offered there with
the formula 'To Indra (I offer) thee ! * Hereby then
that oblation comes to be shared by Indra, and so
does the sacrifice come to be shared by Indra. And
as to why (he offers) with *To (Indra) YimrzdhV
it is that by the Full-moon sacrifice he slays all
scomers (mr/dh), all evil spirits.
3. And as to why, after performing the New-moon
sacrifice, he prepares a pap for Aditi, — that moon
doubtless is the same as King Soma, the food of the
gods : when on that night he is not seen either in
the east or in the west, the oblation becomes, as it
were, uncertain and unfirm. Now Aditi is this earth,
and she, indeed, is certain and firmly established :
thereby, then, that oblation of his becomes certain
and firmly established. Such, then, is the reason
why he prepares additional oblations; now as to
why he should not prepare them.
4. When, after performing the Full-moon sacri-
fice, he prepares an additional (cake) for Indra
Vimr^dh, he does so in order that his sacrifice should
become shared in by Indra, for every sacrifice
belongs to Indra. But inasmuch as every sacrifice
belongs to Indra, thereby that oblation of his, and
that sacrifice, is already shared in by Indra.
5. And when, after performing the New-moon
sacrifice, he prepares an additional pap for Aditi, —
surely the New-moon sacrifice is itself an additional
one ; for by the Full-moon sacrifice Indra slew
Vmra, and for him who had slain Vmra, the gods
