^ In the Ka«va text ' ata/i (therewith)' refers to the head of the sacrificer, — sa yak X'/nrasta upaspmaty ato va enam etad agre pra- vij-an pravij-aty ato va agre ^ayamano ^ayate tasma/^ /^/nrasta upaspr;!rati.
^ Apasyan mrityet = apagaM/^an mr/tim prapnuyat, Say. — ?apa- syet, ' he would force it out and it would die.' The Kawva text has merely ' ayam mn'tyet (!).'
34 5ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
own womb^ does not injure its offspring, and that
black deer's horn being indeed his own womb, that
(horn) does not injure him ; and therefore the conse-
crated should scratch himself with the black deer's
horn and with nothing but the black deer's horn.
32. He (the Adhvaryu) then hands to him a staff,
for driving away the evil spirits, — the staff being
a thunderbolt.
33. It is of Udumbara wood (Ficus Glomerata), for
him to obtain food and strength, — the Udumbara
means food and strength : therefore it is of Udum-
bara wood.
34. It reaches up to his mouth, — for so far extends
his strength : as great as his strength is, so great it
(the staff) is when it reaches up to his mouth.
35. He makes it stand upright, with the text,
'Stand up, O tree, erect; guard me from in-
jury on to the goal of this sacrifice!' whereby
he means to say, ' Standing erect, protect me till the
completion of this sacrifice !'
36. It is only now that some bend the fingers
inward - and restrain their speech, because, they
argue, only from now will he not have to mutter
anything. But let him not do so ; for in like manner
as if one were to try to overtake some one who runs
away, but could not overtake him, so does he not
overtake the sacrifice. Let him therefore turn in
his fingers and restrain his speech on that (former)
occasion.
37. And when the consecrated (after restraining his speech) utters either a rik, or a saman, or a ya^iis ^,
^ That is, the womb from which he (the sacrificer) is born.
* Viz. in muttering the formulas mentioned above, III, 2, i, 5 seq.
Ill KANDA, 2 ADHYAYA, I BRAHMAiVA, 40. 35
he thereby takes a firmer and firmer hold of the
sacrifice : let him therefore turn in his fingers and
restrain his speech on that (former) occasion.
38. And when he restrains his speech — speech
being sacrifice — he thereby appropriates the sacri-
fice to himself \ But when, from speech restrained,
he utters any sound (foreign to the sacrifice), then
that sacrifice, being set free, flies away. In that
case, then, let him mutter either a ri^ or a ya^us
addressed to Vish;/u, for Vish/^u is the sacrifice :
thereby he again gets hold of the sacrifice ; and
this is the atonement for that (transgression).
39. Thereupon some one ^ calls out, ' Consecrated
is this Brahman, consecrated is this Brahman :' him,
being thus announced, he thereby announces to
the gods : ' Of great vigour is this one who has
obtained the sacrifice ; he has become one of yours :
protect him !' this is what he means to say. Thrice
he says it, for threefold is the sacrifice.
40. And as to his saying, ' Brahman,' uncertain, as
it were, is his origin heretofore^; for the Rakshas,
they say, pursue women here on earth, and so the
Rakshas implant their seed therein. But he, for-
sooth, is truly born, who is born of the Brahman
(neut.), of the sacrifice : wherefore let him address
even a Ra^anya, or a Vai^ya, as Brahman, since he
who is born of the sacrifice is born of the Brahman
(and hence a Brahma;^a). Wherefore they say, ' Let
no one slay a sacrificer of Soma ; for by (slaying) a
Soma-sacrificer he becomes guilty of a heinous sin'T
^ Or, puts it in himself, encloses it within himself. ^ That is, some one other than the Adhvaryu, viz. the Pratipra- sthatr/ or some other person, Katy. VII, 4, 1 1 scholl. ^ That is, inasmuch as he may be of Rakshas origin. * Viz. of the crime of Brahmanicide (brahmahatya).
36 ^ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
Second BRAHMAiVA.
1. He maintains silence; and silently he remains
seated till sunset. The reason why he maintains
silence is this :
2. By means of the sacrifice the gods gained that
supreme authority which they now wield. They
spake, ' How can this (world) of ours be made un-
attainable to men ?' They sipped the sap of the
sacrifice, even as bees would suck out honey ; and
having drained the sacrifice and scattered it by
means of the sacrificial post, they disappeared : and
because they scattered (yopaya, viz. the sacrifice)
therewith, therefore it is called yupa (post) ^
3. Now this was heard by the 7?/shis. They
collected the sacrifice. As that sacrifice was col-
lected (prepared) ^ so does he who is consecrated
collect the sacrifice (by keeping his speech within
him), — for the sacrifice is speech.
^ Professor Whitney (American Journal of Philology, III, p. 402) proposes to take yopaya here in the sense of to set up an obstacle, to block or bar the way/ He remarks, 'How the setting up of a post should operate to " efface traces " cannot easily be made to appear.' I am not aware that any one has sjipposed that it was by the ' setting up' of the post that the traces of the sacrifice were obliterated. From what follows — ' They collected the sacrifice ' — it seems to me pretty clear that our author at any rate connects 'yopaya ' with the root yu, to mix, stir about, and hence to efface the traces by mixing with the ground, or by scattering about. This causative was evidently no longer a living form, but resorted to for etymological purposes.
^ Or, perhaps, They collected the sacrifice in the same way as this (present) sacrifice has been collected. See, however, the cor- responding passage III, 2, 2, 29; 4, 3, 16. The Ka?/va text is clearer : Ta.fu yatha yatharshayo yagnzm samabharaws tathayaw ya^fia^ sambhr/to yatho vai tad r/shayo yagiiam samabharann evam u va esha etad yagmm sambharati yo dikshate.
Ill KAA^DA, 2 ADHYAYA, 2 BRAHMAiVA, 7. ^J
4. When the sun has set, he breaks silence. Now Pra^apati is the year, since the sacrifice is Pra^apati ; and the year is day and night, since these two revolv- ing produce it. He has been consecrated during the day, and he has gained the night : as great as the sacrifice is, as great as is its extent, to that extent has he gained it before he breaks silence.
5. Some, however, make him break his silence on
seeing the (first) star^, arguing that then the sun has
actually set. But let him not do so, for what would
become of them if it were cloudy ? Let him therefore
break silence as soon as he thinks the sun has set.
6. Now, some make him break silence by the
formula, 'Earth! ether! sky!' arguing that thereby
they strengthen the sacrifice, they heal the sacrifice.
But let him not do so ; for he who breaks silence
with that (formula) does not strengthen the sacrifice,
does not heal the sacrifice.
7. Let him rather break silence with this one
(Va^. S. IV, 11),' Prepare ye the fast-food ! pre-
pare ye the fast-food! [prepare ye the fast-
food!] Agni is the Brahman, Agni is the sacri-
fice; the tree is meet for the sacrifice.' For
this indeed is his sacrifice, this is his havis-offering at
this (rite of consecration), even as the Agnihotra was
heretofore^. In thus preparing the (Soma) sacrifice
by means of the sacrifice, he establishes the sacrifice
^ 'After pointing out (some) stars [nakshatrawi darjayitva],' Kawva recension. Cf. Taitt. S.VI, i, 4, 4, 'when the stars have risen, he breaks silence with " Prepare the fast-food ! " '
^ That is to say, the eating of the fast-food, consisting chiefly of milk, takes, as it were, the place of the Agnihotra, or evening and morning sacrifice, which he is not allowed to perform during the time of his consecration.
38 5ATAPATHA-BRAHMAA^A.
in the sacrifice, and carries on the sacrifice by means
of the sacrifice ; for (the partaking of) that fast-food
is indeed carried on by him till the pressing of the
Soma. Thrice he pronounces (the first words ^), for
threefold is the sacrifice.
8. Moreover, he breaks silence, after turning
round towards the fire. He, on the other hand, who
breaks silence with any other (formula) but this 2,
does not strengthen the sacrifice, does not heal
the sacrifice. In pronouncing the first (part of the
formula) 3 he utters the truth of speech*.
9. ' Agni is the Brahman ' (neut), he says, for
Agni is indeed the Brahman (sacerdotium) ; — ' Agni
is the sacrifice,' for Agni is indeed the sacrifice ; —
'the tree is meet for the sacrifice,' for trees ^ are
indeed meet for the sacrifice, since men could not
sacrifice, if there were no trees : therefore he says,
'the tree is meet for the sacrifice.'
10. Thereupon they cook the fast-food for him.
For he who is consecrated draws nigh to the gods and
becomes one of the deities. But the sacrificial food
of the gods must be cooked, and not uncooked :
hence they cook it, and he partakes of that fast-milk
^ Viz. the injunction ' Prepare ye the fast-food !' which is indeed read thrice in the Ka«va text, where the arrangenment of these paragraphs is much clearer.
2 Thus Say. ' ato 'nyena, bhur bhuva/^ suvar ityanena ' (MS. I. O. 657). Dr. Lindner makes ata/z refer to Agni. The Kawva text begins the passage, corresponding to paragraphs 7 and 8 : ' So 'gnim ikshama^io visr/^ate vrataw kri;/uta (thrice) etad va etasya havir esha yzgiio yad vratam.'
^ That is, the words ' Agni is the Brahman.'
^ Viz. because 'the Brahman (neut.) is the truth (or essence, satyam),' Say.
^ Viz. trees from which sacrificial implements, fire-wood, the sacrificial stake, Sec, are obtained.
Ill KANDA, 2 ADHYAYA, 2 BRAHMAA^A, 1 4. ^.()
(vrata) and does not offer it in the fire. The reason
why he eats the fast-food and does not offer it in the
fire is this :
11. By means of the sacrifice the gods gained that
supreme authority which they now wield. They
spake, ' How can this (world) of ours be made un-
attainable to men?' They sipped the sap of the
sacrifice, even as bees would suck out honey ; and
having drained the sacrifice and scattered it by
means of the sacrificial post, they disappeared.
And because they scattered (yopaya) therewith,
therefore it is called yupa (post).
12. Now this was heard by the i?/shis. They collected the sacrifice. As that sacrifice was col- lected, so does he who is consecrated now become the sacrifice, for it is he that carries it on, that pro- duces it. And whatever (sap) of the sacrifice was sucked out and drained, that he now restores again by sipping the fast-milk and not offering it in the fire; for, assuredly, were he to offer it in the fire, he would not replenish (the sacrifice). But let him, nevertheless, think (that he does so) sacrificing and not the reverse.
13. For, verily, these vital airs are born of the
mind, endowed with mind\ of intelligent power^ :
Agni is speech ; Mitra and Varu;^a are the out-
breathing and the in-breathing ; Aditya (the sun) is
the eye ; and the All-gods are the ear, — it is unto
these deities that offering is thereby made by him.
14. Now, some add both rice and barley to the
first (day's) fast-milk, arguing, — " By means of these
two substances (rasa) we restore what part of the
sacrifice was sucked out and drained ; and, should
^ Manoyu^ (?), ' mind-yoked,' i.e. having thouglits for their team. ^ Cf. paragraph 18.
40 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAA^A.
the vrata-cow yield no milk, he may prepare bis fast-
food of whichever of these (cereals) he pleases ; and
thus both the rice and the barley are ' taken hold of
by him." But let him not do this ; for he who adds
both rice and barley (to the milk) neither replenishes
the sacrifice nor heals it. Let him. therefore add only
the one or the other (cereal). Both the rice and
barley doubtless form his (havis) material for offering
(at the New and Full-moon Sacrifice), and when they
do so become his material for offering, then they are
also ' taken hold of ^' by him. Should the vrata-cow
yield no milk, let him prepare the fast-food of which-
ever of them he pleases.
15. Some, again, add to the first (da3''s) fast-food
(vrata) all manner of vegetables and fragrant (season-
ing), arguing, — ' If disease were to befall him, he
might cure it by whatever thereof he pleases, as if
he cured it by the fast-milk 2.' But let him not
