^ According to Saya^a on Rig-veda I, 10, 11 (where Indra is called Kaui'ika, ' favourable to the Kmikas ') Kujika desired to have a son equal to Indra, whence the latter was born as Kujika's son Gathin (Gadhin). Differently Say. on Taitt. Ar. I, 12, 4.
^ The ShaJv. Br. (Ind. Stud. I, p. 38) explains this as follows: — The Gods and Asuras were at war with each other. Gotama was per- forming austerities between them. Indra went up to him and said, 'Go out as our spy.' 'I cannot,' he replied. 'Then I will go in your form.' 'As thou thinkest fit !' And because he (Indra) went about in the form of Gotama, passing himself off as Gotama, there- fore he says, ' thou who callest thee Gotama.'
^ The Ka?;va text also states that this last portion of the formula was devised by Aru?/i, but nothing is said as to its use being optional.
* For variations of this concluding part of the Subrahma«ya in different schools, see La/y. St. I, 3, 3 seq.; also notes to III, 9. 3> 10 ; IV, 9, 6, 25; Haug, Transl. Ait. Br. p. 383.
^ See III, I, 3, 1 seq.
Ill KANDA, 3 ADHYAYA, 4 BRAHMAiVA, 25, 8
Soma, and the offering is he himself who is
consecrated : thus they have seized him between
their jaws ; and by this victim he now redeems
himself ^
2 2. Now, some take a firebrand from the Aha-
vaniya, saying, * Here is Agni, and here is Soma :
with these two thus being together we will redeem
ourselves.' But let him not do this ; for whereso-
ever these two are, there they are indeed together.
23. It (the victim) is two-coloured, because it
belongs to two deities : ' For the sake of concord
between the two deities let it be a black-spotted
(buck) ! ' they say ; ' for that is most like those two
(gods).' If he be unable to obtain a black-spotted
buck, it may be a red-spotted one.
24. Thereon he makes (the sacrificer) say (Va^.
S. IV, 35; Rig-veda X, 37, i), 'Homage be to
the eye of Mitra and Varu^^a! perform ye dili-
gently this holy service to the god! singye
unto the far-seeing, god-born light, to Starya,
the son of the sky !' Thereby he renders homage to
it (the victim) and makes it a token of the covenant.
25. The Adhvaryu then removes the Soma-
wrapper. With(Va^. S. IV, 36) 'Thou art Varu;^a's
stay,' he props (the cart) with the prop. With 'Ye
two are the rest of Varu/^a's stay,' he pulls out
the two wedges. The reason why he says, 'Ye two
are the rest of Varu/^a's stay 2,' is that he, the bought
Soma, now indeed is of Varu^za^
^ ' By this victim he redeems himself, the victim, and with that redeemed self, now his own, he sacrifices.' Ka«va rec.
"^ Skambha visarg'ani (' support or pin of the prop ') is taken by Saya«a in the sense of ' offshoot of the prop ' or ' that which is let go (srz'sh/a) by the prop.'
^ I.e. belongs to Varuwa or is of Varuwa's nature (varu«yo
84 .SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
26. Thereupon four men take up the king's throne ;
two men, it is true, take it up for the human king, but
four take up this for him who rules over every-
thing here.
27. It is of udumbara wood — udumbara meaning
sap and food — for (the sacrificer's) obtainment of
sap and food : therefore it is of udumbara wood.
28. It reaches up to his navel, for it is there that
the food settles, and Soma is food : therefore it
reaches up to his navel. Moreover, there is the seat
of the seed, and Soma is seed : therefore it reaches
up to his navel.
29. He (the Adhvaryu) touches it with, 'Thou
art the rightful seat (r/tasadani) of Varu;^a!'
He then spreads on it the black deerskin with,
'Thou art the rightful seat (r/tasadanam) of
Varu/za!' and places him (Soma) thereon with,
'Seat thee on the rightful seat ofVaru;^a!'
The reason why he says, ' Seat thee on the rightful
seat of Varu;^a,' is that he (Soma) is now of Varu/^a's
nature.
30. Thereupon he makes him (king Soma) enter
the hall ; and in making him enter, he causes (the
sacrificer) to say (Va^. S. IV, 37; Rig-veda I, 91,
19), 'Whatsoever powers of thine they wor-
ship with offering, may they all encompass
the sacrificed Go forth to our dwellings, O
Soma, prospering our homes, ever helpful,
bestowing abundance of men, not slaying our
bhavati). Sayawa (if the MS. is correct) takes it in the sense of 'is Varuwa himself,' etasmin kritavasare some varuwo bhavati.
^ Or, ' may the sacrifice encompass them all,' if, with Grassmann and Ludwig, we read 'ya^?la//' instead of 'ya^ftam.' This verse is likewise recited (Pat the same time) by the Hotri, see p. 79, note 2.
Ill KAiVDA, 4 ADHYAYA, I BRAHMAiVA, 3. 85
men!' dwellings meaning houses, he thereby means
to say, * Go forth to our houses, kind, propitious,
not doing evil.'
31. Some now pour out a vessel of water beside
him, saying that this would be as one would bring
water for a king that has come to him. But let him
not do this, for they (who do this) do at the sacrifice
what is human, and inauspicious for the sacrifice
forsooth is that which is human : let him therefore
not pour out water, lest he should do at the sacrifice
what is inauspicious.
THE ATITHYA, or GUEST-OFFERING (HOSPITABLE RECEPTION GIVEN TO KING SOMA).
Fourth Adhyaya. First BRAiiMAiVA.
1. Verily, the guest-offering is the head of the
sacrifice, and the Praya;tiya and Udayaniya are its
arms. But the arm.s are on both sides of the head :
therefore those two oblations, the Praya;2iya and
Udayaniya, are on both sides of the guest-offering.
2. Now as to why it is called 'guest-offering.'
He, the. purchased Soma, truly comes as his
(the sacrificer's) guest, — to him (is offered) that
(hospitable reception) : even as for a king or a Brah-
man one would cook a large ox or a large he-goat —
for that is human (fare offered to a guest), and the
oblation is that of the gods — so he prepares for him
that guest-offering.
3. Here now they say, 'Let him first walk past
(Soma) and take out (the material for offering)!'
For (they argue) where people do not show respect
86 S-ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
to a worthy person (arhant) who has come to them,
he becomes angry, — and in this way he (Soma) is
indeed honoured.
4. Then only one (of the oxen) is to be unyoked,
and the other to be left unyoked^; and thereupon he
is to take out (the material for offering) : for (they
argue) in that one of them is unyoked, thereby he
(Soma) has arrived ; and in that the other is left
unyoked, thereby he is honoured.
5. Let him, however, not do this ; but let him
take out (the material for offering) only after un-
yoking (both oxen) and after making (Soma) enter
(the hall); for the ways of men are in accordance
with those of the gods. And accordingly, in human
practice, so long as (a guest) has not unyoked,
people do not bring water to him and show him no
honour, for so long he has not yet arrived ; but
when he has unyoked, then they bring him water
and show him honour, for then he has indeed
arrived : let him therefore take out (the material
for offering) only after unyoking and after making
(Soma) enter (the hall).
6. Let him take it out with all speed, for thus he
(Soma) is honoured. The housewife holds on to it
from behind- ; for the sacrificer holds on to him
(Soma), while he is driven around, and here his wife
does so. Thus they enclose him on the two sides
by a (married) couple : and, indeed, wherever a
' This is the practice recognised by the Taittiriyas (T. S. VI, 2, 1,1), on the ground that, if one were to unyoke both oxen, he would interrupt the sacrifice ; and if he were to leave them both unyoked, it would be as if a hospitable reception were given to one who has not actually arrived.
* That is, by touching the Adhvaryu while he takes out the sacri- ficial food. See p. 79, note 3.
Ill KANDA, 4 ADHYAYA, I BRAHMA^■A, lO. Sy
worthy person comes, there all the inmates of the house bestir themselves, for thus he is honoured.
7. Let him take out (the material) with a different
formula from that wherewith (one takes out) any-
other oblations \ since, when he (Soma) is bought,
he is bought for one special destination, — for the
sovereignty of the metres, for the supreme sove-
reignty of the metres. The metres act as attendants
about him ; even as the non-royal king-makers, the
heralds and headmen, (attend upon) the king, so do
the metres act as attendants about him (Soma).
8. In no wise, then, is it befitting that he should
take out any (material for offering) solely ' for the
metres 2;' for whenever people cook food for some
worthy person^, then the attendants about him, the
non-royal king-makers, the heralds and headmen,
have their share (of the food) assigned to them after
(or along with their master): hence, when he takes
out that (oblation to Soma), let him assign the
metres a share in it along with (the deity).
9. He takes it out, with the text (Va^. S. V, i),
'Thou art Agni's body, — thee (I take) for
Vish;2u!' the Gayatri is Agni : to Gayatri he thus
assiofus her share.
10. 'Thou art Soma's body, — thee for Vish;m !' Soma is the nobility, and the Trish/ubh
^ For the ordinary formula with which material for offering is taken out at an ish/i, 'At the impulse of the divine Savitr/, I take thee with the arms of the A^vins, with the hands of Pushan, thee well-pleasing to — !' see I, i, 2, 17.
2 According to Taitt. S. VI, 2, i, the five portions are taken out for the metres Gayatri, Trish/ubh, Gagati, Anush/ubh, and Gayatri, with the texts, ' Thou art Agni's hospitable feast, for Vishwu (I take) thee,' &c.
^ ' Arhant ' seems rather to mean ' ruler ' here.
88 ^ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
is the nobility : to Trish/ubh he thus assigns her share.
11. 'Thou art the guest's hospitable enter-
tainmentS — thee for Vish^m!' This is his (Soma's)
special share : as there is a special share for a chief,
so is this his special share apart from the metres.
12. 'Thee for the Soma-bearing falcon ! thee
for Vish;2u !' thereby he assigns to Gayatri her
share. Because Gayatri, in the form of a falcon,
carried off Soma from the sky, therefore she is the
Soma-bearine falcon : in virtue of that heroic deed
he now assii{ns to her a second share.
13. 'Thee for Agni, the bestower of pros-
perity! thee for Vish;zu!' Prosperity means
cattle, and the C'agati (the moving, living one)
means cattle : to 6^agati he thereby assigns her share.
14. Now as to his taking five times; — the sa-
crifice is of equal measure with the year, and five
seasons there are in the year : the latter he gains in
five (divisions); — for this reason he takes five times.
And as to his taking it with ' For Vish/m (I take)
thee ! for Vish;/u thee !' it is because he who takes
out (material) for the sacrifice, takes it for Vish/m.
15. It is a sacrificial cake on nine potsherds ; — for
the guest-offering is the head of the sacrifice, and
the Gayatri consists of nine syllables^: eight (syl-
lables) are those he recites and the sacred syllable ^
is the ninth ; and the Gayatri is the fore-part of the
' Atither atithyam, 'the guest's guest-meal.'
'^ According to Taitt. S.VI, 2, i, 4, it is because the head has nine seams, ' navadha s'lro vishyutam.'
^ The final syllable of the prayers recited in offering is pro- tracted and nasalized, a final 'a' becoming 6m, — this drawing out of the syllable is called ' prawava.'
Ill KANDA, 4 ADHYAYA, I BRAHMAiVA, 1 8. 89
sacrifice S and so is that (cake) the fore-part of the sacrifice : therefore it is a cake on nine potsherds.
t6. The enclosing-sticks are of karshmarya
wood (GmeHna Arborea^), for the gods, once upon a
time, perceived that one, the karshmarya, to be the
Rakshas-killer among trees. Now, the guest-oifer-
ing being the head of the sacrifice, the enclosing-
sticks are of karshmarya wood, in order that the evil
spirits may not injure the head of the sacrifice.
17. The prastara-bunch ^ is of a 5 vav a la-grass
(Saccharum Spontaneum). For, once upon a time,
the sacrifice escaped from the gods. It became a
horse (a^va) and sped away from them. The gods,
rushing after it, took hold of its tail (vala) and tore
it out ; and having torn it out, they threw it down
in a lump, and what had been the hairs of the
horse's tail then grew up as those plants (of a^va-
vala-grass). Now the guest-offering is the head of
the sacrifice, and the tail is the hind-part (of animals) :
hence by the prastara being of a^vavala-grass he
encompasses the sacrifice on both sides.
