10. When he pours ghee on the high altar, he
^ ' Mano^avas ' is taken by Mahidhara and Sayawa as referring to Yama.
^ ' 6"o>^anti (sorrowing),' Ka«va rec.
124 ^ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
does it twofold even while doing it in one\ Now
that which is the southern of the two front corners
of that navel, so to say, which is in the middle of
these (sides of the high altar) —
11. On that 2 he pours ghee, with the text (Va^.
S. V, 12), ' Thou art a lioness, Hail !' Then on
the northern of the two back corners with, 'Thou
art a lioness, winning the Adityas^, Hail!*
Then on the southern of the two back corners with,
'Thou art a lioness, winning the Brahman,
winning the Kshatra, Hail!' Manifold, verily,
is the prayer for blessing in the sacrificial texts : by
this one he prays ^ for the Brahman (priesthood) and
the Kshatra (nobility), those two vital forces.
12. Then on the northern of the front corners
with, 'Thou art a lioness, winning abundant
offspring, winning growth of wealth. Hail!'
In that he says, 'winning abundant offspring/ he
prays for offspring ; and in that he says, ' winning
growth of wealth ' — growth of wealth meaning
abundance — he prays for abundance.
13. He then pours ghee into the middle with,
'Thou art a lioness, bring thou hither the
gods for the sacrificer! Hail!' whereby he
causes the gods to be brought to the sacrificer.
He then raises the offering-spoon with, 'To the
* Viz. by pouring tlie ghee cross-wise on the corners of the * navel ' of the altar.
^ The south-east is sacred to Agni, the north-west to Vayu. ^ Because the Adityas brought her as a Dakshiwa, Ka;zva rec; cf. 111,5,1,18.
* But for the lack of a demonstrative pronoun with asih one would like to take the passage thus: 'Plenteous, forsooth, is this prayer for blessing among sacrificial texts : he thereby prays for the priesthood and the nobility.' Cf. I, 2, i, 7.
Ill KANDA, 5 ADHYAYA, 2 BRAHMAiVA, 1 8. 1 25
beings thee! Hail! ' — beings meaning offspring — he thereby means to say, ' To offspring thee ! '
14. He then lays the enclosing-sticks^ round (the
navel); with the text (Va^. S. V, 13), 'Thou art
firm, steady thou the earth!' the middle one;
with, 'Thou art firmly settled, steady thou the
air!' the right one ; with, 'Thou art immovably
settled, steady thou the sky!' the left one.
With, 'Thou art Agni's provision' he throws
the 'equipments' upon (the high altar). Where-
fore are the equipments ? — for Agni's completeness,
15. The pine-wood, namely, is his body^: hence
in that there are enclosing-sticks of pine-wood,
thereby he supplies him with a body, makes him
whole.
16. And the bdellium, forsooth, is his flesh : hence
in that there is bdellium, thereby he supplies him with
flesh, makes him whole.
1 7. And the fragrant reed-grass (sugandhi-te^ana),
forsooth, is his fragrance : hence in that there is
fragrant reed-grass, thereby he supplies him with
fragrance, makes him whole.
18. And as to why there is a wether's hair-tuft, —
Agni, forsooth, dwelt once for one night between the
two horns of a wether : ' Whatever of Agni's nature
is inherent therein, let that be here too,' so he
thinks, and therefore there is a wether's hair-tuft.
Let him, therefore, cut off that (tuft) which is nearest
to the head, and bring it ; and if he be unable to
procure that, let him bring any kind (of wether's
hair). And why there are enclosing-sticks ? — for the
^ They are of pitudaru (Pinus Deodora) wood, a span (of thumb and fore-finger) long.
^ The Kawva text makes it his bones.
126 S-ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
protection (of Agni) : for it is somewhat long before the next enclosing-sticks will come nigh to him\
CONSTRUCTION OF SHEDS, AND PREPARATION OF PRESSING-PLACE AND HEARTHS (DHISHiV^YAS).
Third Brahmaa^a.
1. The sacrifice is a man; it is a man for the
reason that a man spreads (prepares) it. In being
spread it is made just as large ^ as a man: this is
why the sacrifice is a man.
2. The Soma-cart (shed) is no other than his
head, and has Vish;m for its deity ^ And because
Soma is therein — Soma being havis (material for
offering) for the gods — therefore it is called Havir-
dhana (receptacle of havis).
3. The Ahavaniya is no other than his mouth :
hence, when he offers on the Ahavaniya, it is as if
he poured (food) into the mouth.
4. The sacrificial stake is no other than his crest-
lock ; and the Agnidhriya and Mar^aliya* are his
arms.
^ Ordinarily the laying round of the paridhis takes place immedi- ately before the fire is kindled for the offering; but as the next offering is not to come off for some time, the fire would be without a protec- tion, if he were to leave it without the enclosing-sticks. Sayawa takes 'dure' in the sense of ' in a long time,' as above; but it might be taken of space ' far off,' when the passage would refer to the offering about to be performed on the old Ahavaniya (111,5, 3, 10 seq.); and it may be noticed in reference to this point, that, according to Katy. VIII, 3, 30, that fire does not become the Garhapatya till immediately after that offering.
2 Yavat-tavat would rather seem to mean here 'of corresponding (or relatively the same) proportions ' as a man, viz. as the respective sacrificer. ' Sa vai tayamano yavan eva purushas tavan vidhiyate, purushasyaiva vidham anu.' Kawva rec.
^ Soma himself is Vishwu. * See III, 6, i, 23 ; 2, 21.
Ill KAiVDA, 5 ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMAiVA, 9. 1 27
5. The Sadas^ (tent for the priests) is no other
than his belly : wherefore they feed in the Sadas,
for whatever food is eaten here on earth all that
settles down here in the belly. And because all
the gods sat (sad) in it therefore it is called Sadas:
and so do these Brahmans of every family now sit
therein.
6. And the two fires which are behind^ it are
his feet. In being spread it is made just as large
as a man : this is why the sacrifice is a man.
7. The cart-shed has doors on both sides ; and
so has the Sadas doors on both sides : hence
this man is perforated from one end to the other.
He steps to the Soma-carts when they have been
washed down.
8. They turn them round, the southern one on
the south side, and the northern one on the north
side^ The larger of the two should be the southern
(or right) one*.
9. Over them, having been turned round (and
placed on the altar), they put a mat of reed-grass ; or,
if he cannot procure a reed-mat, a frame of split cane
^ See III, 6, 2, 21.
^ That is, the (old) Ahavaniya and Garhapatya fires of the Pra>^ina- vaOTja.
^ The southern (and larger) cart is under the charge of the Adhvaryu and the northern one under that of his assistant, the Pra- tiprasthatr/. Each now drives his cart westward along the south and north sides respectively ; and when they are opposite the hall (jala), they make the carts turn round from left to right ; where- upon they drive back to the altar, and place them thereon with the shafts towards the east, near the anta/^pata (' intermediate ' peg, see III, 5, I, i), south and north of the ' spine ' (cf. p. 112, note 2), each at the distance of one cubit from the latter.
* In order to make the shed incline towards the north, cf. Ill, 1,1,2.
I 2 8 fi-ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
made in like manner as a reed-mat. They fasten
a front-band (to the posts of the front door^). They
enclose (the carts) within two upright hurdles ; and
lay a (second) reed-mat, or a frame of split cane
made in like manner as a reed-mat, behind (the first
mat^).
10. Now^ having again entered (the hall), and
^ It is not clear to me whether the arrangements mentioned in this paragraph refer to the carts in the first place, and have then to be repeated after the shed has been erected, or whether, as I think, some of them refer to the shed only. Even at the time of the Katy. Sutras there seems to have been some confusion in this respect, and the rules VIII, 4, 7-12 (10-15, in edition) were entirely misunder- stood by the commentator. It is, however, certain that the carts were covered with mats, previously to being shifted from the back to the front part of the altar. As regards the shed, it seems to have been constructed in the following way. In front of the carts, as well as behind them, beams are driven into the ground, six on each side, according to Sayawa on T. S. I, 2, 13 ; the two middle ones, one cubit north and south of the ' spine ' respectively, forming a gateway on each side (Katy. VIII, 4, 24 scholl.). On these two rows of beams other beams are laid, running from south to north, and forming, as it were, the lintels of the gates ; and thereon the tie-beams rest (west to east). This frame of timber is to form a square of nine (or ten) cubits. Over the tie-beams three mats of reed-grass (y^adis) — measuring nine (or ten) cubits by three (3 1) — are spread, from south to north ; first the middle one and then the two others, behind and in front of it. Upright hurdles (or reed-mats) are then stretched between the respective corner-posts, so as to form the south and north sides of the shed ; and are * sewn ' to the corner-posts. Between the tops of the two front door-posts a band or garland of plaited reed-tufts (or, according to Haug, a bunch of Darbha grass, consisting of dry and green stalks) is hung up, to represent either a fillet or wreath worn on the forehead (P), or as a door-garland.
^ This remark would seem to imply that there are only two mats
(cf. parags. 23, 24), but perhaps it is merely intended to show that two
mats are spread behind and in front of the first mat (i. e. from south
to north, and not west to east) ; not that there are only two mats.
^ If the preceding paragraph refers (at least partly) to the shed,
A . _ . a
III KANDA, ,5 ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMAiVA, 12. 1 29
taken ghee in four ladlings, he makes offering to
Savitr2 for his impulsion, for Savltri is the impeller
(prasavitrz) of the gods : ' We will perform the sacri-
fice, for one impelled by Savitrz',' thus (the priest
thinks and) therefore he makes offering to Savitre.
11. He offers with the text (Vicr. S. V, 14; Rig-
veda V, 81, i), 'They harness the mind and they
harness the thoughts' — with the mind and with
speech they truly perform the sacrifice. When he
says, ' They harness the mind,' he harnesses the
mind ; and when he says, ' and they harness the
thoughts (dhi),' he harnesses speech ; for it is thereby^
that people seek to make their living in accordance
with their respective intelligence (dhi), either by
reciting (the Veda), or by readiness of speech, or by
songs, — with these two thus harnessed they perform
the sacrifice.
12. 'The priests of the priest, of the great
inspirer of devotion,' — the learned Brahmans
versed in sacred writ, truly, are the priests : it is
regarding them that he says this. And ' of the great
inspirer of devotion 2,' — the great inspirer of devotion,
truly, is the sacrifice : it is regarding the sacrifice
that he says this. 'The knower of rites alone
hath assigned the priestly offices,' for, in per-
then the atha here means ' Now, in the first place,' thereby intro- ducing details preliminary to what has just been stated.
^ See III, 2, 4, 16. I now refer 'etaya' to ' va/^am,' as does Saya«a, — yada buddhir ^ayate tada khalv etaya vaia o-u_^yushanti. He explains ' prakamodya ' by ' mlai-^/C'/nka/;^ laukikaw bhashawam,' barbarous, worldly speech.
^ Vipaj/^it, probably ' thinker of hymns,' It remains doubtful what meaning our author assigned to the word. Mahidhara explains it by sarva^fia, ' all-knowing.' Sayawa, on Taitt. S. I, 2, 1 3, refers ' viprasya brz'hato \ipask[ta.h ' to the sacrificer. [26] K
130 ^-ATAPATHA-BRAHMA.VA.
forming the sacrifice, they indeed assign the priestly
offices. 'Great is the praise of the divine Savitre;
Hail !' Thus he offers to Savit?^^ for his impulsion.
13. Having then taken ghee a second time in four
ladlings, he walks out (of the hall by the front door).
The (sacrificer's) wife is led out by the south door.
He then lays down a piece of gold in the right wheel-
track of the southern Soma-cart, and offers thereon,
with (Va^. S. V, 15; Rig-veda I, 22, 17), 'Vish/^u
s trode through this(universe), thrice he put down
his foot : itisenvelopedinhisdust ; Hail!' The
residue (of ghee) he pours into the wife's hand. She
anoints the burning (part) of the axle ^ with (Va^.
S. V, 17), 'Audible to the gods, announce ye
unto the sfods!' He hands to his assistant both
the offering-spoon and the melting-pot. They lead
the wife round by the back of the two fires ^.
14. Having taken ghee in four ladlings, the assist-
ant lays down a piece of gold in the right wheel-
track of the northern Soma-cart, and offers thereon,
with (Va^^. S. V, 16; Rig-veda VH, 99, 3), 'Be
ye too abundant in food and milch kine and
pastures, through benevolence to man!
Thou proppedst asunder these two worlds,
O Vish;^u; with beams of light didst thou
hold fast^ the earth on all sides; Hail!' The
residue (of ghee) he pours into the wife's hand.
She anoints the burning (part) of the axle with,
