^ Also the two fringed filtering-cloths (dajapavitre), according to the Ka;?va rec.
and speed the lord of the sacrifice ever on-
wards, Hail!' Thereby he takes a firm stand in
that resting-place, the sky : he thus gains that world
by offering with that (verse).
1 6. And as to his offering with a verse addressed
to Vish;2ii, it was thus that they made him (Soma)
to be too small for the deadly shaft and led him
safely across in the form of a drop, for the drop is
nimble. And having attained to safety, he now
makes him the one he really is, namely, the sacri-
fice, for Vish;^u is the sacrifice : therefore he offers
with a verse addressed to Vish;zu.
17. After depositing the spoons^ and touching
water, he makes the king (Soma) enter (the Havir-
dhana shed). The reason why he makes the king
enter, after depositing the spoons and touching
water, is this. The ghee is the thunderbolt, and
Soma is seed : hence it is after depositing the
spoons and touching water that he makes the king
enter, lest he should injure the seed Soma with
the thunderbolt, the ghee.
18. He spreads the black deer-skin on the en-
closed part of the southern Soma-cart, and sets him
down thereon with (Va^. S. V, 39),' O divine Savi-
trz, this is thy Soma: shield him; may they
not injure thee!' whereby he makes him over to
the God Savitrz* for protection.
19. Having quitted his hold of him, he (the sacri-
ficer) renders homage to him with, ' Now, O divine
Soma, hast thou, a god, joined the gods, and
^ *He then deposits the Prastara on the mound (p. 140, note 2), deposits there the ^uhu and the upabhr?'t and the pr/shada^ya ; and having touched the sacrificial materials and touched water, he takes the king and enters (the cart-shed),' &c. Ka«va rec.
Ill KAiVDA, 6 ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMAiVA, 2 1. 1 6 1
here I the men with increase of wealth.' Now
Agni and Soma have seized him who consecrates
himself between their jaws^ for that consecration-
offering belongs to Agni and Vish;2u, and Vish;2u
forsooth is no other than Soma ; and he himself that
consecrates himself is the food of the gods : thus
they have seized him between their jaws, and he
now expressly redeems himself from Soma, when he
says, * Now, O divine Soma, hast thou, a god, joined
the gods, and here (have I joined) the men with
increase of wealth;' — increase of wealth means
abundance : ' with abundance ' he thereby means
to say.
20. He then walks out (of the cart-shed), with,
*Hail! I am freed from Varu;2a's noose!' For
he, truly, is in Varuwa's noose who is in another's
mouth : he now frees himself from Varu;^a's noose,
when he says, ' Hail ! I am freed from Varu^a's
noose.'
21. He then puts a kindling-stick on the Aha-
vaniya in this way^, 'O Agni, protector of vows,
on thee, O protector of vows — ■' for Agni is lord
of vows to the gods, wherefore he says, ' O Agni,
protector of vows, on thee, O protector of vows ' —
'what bodily form of thine hath been on me,
(may) that (be) on thee; what bodily form of
mine has been on thee, (may) that (be) here on
me! Our vows, O lord of vows, (have been per-
formed) rightly : the lord of consecration hath
^ See III, 3, 4, 21.
^ Thus (iti), viz. with the following modifications of the corres- ponding formula, used at the 'intermediary consecration,' III, 4, 3, 9. Perhaps 'iti' may mean ' thus,' i.e. while still keeping his fingers turned in ; or, it may mean ' as such ' (as a free man).
I 6 2 ^-ATAPATHA-BRAHMAA^A.
approved my consecration; the lord of pen-
ance hath approved my penance.' Thereby he
frees himself visibly from Agni, and sacrifices with
a self (body) now his own : hence they now partake
of his food, for he is a man (again) ; hence they now
use his (real) name, for he is a man. And as to their
not eating (of his food) heretofore, it is as one would
not eat of sacrificial food, before offering has been
made thereof: therefore let no one partake of
the food of one consecrated. He now loosens his
fingers.
THE ANIMAL SACRIFICE^ TO AGNI AND SOMA.
Fourth BRAHMAiVA.
A. The Setting Up of the Sacrificial Stake.
1. Being about to cut the sacrificial stake, he
offers 2 with a verse addressed to Vish?m. For the
stake belongs to Vish;2u ; therefore he offers with
a verse addressed to Vish^zu.
2. And again, why he offers with a verse ad-
dressed to Vish^m — Vish;2u being the sacrifice, he
thus approaches the stake by means of the sacri-
fice : therefore he offers with a verse addressed to
Vish;^u.
3. If he offers with the offering-spoon, he offers
after taking ghee by four ladlings ; and if he offers
with the dipping-spoon, he offers after ' cutting out '
(some ghee from the pot) with the dipping-spoon ; —
with the text (Vi^. S. V, 41), ' Stride thou widely,
^ On the Animal Sacrifice, cp. Dr. J. Schwab's dissertation, ' Das altindische Thieropfe ,' 1882.
^ This oblation is called yiapahuti, or 'stake-offering.'
Ill KAiVDA, 6 ADHYAYA, 4 BRAHMAiVA, 7. 1 63
O Vish^^u, make wide room for our abode! drink the ghee, thou born of ghee, and speed the lord "of the sacrifice ever onwards! Hail!'
4. He takes the ghee which is left (in the melting-
pot). Whatever chopping-knife the carpenter uses,
that the carpenter now takes. They then proceed (to
the wood). Whatever (tree) they select for the stake,
5. That he touches while muttering (Va^. S. V,
42), — or he salutes it while standing behind it with
his face towards the east, — 'I have passed over
the others, I have not gone nigh the others — '
he does indeed pass over others and does not go
near to others : wherefore he says, ' I have passed
over the others, I have not gone nigh the others.'
6. 'Thee have I found on the nearer side
of the farther, and on the farther side of the
nearer;' he does indeed fell it on the nearer side
of the farther, of those that are farther away from
it ; and ' on the farther side of the nearer,' he says,
because he does fell it on the farther side of the
nearer, of those that are on this side of it. This
is why he says, ' Thee have I found on the nearer
side of the farther, and on the farther side of the
nearer.'
7. ' Thee do we favour, O divine lord of the
forest^, for the worship of the gods.' As
for the good work, he would favour (select) one from
amidst many (men) and he (the chosen) would be
well-disposed to that work, even so does he now,
for the good work, favour that (tree) from amidst
many, and it becomes well-disposed to the felling.
^ ' Vanaspati ' is a common synonym of vr/Tcsha, tree.
1 64 5'ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
8. ' Thee may the gods favour for the wor-
ship of the gods!' for that is truly successful
which the gods favour for the good work : therefore
he says, ' Thee may the gods favour for the worship
of the gods ! '
9. He then touches it with the dipping-spoon,
with, ' For Vish;2u, thee!' for the stake belongs
to Vish?m, since Vish;«u is the sacrifice, and he fells
this (tree) for the sacrifice : therefore he says, * For
Vish/^u, thee ! '
10. He then places a blade of darbha-grass be-
tween^ with, 'O plant, shield it!' for the axe is
a thunderbolt ; but thus that thunderbolt, the axe,
does not hurt it (the tree). He then strikes with
the axe, with, 'O axe, hurt it not!' for the axe is
a thunderbolt, but thus that thunderbolt, the axe,
does not hurt it.
11. The first chip^ which he cuts off, he takes
(and lays aside). Let him cut (the tree) so as to
cause no obstruction to the axle ^ For, indeed, it is
on a cart that they convey it, and in this way he does
not obstruct the cart.
^ Viz. he places or holds it against where he is about to strike the tree, so as first to cut the grass.
^ For the destination of this chip of the bark, see III, 7, i, 8.
^ That is to say, he is not to cut the tree too high from the ground, so that the axle of the cart might readily pass over the remaining stump without touching it. The Ka/zva text reads, ' tam anakshastambhe vn'sked uta hy enam anasa vakshyanto bhavanty uto svarga?« hasya lokaw? yate (sic) 'kshastambha/z syat tasmad anakshastambhe vn'skeU' Nothing is said anywhere about the yupa being conveyed on a cart to the sacrificial ground, if, indeed, that statement refer to the yupa at all. Sayawa's comment is very corrupt here, but he seems to interpret the passage to the effect that some people might convey the stake on the cart (pakshe anasS yupaw nayeyu,^) and that in that case the cart would be obstructed.
Ill KANDA, 6 ADHYAYA, 4 BRAHMAiVA, 1 6. 1 65
12. Let him cut it so as to fall towards the east,
for the east is the quarter of the gods ; or towards
the north, for the north is the quarter of men ; or
towards the west. But let him take care to keep it
from (falling towards) the southern quarter, for that
is the quarter of the Fathers : therefore he must take
care to keep it from the southern quarter.
13. The falling (tree) he addresses with the text
(Va^. S. V, 43), 'Graze not the sky! hurt not
the air! unite with the earth!' for verily that
(tree) which they cut for the stake is a thunderbolt,
and these worlds tremble for fear of that falling
thunderbolt ; but he thereby propitiates it for these
worlds, and thus propitiated it injures not these
worlds.
14. Now when he says, ' Graze not the sky,' he
means to say, 'Injure not the sky!' In the words
' hurt not the air ' there is nothing obscure. By
* Unite with the earth,' he means to say, ' Be thou in
harmony with the earth !' ' For this sharp-edged
axe hath led thee forward unto great bliss,' for
this sharp axe indeed leads it forward.
15. Upon the stump he then offers ghee, * lest the
evil spirits should rise therefrom after (the tree):'
ghee being a thunderbolt, he thus repels the evil
spirits by means of the thunderbolt, and thus the
evil spirits do not rise therefrom after it. And
ghee being seed, he thus endows the trees with that
seed ; and from that seed (in) the stump trees are
afterwards produced ^.
16. He sacrifices with, ' Grow thou out of this, O lord of the forest, with a hundred shoots!
^ Or, ' hence trees grow up again from the stump (? after felling, " a vra^/^anat ") out of seed.'
1 66 5'ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiV^A.
May we grow out with a thousand shoots!' There is nothing obscure in this.
1 7. Thereupon he cuts it (the stake of the proper
length) : of whatever length he cuts it the first time,
so long let it remain.
18. He may cut it five cubits long; for fivefold is
the sacrifice and fivefold is the animal (victim), and
five seasons there are in the year : therefore he may
cut it five cubits long.
19. He may cut it six cubits long ; for six seasons
there are in the year ; and the year is a thunderbolt,
as the sacrificial stake is a thunderbolt : therefore he
may cut it six cubits long.
20. He may cut it eight cubits long, for eight
syllables has the Gayatri, and the Gayatri is the
fore-part of the sacrifice, as the sacrificial stake is
the fore-part of the sacrifice : therefore he may cut
it eight cubits long.
21. He may cut it nine cubits long, for threefold
is the sacrifice, and ' nine' is threefold : therefore he
may cut it nine cubits long.
22. He may cut it eleven cubits long, for eleven
syllables has the Trish/'ubh, and the Trish/ubh is
a thunderbolt, as the sacrificial stake is a thunder-
bolt : therefore he may cut it eleven cubits long.
23. He may cut it twelve cubits long, for twelve
months there are in the year, and the year is a
thunderbolt, as the sacrificial stake is a thunderbolt :
therefore he may cut it twelve cubits long.
24. He may cut it thirteen cubits long, for thirteen
months there are in a year, and the year is a thun-
derbolt, as the sacrificial stake is a thunderbolt :
therefore he may cut it thirteen cubits long.
