to the head. From Katy. VI, 3, 27, on the other hand, it would seem that the rope is passed either between the horns (and under the neck ?), or round the horns.
1 Thus the author appears to take the formula ' dharsha manu- sha^.' It would rather seem to mean, ' Be bold : [I am (or he, the slaughterer, is)] a man.' Mahidhara interprets, 'May he (the ^ami- tri) be bold enough 1' Either the Kawva reading ' dharshan manu- sha//' or that of the Taittiriyas 'dharsha manushan' would seem
preferable.
2 The Ka«va text has ' dhr/sh«oti ' for ' adhnshwot,' which ren- ders it more simple : ' At first the man (the slaughterer) dares not approach it, but when he thus binds it, &c.'
^ Viz. at the Havirya^?la; see I, i, 2, 17.
l82 .DATAPATH A-BRAHMAiVA.
significance of sprinkling : he thereby makes it sacrificially pure.
4. He sprinkles with, ' For the waters — thee,
for the plants!' whereby it (the victim) exists,
thereby he thus makes it sacrificially pure. For
when it rains, then plants are produced here on
earth ; and by eating plants and drinking water
that sap originates, and from sap seed, and from
seed beasts : hence whereby it exists, wherefrom it
springs, thereby he thus makes it sacrificially pure.
5. 'May thy mother grant thee permission,
and thy father — ;' for it is from Its mother and
father that it is born : hence wherefrom it is born,
thereby he thus makes it sacrificially pure; ' — thine
own brother, thy fellow in the herd;' whereby
he means to say, ' whatever kin there is of thine,
with their approval I slay thee.' 'I sprinkle thee,
agreeable to Agni and Soma;' he thus makes it
pure for those two deities for whom he slays it.
6. With (Va^^. S. VI, 10), ' Thou art a drinker
of water,' he then holds (the lustral water) under
(its mouth), whereby he renders it internally pure.
He then sprinkles it underneath (the body), with,
'May the divine waters make it palatable, a
true palatable offering to the gods!' he thus
makes it sacrificially pure all over.
7. Thereupon he says (to the Hotri), ' Recite to
the fire beine kindled!' when he has made the
second libation of ghee ^ and returned (to his former
place) without letting the two spoons touch one
another ^ he anoints the victim with the (ghee in the)
' For the course of performance, see I, 3, 5, i seq.; I, 4, 4, i seq. 2 See I, 4, 5, 5.
Ill KANDA, 7 ADHYAYA, 4 BRAHMAA^A, lO. 18"
£V.h\^. For the second libation is the head of the sacri-
fice, and the sacrifice here indeed is that victim :
hence he thereby puts the head on the sacrifice and
therefore anoints the victim with the ^uhu.
8. With 'May thy breath unite with the
wind!' he anoints it on the forehead; with 'Thy
limbs with those worthy of sacrifice' on the
shoulders; with 'The lord of sacrifice with (the
object of) his prayer !' the loins ; whereby he means
to say, ' For whatsoever object the animal is slain,
do thou obtain that ! '
9. For, indeed, the breath of the victim when
slain here passes into the wind : ' Obtain thou that
thy breath may pass into the wind ! ' is what he
thereby means to say. 'Thy limbs with those
worthy of offering' he says, because it is with its
limbs that they sacrifice : ' Obtain thou that they
may sacrifice with thy limbs' is what he thereby
means to say. ' The lord of sacrifice with his
prayer,' hereby they invoke a blessing on the sacri-
ficer: 'Obtain thou that through thee they may
invoke a blessing on the sacrificer ' is what he thereby
means to say. He then deposits the two spoons
and calls for the .Srausha/ with a view to the Pravara
(election of the Hotrz)\ The significance of this
is the same (as before).
TO. Thereupon he calls a second time for the
^■rausha/, for on this occasion there are two Hotr/s :
it is with regard to the Maitravaru;^a "^ that he now
calls for the ^'rausha/. But it is the sacrificer whom
^ See I, 5, I, I seq. (also note to part i, p. 1 1 5). 2 The Maitravaru«a or Prajastr/ is the Hotr/'s chief assistant. He receives, as the badge of his office, the staff which the sacrificer
184 iTATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
he chooses, saying, 'Verily, Agni is the leader
of the divine hosts,' for Agni is the head of the
deities ; wherefore he says, ' Verily, Agni is the
leader of the divine hosts;' — 'this sacrificer of
the human;' for that community wherein he sacri-
fices is behind (inferior to) him ; wherefore he says,
' This sacrificer (is the head) of the human.' 'May
the household of these two shine brightly, not
(like a cart yoked) with one bullock, for a hun-
dred winters, — two yoke-fellows!' whereby he
means to say, ' May their household matters be
free from calamities for a hundred years \'
II. 'Uniting blessings, not uniting bodies ;'
whereby he means to say, ' Unite ye your blessings
only, but not also your bodies ; ' for were they also
to unite their bodies, Agni (the fire) would burn
the sacrificer. Now when this one sacrifices in the
fire, he gives gifts to Agni ; and whatever blessing
the priests here invoke upon the sacrificer, all that
Agni accomplishes. Thus they unite only their
blessings, but not also their bodies : wherefore he
says, ' Uniting blessings, not uniting bodies.'
Eighth Adhyaya. First BRAHMAivA.
C. The Oblations.
I. Thereupon the Hot?^/, having sat down on the Hotr^'s seat whereon he sits down after beine chosen ^
held while he was consecrated, and has, at the instance of the Adh- varyu, to call on the Hotn' for the offering-prayers, — his summons (praisha) beginning with Hota yakshat, 'let the Hotr/ worship (or, pronounce the offering-prayer) . . , ,' — and occasionally himself to pronounce the invitatory prayer.
^ See I, 9, 3, 19.
^ Viz. at the north-west corner (or left hip) of the altar. For the formulas used by him, see I, 5, i, 24-2, i.
Ill KANDA, 8 ADHYAYA, I BRAIIMAiVA, 4. 1 85
urges, and thus urged the Adhvaryu takes the two spoons.
2. They then proceed with the Apri (verses).
The reason why they proceed with the Apris is
this. With his whole mind, with his whole self,
forsooth, he who consecrates himself prepares and
endeavours to prepare the sacrifice. His self is, as
it were, emptied out ; with those Apris they fill it
again ; and because they fill ^ it therewith, therefore
they are called Apri. For this reason they proceed
with the Apris.
3. Now there are here eleven fore-offerings ; for
here in man there are ten vital airs, and the eleventh
is the self wherein those vital airs are contained ;
this is the whole man ; thus they fill his whole self,
and therefore there are eleven fore-offerings.
4. [The Adhvaryu] having called (on the Agnidhra)
for the 6'rausha/, he says (to the Maitravaru;^a),
' Prompt (the Hotri to recite to) the kindling-
sticks^!' Thus he proceeds with ten fore-offerings,
^ The text has only ' apyayayanti,' but the verb with which the author connects the verb 'apri' is either a-pr/«ati, he fills; or (more correctly) ' a-pri7;ati,' he gratifies, propitiates, corresponding to the Zand afrinaiti. Perhaps some words have been lost here. The Kawva text has : sa yad etabhir apribhi/^ punar apyayata eta- bhir enam apri«ati tasmad apriyo nama. On the Apri verses, which form the offering-prayers (ya^yas) at the fore-offerings of the animal sacrifice, and vary according to different families, see Ait. Br. II, 4 ; Max Muller, Hist, of A. S. L., p. 463 seq.; Haug, Essays, p. 241.
2 See I, 5, 3, 8. The Adhvaryu calls out to the Agnidh, ' O jravaya (make listen)!' The Agnidh calls out,'Astu jrausha/ (yea, may one hear)!' The Adhvaryu calls on the Maitravaruwa, ' Pre- shya samidha// (prompt as to the kindling-sticks)!' [or, 'Preshya Tanunapatam or Nara^awsam' &c. in the succeeding fore-offerings.] The Maitravaruwa calls out, ' Hota yakshat samidham [Tanuna- patam, &c.], (let the Hoin pronounce the offering-prayer to ihe kindling-sticks, &c. !) ' Each offering- prayer (Apri) is introduced
1 86 .satapatha-brAhmaa^a.
saying, ' Prompt . . .' at each, and pouring the ghee
together at every fourth fore-offering ^ Having
performed ten fore-offerings, he says, ' Bring the
slayer!' 'Slayer,' namely, the (butcher's) knife is
called.
5. He then takes the (svaru) chip of the sacrificial
stake, and having anointed both (the slaughtering-
knife and the chip) at the top (with ghee) from the
^uhu-spoon, he touches the forehead of the victim
with them, saying (Vaf. S. VI, 11), 'Anointed
with ghee, protect ye the animals !' for the chip
of the stake is a thunderbolt, and the slaughtering-
knife is a thunderbolt, and ghee is a thunderbolt ;
having thus fitted together the entire thunderbolt ^
he appoints it the keeper of this (victim), lest the
evil spirits should injure it. He again conceals
the chip of the stake (under the girding-rope of the
stake). In handing the slaughtering-knife to the
butcher, he says, ' Be this thine approved edge ! '
and deposits the two spoons.
6. Thereupon he says (to the Hotr/), ' Recite to Agni circumambient^!' Having taken a firebrand,
with the formula 'Ye ya^amahe, &c.' See part i, p. 148 note. The divine objects of these oblations of ghee are : i. the Samidhs or kindling-sticks; 2. either Taniinapat or Nara^awsa; 3. the Idsis; 4. the Barhis (sacrificial grass on the altar); 5. the gates (of heaven and worshipping-ground); 6. Dawn and Night; 7. the two divine Hotr/s; 8. the three goddesses (Sarasvati, Ida., and Bharati); 9. Tvash/r?'; 10. Vanaspati (the tree, or lord of the forest); 11. the Svahakrz'tis (calls of 'All-hail,' which at this, the last offering -prayer, are repeated before the names of the principal deities of the sacrifice). For this last fore-offering, see III, 8, 2, 23 seq.
^ See I, 5, 3, 16.
2 For the three parts of the thunderbolt, see p. 108, note 2.
^ The Hotn recites the triplet, Rig-veda IV, 15, 1-3.
Ill KANDA, 8 ADHYAYA, I BRAHMAiVA, Q. 1 8/
the Agnidh carries the fire round (the victim). Why
he carries the fire round, is that he encircles it (the
victim) by means of the fire with an unbroken fence,
lest the evil spirits should seize upon it ; for Agni is
the repeller of the Rakshas ; therefore he carries the
fire round. He carries it round the place where they
cook it (the victim ^).
7. As to this they say, ' Let him take back that
firebrand (to the Ahavaniya) ; and having there (at
the ^'amitra) churned out a new fire, let them cook
it (the victim) thereon. For this (firebrand), surely,
is ahavaniya (fit to offer upon) ; it is not for the
purpose that they should cook uncooked (food)
thereon, but for this that they should sacrifice
cooked (food) thereon.'
8. Let him, however, not do this. For in that
he carries fire round it, it (the victim) becomes as
food swallowed by that (firebrand), and it would be
as if he were to seize and tear out food that has
been swallowed and offer it to some one else ; let
them, therefore, crumble some coals off that same
firebrand, and thereon cook that (victim).
9. Thereupon the Agnidh, taking a (new) firebrand,
walks in front: whereby he places Agni in front, think-
ing, 'Agni shall repel the evil spirits in front!' and
^ Sayawa seems to take ' abhipariharati ' in the sense of ' he takes it round to the place where they cook.' According to Katy. VI, 5, 2, 3, the Agnidh circumambulates thrice from left to right, either the place comprising the victim, the ghee, the slaughtering- place, the sacrificial post, the Htvala, and Ahavaniya ; or only the ghee, the victim, and slaughtering-place. He then throws the fire- brand back on the Ahavaniya, and performs the circumambulation as many times in the opposite direction. On the Paryagnikara«a, see also part i, p. 45 note.
l88 ^ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
they lead the victim after him (to the slaughtering-
place) on a (way) free from danger and injury. The
Pratiprasthat?^/ holds on to it from behind by means
of the two spits \ and the Adhvaryu (holds on to) the
Pratiprasthatr/, and the Sacrificer to the Adhvaryu.
10. As to this they say, ' That (victim) must not
be held on to by the sacrificer, for they lead it unto
death ; therefore let him not hold on to it.' But let
him nevertheless hold on to it; for that (victim)
which they lead to the sacrifice they lead not to
death ; therefore let him hold on to it. Moreover
he would cut himself off from the sacrifice, were he
not to hold on to it ; therefore let him hold on to it.
It is held on to in a mysterious way ; by means of
the spits the Pratiprasthatr/ (holds on to it) ; to the
Pratiprasthatr/ the Adhvaryu, to the Adhvaryu the
Sacrificer ; thus then it is held on to in a mysterious
way.
11. Thereupon the Adhvaryu takes two stalks of
grass from the covered altar, and having called for the
KSrausha/', he says (to the Maitravaru;^a), ' O Hotrz,
prompt again (the Hotrz to recite for) the offerings
to the godsM' This is what belongs to the All-gods
at the animal offering.
