' The sacrificial stake stands immediately in front of the high altar and fire. ' Yadi tato 'gnir nodbadheta,' Ka«va text.
^ That is, the cups represent the sockets of the eyes, and the libations the eyes themselves. Perhaps, however, we ought to translate, ' whence these eyes are joined together (so as to be) on both sides of the bone,' the sacrificial stake representing the bone or bridge of the nose. See paragraph 25.
IV KAA^DA, 2 ADHYAYA, I BRAHMAiVA, 27. 285
we be the preservers of thine unbroken man-
hood and prosperity, O divine Soma ! ' This is
the benediction of that performance : he thereby in-
vokes a blessino-.
23. He then calls (on the Agnidh) for the ^'rausha^f,
and says, ' Urge thou for Indra the Soma-draughts
brought forward, the pure, sweet-flowing, of the
morrow's morning feast ! ' As the Vasha/ is uttered,
the Adhvaryu offers ; then the Pratiprasthat;^/ ;
then the cup-bearers (/C'amasadhvaryu),
24. Those two offer while standing in front (of
the fire) ; for these two (libations) are the eyes :
thus they put those eyes in the front ; and hence
these eyes are In the front.
25. They offer while standing on both sides of
the stake ; for what the nose is, that is the sacrificial
stake : hence these two eyes are on both sides of
the nose.
26. Being consecrated by Vasha/, these two (liba- tions) are offered with a prayer. Now it is because the entire Savana is offered after these two (libations) that they attain to this (distinction) ^ ; and the reason why the entire Savana is offered after them, is that they are most distinctly Pra^apati's own : for they are the eyes, and the eye is the truth, and Pra^apati is the truth ; — this is why the entire Savana is offered after them,
27. He offers with, ' This is the first consecra- tion, assuringall boons: he isthe first, Varu/za,
^ 'And because these two (libations), having been consecrated by Vasha/, are offered with a mantra, therefore they attain this (distinction) that the entire Savana is offered after them ; and the reason why the entire Savana is offered after them, is that these two are its eyes,' &c.
286 5'ATAPATIIA-BRAHMAiVA.
M itra, Agni ; — he is the first, Brzhaspati, the wise : to that Indra offer ye the liquor, Hail ^ !'
28. Now when he offers with, ' This is the first —
he is the first,' it is just as with cast seed; for the
eyes doubtless are formed first ^ : hence he offers
with, ' This is the first — he is the first.'
29. He then gives directions: — ' Let the Hot^z's
cup advance ! let the Brahman's, the Chanters', the
Sacrificer's (cups) advance! Ye cup-bearers of the
hre-priests ^ approach and fill up (the cups) with pure
Soma!' — this is a composite direction. Having gone
round (to behind the high altar) the Pratiprasthatr^'
pours his residue (of Soma) into the Adhvaryu's
(^'ukra) vessel ; whereby he makes the food pay
tribute to the eater. The Adhvaryu pours it into
the Hotre's cup for drinking ; because the draught
belongs to the utterer of the Vasha/ ; for the Vasha^
is the breath, and that breath has, as it were, de-
parted from him while uttering the Vasha/. Now
the draught is breath : thus he puts that breath
back into him.
30. And the reason why they do not take those
^ Or, according to Mahidhara, ' To that Indra offer ye the liquor with Svaha!' The Pratiprasthatrz' makes his hbation after the Adhvaryu. The Kam-a texts read, ' When the Vasha/ has been uttered, the Adhvaryu offers, then the Pratiprasthatr/, then the others offer;' and, according to Katy. IX, 11, 2, the ^amasa- dhvaryus make Hbations from the cups of the nine ^amasins (see note 2, next page) with, ' This to Indra ' at the Vasha/, and ' This to Agni' at the Anu-vasha/. These Hbations are evidently referred to in paragraph 31.
2 ? .S'ajvad dha vai retasa,^ siktasya sambhavataj >^akshushi eva prathame sambhavatas tasmad v eva;?z ^apati ; Ka«va rec.
* ' Sadasyanaw hotrawam.' The subordinate priests to whom the dhishwyas (except that of the Hotn) belong, both those in the Sadas and the Agnidhra. See page 148, note 4.
IV KANDA, 2 ADHYAYA, I BRAHMAiVA, 7,2. 287
two (cups) behind ^ but do so take the other cups,
is that those two are the eyes. The residue (of
Soma), then, he pours into the Hotr/'s cup.
31. They now fill up the cups of the fire-priests.
For those residues ^ are remains of oblations, in-
sufficient for offering : he now fills them up again,
and thus they become sufficient for offering : there-
fore they fill up the cups of the fire-priests.
32. Thereupon they make the fire-priests offer together ^ Now the fire-priests combined convey
^ That is, to the Sadas, for the priests to drink from.
^ Viz. the residues in the >^amasas of the Hotrakas. The fiUing (by the Unnetrz)of the cups of the iTamasins — Hotn, Brahman, Udgatr/, (and Sacrificer) ; Prajastr/, Brahma;/a>^//a?«sin, Potr;', Nesh/r/, and Agnidhra ; that of the Ak/mvakz remains empty for the present — takes place before the libations from the ■S'ukra and Manthin grahas. Their cups are filled by the Unnetr/' with Soma-juice from the Putabhr/t, with an ' underlayer ' and final ' sprinkling ' or ' basting ' of ' pure ' Soma from the Drowakala^-a. Previous to the filling, the Adhvaryu calls on the Alaitravaruwa to ' recite to (those cups) being drawn,' the latter then reciting the hymn, Rig-veda I, 16, while the cups are filled. When the -Srausha/ is about to be pronounced by the Agnidh for the -Sukra and Manthin libations, the cup-bearers lift (udyam) the cups, and, after the Pratiprasthatr/ has made his libation, they also pour some Soma-juice into the fire. The cup- bearers of the first four i^Tamasins do so twice (and then take their cups back to the Sadas), the others only once. Thereupon the cup-bearers of these last five — the so-called Hotrakas, or subordi- nate Hotr/s — are summoned again, and their cups having been filled up with ' pure' Soma, the Adhvaryu makes, after the xS'rausha/, two more libations from each at the Vasha/ and Anuvasha/ respectively. For the oiTering-formulas and Anuvasha/karas, seeAi'v. V, 5, 18-19. Holding the Agnidh's cup in his hand, he then goes to the Sadas and sits down facing the Hotr/, whereupon they drink together the Soma in the dvidevatya cups.
^ The phrase ' hotra^ (fern.) sa/?zya^ayanti ' is apparently analo- gous to the ' patni/z sa;;/ya^ayanti ' [they perform the Patnisaw/ya^as, or, make the wives (of the gods) participate in the sacrifice] of the
2 88 DATAPATH A-BRAHMAiVA.
the sacrifice to the gods, — it is them he thereby
satisfies together, thinking, ' Satisfied and pleased
they shall convey the sacrifice to the gods : ' there-
fore they make the fire-priests offer together.
33. When (the libation of) the first, or last^ fire-
priest has been offered, he addresses them (Va^. S.
VII, 15), ' Let the priests' offices be satisfied,
they that have obtained a good sacrifice of
sweet drink; they that are well-pleased,
when they have obtained good offering with
Svaha!' for this is the satisfaction of the priests'
(offices). Thereupon he approaches (to the Hotri's
hearth) and sits down with his face to the west, with
*The Agnidh hath sacrificed!' for on this occa-
sion the Aofnidh sacrifices last of those that sacrifice :
hence he says, ' The Agnidh hath sacrificed.'
Second BKAHMAivA.
T, The Agraya;2a graha, forsooth, is his self
(body, trunk), and as such it is his all ; for this self
is one's all. Therefore he draws it by means of this
(earth), for of her is the bowl -, and with a bowl he
draws this (libation) ; and this (earth) is all, as this
Havirya^«a. See part i, p. 256. Indeed Mahidhara identifies the hotras with the metres of the offering-formulas, thus treating them as a kind of deities.
^ The order of the dhishwya-priests is (i. Hotn), 2. Prajastrz" (Maitravaruwa), 3. BrahmawaMaw^sin, 4. Potr/, 5. Nesh/r/, 6. A/^/^a- vaka — the fires of all of whom are in the Sadas — and 7. the Agnidh (in the Agnidhra fire-house). The AMavakz, however, is for the present excluded from offering.
^ Viz. inasmuch as the bowl is made of clay,— asya/? pr/thivya// sakajat sthali bhavati utpadyate ; Say. The Agrayawa, Ukthya, and Dhruva grahas are drawn in a sthali (pot or bowl).
Iv Kanda, 2 Adhyaya, 2 Brahmaa^a, 8. 289
graha is all : hence he takes it by means of this (earth).
2. He draws it full ; for the ' full ' means all, and this graha is all : therefore he draws it full.
3. He draws it for the All-gods ; for the All-gods
are all, and this graha is all : therefore he draws
it for the All-gods.
4. He draws it at all (three) Soma feasts ; for the
(three) feasts mean all, and this graha is all : there-
fore he draws it at all the feasts.
5. And if the king (Soma) become exhausted, they
extend him from out of that (bowl), make him issue
therefrom ; for the Agraya;^a is the body, and from
the body all these limbs issue. Therefrom they
draw at the end the Hariyo^ana cup ^ : whereby the
sacrifice is established at the end in this resting-place,
the body (or its own self).
6. Then as to why it is called Agraya;^a. His speech
which he restrains, on taking up that press-stone ^,
spoke out again first at this (libation) ; and because
it spoke out first (agre) at this (libation), therefore
this is called the Agraya;^a^
7. It was from fear of the evil spirits that (the
gods) restrained their speech. Previously to this he
draws six grahas, and this is the seventh : for there
are six seasons in the year, and the year is all.
8. And all being conquered and free from danger and injury^ the gods now first uttered speech ; and
1 See IV, 4, 3, 2.
^ The Upa?«jusavana, cf. Ill, 9, 4, 6.
^ The primary meaning seems to be ' firstling.' For the Agra- ya«esh/i, or offering of first-fruits, see part i, p. 369.
* Or perhaps, ' and their entire conquest being free from danger and injury;' or, 'security and peace (abhayam anash/ram) having
290 ^ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
in like manner does he first utter speech now that
everything is conquered and free from danger and
injury.
9. He now draws it from that (stream of Soma^)
with (Va^. S. VII, 19; Rig-veda I, 139, 11), Ye
Gods, who are eleven in heaven, who are
eleven on earth, and who are eleven dwelling
in glory in the (aerial) waters: do ye graciously
accept this sacrifice! — Thou art taken with a
support: thou art Agraya;^a, a good firstling
(sv-agraya;/a) !' Hereby he makes that speech of
renewed vigour ; whence he speaks therewith in a
different way, while yet the same, in order to avoid
sameness ; for were he to take it with, ' Thou art
Agraya;/a, thou art Agraya;^a,' he would commit (the
fault of) sameness : therefore he says, ' Thou art
Agraya;^a, a good agraya/^a.'
10. 'Guard the sacrifice! guard the lord of
the sacrifice!' whereby he utters freed speech,
meaning to say, * Protect the sacrifice ! protect the
sacrificer!' for the lord of the sacrifice is the sacri-
ficer. ' May Vish;/u guard thee with his might!
guard thou Vish;^u!' whereby he utters freed
speech — Vish;2u being the sacrifice — ' May the sacri-
been completely gained.' Cf. IV, 3, 3, 5 ; also III, 6, 3, 11 ; 8, i, 9; 8. 2, 3.
^ The Agraya«a is taken rather from two streams of Soma, viz. from that poured by the sacrificer from the Hotn's cup into the Drowakalaja, and from another poured out by the Unnetn', and consisting either of Soma taken from the Adhavaniya or, according to others, of the residue of the Upaw^u libation, which had been temporarily kept in the Agrayawa bowl (see p. 255, note 2), and has to be emptied by the Unnetr/ into some other vessel, when that bowl is about to be used for the Agrayawa libation. See Katy. IX, 6, 15 comm.
IV KANDA, 2 ADHYAYA, 2 BRAHMAiVA, I4. 29 1
fice protect thee with its power! protect thou the
sacrifice!' — 'Guard thou the Soma feasts all
around!' whereby he means this very graha, because
that belongs to all (three) Soma feasts \
1 1. Having then wrapped up (the bowl in) a fringed
filtering-cloth, he utters 'Hiii!' Now that same
speech (Vai, fem.), being unsupported, lay exhausted.
By means of the ' Hin' the gods infused breath into
that exhausted speech, for the ' Hiii' is breath, the
' Hin' is indeed breath : hence one cannot utter the
sound 'hin' after closing his nostrils. By means of
that breath she rose again, for when one who is ex-
hausted takes breath, he rises again. And in like
manner does he now infuse breath into the exhausted
speech by means of the ' Hiii,' and through that
breath she rises again. Thrice he utters the ' Hin/
for threefold is the sacrifice.
12. He then says (Va^. S. VH, 21), 'Soma be-
cometh pure!' For that (speech) which, for fear of
the Asura-Rakshas, they (the gods) did not utter,
he now utters and reveals when all is conquered
and free from danger and injury : therefore he says,
' Soma becometh pure.'
13. ' For this priesthood, for this nobility' —
whereby he means to say, ' for the priesthood as well
as for the nobility;' — 'for the Soma-pressing
sacrificer he becometh pure ;' whereby he
means to say, ' for the sacrificer.'
14. Here now they say, ' Having said this much,
let him deposit (the cup) ; for as much as the priest-
hood, and the nobility, and the people are, so much
