^ Cf. Atharva-veda VII, 97, 4.
^ That is, according to Mahidhara, 'knowing that the sacrifice
378 5ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
13. [The seventh with Va^^-. S. VIII, 21], 'Ye
path-finding gods,' — for the gods are, indeed,
the finders of the path; — 'having found the
path,' — ' having found the sacrifice,' he thereby
means to say; — 'go ye in the path!' therewith he
dismisses them in due form ; — 'O divine Lord of
mind, this sacrifice — Svaha! — give thou to the
wind!' for the sacrifice, indeed, is yonder blowing
(wind) : having thus completed this sacrifice, he
establishes it in that sacrifice, and thus unites sacri-
fice with sacrifice, — hence he says, ' Svaha ! give (it)
to the wind ! '
14. [The eighth with Va^ . S. VIII, 22], ' O sacri-
fice, go to the sacrifice, go to the lord of the
sacrifice, go to thine own womb, Hail!' — the
sacrifice, thus established, he thereby establishes in
its own womb. [The ninth he offers with], 'This
is thy sacrifice, O lord of the sacrifice, bestow-
ing numerous heroes, together with the song
of praise : do thou accept it, Hail !' the sacrifice,
thus established, bestowing numerous heroes, toge-
ther with the song of praise he thereby finally
establishes in the sacrificer.
Fifth Brahmaa^a.
I. He now betakes himself to the expiatory bath
(avabhrz'tha). The reason why he betakes him-
self to the expiatory bath is this. What vital sap
there has been in him (Soma and the sacrificer), that
(sap) of his he (the priest) has produced (extracted)
for the offerings. Now that body (of Soma, i. e.
is accomplished, go thou to thine own house!' Cf. Atharva-veda VII, 97, I ('draw near to Soma !').
Iv Kanda, 4 Adhyaya, 5 Brahmaa'a, 3. 379
the Soma-husks), — there is no sap in it ; (yet) it
is not to be cast away : they take it down to the
water and — water being sap — he puts that sap into
it. Thus he unites him with that sap, and thus he
produces him from it, — he (Soma), even when pro-
duced, produces him (the sacrificer)' : and because
they take it down (ava-hr/-) to the water, therefore
(the bath is called) avabhmha.
2. In the first place he performs the Samish/aya^us
offerings, for the Saniish/aya^us are the extreme end
of the sacrifice. As soon as he has performed the
Samish/'aya^s, they go together to the /^atvala (pit)
with whatever he (the sacrificer) has about him^ :
both the black-deer's horn^ and the girdle he throws
into the pit, —
3. With (Va,^. S. VIII, 23), 'Be thou nor adder
nor viper!' Now when they take the Soma-husks
down to the water, that forsooth is the wishingf of
' good-speed \'' to it, and this now is the 'good-speed ! '
to him (the sacrificer) ; for snakes are like rope, and
snakes' haunts are like wells (pits), and there is as
it were a feud between men and snakes : ' Lest that
should spring therefrom,' he thinks, and therefore he
says, ' Be thou nor adder nor viper!'
^ ? That is, as the Soma plants become juicy again, so the sacri- ficer has his vital sap or spirit restored.
2 Or, according to the St. Petersburg Dictionary, ' they throw it into the water.'
^ Or, whatever is connected with Soma (?). According to Katy. X, 8, 12, 19 the throne (asandi) and Audumbari, as well as the Soma vessels, Dro;/akalaja, &c., are to be carried in the first place to the Htvala, and from there to the water.
* See III, 2, I, 18. The Pratiprasthatr/ is silently to throw after the lady's zone and peg (for scratching herself).
^ For the 'svagakara,' see I, 8, 3, 11.
380 ^-ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
4. He then makes (the sacrificer) say (Rig-veda
I, 24, 8), 'Broad forsooth is the path which
king Varu^^a hath made for the sun to walk
along,' — whereby he means to say, 'even as there
is for the sun that broad path, free from danger and
injury, so may there be for me here a broad path,
free from danger and injury.'
5. 'For the footless hath he made feet to
put down\' for, although he (the sun) is footless,
yet he is able to walk; — 'And the forbidder is
he of all that woundeth the heart,' — thus he frees
him from every guilt and evil of the heart.
6. He then says, 'Sing the Saman ! ' or 'Speak
the Saman ! ' but let him rather say ' Sing,' for they
do sing the Saman. The reason why he sings the
Saman is that the evil spirits may not injure that
body of his outside the sacrifice, for the Saman is a
repeller of the evil spirits.
7. He (the Prastotrz) sings a (verse) to Agni, for
Agni is a repeller of the evil spirits. He sings in
the Ati-^/^andas ; for this, the Ati/^/^andas, is all
the metres 2: therefore he sings in the Ati/'/zandas.
8. He sings, 'Agni burneth, Agni en-
countereth with flames, — Ahava/il Ahava/^^!'
Thus he drives the evil spirits away from here.
^ Or, ' To the footless he has given to put down his feet : ' in either sense it seems to be taken by the author of the Brahma«a (and the St. Petersburg Dictionary). Perhaps, however, 'apade* had better be taken, with Mahidhara (and Saya«a?), in the sense of ' padarahite,' i. e. ' in the trackless (ether) he caused him (the sun) to plant his feet.' Similarly Ludwig, ' Im Ortlosen hat er sie die Fiisse niedersetzen lassen.'
2 ' Esha vai sarvam ati yad ati/^/zanda^,' Ka«va text. Ati/^-^andas, i. e. over-metre, redundant metre, is the generic term for metres consisting of more than forty-eight syllables.
^ All the priests, as well as the sacrificer, are to join in the
IV KANDA, 4 ADHYAYA, 5 BRAHMAA^A, 1 3. 38 I
9. They walk out (from the sacrificial ground)
northwards, along the back of the pit and the front
side of the Agnidhra : then they proceed in whatever
direction the water is.
10. Where there is a standing pool of flowing
water, there let him (the sacrificer) descend into the
water — for whatsoever parts of flowing water flow
not, these are holden by Varu;^a ; and the expiatory
bath belonofs to Varu;2a — to free himself from
Varu;2a. But if he does not find such, he may
descend into any water.
11. While he makes him descend into the water,
he bids him say, 'HomagebetoVaru;/a: down-
trodden is Varu;^a's snare !' thus he delivers him
from every snare of Varu;^a, from every (infliction ^)
of Varu;^a.
12. Thereupon, taking ghee in four ladlings, and
throwing down a kindling-stick (on the water), he
offers thereon, with (Va^. S. VIII, 24), 'The face
of Agni, the waters, have I entered, escaping
from the power of demons, O son of the
waters! In every homestead o f f e r thou
the log, O Agni! let thy tongue dart forth
towards the ghee, — Hail ! '
13. Now, once on a time, the gods made so much
of Agni, as would go in -, enter the water, in order
that the evil spirits should not rise therefrom ;
for Agni is the repeller of evil spirits. It is
him he kindles by this kindling-stick and by this
nidhana (finale, or concluding word of the Saman). According to Katy. X, 8, 16, 17 the Saman is chanted thrice, viz. in starting from the /^atvala, midway, and at the water-side.
^ Or guilt against Varu«a. See p. 221, note i.
^ Agner yavad va yavad va. Cf. p. 371, note 3.
382 DATAPATH A-BRAHMA2VA.
oblation, thinking ' On the kindled (fire) will I offer to the gods ! '
14. Then, having taken ghee a second time in
four ladlings, and having called for the (Agnidhra's)
K^rausha/, he says, ' Pronounce the offering prayer
to the Kindling-sticks!' He offers four fore-
offerings, omitting that to the Barhis ^ — the Barhis
being offspring, and the expiatory bath belonging to
Varu;^a — lest Varu;2a should seize upon his offspring.
This is why he offers four fore-offerings, omitting
that to the Barhis.
15. Then follows a cake on one potsherd for
Varu;^a. For whatever sap there had been in him
(Soma), that sap of his he has produced (extracted)
for the offerings. Now that body : there is no sap
in it. But the cake is sap : that sap he puts into it.
Thus he unites him with that sap, and so produces
him from it, — he (Soma), even when produced, pro-
duces him (the sacrificer): hence there is a cake on
one potsherd for Varu;ea.
16. Having made an ' underlayer' of ghee (in the
offering-spoon), he says, while making the cuttings
from the cake ^, ' Recite (the invitatory prayer) to
Varu;^a ! ' Here now some make two cuttings from
the Soma-husks, but let him not do so ; for that
(heap of husks) is an empty body, unfit for offering.
He makes two cuttings (from the cake) and bastes
them once with ghee, and anoints (replenishes the
places whence) the cuttings (have been made).
Having called for the ^Srausha/, he says, ' Recite the
^ For the usual five praya^as, see I, 5, 3, 8-13.
^ As a rule, cakes on one potsherd are to be offered entu-e. The present cake, however, is to be an exception, and the usual two portions are to be cut from it. See part i, p. 192, note.
Iv Kanda, 4 Adhyaya, 5 Brahmaa'a, 1 9, 383
offering prayer to Varuna. ! ' and offers as the Vasha/ is uttered.
1 7. Then, having made an iinderlayer of ghee, he
says, while putting the (remainder of the) cake (into
the spoon), ' Recite the invitatory prayer to Agni
and Varwia. ! ' This is for (Agni) Svishz'akm ^ ; and
as to why he does not say ' To Agni,' it is lest
Varu;za might seize upon Agni. If before he has
cut twice from the Soma-husks, he now does so
once, but if (he did) not, he need not heed it. He
then bastes it twice with butter on the upper side ;
and having called for the ^'rausha/, he says, ' Recite
the offering prayer to Agni and Varu;^a ! ' and offers
as the Vasha/ is uttered.
18. Now these are six oblations ; for there are six
seasons in the year, and Varu;^a is the year : hence
there are six oblations.
19. This is the course of the Adityas ^ ; and these
Ya^us, they say, belong to the Adityas. Let (the
Adhvaryu) endeavour to perform as much of it as is
his (the sacrificer's) wish. And if the sacrificer tell
him to do otherwise, then he should do otherwise.
He may also perform those same four fore-offerings,
— omitting that to the Barhis — two butter-portions,
(the oblations of cake) to Varu;^a and Agni-Varu;/a,
and two after-offerings, — omitting the one to the
Barhis ; — this makes ten. Now the vira^ consists
' See I, 7, 3, 7 seq.
^ Professor Weber, Ind. Stud. X, p. 393, refers us to XIV, 9, 4, 33, where it is stated that the Va§-asaneyin Adhvaryu has to study the Ya^us of the Aditya i?/shi. One might also be inclined to think that, by ' Adityanam ayanam ' and ' Angirasam ayanam ' the author intended to connect the Agnish/oma with the sacrificial sessions designated by those terms, for which see Asw. Sr. XII, 1-2 ; Ait. Br. IV, 17, with Haug's notes.
384 ■ 5'ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
of ten syllables, and the sacrifice is vira^ : thus he makes the sacrifice to be like the vira^.
20. This is the course of the Aiigiras. Having
performed the offerings either way, (the Adhvaryu)
makes the pot, in which the husks are, float with
(Va^. S. VIII, 25), 'In the ocean, in the waters,
is thy heart (O Soma)' — for the ocean is the
waters, and water is sap : that sap he now puts into
him (Soma), and thus he unites him with that sap, and
produces him therefrom ; and he (Soma), even when
produced, produces him (the sacrificer) ; — ' May the
plants and the waters unite with thee!'' —
thereby he puts two kinds of sap into him, that
which is in plants, and that which is in water, — 'that
we may serve thee, O lord of the sacrifice, in
the singing of praises and the utterance of
worship ^ with Svaha!' Whatever is good in the
sacrifice, that he thereby puts into him.
21. Thereupon, letting it go, he stands by it with
(Va^'. S. VIII, 26), 'Ye divine waters, this is
your child,' — for he (Soma) indeed is the child of
the waters, — ' bear ye him, well-beloved, well-
nourished!' he thereby makes him over to the
waters for protection — 'This, O divine Soma, is
thine abode: thrive thou well therein, and
thrive thou^ thoroughly!' whereby he means to
say, ' Be thou therein for our happiness, and shield
us from all inflictions ! '
