4. The gods, sons of Aditi, then spake, ' That
* Viz. the so-called 'pra«ita>^.,' see part i, p. 9 note. The offering, described in the following paragraphs, is called the Dikshant- yesh/i, ' Consecration offering.' As to the formulas used at the offering, see Ait. Br. I, 4 seq.
^ The bird, Vishwu, the sun.
^ Or, the eighth she brought forth undeveloped, as a marta«<fa (? either a bird, or, more probably, in accordance with Taitt. S. VI, 5, 6, i,=vyr/ddham and^m, 'an abortive egg'). See Rig-veda Sanhita, translated by M. M., p. 239.
* Sandegha; the St. Petersburg Diet, takes it in the sense of * doubt, uncertainty,' in this passage.
Ill KAiVDA, I ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMAiVA, 7. I 3
which was born after us^ must not be lost : come, let
us fashion it.' They accordingly fashioned it as this
man is fashioned. The flesh which was cut off him,
and thrown down in a lump, became the elephant :
hence they say that one must not accept an elephant
(as a gift) ^, since the elephant has sprung from man.
Now he whom they thus fashioned was Vivasvat,
the Aditya (or the sun) ; and of him (came) these
creatures.
5. He spake, 'Among my offspring he shall be suc-
cessful who shall offer that rice-pap to the Adityas.'
Accordingly he alone succeeds who offers that rice-
pap to the Adityas. Only that (cake) to Agni and
Vish;m is, however, generally approved.
6. There are seventeen kindling-verses for it ^ In
a low voice he offers to the two deities. There are
five fore-offerings and three after-offerings. For the
sake of completeness they perform the patntsa;;^ya-
^as*; but he offers no samish/aya^s, lest, having
put on that garment of the consecrated, he should
reach the end of the sacrifice before its completion ;
for the samish/aya^s is the end of the sacrifice.
7. He (the sacrificer) then gets himself anointed
(with fresh butter), while standing east of the hall.
For, having been flayed, man is sore ; and by getting
himself anointed, he becomes healed of his soreness :
for man's skin is on the cow, and that fresh butter
^ Or, perhaps, after the manner of us (anu).
2 Muir, O. S. T. IV, 15, reads ' parigr/hwiyat' instead of ' pratigr?- hmyat,' and translates, 'let no one catch an elephant, for an elephant partakes of the nature of man.'
' For the ordinary eleven Samidhenis (raised to the number of fifteen by repetitions of the first and last verses), see part i, p, 102, and for the two additional ones (dhayya), ib. p. 1 1 2 note.
* See part i, p. 256; for the Samish/aya^us, ib. p. 262.
14 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
also comes from the cow. He (the Adhvaryu) thus
supplies him with his own skin, and for this reason
he gets himself anointed.
8. It is fresh butter, — for melted butter (ghee)
belongs to the gods, and creamy butter^ to men.
Here, on the other hand, it is neither ghee nor
creamy butter ; it should rather be both ghee and
creamy butter, for the sake of unimpaired vigour :
by means of that which is of unimpaired vigour he
accordingly makes him of unimpaired vigour.
9. He anoints him from the head down to the feet
in accordance with the tendency of the hair, with
the text (Va^. S. IV, 3), ' Thou art the sap of the
great ones.* The 'great ones,' doubtless, is one of
the names of those cows, and their sap indeed it is :
therefore he says, ' thou art the sap of the great
ones.' 'Thou art life-giving: give me light!'
There is nothing obscure in this.
10. Thereupon he anoints the eyes. 'Sore, in-
deed, is the eye of man ; mine is sound,' so spake
Ya^;/avalkya. Dim-eyed, indeed, he was (heretofore) ;
and the secretion of his eyes was matter. He now
makes his eyes sound by anointing them.
11. Now, when the gods slew the Asura-Rakshas,
^■ush^^a^, the Danava, falling backward entered into
the eyes of men : he is that pupil of the eye, and
^ Pha«/a, explained as the first particles of butter that appear in churning (?). The Ka«va recension, on the other hand, reads '&gya.m nishpa«/am ' (!) instead, Cf. Taitt. S. VI, 1,1, 4, Ghn'tam devanam, mastu pitrinam, nishpakvam (i.e. surabhi ghr/tam, ' well-seasoned butter,' Say.) manushyawam ; tad vai etat sarvade- vatyaw/ yan. navanitam; also Ait. Br. I, 3, agyam vai devana^^i, surabhi ghr/tam manushya«am, ayutam pitr/«aw, navanitaw gar- bha«am ; with Haug's note, Transl. p. 8.
2 The Ka«va text (MSS. O. W.) reads Sisna.
Ill KANDA, I ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMAiVA, I3. 15
looks like a young lad^ Against him he (the sacri-
ficer), now that he enters on the sacrifice, raises a
rampart of stone all round himself, for the ointment
is (produced from) stone.
12. It is such as comes from mount Trikakud ;
for when Indra slew Yritra. he transformed that
eye of his (Vmra's) into the mount Trikakud I The
reason, then, why (ointment) from mount Trikakud
(is used), is that he thereby puts eye into eye.
Should he be unable to obtain any Traikakuda oint-
ment, any other than Traikakuda may be used ; for
one and the same, indeed, is the significance of the
ointment.
13. He anoints (the eyes) with a reed-stalk, for
the reed is a thunderbolt. It is one with a tuft, in
order to chase away the evil spirits ^ For rootless,
^ Sa esha kaninaka>^ kumaraka iva paribhasate. A play on the word kaninaka, which has the double meaning of ' youth' and ' pupil of the eye.' The St. Petersburg Diet, assigns also to kuma- raka the meaning of 'ball of the eye' in this (the only) passage. The Ka«va recension reads, Sa esha kumaraka iva kaninakayam (?both 'maiden' and 'pupil of the eye').
^ ' Indra slew Vntra, his eye-ball fell away, it became collyrium.' Taitt. S.VI, I, I, 5.
^ Professor Delbruck, S. F. Ill, 27, takes it thus, ' He brushes the eye with the end of a reed, for the reed is a thunderbolt capable of repelling mischief.' But, if ' virakshastayai ' belonged to what pre- cedes, it would probably have to be construed with ' jareshikaya 'nakti,' the clause with 'vai,' giving the reason, being inserted parenthetically ; while, in an idiomatic rendering, it would have to be placed at the end: He anoints the eyes with a reed-stalk in order to chase away the evil spirits, the reed being a thunderbolt. This abstract dative of purpose is very common ; it being generally construed with what precedes, as, for instance, I, i, 4, i; 3, 2, 8; 5, 3, 8; 15; III, I, 2, 13; 19; 3, 6; 8; and, with a parenthetic clause with 'vai' intervening, III, 2, i, 13; IV, 5, 7, 7. Not less common is the analogous construction with a clause with 'ned'
1 6 i-ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
indeed, and unfettered on both sides, the Rakshas
roams along the air ; even as man here roams along
the air^ rootless and unfettered on both sides: the
reason, then, why it is (a reed-stalk) with a tuft, is
to chase away the evil spirits.
14. The right eye he anoints first; for in human
practice the left (eye is anointed) first, but with the
gods (it is done) thus.
15. He anoints it with the text, 'Thou art the
eye-ball of Vretra,' — for Vmra's eye-ball it indeed
is; — ' Eye-giving thou art : give me the eye!'
in this there is nothing obscure.
16. The right eye he anoints once with the sacri-
ficial formula, once silently; and the left one he
anoints once with the formula, twice silently : thus
he makes the left (or upper) one superior 2.
1 7. And the reason why he anoints five times, is
that the sacrifice is of equal measure with the year,
and five seasons there are in the year : he thus
obtains possession of the latter in five (divisions),
and therefore he anoints five times.
18. He then purifies him with a cleanser (pavitra,
strainer) of sacred grass ; for impure, indeed, is
man : — he is foul within in that he speaks un-
truth ; — and sacred grass is pure : ' Having become
pure, I shall be consecrated,' thus he thinks; — and the
stalks of sacred grass are a means of cleansing, —
(' lest such an event should happen') instead of the dative of the abstract, cf. I, 2, i, 8 ; 9 ; IV, 5, 9, 3.
1 I now take this passage differently from my interpretation of I, I, 2, 4 ('and, in order that this man may move about the air, rootless and unfettered in both directions'). See also IV, i, i, 20.
2 ' Tad uttaram evaitad uttaravat karoti ;' ' uttaram dvaitad utta- ram karoti,' Ka«va recension. Cf. p. 2, note i.
Ill KANDA, I ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMAiVA, 2 2. I 7
'Having become cleansed, I shall be consecrated,' thus
he thinks ; and therefore he purifies him with a
cleanser of sacred grass.
19. It may consist of one (stalk of grass); for
that blower (or purifier, the Wind) is one only, and
in accordance with his nature is this (cleanser) :
hence it may consist of one (stalk).
20. Or there may be three (stalks) ; for one, in-
deed, is that blower, but on entering into man he
becomes threefold, to wit, the out-breathing, the
in-breathing, and the through-breathing^ and in
accordance with his measure is this (cleanser) : hence
there may be three (stalks).
21. Or there may be seven (stalks'); for there are
seven vital airs of the head : hence there may be
seven (stalks). There may even be thrice seven, —
one and twenty: such indeed is perfection.
22. He purifies him with seven (stalks) each time,
with the text (Va^. S. IV, 4), 'May the Lord of
thought purify me !' The lord of thought doubt-
less is Pra^apati^: he thereby means to say, ' May
Pra^apati purify me!' 'May the lord of speech
purify me !' The lord of speech doubtless is Pra^a-
pati*: he thereby means to say, 'May Pra^apati
purify me!' 'May the divine Savitrz purify
me,' — for well purified indeed is he whom the divine
^ See part i, p. 19, note 2.
^ The Taitt. S. VI, i, r allows the option between (one), 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 21 stalks; while the Ait. Br. I, 3 mentions only the highest number.
^ The Ka«va text adds, sa hi /^ittanam ish/e, ' for he rules over the thoughts.'
* The Kawvas read, ayaw vava vakpatir yo 'y^'"^ pavate, tad enam esha punati, 'the lord of speech doubtless is that blower (purifier, the wind) : hence it is he that purifies him.' [26] C
1 8 ^ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
Savitr^ has purified^; therefore he says, 'May the
divine Savitrz purify me!' — 'with a flawless
cleanser;' for that blower (the wind) is indeed a
flawless cleanser : ' with that one,' he means to say ;
'with the rays of the sun;' for they, the rays of
the sun, are indeed purifiers ; therefore he says,
'with the rays of the sun.'
23. 'O Lord of the pavitra' (means of puri-
fication),— for he (who is consecrated) is indeed
the lord of the pavitra, — 'of thee, purified by
the pavitra, — for he is indeed purified by the
pavitra; — 'with whatsoever desire I purify
myself, may I be able to effect it!' whereby he
says, ' May I reach the end of the sacrifice !'
24. He then makes him pronounce the beginning
of the benedictions (Va^. S. IV, 5), 'We approach
you, O gods, for desirable goods, at the open-
ing ofthesacrifice; we call on you, O gods, for
holy^ blessings.' Thereby the officiating priests
invoke on him those blessings which are their own.
25. He (the sacrificer) then bends his fingers
inwards, viz. the two (little fingers), with the text
(Va^. S. IV, 6), 'Hail, from the mind (I take
hold of) the sacrifice !' — the two (nameless or ring
fingers) with, 'Hail, from the wide ether!' — the
two (middle fingers) with, ' Hail, from the sky and
earth !' — with, ' Hail, from the wind, I take hold
(of the sacrifice)!' he clenches both fists ^ Not visibly
^ See p. 8, note 3.
^ I take yagmyasa/i as ace. pi. fem., as does Mahidh. Perhaps it ought to be translated ' for prayers proper at the sacrifice,' whereby he makes sure that each priest uses his own proper prayers during the sacrifice.
^ For the symbolic meaning of the closing of the hands, see III, 2,1,6; Ait. Br. I, 3, 20.
Ill KANDA, I ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMAiVA, 28. 1 9
indeed is the sacrifice to be taken hold of, as is either
this staff or the garment, — but invisible indeed are
the gods, invisible is the sacrifice.
26. Now when he says, ' Hail, from the mind
(I take hold of) the sacrifice,' he takes hold of it
from the mind ; — in saying, ' From the wide ether,'
he takes hold of it from the ether ; — in saying, ' From
heaven and earth,' he takes hold of it from those
two, heaven and earth, on which this entire universe
rests ;— and in saying, ' From the wind I take hold of
(the sacrifice)' — the wind being the sacrifice — he
takes hold of the sacrifice directly.
27. And when he calls, 'Hail! HailM' — the
'Svaha' being the sacrifice — he thereby appropriates
the sacrifice. Here now he restrains his speech ; the
sacrifice being speech : he thereby appropriates - the
sacrifice.
28. He (the Adhvaryu) then makes him enter
the hall. He walks along the back of the Ahava-
niya and the front of the Garhapatya^, — this is his
passage until the Soma pressing. The reason why
this is his passage until the Soma pressing is this.
The fire is the womb of the sacrifice, and the conse-
crated is an embryo ; and the embryo moves about
