7. He puts the mortar (on it), with the text (Va^. S. I, 14 d, e) : 'A wooden stone (adri) art thou!'
apart from the vessels, so that no impure matter should fall on them. Some also maintain that the skin should only be shaken once, whilst others think it should be done three times. Cf. Katy. Sr. II, 4, 2. Schol.
^ Special mention is here made of this feature, since as a rule (KSty. I, 10, 4) the skin is spread with its neck-part turned east- wards. He lays it down on the north side of the sacrificial ground, either west of the utkara (the mound formed by the earth dug out in constructing the altar, and by other rubbish) or exactly north of the Garhapatya. Schol. on Katy. II, 4, 3.
2 Only a Brahman can perform sacrifice. If, as is permitted in certain ceremonies, a Kshatriya or Vai^ya officiates, he, as it were, becomes a Brahman (and is addressed as such) for the occasion, by means of the diksha, or rite of initiation. Cf. 6'at. Br. Ill, 2, I, 39; XIII' 4, I. 3-
26 S-ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
or 'A broad-bottomed stone (gravan) art thou!'
For, just as there (in the Soma-sacrifice) they press
king Soma out with stones (grdvan), thus here
also he prepares the oblation (havirya^/^a) by
means of the mortar and pestle, and the large and
small mill-stones \ Now 'stones (adraya/^)' is
the common name of these, and therefore he says,
' a stone art thou.' And ' wooden,' he calls it, be-
cause this one (the mortar) really is made of wood -.
Or, he says, 'a broad-bottomed stone (gravan) art
thou,' because it is both a stone and broad-bottomed.
He adds : ' May Aditi's skin acknowledge (receive)
thee ! ' whereby he establishes a mutual understand-
ing between it (the mortar) and the black antelope
skin, thinking: ' they will not injure each other.'
8. He then pours the (two portions of) rice (from
the winnowing basket into the mortar), with the text
(Va^. S. I, 15 a) : 'Thou art the body of Agni,
thou the releaser of speech ! ' For it is (material
for) sacrifice, and hence (by being offered in the fire)
it becomes Agni's body. ' The releaser of speech,'
he adds, because he now releases that speech which
he restrained when he was about to take the rice
(from the cart). The reason why he now releases his
speech, is that the sacrifice has now obtained a firm
footing in the mortar, that it has become diffused ;
and for this reason he says, ' the releaser of speech ! '
* Here, as in I, 5, 2, 11 (havirya^we 'tha saumye 'dhvare), we have the simple division of the .Srauta-sacrifices into obla- tions (of ghee, milk, rice, barley, &c.) and libations (of Soma). More usually the pa^ubandhu, or animal-sacrifice, is added as a third division. See also I, 7, 2, lo.
* The mortar (ulfikhala) and pestle (m us a la) are to be made of very hard wood, viz. both of vara«a wood (Cratcega Roxburghii), or the mortar of pala^-a wood (Butea Frondosa), and the pestle of
I KANDA, I ADHYAVA, 4 BRAHMAiVA, II. 27
9. Should he, however (by some accident), utter
any human sound before this time, let him in that
case mutter some J^zk or Ya^is-text addressed to
Vish;2u ^ ; for Vish;m is the sacrifice, so that he
thereby again obtains a hold on the sacrifice, and
penance is thereby done by him (for not keeping
silent). He adds : ' For the pleasure of the gods
I seize thee!' for the oblation is taken with the
intention ' that it shall gladden the gods.'
10. He now takes the pestle, with the text (Va^.
S. I, 14 b), * A large, wooden stone art thou!' for
it is a large stone, and made of wood, too. He
thrusts it down, with the text (Va^. S. I, 14 c), 'Do
thou prepare this oblation for the gods - ! do thou
prepare it thoroughly!' thereby saying, 'Get this
oblation ready for the gods ! get it quite ready ! '
11. He then calls the Havishkr/t^ (preparer
of the sacrificial food), ' Havishkr/t, come hither !
Havishkm, come hither ! ' The Havishkm ^ no
doubt is speech, so that he thereby frees speech from
khadira wood (Acacia Catechu). The former is to be of the height of the knee, and the latter three aratnis (cubits) long. Schol. on Katy. I, 3, 36 ; M. Miiller, Die Todtenbestattung bci den Brah- manen, Zeitsch. der D. Morg. Ges. IX, p. xl.
' Katy. ^r. 11, 2, 6-7 lays down the general rule, that if the Brahman or Adhvaryu (and according to some, the sacrificer also) by some slip were to utter any sound during the time for which restraint of speech (vag-yama) is enjoined, they must atone for the transgression by muttering some mantra addressed to Vishwu, such as the couplet (Va^. S. V, 38, 41), ' Widely, O Vish;m, stride !' &c., or the formula (ib. I, 4), ' O Vish;m, preserve the sacrifice !'
2 Or ' for the god,' ' for the goddess,' as the case may be.
^ Or, he pronounces the havishkr/t formula, see next note. According to Katy. Sr. II, 4, 13 he calls out three separate times.
* Havishkra denotes not only the person that prepares the oblation, but also this formula by which that person is called.
28 ^-ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
restraint. And speech, moreover, represents sacrifices so that he thereby again calls the sacrifice to him.
12. Now there are four different forms of this
call, viz. 'come hither (ehi)!' in the case of a
Brahman; ' approach (agahi) !' and 'hasten hither
(adrava) !' in the case of a Vai^^ya and a member of
the military caste (ra^anyabandhu -) ; and 'run
hither (adhava) !' in that of a .Stadra. On this
occasion he uses the call that belongrs to a Brah-
man, because that one is best adapted for a sacrifice,
and is besides the most gentle : let him therefore
say, 'come hither (ehi) !'
13. Now in former times it was no other than the
wife (of the sacrificer) who rose at this (call, to act)
as Havishkrzt; therefore now also (she or) some
one (priest)^ rises in answer to this call. And at
the time when he (the Adhvaryu) calls the Havish-
]<.rit, one of the priests ^ beats the two mill-stones.
' Viz. in the shape of the sacrificial formulas.
^ This inversion of the order of the second (or Kshatriya) and third (or Vai^ya) castes is rather strange. The Sutras of Bharadv., Apast., and Hirawy. assign the same formulas to the several castes as here. Cf. Hillebrandt, Neu- und Vollmondsopfer, p. 29.
^ According to the Schol. on Katy. Sr. II, 4, 13, either the wife of the patron or the Agnidhra (the priest who kindles the fire) acts as Havishkr/t. Mahidh. on Va^. S. I, 15 includes the patron (sacrificer) himself, unless ya^^am an a// patni is a misprint for ya^amanapatni. According to Apastamba, 'either a maid- servant or the wife grinds ; or the wife threshes and the 6'udra woman grinds' (cf. Schol. on Kaly. Sr. II, 5, 7). Similarly Bharadv. and Hirawy. ; cf. Hillebrandt, p. 38, n. 2. Similar cases of dif- ferences between the ritualistic practices of the present time and those of former times are very frequently alluded to in the ritualistic books ; and are of especial interest, as they afford some insight into the gradual development of the sacrificial ceremonial. Cf. Weber, Ind. Stud. X, 156 seq.
* Viz. the Agnidhra, whilst seated north of the expansion
I KAiVDA, I ADHYAYA, 4 BRAHMAiVA, 1 6. 29
The reason why they produce this discordant noise, is this :
14. Manu was in possession of a bull K Into him
had entered an Asura-killing, foe-killing voice ; and
by his snorting and roaring the Asuras and Rakshas
were continually being crushed. Thereupon the
Asuras said to one another : ' Evil, alas ! this bull
inflicts upon us ! how can we possibly destroy him ?'
Now Kilata and Akuli were the two priests
(brahman) of the Asuras.
15. These two said, 'God-fearing, they say, is
Manu : let us two then ascertain ! ' They then went
to him and said : ' Manu! we will sacrifice for thee !'
He said: 'Wherewith?' They said: 'With this
bull!' He said: 'So be it!' On his (the bull's)
being killed the voice went from him.
16. It entered into Manavi, the wife of Manu;
and when they heard her speak, the xA.suras and
Rakshas were continually being crushed. There-
upon the Asuras said to one another : ' Hereby
even greater evil is inflicted on us, for the human
voice speaks more!' Kilata and Akuli then said:
' God-fearing, they say, is Manu : let us then ascer-
tain ! ' They went to him and said : ' Manu ! we
will sacrifice for thee!' He said: 'Wherewith?'
(vihara) of the fires ; he strikes with the wedge (jamya, a stick of khadira wood, usually some six or eight inches long, used for placing under the lower grindstone on the north side, so as to make it incline towards east) twice the lower and once the upper grindstone. Schol. on Katy. Sr. II, 4, 15.
^ This bull of Manu has been compared by Dr. Kuhn (Zeit- schrift fur Vergl. Sprachf. IV, 91 seq.) with the INIinotaur of the Greeks. Cf. also J. IMuir, Original Sanskrit Texts, vol. i. p. 188 seq. ; and Professor Weber's Translation of the first Adhyaya, Ind. Streifen, I, p. 50.
30 5ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
They said: 'With this thy wife!' He said: 'So
be it ! ' And on her being killed that voice went
from her.
17. It entered into the sacrifice itself, into the
sacrificial vessels ; and thence those two (Asura
priests) were unable to expel it. This same Asura-
killing, foe-killing voice sounds forth (from the mill-
stones when they are beaten with the wedge). And
for whomsoever that knows this, they produce this
discordant noise on the present occasion, his enemies
are rendered very miserable.
18. He beats the mill-stones with the wedge,
with the text (Va^. S. I, 16 a) : 'A honey-tongued
cock (kukku/a ^) art thou (O wedge) ! ' For honey-
tongued indeed was he (the bull) for the gods,
and poison-tongued for the Asuras : hence he
thereby says : ' What thou wert for the gods, that
be thou for us !' He adds : ' Sap and strength do
thou call hither ! with thy help may we conquer in
every battle ! ' In these words there is nothing that
is obscure.
19. Thereupon '^ he (the Adhvaryu) takes the
winnowing basket, with the text (Va^. S. I, 14 b):
' Rain-grown art thou ! ' For rain-grown it is indeed,
whether it be made of reeds or of cane or of rushes,
since it is the rain that makes these grow.
^ Mahidhara offers the following etymological derivation of this word: i. from kva kva, 'where? where?' [' He who, wishing to kill the Asuras, roams about everywhere, crying 'where, where are the Asuras?']; 2. from kuk, 'a hideous noise,' and ku/, 'to spread;' or 3. one who, in order to frighten the Asuras, utters a sound resembling that of the bird called kukku/a (cock). Pro- fessor Weber translates it by ' Bruller' (roarer, crier).
^ Viz. when the rice has been husked (by the Havishkr/'t in the mortar). Schol. on Katy. Sx. II, 4, 16.
I KAiVDA, I ADHYAYA, 4 BRAHMAA'A, 22. 3 1
20. He then pours out the (threshed) rice (from
the mortar into the winnowing basket), with the text
(V^^. S. I, 16 c) : ' May the rain-grown acknowledge
(receive) thee ! ' For rain-grown also are these
(grains), whether they be rice or barley, since it is
the rain that makes them grow. By these words he
establishes an understanding between them and the
winnowing basket, in the hope ' that they will not
injure each other.'
21. He now winnows (the rice), with the text
(Vaf. S. I, i6d): 'Cleared off is the Rakshas !
cleared off are the evil-doers ! ' The husks (which
have fallen on the ground) he throws away \ with
the text (Va^. S. I, i6 e), ' Expelled is the Rakshas!'
for those evil spirits, the Rakshas, he thereby expels.
22. He then separates (the husked grains from
the unhusked), with the text (Vaf. S. I, i6 f): ' May
the wind separate you !' For it is that wind (which
is produced by the winnowing) which here purifies
(or blows, pavate); and it is the wind that separates
everything here (on earth) that undergoes separation :
therefore it also separates here those (two kinds of
grain) from each other. Now when they are under-
going this process, and whilst he is separating^ (the
husked, so as to drop them into a pot), —