^ He takes the pot containing the clarified butter from the fire, with the text (Vag. S. I, 30): 'For juice thee !' [see I, 2, 2, 6,] puts it down on the ground before the sacrificer's wife and bids her look down on it. Katy. II, 7, 4.
^ Suhu/^. The Kawva recension and Taitt. S. I, i, 10, 3 have subhij^, 'well-being, good,' which reading seems also to be presup- posed by our author's explanation ' well (or good) for the gods.' The Black Ya^us assigns this entire mantra to the Adhvaryu, when he has taken the butter from the Ahavaniya, and puts it down north of the altar. In other respects also it differs considerably from the order followed by our author.
I KAiVDA, 3 ADHYAYA, I BRAHMAiVA, 2 1. 75
ground), he (the Agnidhra) carries it eastwards. In
the case of one whose Ahavaniya fire is used for the
cooking, he (now in the first place) puts it on the
Ahavaniya, thinking, ' My oblation shall be entirely
cooked on the Ahavaniya ^'' The reason why he
first puts it thereon (viz. on the Garhapatya) is,
because he will have to make the wife look at it :
for it would not be proper, if he were to take it (from
the Ahavaniya) to the west in the midst of the per-
formance, for the purpose of making the wife look
at it ; and if he were not to let the wife look at it
at all, he would thereby exclude her from the sacri-
fice. And in this way, then, he does not exclude
the (sacrificer's) wife from the sacrifice : therefore
he does not take it eastwards till after melting it
close by the wife (on the Garhapatya), and making
her look at it. In the case of one who (through
death or from other causes) has not his wife with
him, he puts it from the very beginning on the Aha-
vaniya. He then takes it again from thence and
puts it down within the altar.
21. Here now they say, — ' He must not place it
within the altar; for from that (butter) they make
the oblation to the wives of the grods ^ : he therefore
excludes the wives of the gods from the company (of
^ According to the ritual of the Black Ya^us, the butter, after the sacrificer's wife has looked at it, is again heated on the Garha- patya fire, in order to remove the impurity which has thereby been imparted to it.
2 The patnisawya^as are four oblations of butter to Soma, Tvash/rz', the wives of the gods, and Agni Gr^liapati respectively, made at the end of these sacrifices. See I, 9, 2, i. It would seem that, according to the ritual of the Black Ya^us, the butter is not put on the altar, but on a line drawn with the wooden sword north of the altar. See p. 74, note 2.
76 i-ATAPATHA-BRAHMAJVA.
their husbands) \ and thereby his (the sacrificer's)
wife becomes dissatisfied with her own husband.'
Ya^;2avalkya, however, said in reference to this point,
* Let it be so as it has been prescribed for the wife !
who would care whether his wife may consort with
other men ^ ?' ' As the altar is (part of the) sacrifice,
and the butter is (part of the) sacrifice, I will build
up the sacrifice from out of the sacrifice!' thus
thinking, let him place it within the altar.
22. The two strainers are lying in the sprinkling
water. He takes them from thence and purifies
(ut-p{i) the butter with them. Now one of them is
related to the wind (that blows) upwards (utpa-
vana)^, so that he thereby makes it (the butter)
sacrificially pure.
23. He clarifies it, with the text (Vaf. S. I, 31),
' By the impulse of Savitrz I purify thee with a
flawless purifier (strainer), with the rays of the sun !'
The meaning (of this formula) is the same (as before).
24. He then purifies the sprinkling water with the strainers covered with butter, with the text (Va^. S.
* Avasabha,^ karoti = avagata_i;^anasamuha// karoti, Say.; the gods are supposed to be assembled around the altar (of. I, 3, 3, 8) : hence by placing the butter, from which the oblations to the wives of the gods are to be made, within the altar, the Adhvaryu would separate the wives from their husbands.
^ I am not quite certain as to whether this last scornful remark is really to be assigned to Ya§-?iavalkya. The Ka;/va text has, — Ya^navalkya, however, said, 'Let him place it within the altar!' thus he said. ' Let it be so as it has been prescribed for the wife,' thus (thinking) let him place it, whether or not she consort with other men.
^ Probably the same as ud-ana (breathing upwards or inspira- tion), which one of the strainers is said to represent in I, i, 3, 2. See also I, i, 3, 6 ; Taitt. Br. Ill, 3, 4, 4. The St. Petersburg Dictionary proposes the meaning * an implement for cleaning ' for utpavanain this passage.
I KANDA, 3 ADHYAYA, I BRAHMAiVA, 26. 77
I. 31)' 'By the impulse of Savim I purify you (O
waters) with a flawless purifier, with the rays of the
sun!' The meaning is the same (as before).
25. The reason why he purifies the sprinkling
water with the strainers covered with butter is, that
he thereby puts milk into the water, and that the milk
thereby (becomes) beneficial ^ in the water, for, when
it rains, plants are thereby produced ; and on eating
the plants and drinking the water, vital fluid (serum)
results therefrom : and thus (he does this) in order
to supply the vital fluid (of the sacrificer).
26. He then looks down on the butter. Here now
some make the sacrificer look down. Yaf^;^avalkya,
however, said in reference to this point, — 'Why do not
(the sacrificers) themselves become (act as) Adhvaryu
priests ? and why do not they (the sacrificers) them-
selves recite when far higher blessings are prayed
for 2 ? How can these (people) possibly have faith
in this^.^ Whatever blessing the officiating priests
invoke during the sacrifice that is for the benefit of
the sacrificer alone.' The Adhvaryu should accord-
ingly look down on it.'
^ A play on the word hitam, which means both 'put, placed,' and ' beneficial, salutary.'
^ The Ka«va text has as follows, — Here now some make the sacrificer eye it, arguing, ' whatever blessing (resides therein) that he should himself pray for.' Ya^?iavalkya, however, said in re- ference to this point, ' Why then does not he himself become Adhvaryu ? and why does he not recite (the solemn prayers of the 'H.otn priest), and that when they pray for higher blessing ? What- ever blessing the priests invoke at the sacrifice, that they invoke for the sacrificer alone;' thus he said. The Adhvaryu, therefore, should look down on it.
^ Tesha/W j-akhinam atraivavekshawaw/ ya^amanenaiva kartavyam iti kasmat kara^at jraddha ^ata, evam ta;« jraddham prahasya, Say. The Ka;/va text omits this derisive remark.
78 ^ATAPATHA-BRAHMAA^A.
27. He looks down on it. The eye assuredly is
the truth, for the eye is indeed the truth. If, there-
fore, two persons were to come disputing with each
other and saying, ' I have seen it!' 'I have heard
it!' we should believe him who ; aid, 'I have seen
it!' and not the other: hence he thereby causes it
(the butter) to increase by means of the truth.
28. He looks down on it, with the text (Va^. S. I,
31), 'Lustrous art thou! resplendent art thou! im-
mortal (or, ambrosia) art thou !' That prayer is
indeed true, for that (butter) is lustrous, it is
resplendent, it is immortal: hence he thereby causes
it to increase by that (prayer) which is true.
Second BRAHMAiVA.
1. Now the sacrifice is the man. The sacrifice is
the man for the reason that the man spreads (per-
forms) it; and that in being spread it is made of
exactly the same extent as the man^ : this is the
reason why the sacrifice is the man.
2. The^uhu (spoon) further belongs to that (man-
shaped sacrifice) and so does the upabhr/t ; and the
dhruva^ represents its trunk. Now it is from the
^ The sacrifice is the representation of the sacrificer himself; and hence its dimensions are to be those of a man, viz. the altar (vedi) on its western side is to measure a fathom, or space between the extreme ends of the outstretched arms (? of the sacrificer), which is supposed to be equal to the size of a man ; see I, 2, 5, 14. Originally these measurements were no doubt relative to the size of the sacrificer ; but it is doubtful whether this was still the case at the time of our author.
"^ For a description of these spoons, see p. 67, note 2. Thc^^uhQ is supposed to represent the right, and the upabhr/t the left arm, and the dhruva the trunk.
I KANDA, 3 ADHYAYA, 2 BRAHMAiVA, 8. 79
trunk that all these limbs proceed, and for this rea- son the entire sacrifice proceeds from the dhruva.
3. The dipping-spoon (sruva, masc.) is no other
than the breath. This breath passes through (or,
goes to) all the limbs, and for that reason the dipping-
spoon goes to all the offering-spoons (sru/&, fem.).
4. That ^uhti further is to him no other than
yonder sky, and the upabhr/t this atmosphere, and
the dhruva this same (earth). Now it is from this
(earth) that all the worlds originate : and from the
dhruva, therefore, the whole sacrifice proceeds.
5. The dipping-spoon then is no other than that
blowing one (the wind) ; it is this that sweeps across
all these worlds: and for that reason the sruva
goes to all the offering-spoons.
6. Now when this sacrifice is being performed, it
is performed for the gods, the seasons, and the metres
(or sacred texts). To the gods belongs what sacrificial
food there is, to wit, king Soma and the sacrificial
cake : all this he takes, while announcing it with the
formula, ' I take thee, agreeable to so and so !' for
thus it becomes theirs.
7. And whatever oblations of butter are taken,
they are taken for the seasons and the metres. Every
one of them he takes in the form of butter without
announcing it (to any particular deity). In the ^hul
he takes of it four times (with the sruva from the
pot), in the upabhr^t eight times \
. 8. Now when he takes of it four times (with the sruva) in the/uhu, he takes it for the seasons, since
^ He takes butter in the ^uhu and upabhr/t by four or eight ladlings with the dipping-spoon. As we learn further on, the quantity taken in the ^uhia, by ladUng four times, should exceed that in the upabhrz't, although the latter requires eight ladlings. Cf.Kdty. II, 7,13.
8o 5'ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
he takes it for the fore-offerings \ and the fore-offer-
ings are the seasons : all this he takes in the form of
butter without making any announcement, in order
to avoid sameness ; for if he were to take it with
the formulas 'For Spring (I take) thee!' 'For
Summer — thee!' he would commit (the fau't of) a
repetition ^ : he therefore takes it in the form of
butter without making any announcement.
9. When, on the other hand, he takes eight times
(with the sruva) in the upabhm, he takes it for the
metres^ since it is for the after-offerings^ that he
takes it ; and the after-offerings are the metres : all
this he takes in the form of butter without making
any announcement, in order to avoid .'ameness; for
were he to take it with the formulas 'For the Gaya-
tri — thee!' 'For the Trish/ubh — thee!' he would
commit a repetition : he therefore takes it in the
form of butter without making any announcement.
10. Again, when he takes four times (with the sruva)
^ On the prayao-as, or oblations of clarified butter introductory to, and the anuya^as, oblations of the same material made subse- quently to, the chief sacrifice, see I, 5, 3, i seq., and I, 8, 2, i seq.
"^ Repetition of one and the same sacrificial act on the same day is to be avoided, as far as possible. The repetition in the present case would consist in his announcing the butter-oblations to the several deities in the same way as he has done in regard to the rice- portions. See I, I, 2, 17-18.