12. If (beside the full-moon sacrifice) he perform an ish/i (with a view to the accomplishment of some
^ Addhatamam, adv., literally ' most surely ;' according to Saya«a = atijayena pratyakshaphaladam, 'pre-eminently a giver of percep- tible benefits.'
164 -SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
special desire) ^ let him recite seventeen kindling
verses ; {and in that case) he utters the offering-
prayer (ya^ya) in a low voice, for this is the cha-
racteristic form of an ish/i; the ya^ya and the
aniivakya should contain the word 'head^;' the two
butter-portions should be offered to theVmra-slayer
(Indra); and the two sa^y^^yas^ should be in the
vira^ metre.
Third Brahmajva.
1. Tvash/rz' had a three-headed, six-eyed son.
He had three mouths; and because he was thus
shaped, his name was Vii-varupa (' All-shape').
2. One of his mouths was Soma-drinking, one
spirit-drinking, and one for other kinds of food.
Indra hated him and cut off those heads of his.
3. Now from the one which was Soma-drinking,
a hazel-cock (francoline partridge) sprang forth ;
whence the latter is of brownish colour, for king
Soma is brown.
4. From the one which was spirit-drinking, further,
a sparrow sprang ; whence the latter talks as if
stammering, for he who has drunk spirits, talks as if
he stammered.
5. Then from the one which served for other kinds of food, a partridge sprang; whence the latter
• See I, 3, 5, 10.
^ For these verses, the first of which begins ' Agni is the head of the sky,' seeVoi^. S. XIII, 14 and 15.
■'' That is, the ya^ya (offering-prayer) and puro'nuvakya (invitatory prayer) at the Svish/akr/t, or oblation to Agni, as the maker of good offering, at the end of the chief oblations. The two vira^ formulas are Rig-veda VII, i, 3 (Va^. XVII, 76 ; Taitt. S. IV, 6, 5, 4) preddho agne didihi, and Rig-veda VII, i, 18 (Taitt. S. IV, 3, 13, 6) imo agne. Cf. Ail. Br. I, 5.
I KANDA, 6 ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMAiVA, 8. 1 65
is much variegated in colour : on its wings, namely,
butter-drops, as it were, have dropped in one place
and honey- (or mead-) drops in another, for such-
like, as it were, was the food which he consumed
with that (mouth).
6. Tvash/rz was furious : ' Has he indeed slain my
son ?' he exclaimed. He brought Soma-juice from
which Indra was excluded ; and just as the Soma-
juice on being produced had Indra excluded from it
(apendra), so it remained (when it was offered up).
7. Indra thought with himself, ' They are now
excluding me from Soma ! ' and though uninvited, he
consumed what pure (Soma) there was in the tub,
even as the stronger (consumes) that of a weaker.
That (Soma), however, injured him ; it flowed in
all directions from (the openings of) his vital airs ;
from his mouth alone it did not flow, but from all
the other (openings of the) vital airs it flowed ;
hence (was instituted) at that time the ish/i, called
Sautrama;^i: on the occasion of that (ceremony)
it is explained how the gods healed him\
8. Tvash/re was furious, and exclaimed, 'Has he
indeed consumed my Soma uninvited?' However,
he himself desecrated the sacrifice, for what pure
(Soma) there was left in the tub he let flow (into
the fire), saying, 'Grow thou, having Indra for
thy foe^!' The moment it reached the fire, it
^ See V, 5, 4, 2 seq., where the whole legend is repeated ; and Taitt. S. II, 4, 12, I. One of the objects of the Sautramam is the expiation of an immoderate consumption of Soma by a priest.
'^ According to Taitt. S. II, 4, 12, i, also the fault committed by Tvash/r?' consisted in his faulty accentuation of the compound indra^atru in the formula. What he intended to say was that Agni, on drinking the Soma, should grow strong so as to be 'the foe (slayer) of Indra,' and the compound should therefore have been accented on the second member, viz. indra^atru (the foe of
1 66 S-ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
developed (into human shape), or, as some say, it
so developed whilst on its way (to the fire). It be-
came possessed of^ Agni and Soma, of all sciences,
all glory, all nourishment, all prosperity.
9. And since it so developed whilst rolling onwards
(vr/t), it became Vrztra; and since he sprang forth
footless, therefore he was a serpent. Danu and
Danayu received him like mother and father-,
whence they call him Danava.
10. And because he (Tvash/rz) said, 'Grow thou,
having Indra for thy foe !' therefore Indra slew him
(Vr/tra). Had he said, 'Grow thou, the foe (slayer)
of Indra !' he (Vr/tra) would certainly have forthwith
slain Indra.
IT. And because he (Tvash/;-/) said, ' Grow thou I'
therefore he (Vr/tra) grew an arrow's range sideways
and an arrow's range forward : he forced back both
the western ocean and the eastern one ; and in pro-
portion as he extended did he devour the food.
12. In the fore-noon the gods offered him food, at mid-day the men, and in the after-noon the Fathers.
13. Now while Indra was thus moving on (in
pursuit of Vmra), he addressed Agni and Soma,
' Ye belong to me and I belong to you ! That one
is nothing to you : why then do ye support that
Dasyu against me ? Come over to me !'
Indra); but by accenting it on the first member, indraxatru, lie made it ' having Indra for his foe (slayer).' According to the version of the Taitt. S., Agni, the fire, on the Soma being poured into it, rose up (spirted) as if to execute Tvash/r/'s wish ; but immediately relapsed into its former state of inertness on hearing the mis-pronounced word.
^ Abhi sambabhfiv a, ' he grew by consuming,' &c. Sdya;/a.
^ The Kaz/va text has, 'Danu and Danavi received him as mother and father.'
I KANDA, 6 ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMAiVA, I 7. 1 67
14. They replied, 'What Is to be our reward in
that case ?' He offered them that Agni-Soma cake
on eleven potsherds : this is the reason why there
is a cake on eleven potsherds for Agni and Soma.
15. They went over to him, and after them went
forth 1 all the gods, all the sciences, all glory, all
nourishment, all prosperity: thus by offering that
(cake to Agni and Soma) Indra became what Indra
now is. Such then is the significance of the full-
moon offering ; and he who, knowing this, performs
the full-moon offering in this wise, attains to the
same state of prosperity, becomes thus endowed with
glory, becomes such a consumer of food (as Vrztra).
16. Now Vrz'tra, on being struck, lay contracted
like a leather bottle drained of its contents, like a
skin bag with the barley-meal shaken out. Indra
rushed at him, meaning to slay him.
17. He said, 'Do not hurl (thy thunderbolt) at
me! thou art now what I (was before). Only cut
me in twain; but do not let me be annihilated!'
He (Indra) said, 'Thou shalt be my food!' He
replied, ' So be it ! ' He accordingly cut him in twain;
and from that (part) of his which was of the Soma
nature ^ he made the moon, and that which was
demoniacal (asurya) he made enter these creatures
as their belly; hence people say ^ : 'Vr^'tra was
then a consumer of food, and Vrhra. is so now.'
For even now, whenever that one (the moon) waxes
fuller, it fills itself out of this world ^ ; and when-
^ Preyuh, 'the gods &c. that were in Vn'tra's mouth went out,' Sayawa; see preceding page, note i.
2 'Yat saumyam nyaktam asa' ['yat saumyo nyanga asa,'
Ka«va rec], 'what was imbued with Soma,' 'what had Soma
inherent in it.' Cf. 'yat somasya nyaktam asa,' I, 7, i, r.
^ ' People say so when anybody eats much food.' Saya;/a.
* Seel, 6, 4, 15.
1 68 i-ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
ever these creatures crave for food, they pay tribute
to this Vr/tra, the belly. Whosoever knows that
Vmra as a consumer of food, becomes himself a
consumer of food.
1 8. Those deities then said, 'Ye, Agni and Soma,
whom we have followed hither, take the best part
(of the sacrificial food) : do let us share along with
you in what ye have !'
19. They both said, ' What (share) shall then be
ours?' They replied, 'For whatever deity they
shall take out sacrificial food, they shall in the
first place offer to you some clarified butter!'
Whenever, therefore, they take out sacrificial food
for any deity, they in the first place offer two butter-
portions to Agni and Soma. This does not take
place at the Soma-sacrifice, nor at the animal offering;
for they said, 'for whatever deity they takeout. . .\'
20. Agni then said, ' In me they shall sacrifice
for all of you, and thus I give you a share in me !'
For this reason they sacrifice in Agni (the fire) to
all the gods ; and for this reason they say that Agni
is all the deities.
21. Soma then said, 'Me they shall offer up to
all of you, and thus I give you a share in me ! ' For
this reason they offer up Soma to all the gods ; and
hence they say that Soma is all the deities.
22. And further, since all the gods were abiding
in Indra, for that reason they say that Indra is
all the deities, that the gods have Indra for their
chief (^-resh/Z^a). Thus the gods came in a three-
^ The nirvapanam, or taking out (literally throwing out) of (handfuls of) havis from the receptacle and putting it into the winnowing basket (or other vessels), does not apply to these two kinds of sacrifices. Cf. I, i, 2, 5 seq.
I Kanda, 6 Adhyaya, 3 Brahmajva, 26. 1 69
fold way to consist of one deity; and he who
knows this becomes individually the chief of his
own (people),
2^. Twofold, verily, is this, there is no third: to
wit, the moist and the dry; and what is dry, that
relates to Agni ; and what is moist, that relates to
Soma. But (it may be objected) if this is twofold
only, why then this manifold performance : — the two
butter-portions for Agni and Soma, the low-voiced
offering to Agni and Soma, and the rice-cake for
Agni and Soma, — when by means of any one of
these he obtains all, why then this manifold per-
formance ? [The answer to this objection is that]
so manifold is the power, the generative force of
Agni and Soma.
24. The sun, indeed, relates to Agni, and the
moon to Soma ; the day relates to Agni, and the
night to Soma; the waxing half-moon relates to Agni,
and the waning one to Soma.
25. * By means of the two butter-portions he
obtains the sun and the moon ; by means of the low-
voiced offering he obtains the day and the night;
and by means of the rice-cake he obtains the two
half-moons,' thus say some.
26. Asuri, on the other hand, said: 'By means
of the two butter-portions he gains any two (of those
objects 1); by means of the low-voiced offering he
obtains any (other) two ; and by means of the rice-
cake he obtains any (other) two : " all has been
obtained, all has been conquered by me ! with that
All I will slay Vmra ! with the All I will slay the
' Yatame va yatame va dve apnoti.' Saya»a supplies vast uni, 'objects.' The Kawva recension, on the other hand, reads, 'Yatame va yatame va dve devate apnoti.'
1 70 .SATAPATHA-BRAHMAA^A.
Spiteful enemy!" thus he thinks, and for that reason there is this manifold performance.'
27. On this point it has also been remarked:
' Why this sameness (of performance) ? By what
is introduced between the butter(-offering) to Agni
and Soma and the rice-cake to Agni and Soma, a
repetition of performance (is committed) ^' Same-
ness (of performance), nevertheless, is avoided in
this way : the one (viz. the low-voiced offering) con-
sists of butter, and the other of a rice-cake, hence
the one is different from the other. Moreover, after
reciting a i?zk-verse as anuvakya, he pronounces
the ya^ya with the word 'pleased' (in the case of
the butter-portions to Agni and Soma); and after
reciting a y?/k-verse as anuvakya, he pronounces
the ya^ya in the form of a i?/k-verse (in the case
of the low-voiced offering to Agni and Soma), hence
the one is (again) different from the other-. Same-
ness of performance is also avoided in this way : in
a low voice (he utters the formulas when) he offers
of the butter, and with a loud voice of the cake ;
and what is (uttered) in a low voice, that is the
manner of Pra^apati : hence he recites for that (low-