3 The identification of the Soma (plant and juice) with the moon already occurs in some of the hymns of the Rig-veda, all of which, however, probably belong to the later ones. According to the St. Petersburg Dictionary, the identification was probably sug- gested by the circumstance that indu, 'drop, spark,' applies both to the Soma and the moon. Rig-veda X, 85, 3 says that 'of that Soma which the priests know, no one ever eats.'
I KAA^DA, 6 ADHYAYA, 4 BRAHMAiVA, 8. I 77
(the moon, masc.) is not seen that night either in
the east or in the west, then he visits this world ;
and here he enters into the waters (f.) and plants
(f.). He is indeed a treasure for the gods, he is
their food. And since during that night he here
dwells together^ (a ma vas), therefore that (night
of new moon) is called amavasya (the dwelling
together, or at home).
6. They prepared it - (Soma for Indra), after
having it collected, part by part, by the cows : in
eating plants (they collected it) from the plants, and
in drinking water (they collected it) from the waters.
Having prepared and coagulated it, and made it
strong (pungent), they gave it to him'\
7. He said, 'This does indeed satiate me, but it
does not agree with me^ : devise some means by
which it may agree with me!' They made it agree
with him by means of boiled (milk).
8. Now although this (mixture of sweet and sour
milk) is, indeed, one and the same substance — it
being milk (payas) and belonging to Indra — they,
^ Viz. with the waters and plants (or, he stays at home).
^ It should be borne in mind that Soma is masculine in Sanskrit.
^ In Taitt. S. II, 5, 3, 2 seq. the corresponding story is applied directly to the Sannayya. In consequence of the struggle with Vr/tra, Indra lost his energy, which fell to the earth and produced plants and shrubs. He thereupon complained to Pra^apati, who bade the catde collect (sam-ni) it again by browsing the plants and shrubs. It was then milked out from them, and as the milk did not agree with Indra, it was boiled, and as it still did not satisfy Indra, it was mixed with sour milk.
* Na mayi irayate, literally 'it does not stay in me' = na tish///ati, na satmyam bha^ate, Sayawa. The author here (as in I, 8, r, 17) connects, or confounds, the verb i-ri with ira, 'to cook, make done,' — hence, ' it does not boil in me ; ' the milk being warm, or, as it were, boiled, when it comes from the cow, see II, 2, 4, 15. Hence also boiled milk is mixed with the Soma. [12] N
I yS ^ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
nevertheless, declare it to be (two) different (sub-
stances). Since he said 'it satiates (dhi) me,' there-
fore it is sour milk (dadhi); and since they made
it agree (sri) with him with boiled milk (or, by
boiling), therefore it is (fresh) boiled milk (srits)'^.
9. In the same way as the Soma stalk becomes
strong^ (by being touched or sprinkled with water),
so he (Indra) became strong (by the Soma being
mixed with boiled milk) and overcame that evil, the
jaundiced Such is likewise the significance of the
new-moon ceremony (and the Sannayya, or libation
of sweet and sour milk offered to Indra thereat);
and verily he who, knowing this, mixes (sweet and
sour milk at the new-moon sacrifice) in like manner
increases in offspring and cattle, and overcomes
evil : let him therefore mix together (sweet and
sour milk)^
^ The author here endeavours to estabhsh some connection between the Sannayya (or offering of sweet and sour milk to Indra, which may take the place of the second sacrificial cake offered, at the new-moon sacrifice, to Indra and Agni) and the Soma libations. Sayawa refers to the passage Taitt. Br. I, 4, 7, 6-7, where it is stated that for the morning libation the Soma is to be mixed with boiled milk, for the mid-day libation with sour milk, and for the third (or evening) libation with sour milk that is partly changed into butter (nitamijra).
^ Apyayeta. On the strengthening or increasing(apyayanam) of the Soma-plant by sprinkling it with water before the juice is extracted, see III, 4, 3, 12 seq. Saya^/a seems to take the passage thus : ' In the same way as the Soma would make strong (? or become strong), so also the sannayyam destroys that evil, the jaundice, in those who drink it.'
' By the admixture of milk the Soma-juice loses its brownish colour, and is therefore apparently considered to produce the same effect in those who drink the mixture.
* The preparation of tlie sannayya, as it is now practised by priests in Western India, is thus described by Haug (Ait. Br. II, p.
I KANDA, 6 ADHYAYA, 4 BRAHMAiVA, II. I 79
10. In reference to this point they say, ' One
who has not performed the Soma-sacrifice\ must
not offer the Sannayya; for, indeed, the Sannayya
is (of the same significance as) a Soma Hbation, and
the latter is not permitted to one who is not a Soma-
sacrificer : hence he who has not performed the
Soma-sacrifice, must not offer the Sannayya.'
11. He may nevertheless offer the Sannayya;
for have we not heard within this place ^ that he
(Indra) said, ' Do ye now offer Soma to me, and then
ye will prepare for me that invigorating draught
(apyayana, viz. the Sannayya)!' 'This does not
satiate me, prepare for me what will satiate me!'
That invigorating draught they indeed prepared for
443) : ' The Adhvaryu takes the milk from three cows called Ganga, Yamuna, and Sarasvati, on the morning and evening, and gives it to the Agntdhra. Half the milk is first drawn from the udder of each of the three cows under the recital of mantras ; then the same is done silently. The milk is taken from these cows on the evening of the new-moon day, and on the morning of the following day, the so-called Pratipad (the first day of the month). The milk drawn on the evening is made hot, and lime-juice poured over it to make it sour; whereupon it is hung up. The fresh milk of the following morning is then mixed with it, and both are sacrificed along with the Puroc/a^a. Only he who has already performed the Agnish/oma is allowed to sacrifice the Sannayya at the Dar^apiir^ima ish/i. (Oral information.)' In Va^. S. I, 4 {Sat. Br. I, 7, i, 17 ; Katy. IV, 2, 25, 26) the names of the three cows are given as Vijvayu, Vijvakarman, and Vijvadhayus, unless these are intended merely for epithets or mystic names. Cf. p. 188 note; Weber, Ind. Stud. IX, 232. Instead of the lime-juice, mentioned by Haug as used for rennet, Katy. IV, 2, 33 prescribes that the milk remaining from the Agnihotra of the preceding evening, and since become sour, should be used.
' Thus Taitt. S. II, 5, 5, i-
^ Atrantarewa ; atra vishaye antare«a madhye, Sayawa ; ? wiihm this our range of hearing ; or, in the course of the present ceremony.
l80 ^ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
him, and therefore even one who has not performed the Soma-sacrifice, may offer the Sannayya.
12. The full-moon oblation, assuredly, belongs to
the Vmra-slayer, for by means of it Indra slew
Vr/tra ; and this new-moon oblation also represents
the slaying of VHtra, since they prepared that invi-
gorating draught for him who had slain Vr/tra.
13. An offering in honour of the Vmra-slayer,
then, is the full-moon sacrifice. Vr/tra, assuredly,
is no other than the moon^; and when during that
night (of new moon) he is not seen either in the
east or in the west, then he (Indra) completely
destroys him by means of that (new-moon sacrifice),
and leaves nothing remaining of him. And, verily,
he who knows this, overcomes all evil and leaves
nothing remaining of evil.
14. Here now some people enter upon the fast
when they (still) see (the moon, on the fourteenth
day of the half-month), thinking, ' To-morrow he
will not rise : already, then, there is unfailing food
for the gods in yonder heaven-, and to this we will
offer them more from hence (to-morrow)!' — He,
indeed, is in a prosperous state with whom, while
the old food is still unfailing, fresh food is accruing;
for such a one has indeed abundant food. How-
ever, he is not now offering Soma, but he is offering
milk (i.e. the Sannayya), and that (milk) becomes
king Soma^ (in yonder world) :
' See I, 6, 3, 17.
^ Viz. in the form of Soma, i. e. the moon, still shining in the heavens during the night preceding the new moon.
^ Who, as we saw, resides in the plants and waters at the time of new moon and consequently in the milk used for the Sannayya. If, however, one were to enter upon the fast (and hence on the
I KANDA, 6 ADHYAYA, 4 BRAHMAiVA, 1 8. 181
15. But as they (the cows), previously (to the
new moon), eat mere plants (not imbued with the
moon or Soma), and drink mere water, and yield
mere milk, — so that (milk which they offer on the
day before new moon, is not imbued with Som.a, is
ordinary milk). For king Soma, the food of the
gods, indeed, is no other than the moon. When he
is not seen that night either in the east or in the
west, then he visits this world, and here enters into
the waters and plants. Having then collected him
from the water and plants, he (the performer of the
San n ay y a) causes him to be reproduced from out
of the libations ; and he (Soma, the moon), being
reproduced from the libations, becomes visible in the
western sky.
t6. Now it is only when that food of the gods
is unfailing that it comes back (to men) : for him,
therefore, who knows this, there is unfailing food in
this, and imperishable righteousness in yonder, world.
17. Thus during that night (of new moon) food
moves away from the gods and comes to this world.
Now the gods were desirous as to how that (food)
might (be made to) come back to them ; how it
might not perish away from them. For this they
put their trust in those who prepare the libation
of sweet and sour milk (sannayya), thinking,
' when they have prepared it, they will offer it to us.'
And, verily, in him, who knows this, both his own kin
and strangers put their trust; for in him, who attains
to the highest rank, people indeed put their trust.
18. Now the one that burns there (viz. the sun)
sacrifice) previously to the new moon, he would be offering mere milk, not imbued with, and not liable to change into, Soma, and therefore unfit for the gods.
1 8 2 5'ATAPATHA-BRAHMAA'A.
is, assuredly, no other than Indra, and that moon is
no other than Vr/tra. But the former is of a nature
hostile to the latter, and for this reason, though this
one (the moon, Vr/tra) had previously (to the night
of new moon) risen at a great distance from him
(the sun, Indra), he now swims towards him and
enters into his open mouth.
19. Having swallowed him, he (the sun) rises;
and that (other) one is not seen either in the east
or in the west. And, verily, he who knows this,
swallows his spiteful enemy, and of him they say,
' He alone exists, his enemies exist not^'
20. Having sucked him empty, he throws him
out ; and the latter, thus sucked out, is seen in the
western sky, and again increases ; he again increases
to serve that (sun) as food : and verily if the spiteful
enemy of one who knows this, thrives either by
trade or in any other way, he thrives again and
again in order to serve him as food.
21. Now some people offer (the Sannayya) to
(Indra under the name of) ' Mahendra' (the great
Indra), arguing, ' Before the slaying of Vr/tra he
was Indra, it is true; but after slaying Vr/tra he
became Mahendra, even as (a ra^an, or king,
becomes) a Maharaja after obtaining the vic-
tory : hence (the Sannayya should be offered) to
Mahendra.' Let him, nevertheless, offer it to
'Indra;' for Indra he was before the slaying of
Vr/tra, and Indra he is after slaying Vr/tra : there-
fore let him offer it to 'Indra-.'
* With this explanation of the disappearance of the moon may be compared the later notion of the sun and moon being swal- lowed by the demon Rahu, at the time of the eclipses.
^ Katy. IV, 2, 10 leaves it optional whether the libation of mixed
I Kanda, 7 Adhyaya, I Brahmaa^a, I. 1 83
Seventh Adhyaya. First Brahmaata.
I. He (the Adhvaryu) drives the calves away
(from the cows) with a par;2a branch \ The reason
why he drives the calves away with a par;^a branch
is this. When the Gayatri flew towards Soma
(the moon), a footless archer aiming at her while
she was carrying him off, severed one of the
feathers (par;^a) either of the Gayatri or of king
Soma^ ; and on falling down it became a par/^a
(palai'a) tree; whence its name par;2a. ' May that