^ According to Taitt. S. I, i, 3, Katy. IV, 2, 32, &c., he, whilst doing so, pronounces the text, ' Unite, ye that follow the eternal law, ye waving ones (with the wave, Katy.), ye sweetest, — [filling the milk with honey, Katy.], — ye delightful ones, for the obtain- ment of wealth ! '
2 Viz. by adding to it the (sour) milk that is left from the performance of the Agnihotra.
* See I, I, 2, 18.
* According to Taitt. Br. Ill, 2, 3, 11, it may be either a metal or wooden vessel^ but not an earthen one (Katy, IV, 2, 34).
190 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
he thus drives away from it the evil spirits, the
Rakshas, with a thunderbolt : this is the reason
why he covers it over by a vessel with the hollow
part upwards and containing water.
21. He covers it over, with the formula (Va^,
S. I, 4 e), ' O Vish;^u, protect the oblation!' for
Vish;m, indeed, is the sacrifice ; hence he thereby
makes over this sacrificial food to the sacrifice for
protection : for this reason he says, ' O Vish;^u,
protect the oblation !'
Second Brahmaa^a. The Chief Offerings.
1. Verily, whoever exists, he, in being born, is
born as (owing) a debt to the gods, to the y?/shis,
to the fathers, and to men ^
2. For, inasmuch as he is bound to sacrifice, for
that reason he is born as (owing) a debt to the gods :
hence when he sacrifices to them, when he makes
^ The wording of this passage is very ambiguous ; so much so indeed, that it could also be taken in the sense that ' whoever exists, is born as (one to whom) a debt (is owed) from the gods,' &€.; cf. I, I, 2, 19: 'Whichever deities are chosen (for the obla- tions), they consider it as a debt (due from them), that they are bound to fulfil whatever wish he entertains while taking the oblation.' But see Taitt. Br. VI, 3, 10, 5: 'Verily, a Brahmawa who is born, is born as owing a debt in respect to three things : in the shape of sacred study (brahma/('arya) to the 7?/shis, in the shape of sacrifice to the gods, and in the shape of oflfspring to the fathers. Free from debt, verily, is he who has a son, who is a sacrificer, who lives (for a time with a guru) as a religious student.' Ath.-veda VI, 117, 3 (Taitt. Br. Ill, 7, 9, 8): 'May we be debtless in this, debtless in the other, debtless in the third, world ! What worlds (paths, Taitt. Br.) there are trodden by the gods and trodden by the fathers, — may we abide debtless on all (those) paths!'
I KANDA, 7 ADHYAVA, 2 BRAHMAiVA, 7. IQI
offerings to them, he does this (in discharge of his debt) to them.
3. And further, inasmuch as he is bound to study
(the Veda), for that reason he is born as (owing) a
debt to the 7?/shis : hence it is to them that he does
this ; for one who has studied (the Veda) they call
' the 7?/shis' treasure-warden.'
4. And further, inasmuch as he is bound to wish
for offspring, for that reason he is born as (owing) a
debt to the fathers : hence when there is (provided
by him) a continued, uninterrupted lineage, it is for
them that he does this.
5. And further, inasmuch as he is bound to practise
hospitality, for that reason he is born as (owing) a
debt to men : hence when he harbours them, when
he offers food to them, it is (in discharge of his debt)
to them that he does so. Whoever does all these
things, has discharged his duties : by him all is ob-
tained, all is conquered.
6. And, accordingly, in that he is born as (owing)
a debt to the gods, in regard to that he satisfies
(ava-day) them by sacrificing; and when he makes
offerings in the fire, he thereby satisfies them in
regard to that (debt): hence whatever they offer
up in the fire, is called avadanam (sacrificial
portion) ^
7. Now this (oblation) consists of four cuttings ;
(the reason for this is, that) there is here first, the
invitatory prayer (anuvakya), then the offering-
prayer (ya^ya), then the vasha/-call, and as the
fourth, the deity for which the sacrificial food is
^ The word is reall}- derived from ava-da (do), 'to cut oflf.' The Taitt. Br. gives the same fanciful etymological explanation of the term as here.
192 ^ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
(destined) : for in this way the deities are dependent
on the sacrificial portions, or the portions are de-
pendent on the deities : hence what fifth cutting
there is (made by some), that is redundant, for — for
whom is he to cut it ? For this reason it consists
of four cuttings.
8. But a fivefold cutting also takes place (with
some people) : fivefold is the sacrifice, fivefold the
animal victim, and five seasons there are in the
year, — such is the perfection of the fivefold cutting;
and he, assuredly, will have abundant offspring and
cattle for whom, knowing this, the fivefold cutting
is made. The fourfold cutting, however, is the
approved (practice) among the Kuru-Pa7^/^alas,
and for this reason a fourfold cutting takes place
(with us^).
^ The four ' cuttings ' of which each oblation of rice-cake consists are made in the following way : first, some clarified butter, ' cut out' or drawn from the butter in the dhruva-spoon by means of the sruva (dipping-spoon) and poured into the ^uhu (this is called the upastarawa or under-layer of butter); second and third, two pieces of the size of a thumb's joint, cut out from the centre and the fore-part of the rice-cake and laid on that butter ; and fourth, some clarified butter poured on these pieces of cake (the technical name of this basting of butter being abhigharawa). The family of the Gamadagnis, which is mentioned as always making five cuttings (Katy. I, 9, 3-4), take three pieces of cake instead of two, viz. an additional one from the back (or west) part of the cake. Ya^Tiika Deva on Katy. quotes a couplet from some Smrai, in which the Vatsas, the Vidas, and the Arsh/ishe;/as are men- tioned beside the G^amadagnis, as pa«-^avattina// or making five cuttings. At the Upawjuya^^a (low-voiced offering),— which is performed between the cake-oblation to Agni and that to Agni- Soma at the full moon, and between the cake-oblation to Agni and that to Indra-Agni (or the sannayya, or oblation of sweet and sour milk, to Indra) at the new moon, and which consists entirely of butter, — the four cuttings are effected in the same way as described
I KANDA, 7 ADHYAYA, 2 BRAHMAiVA, II. 1 93
9. Let him cut off only a moderate quantity ; for
were he to cut off a large quantity, he would make
it human ; and what is human is inauspicious at the
sacrifice. Let him therefore cut off only a moderate
quantity, lest he should do what is inauspicious at
the sacrifice.
10. Having made an under-layer of butter (in the
^uhtl-spoon) and cut off twice from the havis, he
then pours over it some butter. There are, indeed,
two (kinds of) oblations ; the oblation of Soma being
one, and the oblation of (or rather, with) butter
being the other. Now the one, viz. the Soma-
oblation, is (an oblation) by itself; and the other,
viz. the butter-oblation, is the same as the offering
of havis (rice, milk, &c.) and the animal offering^
hence he thereby makes it (the cake) butter, and
therefore butter is on both sides of it. Butter,
doubtless, is palatable to the gods ; hence he thereby
renders it palatable to the gods : for this reason
butter is on both sides of it.
11. The invitatory prayer (anuvakya, f.), doubt-
less, is yonder (sky), and the offering-prayer (ya^^ya,
f.) is this (earth) — these two are females. With
each of these two the vasha/-call (vasha/kara,
m.) makes up a pair-. Now the vasha/, indeed,
page 174 note. At the sannayya, two (or three) sruva-fuls of both the sweet and the sour milk take the place of the two (or three) pieces of cake.
^ See page 26, note i. The parts of the cakes or the sannayya, from which cuttings have been made, he bastes, each once, with butter taken with the sruva from the butter-pot ; and whenever butter is ladled with the sruva from the dhiuva into the guhii, the former is replenished from the butter-pot.
^ Tayor mithunam asti vasha/kara eva, * to these two the vasha/- call is the complement in forming a pair.' On the vasha/ (vausha/) and the other two formulas, see note on I, 5, 2, 16. [12] O
194 ^ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiV^A.
is no Other than that scorching one (the sun). When
he rises he approaches yonder (sky); and when he
sets he approaches this (earth): hence whatever is
brought forth here by these two, that they bring
forth through that male.
12. Having recited the invitatory prayer and pro-
nounced the offering-prayer \ he afterwards (pa^-
/C'at) utters the vasha/ formula; for from behind
(pai'/'at) the male approaches the female : hence,
after placing those two in front, he causes them to
be approached by that male, the vasha/. For the
same reason let him make the offering either simul-
taneously with the vasha/ or (immediately) after
the vasha/ has been pronounced.
1 3. A vessel of the gods, doubtless, is that vasha/.
Even as, after ladling, one would mete out (food)
into a vessel, so here. If, on the other hand, he
w'ere to make the offering before the vasha/, it
w^ould be lost, as would be that (food) falling to
the ground : for this reason also let him make the
offering either simultaneously with the vasha/ or
after it has been pronounced.
14. As seed is poured into the womb, so here.
If, on the other hand, he were to make the offering
before the vasha/, it would be lost, as would be
the seed poured not into the womb : for this reason
also let him make the offering either simultaneously
with the vasha/ or after it has been pronounced.
15. The invitatory formula, doubtless, is yonder
(sky), and the offering-formula is this (earth). The
gayatri metre also is this (earth), and the trish/ubh
' The usual formalities, which have been detailed before (see page 174 note), have, of course, to be gone through at each oblation.
I KAiVDA, 7 ADHYAYA, 2 BRAHMAiVA, l6. 1 95
is yonder (sky)\ He recites the gayatri verse,
thereby reciting yonder (sky), for the invitatory
formula (anuvakya) is yonder (sky). He recites
this (earth), for the gayatri verse (viz. the offering-
formula) is this (earth).
16. He then presents the offering with a trish- /ubh verse^, thereby presenting it by means of this
^ In this passage the invitatory formula (anuvakya or puro- 'nuvakya), which is in the gayatri metre, is identified with the sky, and the offering-formula (ya^ya), which is in the trish/ubh metre, with the earth. On the other hand, the gayatri also is the earth (cf. I, 4, i, 34), and the trish/ubh the sky; so that, accord- ing to this mode of reasoning, there is not only an intimate con- nexion between the two metres, but actual identity. The gayatri verse, used as invitatory. formula, on the occasion of the rice- cake offering to Agni, is Rig-veda VIII, 44, 16 [agnir murdha diva/i kakut, 'Agni, the head and summit of the sky,' &c.]; with that to Agni and Soma, at the full-moon sacrifice, Rig-veda I, 93, 3 [agnishomau savedasau, sahiati vanatam gira^^, ' O Agni and Soma, of self-same wealth and invocation, accept this song ! ' &c.] ; and to Indra and Agni, at the new-moon, Rig-veda VII, 94, 7 [indragni avasa gatam, 'O Indra and Agni, come to us with favour!' &c.]; or with the (optional) milk-offering (sannayyam), at the new moon, Rig-veda I, 8, i [endra sanasi»i rayim, ' hither, O Indra, bring abundant treasure !'&c.], if to Indra; or Rig-veda VIII, 6, i [mahah indro ya o^asa par^anyo vnsh/iman iva, ' the Great Indra, who in might is equal to the rainy thunder-cloud,' &c.], if to Mahendra,