^ The trish/ubh verse, used as offering-formula with the oblation of cake to Agni, both at the new and full moon, is Rig-veda X, 8, 6 [bhuvo ya^jlasya ra^asaj ka. neta . . . ague . . . , 'be thou the leader of the sacrifice and welkin, . . . O Agni !' &c.] ; with that to Agni and Soma, at the full moon, Rig-veda I, 93, 5 [yuvam etani divi ro/^anani . . . agnishomau . . . , 'you, O Agni and Soma, (fixed) those lights in the heaven,' &c.] ; with that to Indra and Agni, at the new moon, Rig-veda VII, 93, 4 [girbhir viprah pramatim iH-Z/a- mSna . . . indragni . . . , ' the bard, seeking your grace by songs . . . , O Indra and Agni,' &c.]; and with the milk-offering, at the same sacri- fice, if to Indra, Rig-veda X, 180, i [pra sasahishe puruhuta i'atrun . . . indra . . . , ' thou, O Indra, the much-invoked, hast vanquished the enemies!' &c.]; or, if to IMahendra, Rig-veda X, 50, 4 [bhuvas
196 5ATAPATHA-BRAHMAJVA.
(earth), for the offering-formula (ya^ya) is this
(earth). Over yonder (sky) he places the vasha/,
for yonder (sky) also is the trish/ubh. Thereby
he makes those two (sky and earth) yoke-fellows ;
and as such they feed together; and after their
common meal all these creatures get food^
1 7. Let him pronounce the invitatory formula lin-
gering, as it were : the invitatory formula, namely,
is yonder (sky), and the br2'hat(-saman) also is
yonder (sky), since its form is that of the brzhat.
With the offering-formula let him, as it were, hurry
on fast : the offering-formula, doubtless, is this (earth),
and the rathantara(-saman) also is this (earth),
since its form is that of the rathantara^ With the
invitatory formula he calls (the gods), and with the
tvam indra brahmawa mahan, 'mighty, O Indra, mayest thou be through (our) prayer!' &c.].
^ For the notion that there is rain (and consequently food) when heaven and earth are on friendly terms with each other, see 1,8,3, 12. The rain is the food of the earth ; and the food, produced thereby, in its turn furnishes food for the sky (or the gods) in the form of oblations.
^ The brz'hat-saman (tvam id dhi havamahe, ' on thee, indeed, we call,' &c., Sama-veda II, i59-i6o = Rig-veda VI, 46, 1-2) and the rathantara-saman (abhi tva sura, nonuma//, 'to thee, O Hero, we call,' &c., Sama-veda II, 30-3 i = Rig-veda VII, 32, 22-23) ^^e two of the most highly prized Sam a -hymns, which are especially used in forming the so-called pr/sh///as, or combinations of two hymns in such a way that one of them (being a mystic representation of the embryo) is enclosed in the other, which is supposed to repre- sent the womb. In these symbolical combinations the br/hat and rath an tar a, which must never be used together, are often employed as the enclosing chants, representative of the womb. They are already mentioned in Rig-veda X, 181. See also ^at. Br. IX, i, 2, 36-37. Taitt. S. VII, I, I, 4, Praj:^apati is said to have first created from his mouth Agni together with the Gayatri, the Rathantara- saman, the Brahmawa, and the goat; and then from his chest and arms Indra, the Trish/ubh, the B/v'hat-saman, the Ra^anya, and the ram.
I Kanda, 7 Adhyaya, 2 Brahmaa^a, 20. I97
offering-formula he presents (food to them) : hence
the invitatory formula (anuvakya) has some such
form as 'I call,' ' We call,' 'Come hither!' 'Sit on
the barhis !' for with it he calls. With the offering-
formula (ya^yd) he offers : hence the offering-
formula has some such form as, ' Accept the
sacrificial food!' ' Relish the sacrificial food!' 'Ac-
cept the potation (av7^2shayasva) !' 'Eat! Drink!
There M' for by it he offers that which (is indicated
by) ' there ! '
18. Let the invitatory formula be one that has
its distinctive indication (in the form of the name
of the respective deity) at the beginning (in front) :
for the invitatory formula is yonder (sky); and that
(sky) yonder has the moon, the stars, and the sun
for its mark below ^.
19. The offering-formula then should be one that
has its characteristic indication (further) back^; for
the offering-formula is this (earth), and this same
(earth) has plants, trees, waters, fire, and these crea-
tures for its mark above,
20. Verily, that invitatory formula alone is
auspicious, in the first word of which he utters the
(name of the) deity ; and that offering-formula alone
is auspicious in the last word of which he pro-
nounces the vasha/ upon the deity ^ ; for the (name
^ Literally, 'forwards, thither (pra).'
^ Avastallakshma, 'the sign below or on this (the, to us, nearest or front) side.' See the formulas above, p. 195, note i.
^ Or upwards, on the upper side, uparish/allakshawam. See the offering-formulas above, p. 195, note 2.
* Vasha/, or rather vausha/ ['may he (Agni) carry it (to the gods)!'], is pronounced after each ya^ya or offering-formula, which contains the name of the deity towards the end, or at least not at the very beginning.
198 ^ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
of the) deity constitutes the vigour of the Rik
(verse) : hence after thus enclosing it^ on both sides
with vieour, he offers the sacrificial food to that
deity for which it is intended.
21. He pronounces (the syllable) vauk- ; for,
assuredly, the vasha/-call is speech ; and speech
means seed : hence he thereby casts seed. 'Sha/*
(he pronounces), because there are six seasons : he
thereby casts that seed into the seasons, and the sea-
sons cause that seed so cast to spring up here as
creatures. This is the reason why he pronounces
the vasha/.
22. Now the gods and the Asuras, both of them
sprung from Pra^apati, entered upon their father
Praj^apati's inheritance ^ to wit, these two half-
moons. The gods entered upon the one which
waxes, and the Asuras on the one which wanes.
23. The gods were desirous as to how they
might appropriate also the one that had fallen to
the Asuras. They went on worshipping and toiling.
They saw this havirya^^'^a, to wit, the new and
full-moon sacrifices, and performed them ; and by per-
forming them they likewise appropriated the one —
24. Which belonged to the Asuras. Now when
these two revolve, then the month is produced ; and
month (revolving) after month, the year (is pro-
duced). But the year, doubtless, means all; hence
the gods thereby appropriated all that belonged to
^ Viz. the invitatory and offering-formulas.
2 The sacrificial call vausha/ (for vasha/, irregular aorist of vah, 'to bear,' cf. p. 88, note 2) is here fancifully" explained as composed of vauk, for vak, 'speech,' + sha/, 'six.'
^ Pra^apati, or Lord of Creatures, is here, as often (cf I, 2, 5, 13), taken as representing the year, or Time.
I KANDA, 7 ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMAiVA, I. 1 99
the Asuras, they deprived their enemies, the Asuras,
of all. And in the same way he (the sacrificer) who
knows this appropriates all that belongs to his ene-
mies, deprives his enemies of all.
25. That (half-moon) which belonged to the
gods is (called) yavan, for the gods possessed
themselves (yu, ' to join') of it ; and that which be-
longed to the Asuras is ayavan, because the
Asuras did not possess themselves of it.
26. But they also say contrariwise : — That which
belonged to the gods is (called) ayavan, because the
Asuras did not get possession of it ; and that which
belonged to the Asuras is yavan, because the gods
did get possession of it. The day is (called) sabda,
the night sagara, the months yavya, the year su-
meka^ : sveka ('eminently one'), doubtless, is
the same as sumeka. And since the Hotr/ is
concerned with these — to wit, the yavan and the
ayavan, which (according to some) is yavan — they
call (his office) yavihotram^.
Third BRAHMAiVA.
Oblation to Agni Svishtakj^/t, [and the Brahjian's portions.]
I. Now by means of the sacrifice the gods as-
cended to heaven. But the god who rules over
^ Sumeka is taken by the St. Petersburg Dictionary to mean 'firmly established;' by Grassmann, 'bountiful,' literally 'well- showering.' Our author identifies it with su-eka. The words sabdam (j'abdam, Ka;A'a rec., ? =the sounding one) and sa- garS. are obscure; yavya here apparently means, 'consisting of the yavas or half-months.'
2 The term yavihotram is obscure, and does not seem to occur anywhere else. The Kawva IMS. reads yamihotram {? = ^amihotram). Saya«a's comment is corrupt in several places and affords little help.
200 .SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
the cattle was left behind here : hence they call him
Vastavya, for he was then left behind on the (sacri-
ficial) site^ (vastu).
2. The gods went on worshipping and toiling
with the same (sacrifice) by which they had ascended
to heaven. Now the god who rules over the cattle,
and who was left behind here, —
3. He saw (what occurred, and said), ' I have been
left behind : they are excluding me from the sacri-
fice!' He went up after them, and with his raised
(weapon)- rose up on the north — the time (when
this happened) was that of the (performance of the)
Svish/akr2t.
4. The gods said, ' Do not hurl ! ' He said, ' Do not
ye exclude me from the sacrifice ! Set apart an obla-
tion for me!' They replied, 'So be it!' He with-
drew (his weapon), and did not hurl it ; nor did he
injure any one.
5. The gods said (to one another), ' Whatever
portions of sacrificial food have been taken out by
us, they have all been offered up. Try to discover
^ Or perhaps, ' he was left behind with, or in, the remains (of the sacrifice);' vastu being evidently also taken in this sense by our author, in par. 7.
^ The text has ayatayS merely, which, to become intelligible, clearly requires some noun, which may have been lost here. S a y a « a is silent on this point. In Dr. Muir's version of the legend, Original Sanskrit Texts, IV, p. 202, the word is left untranslated. I am in- clined to supply some such noun as heti, 'weapon ;' of. XII, 7, 3, 20, where this very word is used in connexion with Rudra: in later times it is also specially applied to Agni's weapon or flame (.^ihva, ' tongue '). It is not impossible, however, that we have to supply tanva('with his raised body, or self). To ma vi srakshi^ (for which the Kawva recension reads ma 'stha//), ' do not hurl,' and to saravivarha ('he drew back'), Saya«a supplies ya^TJam, 'sacrifice:' hence he apparently takes it thus, — 'do not scatter (the sacrifice),' — ' he kept (the sacrifice) together and did not injure it in any way.'
I KAA^DA, 7 ADHyAyA, 3 BRAHMAiVA, 8. 20I
some means by which we may set apart an oblation for him !'
6. They said to the Adhvaryu priest, 'Sprinkle the
sacrificial dishes (with butter) in proper succession ;
and replenish them for the sake of one (additional)
portion, and again render them fit for use ; and then
cut off one portion for each !'
7. The Adhvaryu accordingly sprinkled the sacri-
ficial dishes in proper succession, and replenished
them for the sake of one (additional) portion, and
again rendered them fit for use, and cut off one
portion for each. This then is the reason why he
(Rudra) is called Vastavya\ for a remainder (vastu)
is that part of the sacrifice which (is left) after the
oblations have been made : hence, if sacrificial food
is offered to any deity, the Svish^akrh (Agni, 'the
maker of good offering') is afterwards invariably
offered a share of it; because the gods invariably
ofave him a share after themselves.
8. That (offering) then is certainly made to
'Agni,' for, indeed, Agni is that god; — his are
these names : 6'arva, as the eastern people call
him; Bhava, as the Bdhikas (call him); Pa^unam
pati ('lord of beasts,' Pa^upati), Rudra, Agni^.
The name Agni, doubtless, is the most auspicious
^ On the identification of Agni with Rudra, see also VI, i, 3, 7; and Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, IV, p. 339 seq.
2 Passages such as this and VI, i, 3, 7 seq. are of consider- able interest, as showing, on the one hand, the tendency towards identifying and blending originally distinct and apparently local Vedic gods, especially Rudra, with the person of Agni, the repre- sentative of the divine power on earth in the later Vedic triad ; and, on the other hand, the origin of the conception of SWz., in the pantheistic system of the post-Vedic period. On our passage, see also Weber, Ind. Stud. II, p. 37 ; I, p. 189 ; Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, IV, p. 328.
202 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
(^anta), and the other names of his are inauspicious:
hence it is offered to (him under the name of) ' Agni,'
and to (him as) the Svish/akr/t.
9. They (the gods) said, ' What we have offered
unto thee who art in yonder place \ do thou render
that well-offered (svish/a) for us!' He made it
well-offered for them ; and this is the reason why
(it is offered) to (Agni as) the Svish/akr/t.
10. Having recited the invitatory formula-, he (the
Hotrz) enumerates (those deities) which (have re-
ceived oblations at the fore-offerings, butter-portions,
&c.), as well as Agni Svish/ak/'zt : — ' May Agni
offer Aorni's favourite dainties!' therebv he refers
to Agni's butter-portion ^ — 'May he offer Soma's
favourite dainties!' thereby he refers to Soma's
butter-portion. — ' May he offer Agni's favourite
dainties !' thereby he refers to that indispensable
cake for Agni which is (offered) on both occasions
(at the new and full-moon sacrifices).
11. And so with the several deities. 'May he
offer the favourite dainties of butter-drinking gods!'
thereby he refers to the fore-offerings (praya^a)
and after-offerings (anuya^a), for, assuredly, the
butter-drinking gods (represent) the fore-offerings
and after-offerings. — ' May he offer Agni the Hotri's