* The two stalks, called vidhrAi (separation), separating the prastara-bunch from the barhis or grass-covering of the altar (of. I, 3, 4, 10), he puts back in the place whence they were taken. Katy. Ill, 6, 4.
'^ Svaga, ? Uterally ' self-go,' i. e. ' success to him !'
I KANDA, 8 ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMAiVA, I 3. 24I
12. Should he desire rain, let him take up (the
prastara), with this text (Va^. S. II, i6 d), ' Be ye
in harmony with each other, O heaven and earth ! '
for when heaven and earth are in harmony with
each other, then indeed it rains ^: for this reason he
says, ' be ye in harmony with each other, O heaven
and earth !' — ' May Mitra and Varu;/a favour thee
with rain !' whereby he says, ' may he who rules over
the rain favour thee with rain !' Now he that rules
over the rain is undoubtedly that blowing one (Vayu,
the wind) ; and he, it is true, blows as one only ; but,
on entering into man, he becomes a forward and a
backward moving one ; and they are these two, the
out-breathing and the in-breathing-. And Mitra and
Varu;/a assuredly are the out-breathing and in-
breathing; and hence he says by that (prayer),
* may he who rules over the rain favour thee with
rain r Let him then take it up, with this text, for
then the rain will at all times be propitious. He
anoints it (the prastara) : thereby he makes him (the
sacrificer) an oblation, thinking, 'May he, as an obla-
tion, go to the world of the gods !'
13. He anoints the top (of the prastara with
the butter) in the ^uhu, the middle part (with that)
in the upabhr/t, and the lower end (with that) in
the dhruva; for the^uhu is, as it were, the top, the
upabhm the middle, and the dhruva the root.
1 Cf. Ait. Ar. Ill, I, 2, 2-4 (Max Mtiller, Up. I, p. 249): 'The first half (of a sawhita or combination of final and initial letters) is the earth, the second half heaven, their uniting the rain, the uniter Par^anya. And so it is when he (Paro-anya) rains thus strongly, without ceasing, day and night; then they say also (in ordinary language), " Heaven and earth have come together.'" See also ^at. Br. I, 7, 2, 1 6.
242 S-ATAPATHA-BRAHMAJVA.
14. He anoints (each time), with the text (Va^. S.
II, 16 e), ' May (the gods) eat, licking the anointed
birdM' He thereby causes it (the prastara and
hence symbolically the sacrificer) to be a bird and
fly up from this world of men to the world of the
gods. He then draws it twice (towards the Aha-
vaniya) alow (near the ground). The reason why
he must draw it alow (is this) : the prastara is the
sacrificer ; and in this way he does not remove him
from this firm footing of his ; and he, moreover,
secures rain for this locality.
15. He draws it along, with the text (Va^. S. II,
16 f), 'Go to the spotted (mares) of the Maruts!'
He means to say, ' Go to the world of the gods,'
when he says, ' Go to the spotted (mares) of the
Maruts-!' — 'Having become a spotted cow, go to
the sky and thence bring us rain hither!' The
spotted cow, doubtless, is this (earth) : whatever
rooted and rootless food is here on this (earth), by
that this (earth) is a spotted cow. ' Having become
^ Vyantu vayo 'ktaw rihawa-^. IMahidhara interprets it, 'May the birds (i.e. the metres) go (?to heaven, — taking and) licking the anointed (prastara).' The Ka«vas read, 'vyantu vayo ripto riha?/a^.' The Black Ya^s (Taitt. S. I, i, 13, i) has 'akta/« rihawa viyantu vaya//, pra^a;« yoniwz ma nirmr/Tcsham, apyayantam apa oshadhaya;^,' which Sayawa explains by ' May the birds having licked the anointed (top) go their several ways,' &c. ; and the Taitt. Br. Ill, 3, 9, 3 remarks to viyantu vaya^, 'Having made him birds, he makes him go to the heavenly world.' According to Sayawa, the three above formulas are by Apastamba referred to the three acts of anointing, whereas the others, he says, divide the first formula into two, and use the second one (pra^am, &c.) while the lower part of the prastara is anointed. See, however, Hillebrandt, Neu- und Vollm. p. 142, note 3.
"^ The Black Ya^us (Taitt. S. I, i, 13) has, ' The spotted (mares) of the Maruts are ye (O plants)!'
I KAiVJDA, 8 ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMAiVA, 1 9. 243
this (earth), go thou to the sky!' this is what he
thereby says. ' Thence bring us rain hither ! ' From
rain certainly spring vigour, sap, well-being : for this
reason he says, ' thence bring us rain hither !'
16. He then takes a single stalk from it. The
prastara-bunch is the sacrificer ; and therefore, if he
were to throw the whole prastara (at once) Into the
fire, the sacrificer would speedily go to yonder world.
In this way, however, the sacrificer will live long ; and
what the full measure of human life here on earth is,
for that he takes this (single stalk) therefrom.
17. Having held (the prastara) for a moment, he
throws it into the fire : whither his (the sacrificer's)
one (part of) self (or, body)^ went, thither he thereby
causes it to go 2. But were he not to throw it into
the fire, he would cut off the sacrificer from (yonder)
world. In this way, however, he does not cut off
the sacrificer from (yonder) world.
18. He throws it (with Its top) to the east, for the
east is the region of the gods ; or to the north, for
the north is the region of man. With the fingers
only they should smooth It down, not with pieces of
wood; since it Is with sticks that they pierce any
other corpse. Fearing, lest they should treat it in
the same way as any other corpse, they should
smooth it down with the fingers only, not with
pieces of wood. When the Hotr^' recites the song
of praise, —
19. The Agnidhra says (to the Adhvaryu), 'Throw
^ The itara dtma in pars. 17 and 19 have to be taken cor- relatively.
2 That is to say, he makes sure that the sacrificer has really obtained the object for which the sacrifice was undertaken,— the right to go to the heavenly world after his death.
244 5'ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiV\\.
(the single stalk) after (the prastara)!' — 'whither his
(the sacrificer's) other self went, thither make it now
go,' this is what he thereby says. [The Adhvaryu]
having thrown it silently after, touches himself,
with the text (Va^. S. II, i6 f): 'Guardian of the
eye art thou, O Agni ; guard mine eye!' In this
way also he does not throw himself into the fire
after (the prastara or sacrificer).
20. He (the Agntdhra) then says ^ (to the Adh-
varyu), 'Discourse together!' — he thereby says,
' Make him (the sacrificer) discourse with the gods.'
[The Adhvaryu asks], 'Has he gone (to the gods),
Agnidh ?' whereby he says, 'Has he really gone ?' —
'He has gone!' replies the other. — 'Bid (the gods)
hear!' by these words he (the Adhvaryu) means to
say, ' Make him (the sacrificer) be heard, make him
be noticed by the gods!' — 'May (one or they) hear
(srausha/)!' thereby he (the Agnidhra) means to
say, ' They know him, they have recognised him.'
Thus the Adhvaryu and the Agnidhra lead the
sacrificer to the world of the gods.
21. He (the Adhvaryu) then says, 'Good-speed to
the divine Hotrt's^V The divine Hotrts assuredly
are these enclosing-sticks, since these are Agnis
(fires) : it is to them that he thereby bids good-
speed, and therefore he says, 'good-speed to the
^ He touches himself near the heart, or, according to Vaidyanatha, he touches his eyes. After this he has, as usual, to touch the lustral water. See p. 2, note 2.
^ Here begins the ja;«yuvaka; see p. 241, note i.
^ ' Svaga dafvya h6lrihhyaA.' The form daivya seems to have become fixed before hot;-/, in consequence of its frequent use, especially in the Apii hymns, as nom. ace. dual daivya hotara; and in the invocation of the L/a, as nom. plur. dafvya h6tara//.
I KAiVDA, 8 ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMAiVA, 25. 245
divine HotrtsV — 'Success (svasti) to the human!'
thereby he desires that this human Hotri may not
fail.
22. He now throws the enclosing-sticks into the
fire. The middle enclosing-stick he throws first,
with the text (Vaf. S. II, 17 a), 'The stick which
thou laidst around thee, O divine Agni, when thou
wert concealed by the Pa;ns, I bring thee for thy
pleasure; may it not prove faithless to thee!' — With
(ib. b), 'Approach ye the place beloved of Agni!'
he throws the two others after it.
23. He then^ seizes the ^hu and the upabhrzt
at the same time. For on the former occasion 2,
when he anoints (the prastara — sacrificer), he makes
him an oblation, thinking, ^ May he, as an oblation, go
to the world of the gods ! ' for this reason he seizes
the ^uhu and the upabhm at the same time.
24. He seizes them for the Vi^ve Deva/^ (the All-
gods). For, assuredly, when any sacrificial food is
taken without being announced to any one deity,
then all the gods think that they have a share in it.
Now when he takes that sacrificial food, the (residue
of) butter, he does not announce it to any one deity ;
and hence he takes up (the two spoons) for the
Vi^ve Deva//, and thus makes that (residue of
butter) the vai^vadeva^ at the havirya^;^a.
25. He seizes them, with the text (Va^. S. II, 18),
^ Here begins the offering of the remains (sa;;zsrava) of butter ; see p. 236, note 2.
2 See par. 14 above.
' The author again connects the havis-oifering with the more solemn Soma-sacrifice ; tlie third, or evening, Hbation of Soma being supposed to belong to theVijve Deva/^; cf.Va^. S. XIX, 26; Ait. Br. VI, 4.
246 ^ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
' The residue (of the butter) ye have for your share,
ye, mighty by (this) food!' the residue, of course,
is that which remains ; — 'O ye gods, staying on the
prastara, and representing the enclosing-sticks^;'
for both the prastara and the enclosing-sticks have
been thrown into the fire; — 'All of you, applauding
this speech,' thereby he makes it the vai^vadeva
(belonging to the Vi^ve Deva//) ; — ' Be seated on this
couch of grass (barhis) and enjoy yourselves!
Svaha! Va/^!' as one offers what has been con-
secrated by ' vasha/,' this (residue) thereby becomes
such for him (the sacrificer).
26. For whomsoever they take the sacrificial food
from a cart, for him they unyoke (the spoons, by
placing them) on the yoke of that cart, thinking,
' Where we yoke, there we also unyoke ^; ' for from the
same place where they yoke, they also unyoke. For
him, on the other hand, for whom they take it from
a jar, (they unyoke the spoons, by placing them) on
the wooden sword, thinking, ' Where we yoke, there
we also unyoke ; ' for from the same place where
they yoke, they also unyoke.
27. Yoke-fellows, indeed, are these two spoons for the sacrifice : he yokes them when he starts ^ (or,
^ Paridheya/;, literally *ye who are to be laid around;' according to Mahidhara = paridhibhava^. The Ka«va text has pari- dhaya^, ' enclosing-sticks.' The Black Ya^us (Taitt. S. I, i, 13, 2) has 'barhishada// (sitting on the barhis)' instead.
"^ The original meaning of this sacrificial call, as of the apparently allied vasha/, vausha/, appears to be, 'May he (Agni) carry it (the oblation to the deity)!' Cf. p. 88, note 2.
^ See I, I, 2, 8.
* This seems to refer to the time when he gets the spoons ready for their sacred use. He then wipes them with sacrificial grass ; that is, he, as it were, rubs down the horses before starting on his journey to the world of the gods. See p. 68, note i.
I KANDA, 9 ADHYAYA, I BRAHMAiVA, I. 247
first uses them). Now, were he only to release
(unyoke) either of them after putting it down, it
would fall down just as a draught animal ^ (would,
if made to lie down before being unyoked). At the
Svish/akm these two undergo an unyoking : he
then lays them down, and so unyokes them. He
then yokes them again, at the after-offerings. Having
performed the after-offerings, he effects another un-
yoking : he lays them down, and so unyokes them.
Thereupon he yokes them again when he seizes
them both at the same time; and when he has
travelled over the way for which he has yoked
them, he unyokes them. After the sacrifice offspring
(is produced). Hence this man yokes (unites), and
then unyokes, and again yokes them ; and when he
has travelled over the way for which he yoked them,
he finally unyokes them. He lays (the spoons)
down, with the text (Va/. S. H, 19a), 'Fond of
butter are ye ; protect the two yoke-fellows ! gracious
are ye : lead me to grace !' whereby he says, 'good
are ye : lead me to goodness ! '
Ninth Adhyaya. First BRAHMAiVA.
I. Now^ when (the Adhvaryu) says, 'The divine
Hotre's are summoned for the proclamation of success,