^ That is, with the departed persons, the fathers; or, more probably, with new bodies (?), of. the funereal hymns, Rig-veda X, 14-18; especially X, 15, 14; 16, 5; 14, 8. Perhaps, however, it would be better to construe, ' by (our) bodies we have united with lustre and vigour ; by (our) mind with bliss.' In IV, 6, i, i it is said, that the sacrificer is born in the next world with his entire body ; similarly XI, i, 8, 6; XII, 8, 3, 31. For further quotations regard- ing the views on future existence, see A. Weber, Ind. Streifen, I, p. 20 seq.; J. Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, V, p. 314 seq.
I KAiVDA, 9 ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMAJVA, II. 269
the Vish;^u-strides. Now it Is indeed from this (earth) that most (beings) go (upwards).
10. Hence (he strides thrice) with the texts (Va^.
S. II, 25 a-c), 'On the earth Vish;^u strode by means
of the gayatri metre : excluded therefrom is he who
hates us, and whom we hate!' ' In the air Vish;^u
strode by means of the trish/ubh metre : excluded
therefrom is he who hates us, and whom we hate!'
* In the sky Vish;^u strode by means of the^agati
metre : excluded therefrom is he who hates us, and
whom we hate !' When one has thus ascended
these worlds, that is the goal, that the safe refuge :
the rays of him (the sun) who burns there, are
the righteous (departed)^; and what highest light
there is ^ that is Pra^apati or the heavenly world.
Having then in this way ascended these worlds, he
reaches that goal, that safe refuge. Now he who
wishes to give instructions from hence, should come
hitherwards from above. Twofold is the reason
why he should come hitherwards from above :
11. By (or, from) the escape (of the enemies)^
indeed the conquering gods formerly gained first
the sky, and then this aerial expanse ; and there-
^ In VI, 5, 4, 8 we shall meet with the statement, that 'the stars (nakshatra)are the lights of righteous men who go to the heavenly world.' In the same passage, however (as in others), thenaksha- tras (lunar mansions) are represented as divine female beings (with undipped wings; of. Va^. S. XI, 61), with whom, in IX, 4, i, 9, the moon is said to live together, as the Gandharvas with the Apsaras. ^ See par. 16 with note. The Ka«va text reads, 'yat param bhati.' * Apasarawata^ ; i. e. by allowing the enemies to escape, viz. first from the sky to the air, and then from the air to the earth. It also, however, has the meaning of ' from escape ; ' that is, the gods drove the enemies to the earth, whence there was no escape for them.
270 5ATAPATHA-BRAHMAJVA.
upon they drove their enemies away from this
(earth), whence there was no escape. And in Hke
manner he (the priest) also by the escape (of the
enemies) gains first the sky, and then this aerial
expanse ; and thereupon he drives his enemies away
from this (earth), whence there is no escape. This
earth indeed is a firm footing : hence he thereby
stands firm on this firm footing.
12. And in this way also (he may stride)^: * In
the sky Vish;^u strode by means of the ^^agati
metre : excluded therefrom is he who hates us, and
whom we hate !' ' In the air Vish;^u strode by means
of the trish/ubh metre : excluded therefrom is he
who hates us, and whom we hate!' 'On the earth
Vish;/u strode by means of the gayatri metre :
excluded therefrom is he who hates us, and whom
we hate!'' — With the texts (Va^. S. II, 25 d, e),
'(Excluded) from this food! from this resort!'
(pratish//^a, he looks down upon his portion and
the altar respectively.) For on this (earth) all
this food is safely established (pratishMita): for
this reason he says, ' From this food ! from this
resort !'
13. He then looks towards the east. The east,
indeed, is the region of the gods : for this reason he
looks towards the east.
14. He looks, with the text (Va^. S. II, 25 f), 'We have gone to the realm of light (svar).' The
^ The sacrificer in making the strides of Vishwu, may begin either with the stride on earth or with that in the sky (Katy. Ill, 8, II, 12). He begins from the southern hip (or south-west corner) of the altar, and makes three strides eastward with his right foot in front, reciting one formula with each stride, along the south side of the altar up to the Ahavaniya fire.
I Kanda, 9 Adhyaya, 3 Brahmaa^a, I 7. 27i
realm of light assuredly means the gods : hence he
thereby says, 'We have gone to the gods.' — With
(ib. g), 'We have united with splendour' (he looks
on the Ahavaniya fire) : he thereby says, ' We have
united with the gods.'
15. He then looks up to the sun, for that is the
final goal, that the safe resort. To that final goal,
to that resort he thereby goes : for this reason he
looks up to the sun.
16. He looks up, with the text (Va^. S. H, 26 a),
'Self-existent art thou, the best ray of light!' The
sun is indeed the best ray of light \ and therefore he
says, ' Self-existent art thou, the best ray of light.'
'"Light-bestowing art thou: give melight(var/C'as)!"
so say I,' said Ya^^'^avalkya, 'for at this indeed the
Brahma;2a should strive, that he be brahmavar-
iasin (illumed by the brahma, or sacred writ).'
Aupoditeya^, on the other hand, said,' He indeed
will give me cows ^ : (therefore I say), " Cow-giving
art thou, ^ive me cows!'" Thus whatever wish
he (the sacrificer) entertains (and expresses), that
wish is eranted to him.
17. He then turns (from left to right), with the text (Va^. S. H, 26 b), ' I move along the course of
^ Seven rays of the sun are mentioned, Rig-veda 1, 105, 9 ; II, 5, 2 ; Ath.-veda VII, 107, i. Mahidhara remarks that four of them He in, or point to, the four quarters ; one pointing upwards and another downwards ; and the seventh, and best, being the disc of the sun itself, called Hira«yagarbha. This apparently is the param bhas, or most excellent light, which in par. 10 is identified with Pra^apati, or the heavenly world.
^ That is, Tumi?l^a Aupoditeya Vaiyaghrapadya, as the Kawva text reads; cf. Taitt. S. I, 7, 2, i.
^ The heavenly rays of light are regarded as the heavenly cows, Naigh. I, 5 ; Nir. II, 6.
272 i-ATAPATHA-BRAHMAJVA.
the sun;' having reached that final goal, that safe resort, he now moves along the course of that (sun)^
18. Thereupon he steps to (upa-stha) the Gar-
hapatya fire. Twofold is the reason why he steps
to the Garhapatya : the Garhapatya is a house, and
a house is a safe resort, hence he thereby stays
in a house, that is, in a safe resort. And, besides,
what full measure of human life there is for him
here, that he thereby attains (upa-stha). This is
why he steps to the Garhapatya fire.
19. He steps to it, with the text (Va^. S. II, 27 a),
' O h useholder Agni, may I become a good house-
holder through thee, O Agni, the householder !
Mayest thou, O Agni, become a good householder
through me, the householder!' there is nothing in
this requiring explanation. — 'May our household
matters be unlike a cart with only one bullock,' he
thereby says, ' may our household matters be free
from calamities;' — 'for a hundred winters!' he thereby
says, 'may I live a hundred years.' He need not,
however, say this ; for man lives even longer than
a hundred years : hence he need not say this.
20. He then turns (from left to right), with the text
(V^£'. S. II, 27 b), 'I move along the course of the
sun:' having reached that final goal, that safe resort,
he now moves along the course of that (sun).
21. Now (in pronouncing the following text) he
^ When he has executed the pradakshiwa movement, he has to repeat the movement in the opposite direction, in accordance with the general rule, Katy. I, 8, 24. The same applies to par. 20. On the sun-wise circumambulation, with and without fire, see p. 37 note, p. 45 note; also Martin, Western Isles, pp. 16-20, 85, 97, 116-119, 241, 277; Forbes Leslie, Early Races of Scotland, index, s. v. deisiol.
I KANDA, 9 ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMAiVA, 23. 273
inserts his son's name : * May this son (N. N.) carry
on this manly deed of mineM' Should he have no
son, let him insert his own name.
22. He then steps up to the Ahavaniya fire.
Silently he steps to it, thinking, ' In the east my
sacrifice shall be completed !'
23. Thereupon he divests himself of the vow,
with the text (Va^. S. II, 28 b), ' Now am I he that
I really am.' For, in entering upon the vow, he
becomes, as it were, non-human ; and as it would
not be becoming for him to say, ' I enter from truth
into untruth;' and as, in fact, he now again becomes
man, let him therefore divest himself of the vow,
with the text, 'Now am I he that I really am^'
^ The Madhyandina text of the Va^. S. does not give this formula. The Ka«va text of the Sawhit^ has the following (Weber's edition, p. 59), 'Woven art thou, a web art thou: weave me along (? extend my life) at this sacrifice, at this holy deed, in this food, in this world ! ' ' May my son weave on (continue) this work, this manly deed of mine !' Thus also Katy. Ill, 8, 25. The Ka«va text of the Brahmawa, however, mentions only the formula given above. According to Laugakshi he names his favourite son ; according to -S'ankhayana, his eldest son, or as many sons as he has. See comm. on Katy. IV, 12, 11.
• ^ See I, 1, 1,6. For another mode of divesting oneself of the vow, see I, i, 1,3.
2 74 ^-ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
SECOND KANDA.
THE AGNYAdhAnA, THE AGNIHOTRA, THE
VINDAVITRIYAGNA, THE AGRAYAA^ESHn,
AND THE ATATURMASYANI.
I. THE AGNYADHANA or ESTABLISHMENT OF THE
SACRED FIRES.
First Adhyaya. First Brahmajva.
The Agny-adhana (or Agny-adheya), or ceremony of esta- blishing a set of sacrificial fires, on the part of a young householder, is, as a rule, performed on the first day of the waxing moon. Some authorities also allow the performance to take place at full moon, probably in order to enable the newly-married couple to enter on their sacred duties with as little delay as possible. Moreover, special benefits are supposed to accrue to the performer of the ceremony from the conjunction of the new moon with certain lunar asterisms; though the author of our work, at any rate, does not seem greatly to encourage this practice, but rather to urge the pious householder to set up fires of his own, whenever he feels a longing for the sacrifice.
The normal performance of the Agnyadhana, as that of the full and new-moon off'erings, requires two days ; the first of which is taken up with preliminary rites, while the second — that is, the first day of the respective half-moon — is devoted to the chief ceremonies, beginning with the production of the sacred fire by friction. (See
II, I, 4, 8 seq.)
After the sacrificcr has chosen his four ofl!iciating priests — viz. the Brahman, Ilotr/, Adhvaryu, and Agnidhra (or Agnidh) — he proceeds, together with them, to erect the two sheds or ' fire- houses.' In order to determine their exact sites, the Adhvaryu first draws from west to east the so-called 'easterly' line (cf I, 2, 5, 14), and on it marks, at 8, 1 1, or 12 prakramas or steps from each other, the centres of the Garhapatya and Ahavaniya fire-places, the outlines of which he then traces, making each a square aratni or cubit in area, the former circular, the latter square. The Dakshi-