^ The uttara-vedi, or northern (or upper) altar, is not required at the performance of the Vaijvadeva, but at that of tlie Varuwa- praghasa/i ; see II, 5, 2, 5 seq.
Ii Kanda, 5 Adhyaya, I Brahmajva, 1 9. 389
again in one ^ ; for such is the characteristic form of
generation, since father and mother are a produc-
tive (pair), and what is born forms a third element:
hence that which is threefold is again (made) one.
Thereto flowering shoots (of sacrificial grass) are
tied: these he uses for the prastara^; for this is a
productive union, and productive indeed are flower-
ing shoots : this is why he takes flowering shoots
for the prastara.
19. On putting the sacrificial dishes in their place,
they churn the fire ^. For it was after Agni was
born that Pra^apati's offspring was born ; and so for
this (sacrificer) also offspring is born after Agni (the
fire) has been produced : this is why they churn the
fire, after they have deposited the sacrificial dishes
in their place.
^ Three bunches of sacrificial grass are tied together with one band. Katy. V, i, 25,
^ For the prastara, or bunch of grass representing the sacrificer, see I, 3, 3, 5 seq. ; I, 8, 3, 1 1 seq.
^ Katy. V, I, 27 seq. supplies the following details: — With the text (V%. V, 2 a, &c.), ' Agni's birth-place art thou,' the Adhvaryu takes up a piece of wood and puts it on the altar. With ' the two testicles are ye ' he lays on it two stalks of sacrificial grass. With 'Urvaji thou art' he places the lower ara«i (see p. 294, note 3) thereon. With ' Ayus (old age, or the son of Pururavas and Urvan) thou art' he touches the butter in the pot with the upper arawi ; and with ' Pururavas thou art' he puts it down on the lower arawi. He then calls on the Hotn to recite ' to the fire being churned out.' With the three formulas 'with the gayatri (trish/ubh, o-agati) metre I churn thee!' he churns thrice from left to right, and then alternately both ways until fire is produced. He then calls on the Hotr/ to recite 'to the born fire' (Sahkh. Ill, 13, 21); and in carrying the fire towards the Ahavaniya he makes him recite ' to (the fire) being carried for- ward.' With the text V, 3, he throws it down on the Ahavaniya hearth ; and (having put a kindling-stick on it) he makes two liba- tions of butter thereon with V, 4.
390 ^ATAPATIIA-BRAHMAA^A.
20. [At the Vaii-vadeva-offering] there are nine
fore-offerings and nine after-offerings \ Now the
vira^ metre consists of ten syllables : hence he ob-
tains both times an inferior (incomplete) vira^ for
the sake of production, because it was from that
inferior (lower) source of production - that Pra^apati
twice produced creatures — both the upright and
those looking to the ground. This is why (the
Vai^vadeva) has nine fore-offerings and nine after-
offerings.
21. There are three Samish/ayaf-us^; for this
(offering) is decidedly greater than an (ordinary)
havir-ya^//a ^, since it has nine fore-offerings and
nine after-offerings. However, there may also be
only a single Samish/aya^iis, since this is a havir-
ya^/la. The priest's fee for it (consists of) the first-
born calf (of the season).
22. And what race, what prosperity accrued to
Pra^apati from his offering this sacrifice, that same
race he produces, that same prosperity he attains
^ The same number of praya^as and anuya^-as are prescribed for the Varuwapraghasa// (see II, 5, 2, 30 and 41, with notes) and for the Mahahavis of the Sakamedha/2. Katy.V, 2, 8.
^ Or rather, from that productive nyuna (womb, lit. defective, lower); see II, i, i, 13.
^ See I, 9, 2, 25 seq. The formula used, if there be only one Samish/aya^us, is the same as at the Darjapurwamasa, viz. II, 21 b (VIII, 21). If there are three, they are offered to the wind (vata), the sacrifice, and the lord of sacrifice respectively; the formulas Va^. S. VIII, 22 a b being used with the second and third. Katy. V, 2, 9. For the Varu7zapraghasa/i and Sakamedha^ three Samish/a- ya_^us are prescribed, and for the .5'unasiriya only one.
* Viz. such as the new and full-moon sacrifice, which serves as the model siicrifice, and at which there are only five fore-offerings and three after-offerings. See I, 5, 3, i seq.; I, 8, 2, 7 seq.
II KANDA, 5 ADHYAYA, 2 BRAHMAiVA, 4. 39 1
whosoever, knowing this, offers this sacrifice : let him therefore perform this sacrifice.
Second Brahmaa^a. B. The Varua^apraghasa Offerixgs.
1. Now it was by means of the Vai^vadeva that
Pra^apati produced hving beings. The beings pro-
ckiced by him ate (ghas) Variu^a's barley corn ; for
originally the barley belonged to Varu;^a. And from
their eating Variu^a's barleycorn the name Varu;2a-
praghasa/^ (is derived).
2. Varu;^a seized them ; and on being seized by
Varu;/a, they became rent all over ^ ; and they lay
and sat them down breathing in and breathing out.
The out-breathing and in-breathing forsook them
not, but all the other deities ^ forsook them ; and
owing to these two, the creatures did not perish.
3. Pra^apati healed them by means of that obla-
tion : both the creatures that were born and those
that were unborn he delivered from Varu/^a's noose ;
and his creatures were born without disease and
blemish.
4. Now when this (sacrificer) performs these
offerings in the fourth month (after the Vai^vadeva),
he does so either because thus Varu;^a does not
seize his offspring, or because the gods performed
(the same offering); and both the children that have
been born to him and those that are yet unborn he
thereby delivers from Varu;^a's noose, and his chil-
dren are born without disease and blemish. This is
why he performs these offerings in the fourth month.
^ Paridima, i. e. swollen, dropsical.
2 In the St. Petersb. Diet, de vat a is here taken as 'ore:an of sense.'
392 DATAPATH A-BR A HMAiVA.
5. At this (sacrifice) there are two altars and two fires \ The reason why there are two altars and two
^ For the performance of the Varu«apraghasa,^ the Adhvaryu and his assistant, the Pratiprasthatrzj have to prepare, — to the east of the Ahavaniya, and at the distance of at least three steps (pra- krama) from it, — two altars, separate from each other by about a span (of thumb and fore-finger), one south of the other. The northern one, belonging to the Adhvaryu, is to measure between four and five cubits along the west side, and between three and four cubits along the east side ; the two sides being between six and eight cubits distant from each other. The southern altar, reserved for the Pratiprasthatr?', is to be of the usual size of the altar at the havirya^ila. The ceremonies, detailed in I, 2, Brah- ma«as 4 and 5, have to be performed also on the present occasion. In the middle of the east side of the northern altar a stake is fixed in the ground. On the north side of the northern altar, and con- tiguous with it, a pit (^atvala), i^ cubits (the length of the wedge) square, is dug, so as to be separated on the west from the utkara (heap of rubbish) by a narrow passage. With the mould dug up from the pit, the so-called uttara-vedi (upper or north altar) is raised on the northern altar, either of the same dimensions as the pit (i^ cubits square) or one third of the area of the northern altar, and so that the stake marks the middle of its east side. In the centre of this mound he makes a hollow (or 'navel'), a span square ; and the whole mound is then bestrewed with fine gravel. The texts used while tracing the sides of the pit, thrice throwing the wooden sword within the marked-off space, and raising the uttara-vedi, are given Va^. S. V, 9-10. During the night the uttara-vedi remains covered with udumbara or plaksha branches or with sacrificial grass. Next morning the two fires for the newly-constructed fire- places are taken from the Ahavaniya, either by dividing the latter into two equal parts, or by means of two bundles of firewood (threefold bound, see p. 389, note i), lighted at it, and carried eastwards in a pan covered with sand or mould. While the fires, together with the lustral water and a spoonful of ghee, taken from the pot by five ladlings with the sruva, are taken eastward, the Hotri thrice recites the verse ' Pra devyam deva,' &c. ; and the Pratipras- that;-/ draws, with the wooden sword, a line from the Ahavaniya to the south-west corner (or 'right hip') of the northern altar, or to the uttara-vedi. The Adhvaryu, standing between the two altars, then besprinkles the uttara-vedi with water, while muttering the
II KANDA, 5 ADHYAYA, 2 BRAHMAiVA, 8. 393
fires, is that thereby one frees the creatures from
Varu?2a's noose both ways,' — on the one side (he
frees) the upright, and on the other those looking
to the ground : this is why there are two altars and
two fires.
6. On the northern (uttara) altar he raises the
uttara-vedi (upper or north altar), not on the
southern one. Varu;m, doubtless, is the nobility,
and the Maruts are the people : he thus makes the
nobility superior (uttara) to the people ; and hence
people here serve the Kshatriya, placed above them.
This is why he raises the uttara-vedi on the northern,
not on the southern altar.
7. In the first place there are those five obla-
tions ^ For by means of those five oblations Pra^a-
pati produced the creatures, with them he freed the
creatures both ways from Varu;^a's noose, — on the
one side (he freed) the upright, and on the other
those that tend to the ground : this is why there are
those five oblations.
8. Then follows a cake on twelve potsherds for
Indra and Agni. Indra and Agni indeed are the
out-breathing and in-breathing : thus this is like
texts Va^. S. V, 11; whereupon he pours out on it crosswise the spoonful of clarified butter, with the texts V, 12; and lays, with the mantras V, 13, three enclosing-sticks (paridhi) of pitadaru wood round the ' navel' (see I, 3, 4, 2 seq.), and puts bdellium, fragrant reed-grass, and the front-hair of a ram on the ' navel' as a foundation (sambhara, see II, i, i, i seq.) for the fire, which is then laid down thereon. On a hearth-mound (khara), a cubit square, formed on the southern altar, the Pratiprasthatrz' also lays down his fire, after performing the usual fivefold lustration (see p. 2). Thereupon the pranita-water is brought forward in the way set forth at I, i, i, 12 seq. Katy. V, 3, 9-4, 21. For a different mode of transferring the fire to the special fire-places, see p. 396, note i. ^ See II, 5, I, II, with note.
394 ^ATAPATHA-BRAHMAATA.
doing a good turn to one who has done him a
good turn ; for it is owing to these two that his
creatures^ did not perish. Hence he now restores
his creatures by means of the out-breathing and in-
breathing, bestows out-breathing and in-breathing
on them : this is why there is a cake on twelve pot-
sherds for Indra and Agni.
9. On both (fires) there is an oblation of curds.
It is on milk that the creatures subsist and by means
of milk that they were preserved : hence it is with
that by which they were preserved and whereon
they subsist, that he delivers them both ways from
Varu;2a's noose, — on the one side (he delivers) the
upright and on the other those looking to the
ground. This is why there is an oblation of curds
on both (fires).
10. The northern one is offered to Varu//?a, since
it was Varuna. who seized his (Pra^apati's) creatures:
hence he thereby directly delivers them from Va-
ru;^a's noose. The southern one is offered to the
Maruts. It is for the sake of diversity that it is
offered to the Maruts ; for a repetition he would un-
doubtedly commit, were he to offer both to Varu;^a.
Moreover, it was from the south that the Maruts
intended to slay his (Pra^apati's) creatures, and with
that share he propitiated them : for this reason the
southern (oblation of curds) belongs to the Maruts.
11. Upon both (dishes of curds) he scatters karira-fruits^; for with karira-fruits Pra^apati
^ That is, his offspring and cattle.
^ The fruit of Capparis Aphylla. According to Sayawa, on Taitt. I, 8, 3, it is karira-shoots — which he says resemble the Soma-creeper (soniavalli) — that are so used ; but he also mentions that some authorities take karira to mean the fruit. According to a sutra he
II KANDA, 5 ADilYAYA, 2 BRAHMAA^A, 1 6. 395
bestowed happiness (ka) on the creatures, and so
does he (the sacrificer) thereby bestow happiness on
the creatures.
12. Upon both of them he also scatters i"ami-
leaves ; for with jami-leaves Pra^apati bestowed
bHss (^am) on the creatures, and so does he now
thereby bestow bhss on the creatures.
13. Then follows a cake on one potsherd for Ka
(Pra^apati) ; for by that cake on one potsherd to Ka
Pra^apati indeed bestowed happiness (ka) on the
creatures, and so does he (the sacrificer) now bestow
happiness on the creatures by that one-cup cake :
this is why there is a cake on one potsherd for Ka.
14. And on the first day, after husking and
slightly roasting barley on the Dakshi;^agni, they
prepare therewith as many dishes of karambha^ as
there are members of the (sacrificer' s) family,
exceeded by one.
15. At the same time they also prepare a ram
and a ewe ; and if he be able to procure wool other
than from e^aka sheep, let him wash it and stick it
on both the ram and the ewe ; but should he not be
able to procure wool other than from e^^aka sheep,
tufts of kui'a grass may also be (used).
] 6, The reason why there are a ram and a ewe
is that the ram manifestly is Varu;^a's victim, so that
he thereby manifestly delivers the creatures from
Varu;^a's noose. They are made of barley, because
it was when they (the creatures) had eaten barley that
Varu;^a seized them. A pair they form, so that he