Kanda III, adhyaya 5, brahmana 1

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

1. From that post which is the largest on the east side (of the hall)^[2] he now strides three steps forwards (to the east), and there drives in a peg,--this is the intermediate (peg)^[3].

2. From that middle peg he strides fifteen steps to the right, and there drives in a peg,--this is the right hip.

3. From that middle peg he strides fifteen steps northwards, and there drives in a peg,--this is the left hip.

4. From that middle peg he strides thirty-six steps eastwards, and there drives in a peg,--this is the fore-part^[4].

5. From that middle peg (in front) he strides twelve steps to the right, and there drives in a peg, this is the right shoulder.

6. From that middle peg he strides twelve steps to the north, and there drives in a peg,--this is the left shoulder. This is the measure of the altar.

7. Now the reason why it is thirty steps broad behind is this: the Virāj metre consists of thirty syllables, and by means of the Virāj the gods obtained a firm footing in this world; and even so does he now, by means of the Virāj, obtain a firm footing in this world.

8. But there may also be thirty-three (steps); for of thirty-three syllables also consists the Virāj; and by means of the Virāj, he obtains a firm footing in this world.

9. Then as to why the 'easterly line^[5]' is thirty-six steps long;--the Bṛhatī consists of thirty-six syllables, and by means of the Bṛhatī the gods obtained the heavenly world: and so does he now, by means of the Bṛhatī, obtain the heavenly world and that offering-fire (Āhavanīya) of his is in the sky.

10. And as to (the altar) being twenty-four steps broad in front;--the Gāyatrī consists of twenty-four syllables, and the Gāyatrī is the fore-part of the sacrifice: this is why it is twenty-four steps broad in front. This is the measure of the altar.

11. And why it is broader behind,--'Wider behind, broad-hipped,' thus they praise a woman. And by its being wider behind, he makes that womb at the hind-part (of the altar) wider, and from that wider womb these creatures are born.

12. That high altar (Uttaravedi^[6]) is the nose of the sacrifice; because they throw it up so as to be higher than the altar, therefore it is called 'high altar.'

13. Now, in the beginning there were two kinds of beings here, the Ādityas and the Aṅgiras. The Aṅgiras then were the first to prepare a sacrifice, and having prepared the sacrifice they said to Agni, 'Announce thou to the Ādityas this our to-morrow's Soma-feast, saying, "Minister ye at this sacrifice of ours!"'

14. The Ādityas spake (to one another), 'Contrive ye how the Aṅgiras shall minister unto us, and not we unto the Aṅgiras!'

15. They said, 'Verily by nothing but sacrifice is there a way out of this^[7]: let us undertake another

Soma-feast!' They brought together the (materials for) sacrifice, and having made ready the sacrifice, they said, 'Agni, thou hast announced to us a Soma-feast for to-morrow; but we announce to thee and the Aṅgiras a Soma-feast even for to-day: it is for us that thou art (to officiate as) Hotṛ^[8]!'

16. They sent back some other (messenger) to the Aṅgiras; but the Aṅgiras going after Agni, were exceeding angry with him, saying, 'Going as our messenger, why didst thou not mind us^[9]?'

17. He spake, 'The blameless chose me: as the chosen of the blameless, I could not go away.' And let not therefore the chosen (priest) of a blameless man turn away from him. The Aṅgiras then officiated for the Ādityas in the sacrifice with Soma bought (krī) on the same day (sadyas); whence this Sadyaḥkrī^[10].

18. They brought Vāc (speech) to them for their sacrificial fee. They accepted her not, saying, 'We shall be losers if we accept her.' And so the performance of that sacrifice was not discharged (completed), as it was one requiring a sacrificial fee.

19. Thereupon they brought Sūrya (the sun) to them, and they accepted him. Wherefore the Aṅgiras say, 'Verily, we are fit for the sacrificial office, we are worthy to receive Dakṣiṇās; yea, even he that burns yonder has been received by us^[11]!'

Hence a white horse is the sacrificial fee for the Sadyaḥkrī.

20. On the front of this (horse) there is a golden ornament, whereby it is made an image of him that burns yonder.

21. Now Vāc was angry with them: 'In what respect, forsooth, is that one better than I,--wherefore is it, that they should have accepted him and not me^[12]?' So saying she went away from them. Having become a lioness she went on seizing upon (everything^[13]) between those two contending parties, the gods and the Asuras. The gods called her to them, and so did the Asuras. Agni was the messenger of the gods, and one Saharakṣas for the Asura-Rakṣas.

22. Being willing to go over to the gods, she said, 'What would be mine, if I were to come over to you?'--'The offering shall reach thee even before (it reaches) Agni.' She then said to the gods, 'Whatsoever blessing ye will invoke through me, all that shall be accomplished unto you!' So she went over to the gods.

23. And, accordingly, when he pours ghee on the high altar^[14], while the fire is held (over it)--since the gods said to her on that occasion, 'The offering shall reach thee even before Agni'--then that offering does reach her even before (it reaches) Agni; for this (high altar) is in reality Vāc. And when he raises the high altar, it is for the completeness of the sacrifice, for the sacrifice is Vāc (speech) and that (high altar) is Vāc.

24. He measures it with the yoke and pin;--namely with the yoke (that place) whither they take (the earth); and with a yoke-pin that, from whence they take (the earth^[15]), for the team is harnessed with the yoke and the pin: it is because she (Vāc), as a lioness, at that time roamed about unappeased that he thus yokes her here at the sacrifice.

25. One must not therefore accept a Dakṣiṇā (sacrificial fee) that has been refused (by another priest^[16]), for, having turned into a lioness, it destroys him;--nor must he (the sacrificer) take it home again, for, having turned into a lioness, it destroys him;--nor must he give it to any one else, as he would thereby make over the sacrifice to some one other than himself. Hence if he have any wretched kinsman, let him give it to him; for in that he gives it away, it will not turn into a lioness and destroy him; and in that he gives it to a kinsman, he does not make over (the sacrifice) to one other than himself: and this is the settling of a refused Dakṣiṇā.

26. He now takes the yoke-pin and the wooden sword; and from where the northern peg of the front side is, he strides three steps backwards and there marks off the pit (cātvāla). The measure for the pit is the same (as for the high altar)^[17]; there is no (other) measure in regard to it: wherever he himself may think fit in his mind (to fix it), in front of the heap of rubbish (utkara), there let him mark off the pit.

27. From the (north) edge of the altar he lays down the pin from south to north, and draws the (western) outline, with the text (Vāj. S. V, 9), 'Thou art for me the resort of the afflicted!' Thereby he means this (earth), for it is thereon that he walks afflicted.

28. Thereupon he lays down the pin in front from south to north, and draws the outline with, 'Thou art my wealth-resort.' Thereby he means this (earth), for it is thereon that he walks having acquired (wealth).

29. He then lays down the pin along the (north) edge of the altar from west to east, and draws the outline with, 'Preserve me from being in want 1!' Thereby he means this (earth): 'Wherever there is want, from that preserve me!'

30. He then lays down the pin on the north side from west to east, and draws the outline with, 'Preserve me from being afflicted^[18]!' Thereby he means this (earth): 'wherever there is affliction, from that preserve me!'

31. He then flings (the wooden sword)^[19]; at the place where he flings^[20], the Agnīdh sits. He flings while mentioning the names of the Agnis^[21]. For those (three) Agnis whom the gods at first chose for the office of Hotṛ passed away: they crept into these very earths,--namely, into this one and the two beyond it. It is really with this one^[22] that he now flings.

32. He flings with the texts, 'May the Agni called Nabhas^[23] know (thee)! Go thou, O Agni, Aṅgiras, with the name of Āyu (life)!' What life they passed away from^[24] that he bestows, that he re-animates. Having with, 'Thou who art in this earth,' taken (the loose soil dug up by the wooden sword), he puts it down (on the altar^[25]), with, 'Whatever inviolate, holy name of thine, therewith I lay thee down!' whereby he means to say, 'whatever holy name, unviolated by the Rakṣas, is thine, thereby I lay thee down^[26].'--With 'Thee, moreover, for the delight of the gods,' he takes (earth) a fourth time^[27]; whereby he means to say, 'I take thee well-pleasing to the gods.' He takes that (high altar) from a quadrangular pit, for there are four quarters: thus he takes it from all the four quarters.

33. Thereupon he shifts (the earth) asunder, with the text (Vāj. S. V, 10), 'Thou art a lioness, overcoming the enemies; be thou meet for the gods!' Inasmuch as, on that occasion, she became a lioness and roamed about unappeased, therefore he says to her, 'Thou art a lioness;' and by 'overcoming the enemies' he means to say, 'Through thee may we worst our enemies.' 'Be thou meet for the gods' he says, because the high altar is a woman: her he thus renders meet for the gods.

34. He makes it on each side either of the size of the yoke, or ten feet of the sacrificer's^[28]; for the

Virāj consists of ten syllables, and the Virāj is speech, and the sacrifice is speech. In the middle^[29] he makes, as it were, a navel, thinking, 'Seated in one and the same place, I shall sprinkle (ghee) all round^[30].'

35. He sprinkles it with water: inasmuch as, on that occasion, she became a lioness and roamed about unappeased--water being (a means of) appeasement--he appeases her with water. And, the high altar being a woman, he thereby fits her for the gods: this is why he sprinkles it with water.

36. He sprinkles it with, 'Thou art a lioness, overcoming the enemies: get thee pure for the gods!' He then bestrews it with gravel. Now gravel certainly is an ornament, because gravel is rather shining. And that gravel being the ashes of Agni Vaiśvānara, he is now about to place Agni thereon, and so Agni does not injure it: this is why he bestrews it with gravel. He bestrews it with, 'Thou art a lioness, overcoming the enemies: array thee for the gods!' He then covers it^[31], and thus covered it remains during that night.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The preparation of the special altars--viz. the large Soma altar (mahā-vedi, or saumikī-vedi) and the 'high altar' (uttara-vedi) on the former--takes place on the last but one Upasad day, after the morning performance of the Upasads.

[2]:

This post stands in the middle of the east door of the hall or Prācīna-vaṃśa, just in front of the Āhavanīya-fire. See p. 3, note 2.

[3]:

Antaḥpāta, lit. 'falling within or between,' because it stands p. 112 between the (new) altar and the Prācīna-vaṃśa fires and altar. See III, 5, 2, 2.

[4]:

That is, the middle of the front side of the altar, or, as it were, its head, where the 'high altar' is to be raised.

[5]:

The 'prācī' is the line drawn from the middle of the west side to that of the front side of the altar, forming as it were the spine (pṛṣṭhyā) of the altar.

[6]:

On the uttara-vedi (lit. 'higher, upper altar'), now about to be raised on the fore-part of the great altar (mahā-vedi or saumikī vedi) described in the preceding paragraphs, see also part i, p. 392 note.

[7]:

The Kāṇva MS. reads, nāpakramaṇam astv iti, which, if correct, p. 114 would mean, 'Let there be no going away!' i.e. 'Let us not go (to the Aṅgiras)!' or perhaps, 'Do not thou (Agni) go away!'

[8]:

Teṣāṃ nas tvaṃ hotāsīti, perhaps 'thou wilt sacrifice for us.'

[9]:

'Sent by us, why didst thou not return?' Kāṇva rec.

[10]:

An ekāha (one day's) performance of the Soma-sacrifice at which the consecrations, buying and pressing of Soma, are compressed into one day.

[11]:

Api vā asmābhir eṣa pratigṛhītaḥ, 'Ist doch jener von uns empfangen worden.'

[12]:

The Kāṇva text reads, Na mad eṣa kena cana śreyan iti na bandhunā na kena cana katham etaṃ pragṛhṇīyur na mām iti; 'That one is not my superior by anything, not by kinship, not by anything, why should they accept him and not me?'

[13]:

Ādadānā cacāra = jighatsayā samīpasthaṃ sarvaṃ svīkurvatī, Sāy.

[14]:

See III, 5, 2, 9-11.

[15]:

That is to say, the pit (cātvāla) whence the earth for the high altar is taken is measured with the yoke-pin, and the high altar with the yoke. Sāyaṇa seems to take it differently: Yatra yasmin deśe yugena haranti yato yasmāt tatra śamyayāpi haranti.

[16]:

Or perhaps, one must not take back a Dakṣiṇā, refused by a priest.

[17]:

The earth taken from the pit being used for constructing the p. 117 high altar, both are of the same size or cubic content. The pit is to measure thirty-two aṅgulas (about two feet) on each side. As to the exact distance of the pit from the north-east peg, this is to be left to the discretion of the Adhvaryu, provided it be in front of the utkara, or heap of rubbish formed in making the large altar (on which the high altar is raised), and a passage be left between the utkara and the pit. The latter is contiguous to the north edge of the large altar. As described in the succeeding paragraphs, the west side is marked off first (by drawing the wooden sword along the inner side of the yoke-pin), then successively the front, the south, and the north sides.

[18]:

For 'nāthitāt' and 'vyathitāt,' the Kāṇva text, as the Taitt. S. VI, 2, 7, 2, has the readings 'nāthitam' and 'vyathitam.'

[19]:

Compare the Stambayajur-haraṇam (which has also to be performed on the present occasion, in preparing the large altar), I, 2, 4, 8 seq.

[20]:

That is, at the place where the uttaravedi is to be raised, whence the Adhvaryu throws the sphya to where the pit is to be dug. While he throws (or thrusts in) the wooden sword, the sacrificer has to take hold of him from behind.

[21]:

See I, 2, 3, 1.

[22]:

I.e. with the Agni who entered into this earth.

[23]:

Apparently 'vapour, welkin.' The Kāṇva rec. reads, 'Mayest thou know Agni's name Nabhas' (Vider Agner, &c.). The Taitt. S., on the other hand, reads 'vider Agnir nabho nāma,' which Sāyaṇa explains by 'the Agni of the vedi (!) is Nabhas by name.'

[24]:

Yat prādhanvaṃs tad āyur dadhāti. Perhaps we ought to read with the Kāṇva text, Vat prādhanvat tad asminn āyur dadhāti tad enaṃ samīrayati, 'the life which passed away (?), that he bestows on him, therewith he re-animates him.'

[25]:

He throws it on the fore-part of the altar, close to the peg marking the middle of the front side, where the 'high altar' is to be raised on it.

[26]:

He repeats the same ceremony a second and a third time with the same texts, except that, instead of 'Thou who art in this earth,' he says, 'Thou who art in the second (third) earth.'

[27]:

He takes with the spade as much as is required to make the high altar of the proper size.

[28]:

This statement seems to have greatly puzzled the later ritualists, as Kāty. V, 3, 32-35 and the comments thereon show. In rule 32 it is laid down, in accordance with paragraph 26 above, that the Adhvaryu is to make the high altar of the size of the yoke-pin and the pit, i.e. about two feet square. The next rule then leaves an option between four other measurements, viz. he may make it either one third of the area of the large altar, or of unlimited size, or of the size of the yoke (86 aṅgulas = c. 5-5½ feet) or of ten of the sacrificer's feet. This latter measurement is explained rather ingeniously by Harisvāmin, as meaning that the high altar is to form p. 120 an oblong of three feet by one foot, when, in counting the number of sides of the three squares thus obtained, we obtain ten sides of one foot each. However, the repetition of 'daśa' in our text--which can only mean 'ten feet on each side'--does not favour this explanation, The last two alternatives, according to rules 34-35, only apply to the Soma-sacrifice, because otherwise the altar (as in the case of the 'northern altar' at the Cāturmāsya, cf. part i, p. 392) would not be large enough to contain a 'high altar' of that size.

[29]:

The Kāṇva text wants it to be made at the back (jaghanena).

[30]:

When he makes the libation of ghee on the high altar (III, 5, 2, 9-14 he pours it on the four corners of the 'navel' and thereby, as it were, on the whole 'high altar.'

[31]:

Viz. with branches of udumbara or plakṣa (see III, 8, 3, 10), or with darbha grass.