Kanda IX, adhyaya 2, brahmana 3

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

1. He (the Adhvaryu) then gives orders (to his assistant, the Pratiprasthātṛ); 'Lift the log^[1]! hold up the underlayer!'--[To the Hotṛ], 'Recite for

Agni as he is taken forward!'--'Agnīdh, follow up with the single sword (-line)!'--'Brahman, mutter the Apratiratha (hymn)!'

2. For at that time, as the gods were about to come up in order to perform this sacrifice, the Asuras, the mischievous fiends, tried to smite them from the south, saying, 'Ye shall not sacrifice! ye shall not perform the sacrifice!'

3. The gods said to Indra, 'Thou art the highest and mightiest, and strongest of us: do thou hold those fiends in check!'--'Let the Brahman (n.) be my ally!' he said.--'So be it!' They made Bṛhaspati his ally, for Bṛhaspati is the Brahman (the priesthood); and having had the Asuras, the mischievous fiends, chased away in the south by Bṛhaspati and Indra, they spread this sacrifice in a place free from danger and devilry.

4. Now what the gods did then, that is done on this occasion. Those fiends, it is true, have now been chased away by the gods themselves, but when he does this, he does so thinking, 'I will do what the gods did;' and having had the Asuras, the mischievous fiends, chased away in the south by Indra and Bṛhaspati, he performs this sacrifice in a place free from danger and devilry.

5. As to that Indra, he is that Apratiratha (irresistible hymn); and as to that Bṛhaspati, he is the Brahman (priest) thus, when the Brahman mutters the Apratiratha (hymn) he (the Sacrificer), having the Asuras, the mischievous fiends, chased away in the south, by Indra and Bṛhaspati, performs this sacrifice in a place free from danger and devilry. This is why the Brahman mutters the Apratiratha (hymn, Vāj. S. XVII, 33-44; Ṛg v. S. X, 103,1-12).

6. 'The swift (Indra), sharpening (his weapon), like a terrible bull,'--these are twelve suitable (verses) relating to Indra,--a year consists of twelve months, and Agni (the fire-altar) is the year: as great as Agni is, as great as is his measure, by so much he drives off the Asuras, the mischievous fiends, in the south. With triṣṭubh 1 (verses he does so),--the Triṣṭubh is the thunderbolt: by the thunderbolt he thus drives off the Asuras, the mischievous fiends, in the south. They amount to twenty-two Gāyatrīs^[2], and thus they relate to Agni, for this is Agni's performance.

7. He then takes him up (in the form of a burning piece of firewood), with [Vāj. S. XVII, 53], 'Upwards may the All-gods bear thee, O Agni, by their thoughts! . . .' the meaning of this has been explained^[3].

8. They then go forward, with (Vāj. S. XVII, 54-58), 'May the divine regions, the goddesses, protect the sacrifice!'--The gods and the Asuras, both of them sprung from Prajāpati, were contending for the regions, and the gods wrested the regions from the Asuras; and in like manner does the Sacrificer now wrest the regions from his hateful rival. 'Divine' he says, and thereby makes them divine for himself;--'may the goddesses protect the sacrifice,' that is, 'may the goddesses protect this sacrifice!'--'keeping off want and ill-will,'--want is hunger: thus, 'keeping off hunger;'--'granting to the lord of the sacrifice a share in wealth-affluence,' that is, 'granting to the lord of the sacrifice a share in wealth and in affluence;' 'may the sacrifice be founded on wealth-affluence!'--that is, 'may the sacrifice be founded on wealth and affluence!'

9. 'Glorifying on the kindled fire,'--the glorifying one is the Sacrificer;--'the hymn-winged,'--for hymns are his wings;--'taken,'--that is, 'held;'--'praiseworthy,'--that is, 'worthy of worship;'--'(when) they sacrificed, encircling the heated cauldron,'--for they did sacrifice, whilst encircling the heated (Pravargya) cauldron; 'when the gods offered the sacrifice with food,'--for the gods did offer this sacrifice with food.

10. 'To the divine, fostering upholder,'--for he, Agni, is the divine upholder, the most fostering;--'he, the approacher of gods, the well-disposed, of a hundred draughts,'--for he is indeed an approacher of the gods, and well-disposed, and possessed of a hundred draughts;--'encircling, the gods drew nigh unto the sacrifice,'--for encircling him (Agni), the gods drew nigh to the sacrifice;--'the gods stood ready to perform the cult unto the gods,'--the cult, doubtless, is the sacrifice, thus, 'the gods stood ready to perform the sacrifice to the gods.'

11. 'The welcome oblation slaughtered by the slaughterer^[4] to sacrifice;'--that is, 'wished-for, much wished-for;'--'where the fourth sacrifice goeth to the offering,'--the Adhvaryu first mutters the formulas, the Hotṛ afterwards recites the verses, the Brahman mutters the Apratiratha (hymn) on the south side; this (set of verses), then, is the fourth sacrifice;--'may the prayers, the blessings favour us^[5]!'--that is, 'may both prayers and blessings favour us!'

12. 'The sun-rayed, golden-haired Savitṛ ever lifted up^[6] the light in front,'--this Agni, doubtless, is yonder sun, and that sun-rayed, golden-haired Savitṛ in front ever lifts up that light;--'at his behest Pūṣan goeth, the wise,'--Pūṣan, doubtless, means cattle, and they indeed start forth at his (Agni-Sūrya's) behest;--'viewing all beings as their guardian,'--for he indeed views everything here, and he is the protector of all this world.

13. Now, the gods thereby (viz. by these five verses) wrested from the Asuras the five regions which are on this side of yonder sun, and then ascended them; and so does the Sacrificer now wrest them from his hateful rival, and then ascend them. And by means of them the gods reached this place, and in like manner does this (Sacrificer) by means of them reach this place^[7].

14. He then sets up a variegated stone;--the variegated stone, doubtless, is yonder sun: it is thus yonder sun that is set up. It is variegated, for by means of its rays that disk is variegated. He sets it up between the Āhavanīya and the Gārhapatya; for the Gārhapatya is this (terrestrial) world, and the Āhavanīya is the sky: he thus places him (the sun) between these two worlds, whence he shines between these two worlds.

15. On the Āgnīdhra range^[8] (he places it), for the Āgnīdhra's fire-shed is the air; he thus places it in the air, whence that (sun) has the air for his seat. Halfway (between the two fires he places it); for that (sun) is halfway from this (earth).

16. This (stone) is the breath,--he thus puts the breath into the body; and it is the vital power,--he thus puts vital power into the body; it is food, for it is vital power, and vital power is indeed food. It is a stone, for a stone is firm: he thus makes the vital power firm. It is variegated, for food is variegated (varied).

17. He sets it up (with, Vāj. S. XVII, 59, 60), 'Measuring he keeps in the middle of the sky,'--for that (sun) indeed keeps measuring in the middle of the sky;--'filling the two worlds and the air,' for even in rising he fills these (three) worlds, 'he scans the all-reaching, the butter-reaching,'--he thereby means the offering-ladles and the offering-grounds;--'between the front and back lights,'--that is, between this world and that one; or that (fire-altar) which is here at this moment being built, and that which was there built at first.

18. 'The showering ocean, the ruddy bird,'--for he (the sun) is indeed a showering ocean, and a ruddy bird,--'hath entered the seat of his easterly father,'--for he indeed enters that seat of his easterly^[9] father;--'the many-hued rock set up in the middle of the sky,'--for that variegated stone is indeed set up in the middle of the sky;--'hath traversed and guardeth the two ends of the atmosphere;'--for in traversing he guards the ends of these worlds.

19. With two (verses) he sets it up;--two-footed is the Sacrificer, and the Sacrificer is Agni: as great as Agni is, as great as is his measure, with so much he thus sets him (the sun, Agni) up. With triṣṭubh (verses he sets him up),--for that (sun) is related to the Triṣṭubh. He does not 'settle' (the stone), for unsettled is that (sun); nor does he pronounce the Sūdadohas over it;--the Sūdadohas means the breath, and that (sun) is the breath, and why should he put breath into (or on) the breath? Having deposited it in such a way that it is not lost;--

20. They now approach (the fire-altar, with, Vāj. S. XVII, 61-64), They all have magnified Indra,'--the meaning of this has been explained^[10]. 'Let the god-invoking sacrifice lead hither, let the favour-invoking sacrifice lead hither (the gods)!'--both god-invoking and favour-invoking indeed is the sacrifice; 'let Agni, the god, make offering and lead hither the gods!' that is, 'may

Agni, the god, both make offering and bring hither the gods!'

21. 'The creation of strength hath upheaved me with upheaval, and Indra hath laid low mine enemies by subdual,'--as the text, so the meaning.

22. 'May the gods advance the Brahman both by upheaval and subdual; and may Indra and Agni scatter asunder mine enemies!'--as the text, so the meaning.

23. Now, the gods thereby (viz. by these four verses) wrested from the Asuras the four regions which are above yonder sun, and then ascended them; and in like manner does the Sacrificer thereby wrest them from his hateful enemy, and then ascend them. And by means of them the gods then attained to that place; and in like manner does this (Sacrificer) by means of them attain thither.

24. They then mount the fire-altar, with (Vāj. S. XVII, 65-69), 'By Agni ascend ye to the firmament!'--the firmament, doubtless, is the heavenly world: thus, 'by means of this Agni (fire-altar) ascend ye to that heavenly world!'--'holding the Ukhya in your hands,'--for the Ukhya (the fire in the pan) they do hold in their hands^[11];--'having gone to the back of the sky, to heaven, keep ye mingling with the gods!'--that is, 'having gone to the back of the sky, to the heavenly world, keep ye mingling with the gods!'

25. 'Go thou forth to the eastern quarter, knowing!'--the eastern quarter, doubtless, is Agni's: thus, 'To thine own quarter go thou forth, knowing!'--'be thou Agni's fore-fire here, O Agni!'--that is, 'Of this Agni (citya) be thou, O Agni, the fore-fire^[12]!'--'Shine thou, illumining all regions!'--that is, 'shine thou, illuminating every region!'--'Grant thou food to our two-footed and four-footed one!' he thereby invokes a blessing.

26. 'From the earth have I ascended the air; from the air have I ascended the sky;'--for from the Gārhapatya they go to the Āgnīdhrīya, and from the Āgnīdhrīya to the Āhavanīya;--'from the sky, the back of the firmament, have I gone to heaven, to the light;'--that is, 'from the sky, the back of the firmament, have I gone to the heavenly world.'

27. 'The heaven-going look not round, they ascend the heaven, the two worlds,'--those who go to the heavenly world do not indeed look round^[13]; 'the wise who performed the all-sustaining sacrifice,'--for that sacrifice is indeed all-sustaining^[14], and they who perform it are indeed wise.

28. 'Go forward, Agni, first of the godward-going,'--he thereby says to this Agni (that is carried forward), 'Go thou forward, as the first of these godward-going ones; the eye of the gods and of mortals,'--for this (Agni) is indeed the eye of both gods and men;--'they who love to sacrifice together with the Bhṛgus,'--that is, 'sacrificing together with the Bhṛgus,'--'let the offerers go unto heaven, hail!'--that is, 'may the offerers go to the heavenly world, hail!'

29. Now, the gods thereby (viz. by these five verses) wrested from the Asuras the five regions which are in yonder world, and then ascended them; and so does the Sacrificer thereby wrest them from his hateful enemy, and then ascend them. And by means of them the gods attained thither, and so also does this (Sacrificer) by means of them attain thither.

30. He then makes offering on that (firebrand);--for now that he (Agni) had arrived the gods thereupon gratified him with food, this oblation; and in like manner does this (Sacrificer), now that he (Agni) has arrived, thereupon gratify him with food, this oblation. With milk from a black (cow) which has a white calf (he makes offering); the black (cow) with a white calf is the night, and her calf is yonder sun: he thus regales him with his own share, with his own relish. On it (the firebrand, he offers) while it is held above (the naturally-perforated brick); for above (everything) is he whom he thereby gratifies. By means of the milk-pail (he offers), for with the milk-pail milk is given away.

31. And, again, as to why he makes offering upon it. That (Āhavanīya) fire is the head of the sacrifice, and milk means breath: he thus puts breath into the head. He should make the offering so that it (the milk) flows on the naturally-perforated (brick);--the naturally-perforated one is breath, and this (milk) is vital sap: he thus connects and puts together the head and the breath by means of vital sap. [He pours it out, with, Vāj. S. XVII, 70, 71], 'Night and Dawn, of one mind, unlike in form,'--the meaning of this has been explained^[15].

32. 'O Agni, thousand-eyed!--through the chips of gold^[16] Agni is indeed thousand-eyed;--hundred-headed,'--inasmuch as, at that time^[17], he was created as the hundred-headed Rudra;--'thine are a hundred out-breathings, and a thousand through-breathings,'--his indeed are a hundred out-breathings and a thousand through-breathings who is hundred-headed and thousand-eyed;--'thou art the master of wealth,'--that is, 'thou art the master of all wealth;'--'to thee, our strength, do we give honour!'--he (Agni) is indeed the strength^[18]: it is him he thereby gratifies.

33. With two (verses) he makes offering thereon,--two-footed is the Sacrificer, and the Sacrificer is Agni: as great as Agni is, as great as is his measure, with so much he thus makes offering to him.

34. He then lays it (the firebrand) down, with (Vāj. S. XVII, 72, 73), 'A well-winged bird thou art,'--for on that former occasion he, by means of the fashioning-formula, fashions him into a well-winged bird^[19]; that well-winged bird he builds up, and having fashioned that well-winged bird, he finally sets him down;--'seat thee on the back of the earth, fill the air with thy shine, prop the sky with thy light, and uphold the quarters by thy lustre!'--for that one (Agni) indeed does all this.

35. 'Receiving offering, kind-faced, in front,'--that is, 'receiving offering, kind-faced for us, in front;'--'seat thee, O Agni, aright in thine own seat!'--for this (fire-altar) is his (Agni's) own seat: thus, 'do thou rightly seat thee in it!'--'in this higher abode,'--the higher abode, doubtless, is the sky;--'sit ye down, the All-gods and the Sacrificer!'--he thus establishes the Sacrificer together with the All-gods. With two (verses) he deposits it: the significance of this has been explained,--with the Vaṣaṭ-call: the significance of this (will be explained) farther on.

36. He then puts pieces of firewood thereon; for now that he (Agni) had arrived, the gods thereupon gratified him with food, both pieces of firewood and oblations; and in like manner does this (Sacrificer), now that he has arrived, thereupon gratify him with food, both pieces of wood and oblations.

37. He first puts on one of śamī-wood (acacia suma). For at that time, when this oblation had been offered, he (Agni) was enkindled and blazed up. The gods were afraid of him, lest he might injure them. They saw this śamī tree, and therewith appeased him; and inasmuch as they appeased (śam) him by that śamī, it is (called) Śamī; and in like manner this (Sacrificer) now appeases him by means of that śamī (wood),--just with a view to appeasement, not for food.

38. [He puts it on, with, Vāj. S. XVII, 74], 'I desire the manifest favour of the admirable

Savitṛ, enjoyed by all men; that great cow of his, the thousand-streamed, teeming with milk, which Kaṇva was wont to milk;'--for Kaṇva indeed saw her, and she, the thousand-streamed, milked him all his wishes (objects of desire); and in like manner does the thousand-streamed one now milk to the Sacrificer all his objects of desire.

39. He then puts on one of vikaṅkata (flacourtia sapida) wood--the significance whereof has been explained--with (Vāj. S. XVII, 75), 'To thee give we honour, O Agni, in the highest home;'--his highest home, doubtless, is the sky;--'to thee give we honour, in hymns of praise, in the lower abode;'--the lower abode, doubtless, is the air;--'the birth-place whence thou hast arisen do I worship,'--that is, 'this is his (Agni's) own birth-place: that I worship;'--'on thee, when kindled, offerings are poured forth;'--for when he (the fire) is kindled, they make offerings on him.

40. He then puts on one of udumbara (ficus glomerata) wood;--the Udumbara means strength and sap: with strength and sap he thus gratifies him. It has forking branches^[20],--forking branches mean cattle: with cattle, as food, he thus gratifies him. If he cannot get one with bifurcate branches, let him take up a globule of sour curds and put it on (the wood): that globule of sour curds which supervenes is a form of cattle. With the virāj (verse, Vāj. S. XVII, 76; Ṛg-veda VII, I, 3),

'Kindled, blaze forth, O Agni, before us, (with inexhaustible flame, O youngest! perpetual viands accrue unto thee!)'--he puts it on;--the Virāj means food: with food he thus gratifies him. Three pieces of wood he puts on,--threefold is Agni: as great as Agni is, as great as is his measure, with so much food he thus gratifies him.

41. He then offers oblations,--this is just as if, after serving food to some one, one gives him something to drink. With the dipping-spoon (sruva) he offers the first two, with the offering-ladle (sruc) the last (oblation); (the first) with (Vāj. S. XVII, 77), 'O Agni, may we, with hymns and thoughts, speed this day this (sacrifice) of thine, even as a steed, as a noble, heart-stirring deed!'--that is, 'whatever heart-stirring hymn is thine, may I speed (perform) that for thee.' With a paṅkti (verse) he offers,--of five feet consists the Paṅkti, of five layers the fire-altar, five seasons are a year, and Agni is the year: as great as Agni is, as great as is his measure, with so much food he thus gratifies him.

42. He then offers (the second oblation), the one for Viśvakarman,--Viśvakarman (the all-worker) is this Agni: it is him he thereby gratifies,--with (Vāj. S. XVII, 78), 'Thought I offer, with mind and ghee,'--that is, 'The thought of these (priests and Sacrificer) I offer with mind and ghee;'--'that the gods come hither,'--that is, 'that the gods may come hither;'--'enjoying their offering-meal, the holy-minded,'--that is, the true-minded;--'to Viśvakarman, the lord of all existence, I offer,'--that is, 'to that Viśvakarman who is the lord of all that here exists I offer;'--'every day the unimpaired oblation,'--that is, 'always the uninjured oblation.'

43. He then offers a full (-spoon) oblation,--the full means everything: with everything he thus gratifies him.

44. [He offers, with, Vāj. S. XVII, 79], Thine, O Agni, are seven logs,'--logs mean vital airs, for the vital airs do kindle him;--'seven tongues,'--this he says with regard to those seven persons which they made into one person^[21];--'seven Ṛṣis,'--for seven Ṛṣis they indeed were;--'seven beloved seats,'--this he says with regard to the metres, for his seven beloved seats are the metres;--'sevenfold the seven priests worship thee,'--for in a sevenfold way the seven priests indeed worship him;--'the seven homes,'--he thereby means the seven layers (of the altar);--'fill thou!'--that is, 'generate thou;'--'with ghee,'--ghee means seed: he thus lays seed into these worlds;--'svāhā!'--the svāhā (hail!) is the sacrifice; he thus at once makes everything here fit for sacrifice.

45. 'Seven' he says each time,--of seven layers the fire-altar consists, and of seven seasons the year, and Agni is the year: as great as Agni is, as great as is his measure, with so much he thus gratifies him. Three oblations he offers,--threefold is Agni: as great as Agni is, as great as is his measure, with so much food he thus gratifies him. Three logs he puts on,--that makes six: the significance of this has been explained.

46. Standing he puts on the logs,--the logs are bones, and bones stand, so to speak. Sitting he offers the oblations,--oblations are the flesh, and the flesh sits (lies), so to speak. The logs are inside (the fire), and the oblations outside, for the bones are inside, and the flesh is outside.

47. Now, then, as to the (mystic) correspondence (or, amount). Six he offers before (the leading forward of the fire), and six afterwards; with six (formulas) they proceed up to the variegated stone; with two he lays down the variegated stone; with four they proceed as far as the fire-altar; with five they mount the fire-altar: that makes twenty-nine, and the oblation itself is the thirtieth. With two (verses) he deposits the fire,--that makes thirty-two, and of thirty-two syllables consists the Anuṣṭubh: such, then, is this Anuṣṭubh.

48. And this one (Anuṣṭubh) they bring hither from those three Anuṣṭubhs which they make up on the Gārhapatya^[22]; and inasmuch as they bring this (therefrom) hither, thereby this whole Agni (fire-altar) becomes completed. But now he was not yet fit to eat food^[23].

49. He said to Agni^[24], 'By thee I will eat food!'--So be it!' Hence it is only when they bring him hither, that this (cityāgni) becomes fit to eat food, to eat oblations.

50. Moreover, they say, 'It is Prajāpati himself who takes this (Agni) as his dear son to his bosom;' and verily, whosoever so knows this, takes thus a dear son to his bosom.

51. And, again, as to why they bring it here,--the Agni (fire-altar) which is built up here is the same as those seven persons which they made into one person; and that excellence and life-sap of them which they concentrated above, that is the fire which they now bring here,--hence, when they now bring it here, they concentrate above (in the head) that excellence and life-sap which belonged to those seven persons,--that is his (Agni's) head, and this built-up fire-altar is the body: having thus completed his body, he restores the head to it.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Viz. a burning piece of wood taken from the Gārhapatya hearth to serve as the new Āhavanīya on the great fire-altar. The Gārhapatya fire, it will be remembered, was the Ukhya Agni, or the sacred fire carried in a pan (ukhā) by the Sacrificer during his time of initiation (dīkṣā) lasting for a year (or some other definite period), till, at the end of that period, at the beginning of the Prāyaṇīya, or opening-offering, it was transferred from the pan to the newly-built Gārhapatya hearth.

[2]:

The triṣṭubh verse consists of 4 × 11 syllables, hence the twelve verses of together 528 syllables. The gāyatrī verse, on the other hand, consists of 3 × 8 syllables; and twenty-two such verses would thus consist of altogether 528 syllables.

[3]:

Viz. VI, 8, 1, 7.

[4]:

Mahīdhara takes 'śamitā' to stand for 'śamitrā.'

[5]:

? Or, 'May they favour our prayers and blessings!' These verses are rather enigmatical.

[6]:

The author of the Brāhmaṇa connects 'udayāṃ' with 'yam,' Mahīdhara with 'yā' (udayān for udayāt).

[7]:

? Or, reach that place; Sāyaṇa, in the first instance, takes it to mean 'as far as this place' (from beyond the sun down to the end of the air); but in the second instance, he takes it as referring to the particular spot on the sacrificial ground near which this part of the ceremonial is performed, viz. the Āgnīdhra's fire-shed (as representing the air), south of which the Adhvaryu lays down a variegated stone close to the 'spine.'

[8]:

That is, where the Āgnīdhra shed and hearth will afterwards have to be erected (see IX, 4, 3, 5-6) on the northern edge of the Vedi, midway between the Gārhapatya and Āhavanīya fire-places.

[9]:

Thus Mahīdhara here takes 'pūrva,' and apparently also the author of the Brāhmaṇa; the easterly father being the Āhavanīya, and hence the sky. In the formula it would rather seem to mean former, old.'

[10]:

See VIII, 7, 3, 7.

[11]:

Viz. inasmuch as the firebrand now being carried forward to the great fire-altar, where it is henceforth to serve as Āhavanīya, was taken from the Gārhapatya fire, which itself is identical with the Ukhya Agni, or fire carried about by the Sacrificer in the Ukhā, or pan, during his period of initiation. See p. 191, note 1.

[12]:

Mahīdhara takes 'puro’gni' in the sense of fore-goer (puras agre aṅgati gacchati).

[13]:

That is, according to Mahīdhara, they think not of their sons, cattle, &c.

[14]:

Thus Mahīdhara takes 'viśvatodhāra;' 'flowing in every direction' (viśvato + dhārā), St. Petersb. Dict.

[15]:

Viz. VI, 7, 2, 2.

[16]:

See IX, 2, 1, 1.

[17]:

See IX, 1, 1, 6.

[18]:

? Or, that (firebrand) is indeed food (vāja). Mahīdhara interprets this part of the formula thus: To thee do we give food (vājāya for vājam).

[19]:

See VI, 7, 2, 5 seq.

[20]:

Weber, Ind. Stud. XIII, 281, takes 'karṇakavat' to mean 'one that has a knot-hole;' but Deva's explanation, 'karṇako dvitīyaśākhodbhedaḥ,' probably means nothing else than 'showing the appearance of a second branch,' or 'one in which a second branch (side branch) has struck out.'

[21]:

See VI, 1, 1, 1 seq.

[22]:

See VII, 1, 2, 16-19.

[23]:

Literally, he was not equal thereto that he should eat food.

[24]:

That is, the Cityāgni (fire-altar) said to the Agni (fire) about to be led forward.