Kanda XII, adhyaya 9, brahmana 1

1. Verily, from this sacrifice the man^[1] is born and whatever food a man consumes in this world, that (food), in return, consumes him in yonder world. Now this sacrifice is performed by means of spirituous liquor, and spirituous liquor (parisrut) is not to be consumed by a Brāhmaṇa: he thus is born from that which is not (to be) consumed, and the food does not, in return, consume him in yonder world. Therefore this (sacrifice), the Sautrāmaṇī, is a Brāhmaṇa's sacrifice^[2].

2. The malted rice is the same as his (the man's) hair, the malted barley his skin, the fried rice his flesh, the filtering-cloth his bones, the mash his marrow, the raw liquor (parisrut) his life-sap (serum), the seasoning (and fermentative substances) his blood, the milk his seed, the mature liquor (surā) his urine, and the impure matter the contents of the stomach.

3. Indra's cake is his heart, that of Savitṛ his liver, that of Varuṇa his lung, the aśvattha and udumbara vessels his kidneys, the nyagrodha one his bile, the pan (sthālī) his intestines 2, the supernumerary (vessels) his bowels^[3], the two eagle feathers^[4] the milt, the throne-seat his navel, the pot his rectum, the (pan) perforated with a hundred holes, the male organ,--and inasmuch as that (pan) is much perforated, therefore that organ is much divided,--the bowl (sata) is his mouth, the strainer his tongue, the dish (capya) his anus, the tail (whisk) his bladder,

4. And the sacrificial animal of the Aśvins is his limbs, that of Sarasvatī his trunk, Indra's bull his form,--whence they say that man's form (wealth) is kine,--the gold (plate) is his vital strength; it is of the weight of a hundred (grains), whence mark has a life of a hundred (years).

5. The two cups of the Aśvins are his eyes, and the ground wheat and kuvala (jujubes) his eyelashes; the two cups of Sarasvatī are his nostrils, and the ground Indra-grain and badara (jujubes) the hair in his nostrils; the two cups of Indra are his ears, and the ground barley and karkandhu (jujubes) the hair of his ears and his eyebrows.

6. And the hairs of wolf are the hair on his abdomen and that below; and the hairs of tiger are the hair on his chest and that of his armpits; and the hairs of lion are the hair of his head and his beard.

7. There are three sacrificial animals, for this body of man consists of three parts: it is the body he thereby wins (in heaven) for him;--what is below the navel (he wins) by that of the Aśvins, what is above the navel and below the head by that of Sarasvatī, and the head itself by that of Indra: both as to its (bodily) form and as to its deities he thus delivers his own self from death, and makes it immortal.

8. There are three sacrificial cakes, for this life of man consists of three parts: it is life he thereby wins for him;--the early life (he wins) by that of Indra, the middle (part of) life by that of Savitṛ, and the last (part of) life by that of Varuṇa: both as to its (bodily) form and as to its deities he thus delivers his life from death, and makes it immortal.

9. There are six cups (of milk and liquor), for there are these six (channels of) vital airs in the head: it is the vital airs he thereby wins for him;--his eyes (he wins) by the two (cups) of the Aśvins, his nostrils by those of Sarasvatī, and his ears by those of Indra: both as to its (bodily) form and as to its deities he thus delivers his own self from death, and makes it immortal.

10. The invitatory and offering-formulas are made continuous^[5], and relate to the same deities--for the continuity and uninterruptedness of the vital airs. They are all of them invitatory formulas and all offering-formulas, whence all the vital airs pass onwards and all of them backwards. All (the formulas) are first, all of them intermediate, and all of them last, whence all the vital airs are first, all of them intermediate, and all of them last. All the cups have two (formulas, an) invitatory and (an) offering-formula,--this is of the form of the in (and out)-breathing and the up-breathing: it is the in-breathing and the up-breathing he thus secures for himself, and therefore all the vital airs are established on the in-breathing and the up-breathing.

11. Verily the Sautrāmaṇī is this body (of man): the Sacrificer is the mind, (that is) speech manifestly; the vedi (altar-ground) is the trunk, the uttara-vedi (high-altar) offspring, the barhis (grass-covering) cattle, the officiating priests the limbs, the fuel the hones, the ghee the marrow, the fire the mouth, the oblation is food, and the concluding rite is life, whence he who has performed the Sautrāmaṇī attains life.

12. And, verily, these two men that seem to be in the eyes, they belong to the Aśvins, and the black (in the eye) belongs to Sarasvatī, and the white to Indra; and in that, when the victim of the Aśvins is being (offered), he makes offering to these deities in common, thereby he puts those (parts of the body) together and takes them to himself.

13. Indra, assuredly, is the mind, Sarasvatī speech, and the two Aśvins are the ears. Now, whatever one thinks in his mind of that he speaks with his speech, and what he speaks with his speech that one hears with one's ears: thus, in that, when the victim of Sarasvatī is being (offered), he makes offering to these deities together, thereby he puts these (parts of the body) together and takes them to himself.

14. Indra, assuredly, is the breath, Sarasvatī the tongue, and the two Aśvins the nostrils; and inasmuch as through (the channel of) the breath (prāṇa) one introduces (prā-ṇī) food into himself that is the reason of its being (called) 'prāṇa.' By means of the tongue one distinguishes the essence (taste) of food, and the nostrils, indeed, are the path of the breath; and in that, when the victim of Indra. is being (offered), he makes offering to these deities in common, thereby he puts those (parts of the body) together and takes them to himself.

15. Indra, assuredly, is the heart, Savitṛ the liver, and Varuṇa the lung; and in that, when Indra's cake is being (offered), he makes offering to these deities in common, thereby he puts those (parts of the body) together and takes them to himself.

16. Savitṛ, assuredly, is the breath, Varuṇa the through-breathing, and Indra the generative organ; and whatever food one eats by means of (the channel of) the breath through that he breathes with his through-breathing, and by means of the generative organ he sheds the essence of food as seed; and in that, when Savitṛ's cake is being (offered), he makes offering to these deities in common, thereby he puts those (parts of the body) together and takes them to himself.

17. Varuṇa, assuredly, is the womb, Indra the seed, and Savitṛ the generator of the seed; and in that, when Varuṇa's cake is being (offered), he makes offering to these deities in common, thereby he puts those (parts of the body) together and takes them to himself. And whosoever thus knows this comes into being along with these deities, and is born again (so as to be) along with these deities; he increases in offspring and cattle; he becomes firmly established in this world, and wins the heavenly world, whosoever, knowing this, performs the Sautrāmaṇī, or whosoever thus knows this.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

That is, the Puruṣa, Agni-Prajāpati; and the Sacrificer.

[2]:

That is, because to a man of another caste the spirituous liquor would not be 'anādyā,' but consumable, and hence it would consume him in the other world.

[3]:

The two terms 'āntrāṇi' and gudāḥ' are usually taken as synonymous; the latter term probably means the lower or larger intestines; cf. Vāj. S. XIX, 86.

[4]:

See XII, 7, 3, 22.

[5]:

See p. 244, note 1.