Kanda XIII, adhyaya 2, brahmana 6

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

1. [He puts the horse to the chariot^[1] with Vāj. S. XXIII, 5], 'They harness the ruddy bay, moving (round the moveless: the lights shine in the heavens);'--the ruddy bay, doubtless, is yonder sun: it is yonder sun he harnesses for him, for the gaining of the heavenly world.

2. Concerning this they say, 'Surely, the sacrifice goes from him whose beast, when brought up, goes elsewhere than the vedi (altar-ground).' [Let him, therefore, mutter Vāj. S. XXIII, 7,] 'Singer of praise, make that horse come back to us by that path!'--the singer of praise, doubtless, is Vāyu (the wind) it is him he thereby places for him (the Sacrificer) on the other side, and so it does not go beyond that.

3. But, indeed, fiery mettle and energy, cattle, and prosperity depart from him who offers the Aśvamedha.

4. With (Vāj. S. XXIII, 8), 'May the Vasus anoint thee with the Gāyatra metre!' the queen consort anoints (the forepart of the unharnessed horse);--ghee is fiery mettle, and the Gāyatrī also is fiery mettle: two kinds of fiery mettle he thus bestows together on him (the Sacrificer).

5. With, 'May the Rudras anoint thee with the Traiṣṭubha metre!' the (king's) favourite wife anoints (the middle part):--ghee is fiery mettle, and the Triṣṭubh is energy: both fiery mettle and energy he thus bestows together on him.

6. With, 'May the Ādityas anoint thee with the Jāgata metre!' a discarded wife^[2] (of the king) anoints (the hindpart);--ghee is fiery mettle, and the Jagatī is cattle: both fiery mettle and cattle he thus bestows together on him.

7. It is the wives^[3] that anoint (the horse), for they to wit, (many) wives--are a form of prosperity (or social eminence): it is thus prosperity he confers on him (the Sacrificer), and neither fiery spirit, nor energy, nor cattle, nor prosperity pass away from him.

8. But even as some of the offering-material may get spilled before it is offered, so (part of) the victim is here spilled in that the hair of it when wetted comes off. When they (the wives) weave pearls (into the mane and tail) they gather up its hair. They are made of gold: the significance of this has been explained. A hundred and one pearls they weave into (the hair of) each part^[4]; for man has a life of a hundred (years), and his own self (or body) is the one hundred and first: in vital power, in the self, he establishes himself. They weave them in (each) with (one of) the (sacred utterings) relating to Prajāpati, 'Būḥ! bhuvaḥ! svar (earth, air, heaven)!' for the horse is sacred to Prajāpati: with its own deity he thus supplies it. With, 'Parched grain, or parched groats?--in grain-food and in food from the cow'--he takes down the remaining food^[5] (from the cart) for the horse: he thereby makes the (king's) people eaters of food (prosperous);--'eat ye, gods, this food! eat thou, Prajāpati, this food!' he thereby supplies the people with food.

9. Verily, fiery spirit and spiritual lustre pass away from him who performs the Aśvamedha. The Hotṛ and the Brahman engage in a Brahmodya^[6] (theological discussion); for the Hotṛ relates to Agni, and the Brahman (priest) to Bṛhaspati, Bṛhaspati being the Brahman (n.): fiery spirit^[7] and spiritual lustre he thus bestows together on him. With the (central) sacrificial stake between them, they discourse together; for the stake is the Sacrificer^[8]: he thus encompasses the Sacrificer on both sides with fiery spirit and spiritual lustre.

10. [The Brahman asks,  Vāj. S. XXIII, 9,] 'Who is it that walketh singly?'--it is yonder sun, doubtless, that walks singly^[9], and he is spiritual lustre: spiritual lustre the two (priests) thus bestow on him.

11. 'Who is it that is born again?'--it is the moon, doubtless, that is born again (and -again): vitality they thus bestow on him.

12. 'What is the remedy for cold?'--the remedy for cold, doubtless, is Agni '(fire): fiery spirit they thus bestow on him.

13. 'And what is the great vessel?'--the great vessel, doubtless, is this (terrestrial) world: on this earth he thus establishes himself.

14. [The Hotṛ asks the Brahman, Vāj. S. XXIII, 11,] 'What was the first conception?'--the first conception, doubtless, was the sky, rain: the sky, rain, he thus secures for himself.

15. 'Who was the great bird^[10]?'--the great bird, doubtless, was the horse:. vital power he thus secures for himself.

16. 'Who was the smooth one?'--the smooth one (pilippilā), doubtless, was beauty (śrī^[11]): beauty he thus secures for himself.

17. 'Who was the tawny one?'--the two tawny ones, doubtless, are the day and the night^[12]: in the day and night he thus establishes himself.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Along with the sacrificial horse three other horses are put to the chariot, with the formula Vāj. S. XXIII, 6. Previously to this, however, the Hotṛ recites eleven verses in praise of the horse (cf. XIII, 5, 1, 16). Both the horses and the chariot are decorated p. 312 with gold ornaments. The Adhvaryu then drives with the Sacrificer to a pond of water to the east of the sacrificial ground (an indispensable feature in choosing the place of sacrifice), and having driven into the water he makes him pronounce the formula XXIII, 7, 'When the wind hath entered the waters, the dear form of Indra, do thou, singer of praise, make that horse come back to us by that path;' whereupon they return to the sacrificial ground.

[2]:

That is, a former favourite, but now neglected; or, according to others, one who has borne no son.

[3]:

The fourth and lowest wife of the King the Pālāgalī (cf. XIII, 4, 1, 8; 5, 2, 8), though present at the sacrifice, does not take part in this ceremony, probably on account of her low-caste origin, as the daughter of a messenger, or courier.

[4]:

Viz. either the mane on both sides, and the tail, or the hair of the head, the neck (mane) and the tail; each of the ladies apparently taking one of these parts.

[5]:

Viz. the material left over after what was taken for the Annahomas, XIII, 2, 1, 1 seqq.

[6]:

For a similar discussion between the four priests, prior to the offering of the omenta, see XIII, 5, 2, 11 seq.

[7]:

'Tejas' is pre-eminently the quality assigned to Agni.

[8]:

It must be remembered that the sacrificial horse here represented by the stake is identified with both Prajāpati and the Sacrificer.

[9]:

The actual replies to the questions in Vāj. S. XXIII, 9 and 11, are contained in the corresponding verses ten and twelve; being given here in an expository way, with certain variations and p. 315 occasional explanatory words (such as 'vṛṣṭi,' rain, in paragraph 14). The answers to the first four questions are supposed to be given by the Hotṛ, and the last four by the Brahman.

[10]:

This is the meaning assigned here to 'vayas' by Mahīdhara; but the other meaning of 'vayas,' viz. 'youthful vigour, or age, (generally),' would seem to suit much better, or at least to be implied. And Harisvāmin accordingly takes it in the sense of 'vārdhakam' (old age, or long life). Mahīdhara, moreover, identifies the horse with the horse-sacrifice, which, in the shape of a bird, carries the Sacrificer up to heaven. On this notion cp. part iv, introduction, pp. xxi-xxii.

[11]:

Instead of 'śrīḥ,' the answer given to this question in Vāj. S. XXIII, 12 was 'aviḥ' which would either mean 'the gentle, kindly one,' or 'the sheep (f.),' but which Mahīdhara (in the former sense) p. 316 takes as (an epithet of) the earth which he also takes 'śrī' to mean in the above passage of the Brāhmaṇa; whilst to the ἅπαξ λεγόμενον 'pilippilā' he assigns the meaning 'slippery' (cikkaṇa) as applying to the earth after rain (? deriving it from the root 'lip,' to smear, anoint). Harisvāmin, on the other hand, takes 'pilippilā' to be an onomatopoetic word, in the sense of '(glossy), beautiful, shining':--rūpānukaranaśabdo'yaṃ bahurūpāvilā (? bahurūpānvitā) uddyotavatī; and he adds:--śrīmīṃtratuḥ (? śrīr mantre tu) aviḥ pippaloktau (?) sā tu śrīr eveti brāhmaṇe vivṛtaṃ, katham, iyaṃ vā aviḥ pṛthivī, sā ca śrīḥ, śrīr vā iyam iti vacanāt. Cf. VI, 1, 2, 33.

[12]:

Here the original text in Vāj. S. XXIII, 12, has simply 'the piśaṅgilā was the night.' Mahīdhara explains 'piśaṅgilā' by 'piśaṃgila,' 'beauty-devouring,' inasmuch as the night swallows, or conceals, all beauty (or form). Neither this nor the other explanation (= piśaṅga, ruddy-brown) suits the day; but Harisvāmin, who does not explain the name, remarks that the night here is taken to include the day. Cf. XIII, 5, 2, 18.