Kanda XIII, adhyaya 3, brahmana 3

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

1. Inasmuch as there are three Anuṣṭubh verses^[1] (on the first day), therefore the horse, when standing, stands on three (feet); and inasmuch as (they are made into) four Gāyatrī verses, therefore the horse, when stepping out, scampers off on all (four) feet. For that Anuṣṭubh, doubtless, is the highest metre, and the horse is the highest of animals; and the Katuṣṭoma is the highest of Stomas: by means of what is highest he thus causes him (the Sacrificer) to reach the highest position.

2. The Śakvarī verses are the (Hotṛ's) Pṛṣṭha (of the second day): there is a different metre for each (verse), for different Stomas are performed on each (day). And as to the Śakvarī verse being the Pṛṣṭha (-stotra), it is for the completeness of the horse (sacrifice).

3. The central day is an Ekaviṃśa one, for the Ekaviṃśa is yonder sun, and so is the Aśvamedha by means of its own Stoma he thus establishes it in its own deity.

4. The Vāmadevya is the Maitrāvaruṇa's Sāman^[2]; for the Vāmadevya is Prajāpati, and the horse is of Prajāpati's nature: he thus supplies it with its own deity.

5. The Pārthuraśma is the Brahma-sāman^[3]; for the horse is restrained by means of reins^[4] (raśmi), but when unrestrained, unchecked, and unsteadied, it would be liable to go to the furthest distance: thus when the Pārthuraśma is the Brahma-sāman, it is for the safe keeping of the horse.

6. The Saṃkṛti^[5] is the Achāvāka's Sāman;-that Aśvamedha, indeed, is, as it were, a disused sacrifice, for what is performed thereof, and what is not^[6]? When the Saṃkṛti is the Achāvāka's Sāman, it is for (bringing about) the completeness of the horse (sacrifice). The last day is an Atirātra with all the (six) Stomas, in order to his (the Sacrificer's) obtaining everything, for an Atirātra with all the Stomas is everything, and the Aśvamedha is everything.

7. The fire-altar is the twenty-one-fold one^[7], the Stoma the twenty-one-fold one, and there are twenty-one sacrificial stakes; even as bulls or stallions^[8] would clash together, so do these Stomas^[9], the twenty-one-versed, run counter to one another: were he to bring them together, the Sacrificer would suffer harm, and his sacrifice would be destroyed.

8. There may, indeed, be a twelvefold altar, and eleven stakes. When the altar is a twelvefold one--twelve months being a year--it is the year, the sacrifice, he obtains. When there are eleven stakes, then that Virāj (metre), the Ekādaśinī^[10], is contrived; and that which is its eleventh (stake) is its teat: thereby he milks it.

9. As to this they say, 'If there were a twelvefold altar, and eleven stakes, it would be as if one were to drive on a cart drawn by one beast.' There are the twenty-one-fold altar, the twenty-one-fold Stoma, and twenty-one stakes: that is as when one drives with side-horses.

10. That twenty-one-fold one, indeed, is the head of the sacrifice; and, verily, he who knows three heads on the Aśvamedha, becomes the head of kings. There are the twenty-one-fold altar, the twenty-one-fold Stoma, and twenty-one stakes: these are the three heads on the Aśvamedha; and, verily, he who thus knows them becomes the head of kings. And, indeed, he who knows the three tops on the Aśvamedha, becomes the top of kings;--there are the twenty-one-fold altar, the twenty-one-fold Stoma, and twenty-one stakes: these, indeed, are the three tops on the Aśvamedha; and, verily, he who thus knows them becomes the top of kings.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

That is, for the Bahiṣpavamāna-stotra of the Catuṣṭoma, see p. 329, note.

[2]:

That is, the hymn-tune of the second Pṛṣṭha-stotra chanted for the Maitrāvaruṇa (who responds thereto by the recitation of the second Nishkevalya-śastra): the Mahā-Vāmadevya on the text 'kayā naś citra bhuvat' (S. V. II, 32-34; figured for chanting in Bibl. Ind. ed. III, p. 89) is ordinarily used for this stotra both in the Agniṣṭoma, and in the Ukthya, form of sacrifice.

[3]:

That is, the tune of the third, or Brāhmaṇāchaṃsin's, Pṛṣṭhastotra. For the sāmans commonly used for this stotra see part ii, p. 434, note 1. The Pārthuraśma-sāman may be chanted on either of the texts Sāmav. II, 352-4 (figured ed. Bibl. Ind. vol. V, p. 395) or II, 355-7 (figured vol. V, p. 483). It is the latter text which is to be used on the present occasion. On the legendary origin of this sāman (which is said to represent 'strength,' and therefore to be appropriate to a Rājanya) see Tāṇḍya-Br. XIII, 4, 17.

[4]:

Or, is fastened by means of a rope.

[5]:

The Saṃkṛti-sāman is used with the texts Sāmav. II, 663-4 (figured ed. Bibl. Ind. V, p. 407), II, 669-70 (ib. p. 482, wrongly p. 334 called Saṃgati), and II, 679-82 (ib. p. 515). It is probably the second of these texts that is to be used here, as it is also used for the same stotra on the second day of the Garga-trirātra.

[6]:

Cp. the corresponding passage, Taitt. S. V, 4, 12, 3, 'that Aśvamedha, indeed, is a disused sacrifice, for, say they, who knows if the whole of it is performed or not?' Perhaps, however, 'utsanna-yajña' rather means 'a decayed sacrifice,' i.e. one which has lost (or in the usual performance is apt to lose) some of its original elements; whence the 'Saṃkṛti' tune is to be used for the purpose of 'making up' the lost parts. Part of the commentary in this passage is not clear to me:--ukcaiḥkalāpagrāmādau siddhasthāne satrasthito granthato'rthataś ca yat yajña utsannayajña eṣa yaḥ aśvamedhaḥ katham utsanna ity ata āha, kiṃ vā hīti, yasya dharmāḥ pūrvayonau (? pūrvayuge) prayujyante teṣāṃ kimcit kalau kriyate kiṃcin na kriyate, tataś ca saṃkṛtir achāvākasāma bhavati.

[7]:

That is, an altar measuring twenty-one man's lengths on each of the four sides of its body.

[8]:

The commentary seems to take both 'ṛṣabha' and 'vṛṣan' here in the sense of 'bulls,' but cp. Taitt. Br. III, 8, 22, 1, 'yathā vā aśvā varshabhā vā vṛṣāṇaḥ śaṃ sphureraṇ'--'even as if male horses or bulls were to clash together.'

[9]:

That is, not only the twenty-one-fold Stoma, but also the other two twenty-one-fold objects, looked upon as Stomas (lit. 'means of praise').

[10]:

Viz. the set of eleven (stakes), here represented as a cow; but in order to assimilate it to the Virāj, or metre consisting of ten syllables, the eleventh stake is made the teat or udder of the cow.