Kanda XIII, adhyaya 2, brahmana 7

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

1. When the victims have been bound (to the stakes), the Adhvaryu takes the sprinkling-water in order to sprinkle the horse. Whilst the Sacrificer holds on to him behind, he (in sprinkling the horse) runs rapidly through the formula used at the Soma-sacrifice^[1], and then commences the one for the Aśvamedha.

2. [Vāj. S. XXIII, 13,] 'May Vāyu favour thee with cooked kinds of food^[2],'--Vāyu (the wind) indeed cooks it^[3];--'the dark-necked one with he-goats,'--the dark-necked one, doubtless, is Agni (the fire); and the fire indeed cooks it (the horse) together with the he-goats.

3. 'The Nyagrodha with cups,'--for when the gods were performing sacrifice, they tilted over those Soma-cups, and, turned downwards, they took root, whence the Nyagrodhas (ficus indica), when turned downwards (nyac), take root (roha^[4]).

4. 'The cotton-tree with growth,'--he confers growth on the cotton-tree (salmalia malabarica), whence the cotton-tree grows largest amongst trees^[5].

5. 'This male, fit for the chariot,'--he supplies the chariot with a horse, whence the horse draws nothing else than a chariot.

6. 'Hath come hither on his four feet,'--therefore the horse, when standing, stands on three feet, but, when harnessed, it pulls with all its feet at one and the same time.

7. 'May the spotless Brahman protect us!'--the spotless^[6] Brahman (m.), doubtless, is the moon:

to the moon he thus commits it;--'Reverence to Agni!'--to Agni he thus makes reverence.

8. [Vāj. S. XXIII, 14,] 'Trimmed up is the car with the cord,'--with cord one indeed completes the car^[7], whence a car, when enveloped (with cords^[8]), is very handsome.

9. 'Trimmed up is the steed with the rein,'--with the rein one indeed completes the horse, whence the horse, when curbed by the rein, looks most beautiful.

10. 'Trimmed up in the waters was the water-born,'--the horse, indeed, has sprung from the womb of the waters^[9]: with its own (mother's) womb he thus supplies it;--'Brahman (m.), with Soma for his leader,'--he thus makes it go to heaven with Soma for its leader.

11. [Vāj. S. XXIII, 15,1 'Thyself, fit out thy body, O racer,'--'Take thyself the form which thou wishest,' he thereby says to him;--'make offering thyself,'--sovereign rule (independence) he thereby confers on it;--'rejoice thou thyself,'--'enjoy (rule) thou thyself the world as far as thou wishest,' he thereby says to him;--'thy glory is not to be equalled by any one!'--with glory he thereby endows the horse.

12. [Vāj: S. XXIII, 16^[10],] 'Thou shalt not die

here, neither suffer harm,'--he thereby cheers it;--'on easy paths thou goest to the gods,'--he thereby shows him the paths leading to the gods;--'where dwell the pious, whither they have gone,'--he thereby makes it one who shares the same world with the pious;--'thither the god Savitṛ shall lead thee,'--it is, indeed, Savitṛ that leads him to the heavenly world.--Whilst whispering^[11] 'I sprinkle thee, acceptable unto Prajāpati,' he then holds (the sprinkling water) under (its mouth).

13. [Vāj. S. XXIII, 17,] 'Agni was an animal; they sacrificed him, and he gained that world wherein Agni (ruleth): that shall be thy world, that thou shalt gain,--drink thou this water!'--'As great as Agni's conquest was, as great as is his world, as great as is his lordship, so great shall be thy conquest, so great thy world, so great thy lordship,' this is what he thereby says to him.

14. 'Vāyu was an animal; they sacrificed him, and he gained that world wherein. Vāyu (ruleth): that shall be thy world, that thou shalt gain,--drink thou this water!'--'As great as Vāyu's conquest was, as great as is his world, as great as is his lordship, so great shall be thy conquest, so great thy world, so great thy lordship,' this is what he thereby says to him.

15. 'Sūrya was an animal; they sacrificed him, and he gained that world wherein Sūrya (ruleth): that shall be thy world, that thou shalt gain,--drink thou this water!'--'As great as Sūrya's conquest was, as great as is his world, as great as is his lordship, so great shall be thy conquest, so great thy world, so great thy lordship,' this is what he thereby says to him. Having satisfied the horse, and consecrated again the sprinkling water, he sprinkles the other victims: thereof hereafter.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Viz. Vāj. S. VI, 9; see III, 7, 4, 4-5.

[2]:

The author seems to take 'pacataiḥ' in the sense of 'cooking.'

[3]:

Viz. inasmuch as it causes the fire to blaze up, comm.

[4]:

Or, whence the Nyagrodhas grow downwards. This refers to the habit of the Indian fig-tree, of sending down from the branches numerous slender roots which afterwards become fresh stems. Cp. the corresponding legend in Ait. Br. VII, 30, told there by way of explaining why Kṣatriyas, being forbidden to drink Soma, should drink the juice extracted from the descending roots of the Indian fig-tree. Another reason why the Indian fig-tree (also called 'vaṭa') is here connected with the priests’ Soma-cups (camasa), is that this is one of the kinds of wood used in making those cups (cf. Katy, I, 3, 36 comm.).

[5]:

According to Stewart and Brandis, Forest Flora, p. 31, the cotton-tree (or silk-cotton tree) is a very large tree of rapid growth, attaining a height of 150 ft., and a girth of 40 ft.

[6]:

Lit. 'the non-black Brahman,' explained as one who has no black spots; though it is difficult to see why the moon should be favoured with this epithet.

[7]:

In Indian vehicles the different parts are held together by cords. For a drawing see Sir H. M. Elliot, The Races of the N.W. Provinces. of India, II, p. 342. The word for 'cord' and 'rein' is the same in Sanskrit.

[8]:

Paryutaḥ = pariveṣṭito rajjubhiḥ, comm.; hardly 'hung all round (with ornaments),' as the St. Petersb. Dict. takes it.

[9]:

See V, 1, 4, 5; VI, 1, 1, 11.

[10]:

The first two pādas of this verse form the first half-verse of Ṛg-veda S. I, 162, 21.

[11]:

Cp. I, 4, 5, 12: 'Hence whatever at the sacrifice is performed for Prajāpati, that is performed in a low voice (under the breath); for speech would not act as oblation-bearer for Prajāpati.' Prajāpati, as representing generation, is often spoken of as 'undefined' or 'unexpressed (secret)'; and so is what is muttered in a low voice.