Fourth Adhyaya, Sixteenth Khanda (5 mantras)

Mantra 4.16.1.

1. Verily, he who purifies (Vāyu) is called the Sanctifier: for he, by his vibrations, purifies everything. Because he vibrating purifies everything, therefore he is called the Yajña (the vibratory-purifier). His (Vāyu’s) two feet are the mind and the speech (of the holy priests).—297.

Mantra 4.16.2.

2. The Brahman priest worships one of them (the right foot) with his mind; the Hotṛ, the Adhvaryu and the Udgātṛ priests worship the other with words. When the Brahman priest, after the Prātaranuvāka ceremony has begun, but before the mental recitation (japa) of the Paridhānīyā Ṛks utters speech.—298.

Mantra 4.16.3.

3. Then (the Hotṛ and the others) perfect only the left foot, and the right foot is injured. As a person, walking on one foot is injured, or as a carriage moving on one wheel is injured, thus his sacrifice is injured. The sacrifice being injured, the sacrificer is consequently injured. He having sacrificed becomes a greater sinner.—299.

Mantra 4.16.4

4. Therefore, when after the Prātaranuvāka ceremony lias commenced, and before the silent recitation of the Paridhānīyā Ṛks, the Brahmā priest does not speak, then the priests make perfect both the feet, and neither of them is injured.—300.

Mantra 4.16.5.

5. As a man walking on two legs or a carriage moving on two wheels stands firm, so his sacrifice stands firm, and the sacrifice being well inaugurated, the sacrificer gets on; yes, having sacrificed, he becomes better.—301.

Madhva’s commentary called the Bhāṣya:

The knowledge about the Apara Brahman,—the Christ—has been taught in the previous Khaṇḍas beginning with “Vāyu is verily the Destroyer, etc.,”—“Prāṇa is Brahman.” The present Khaṇḍa also deals with the same subject, and describes another method (vidyā) of meditation on the Vāyu.

Yajña is a word which means generally “the rites, etc., performed in a sacrifice.” In other words it means ordinarily a sacrifice. But the very first mantra of this Khaṇḍa gives another meaning of this word. Yajña means the purifier also: not only a sacrifice but a sacrifier [sacrificer?]. Yajña thus is the name of Vāyu—the Redeemer, the Sacrifice. The Commentator shows this.

The Vāyu (the Christ) is the presiding deity of sacrifice, and is named also the sacrifice, and dwells in sacrifice.

It is in sacrifice and service that the Christ dwells. He is called the “priya bhṛtya” or the “beloved servant” of God.

The word Yajña when meaning the purifier is derived from √jña, “to be pure.” “yan+jña=yajña || yan” is the present participle of to move. He who moving (“yan”) purifies (“jña”)—He who by his passing purifies. The Commentator shows this as the Great Passion.

Because he purifies by his passing, he is called Yajña, which is derived from the root jña ‘to be pure’; and yan “passing,” “moving along.” Hence the Vāyu is called Yajña or the Purifier-by-moving.

He has two feet, which have their foot-stools in the speech and the mind (of the holy). His right foot rests in the mind, and the priest called Brahmā (constantly) worships this foot. His left foot rests in the speech, and the three other priests, the Hotṛ, etc., worship it.

(Brahmā priest worships the foot resting in mind: therefore his prayer is mental, and not uttered. In a sacrifice, he sits silent and mentally enacts the whole sacrifice. He must not speak).

Therefore from the commencement of the matin chant (“prātar anuvāka”) till the final recitation of Ārati (Paridhāniya) (he must keep silence, and worship silently). If Brahmā utters speech (during this period) he causes the loss of one foot of sacrifice. The Vāyu is the sacrifice, and his symbolical sacrificial feet are the mind and the speech. Therefore, let Brahmā become a muni (silent sage), meditating on the Vāyu and the Lord Hari.

The external sacrifice being a symbol of the Vāyu, if the Brahmā priest speaks, he injures, as if it were, a foot of the Vāyu: makes the Vāyu lame—makes the sacrifice imperfect. In an act of sacrifice—any occult rite—every priest must perform strictly to the latter the duty appertaining to his office. The duty of the Brahmā priest is that a Silent Watcher; he must not speak, otherwise he imperils the whole ceremony.