Fourth Adhyaya, Seventeenth Khanda (10 mantras)

Mantra 4.17.1.

1. The Lord of creatures brooded over the worldlords, and from them thus brooded on He extracted their essences, Agni from the (goodess [goddess?] of) earth, Vāyu from the (god of the) intermediate plane and Āditya from the (god of) the heaven plane.—302.

[Note.—Abhyatapat—brooded over. He cogitated “are these the essence, or the essence is something more subtle than these Devas”.]

Mantra 4.17.2.

2. He brooded over these three Devatas, and from them thus brooded on, He extracted their essences:—(Brahmā the Lord of) the Ṛks from Agni, (Śiva the Lord of) the Yajuṣas from the (lower) Vāyu, and (the Chief Yāyu the Lord of) the Sāmans from Āditya.—303.

[Note.—Sāmāni—the Sāman laws, the laws of the worlds of harmony, i.e., of the five higher planes beginning with Svar or heaven. Vāyu (the Christ) the Lord of the higher planes.]

Mantra 4.17.3.

3. He brooded over the deities of the threefold knowledge, and from them thus brooded on, he extracted their essences, Bhūḥ from (the lord of) the Ṛks, Bhuvaḥ from (the lord of) the Yajuṣas, and Svar from (the lord of) the Sāmans.—304.

Mantra 4.17.4.

4. Therefore if the sacrifice is defective from the Ṛk side, let the Brahmā priest offer a libation in the Gārhapatya fire, saying, Bhuḥ [Bhūḥ?] Svāhā. Thus he cures through the essence of (Brahmā the Lord of) the Ṛks, and through the grace (of the Boar the Overlord of) the Ṛks, any defect in the sacrifice on account of the Ṛks.—305.

[Note.—Juhuyāt—let him (Brahmā) offer. The Brahmā priest should offer a libation to the Lord in the Gārhapatya fire, with the words Bhuḥ Svāhā, meditating on the Boar manifestation.]

Mantra 4.17.5.

5. Therefore if the sacrifice is defective from the Yajuṣ side, let him offer a libation in the Dakṣiṇa fire, saying, Bhuvaḥ Svāhā. Thus he cures through the essence of (Śiva the Lord of) the Yajuṣ, and through the grace of (the Man-Lion the Over-lord of) the Yajuṣ, (any) defect in the sacrifice on account of the Yajuṣ.—306.

Mantra 4.17.6.

6. Now if the sacrifice is defective from the side of the Sāman, let him offer a libation in the Āhavanīya fire, saying Svaḥ Svāhā. Thus he cures through the essence of (Vāyu the lord of) the Sāmans, and through the grace of (Kapila the Over-lord of) the Sāmans (any) defect in the sacrifice on account of the Sāmans.—307.

Note.—The Kapila mentioned here is an incarnation of Viṣṇu, and should not be confounded with the founder of the atheistic Sāṅkhya. The Lord as Kapila showed out the type of the highest Man; the Lord as Nṛsiṃha (Man-Lion) showed out the type of the highest astral entity, and he as Varāha (the Boar) is the type of the highest animal or the physical type. Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ and Svaḥ represent the three planes, as well as typify the highest types of organised beings peculiar to those planes.

Mantra 4.17.7.

7. As (the goldsmith) cures (softens, or removes the inpurities of) gold by means of borax, and silver by means of gold, and tin by means of silver, and lead by means of tin, and iron by means of lead, and wood by means of iron, or also by means of leather.—308.

Mantra 4.17.8.

8. Thus does (the Brahmā priest) cure the defect of the sacrifice by means of these World-lords, by these Devatās, by means of the Lords of the threefold knowledge, and by the grace of the Almighty. That sacrifice is well-done where there is a Brahmā priest who knows thus.—309.

[Note.—Vīryeṇa, by the Powerful, by the Best having the names of Bhūḥ etc., by the Lord, by the grace of the Lord: of the Almighty.]

Mantra 4.17.9-10.

9-10. That sacrifice verily is upward carrying in which there is a Brahmā priest who knows thus. And with regard to such a Brahmā priest there is the following Gāthā:—

“From wherever it falls back, thither (through the help of such Brahmā) goes the man. The Brahmā alone is the One priest. He the quick-witted saves all the other performers (of sacrifice).”

A Brahmā priest who knows this saves the sacrifice, the sacrificer and all the other priests. Therefore, let a man make him who knows this his Brahmā priest, not one who does not know it, who does not know it.—310-311.

[Note.—Udak-pravaṇaḥ, inclined towards the north, going towards the higher world; carrying the sacrifice to the udak or the higher planes.]

Madhva’s commentary called the Bhāṣya:

If the sacrificial priests Brahmā etc. break the rule of their office, thus if the Brahma speaks, during the performance of the sacrifice, or the Hotṛ etc. fail to recite Mantras, or recite them wrongly, the sacrifice is imperfect. To complete it, the Vyāhṛti Homa is enjoined as a penance. This is done by offering oblations in the fire, reciting the Mantras Om Bhūḥ Svāhā, Om Bhuvaḥ Svāhā, Om Svaḥ Svāhā. The present Khaṇḍa glorifies these Vyāhṛties [Vyāhṛtis?], and shows why they are so efficacious.

Thus it is in the same:—“The essences of the three worlds (the Earth, the Intermediate Region, and the Heaven), are the Fire (Agni Deva), the Lower Vāyu (the Deva of Passion etc.), and the Sun (the Deva of Mind).

“Brahmā the presiding deity of the Ṛg Veda (the physical sciences) is said to be the essence of Agni; while Hara (Śiva) the presiding deity of the Yajur Veda (the science of the Astral plane) is the essence of the Lower Vāyu; while the chief Vāyu the presiding deity of the Sama Veda (the science of the mental Plane and Harmony) is said to be the essence of Sūrya. The essence of Brahmā is Bhūḥ and (the Lord Viṣṇu as) the Varāha Incarnation; the essence of Śiva is Bhuvaḥ (the Lord Viṣṇu as) the Siṃha Incarnation; the Essence of Vāyu is Svaḥ (the Lord Viṣṇu as) the Kapila Incarnation.

(In fact Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ and Svaḥ are the names of the three incarnations of the Lord—namely the Boar, the Man-Lion and Kapila.)

“The Brahmā priest, knowing thus (that the three Vyāhṛtis Bhūḥ etc. are the names of the Lord) Should protect from injury all the priests by offering oblations in the fire with the Vyāhṛtis, because (they are the names of the Lord). Let every Brahmā priest be thus knowing.” Thus it is in the same (book already quoted).

The phrase “udak pravaṇaḥ” in mantra 9 means “inclined upwards,” “going to the higher worlds.”

The commentator next explains the gāthā given in that mantra, namely, “yato yata āvartate tat tad gaccati. mānavo; brahmaivaikartvik; kurūn aśvābhi rakṣati”. He first takes up the phrase “yato yata āvartate tat tad gaccati mānavaḥ”.

Owing to faulty performance of a sacrifice, from whatever particular place one comes back (unsuccessful), to that very place he goes with (the help of a) Brahma priest who knows this (Vyāhṛti Homa).

Note.—The particular position aimed at by the sacrifice becomes lost owing to the wrong performance of the rite. This defect, however, is remedied by the learned Brahmā priest.

That Brahmā alone is the one priest who protects the actors (kurūn = performers of a sacrifice, the sacrificer as well as the other officiating priests).

The “aśvā” is the “quick-intelligenced,” “the intuitional person.” (It does not mean “a mare” here).

The word aśvā is derived from the root vā ‘to go’, with the prefix āśu, quick. It therefore mean’s “the quick moving.” The word “going” always has the secondary meaning of “understanding” also (gati = avagati). “The quick moving”=“the quick understanding.”

Says an objecter. “āśu+vā=āśuvā”, and not “aśvā”. How do you shorten the “ā” into “a” and elide the “u” of “śu”? To answer this the Commentator quotes the following Sūtra:—

“There is optionally the elision of the long vowel, of the visarga, and the rest.” It is by applying this sūtra, that the long vowel is shortened, and the “u” is elided, and thus we get the noun “aśvā” meaning “the quick-intelligenced,” “the wise.”