Praśna II, Paṭala 1, Section 3

1. 'As the wind blows, as the ocean waves, thus may the embryo move; may it come forth together with the after-birth'—with (this verse) he strokes (her body) from above downwards.

2. When the child is born, he lays an axe on a stone, and a piece of gold on that axe; after he has turned these things upside down (so that the stone lies uppermost), he holds the boy over them with (the two verses),

'Be a stone, be an axe, be insuperable gold. Thou indeed art the Veda called son; so live a hundred autumns.

'From limb by limb thou art produced; out of the heart thou art born. Thou indeed art the self (ātman) called son; so live a hundred autumns.'

3. (The contents of this Sūtra are similar to those of Pāraskara I, 16, 2.)

4. They take the Aupāsana (or regular Gṛhya) fire away, and they bring the Sūtikāgni (or the fire of the confinement).

5. That (fire) is only used for warming (dishes, etc.).

6. No ceremonies are performed with it except the fumigation (see the next Sūtra).

7.^[1] He fumigates (the child) with small grains mixed with mustard seeds. These he throws into the coals (of the Sūtikāgni) (eleven times, each time with one of the following Mantras):

(a) 'May Śaṇḍa and Marka, Upavīra, Śāṇḍikera, Ulūkhala, Cyavana vanish from here. Svāhā!

(b) 'Ālikhat, Vilikhat, Animiṣa, Kiṃvadanta, Upaśruti. Svāhā!

(c) 'Aryamṇa, Kumbhin, Śatru, Pātrapāṇi, Nipuṇi. Svāhā!

(d) 'May Āntrīmukha, Sarshapāruṇa vanish from here. Svāhā!

(e) 'Keśinī, Śvalominī, Bajābojā, Upakāśini—go away, vanish from here. Svāhā!

(f) 'The servants of Kuvera, Viśvavāsa (?), sent by the king of demons, all of one common origin, walk through the villages, visiting those who wake (?). Svāhā!

(g) '"Kill them! Bind them!" thus (says) this messenger of Brahman. Agni has encompassed them. Indra knows them; Bṛhaspati knows them; I the Brāhmaṇa know them who seize (men), who have prominent teeth, rugged hair, hanging breasts. Svāhā!

(h) 'The night-walkers, wearing ornaments on their breasts, with lances in their hands, drinking out of skulls! Svāhā!

(i) 'Their father Uccaiḥśrāvyakarṇaka walks (?) at their head, their mother walks in the rear, seeking a vikhura (?) in the village. Svāhā!

(k) 'The sister, the night-walker, looks at the family through the rift (?)—she who wakes while people sleep, whose mind is turned on the wife that has become mother. Svāhā!

(l) 'O god with the black path, Agni, burn the lungs, the hearts, the livers of those (female demons); burn their eyes. Svāhā!'

8.^[2] Then he washes his hands and touches the ground with (the verses), 'O thou whose hair is well parted! Thy heart that dwells in heaven, in the moon: of that immortality impart to us. May I not weep over distress (falling to my lot) through my sons.

'I know thy heart, O earth, that dwells in heaven, in the moon: thus may I, the lord of immortality, not weep over distress (falling to my lot) through my sons.'

9. Now (follows) the medhājanana (or production of intelligence). With (an instrument of) gold over which he has laid a Darbha shoot tied (to that piece of gold) he gives to the child, which is held so that it faces the east, ghee to eat, with the formulas, 'Bhūḥ! I sacrifice the Ṛcas over thee! Bhuvaḥ! I sacrifice the Yajus over thee! Suvaḥ! I sacrifice the Sāmans over thee! Bhūr bhuvaḥ suvaḥ! I sacrifice the Atharvan and Aṅgiras hymns over thee!'

10.^[3] He then bathes the child with lukewarm water with (the following Mantras):

'From chronic disease, from destruction, from wile, from Varuṇa's fetter I release thee. I make thee guiltless before the Brahman; may both Heaven and Earth be kind towards thee.

'May Agni together with the waters bring thee bliss, Heaven and Earth together with the herbs; may the air together with the wind bring thee bliss; may the four quarters of the heaven bring thee bliss.

'Rightly have the gods released the sun from darkness and from the seizing demon; they have dismissed him from guilt; thus I deliver this boy from chronic disease, from curse that comes from his kin, from wile, from Varuṇa's fetter.'

11. He then places the child in his mother's lap with (the verse):

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

3, 7. According to Pāraskara (I, 16, 23) this is done daily in the morning and in the evening, until the mother gets up from childbed.—Comp. the names of the demons, Pāraskara I, 16, 23.—For vikhuram (Mantra i) the Āpastambīya Mantrapāṭha has vidhuram ('distress' or 'a distressed one').

[2]:

Pāraskara I, 6, 17.

[3]:

Comp. Atharva-veda II, 10; Taitt. Brāhm. II, 5, 6.