Satapatha-brahmana
by Julius Eggeling | 1882 | 730,838 words | ISBN-13: 9788120801134
This is Satapatha Brahmana IV.3.2 English translation of the Sanskrit text, including a glossary of technical terms. This book defines instructions on Vedic rituals and explains the legends behind them. The four Vedas are the highest authortity of the Hindu lifestyle revolving around four castes (viz., Brahmana, Ksatriya, Vaishya and Shudra). Satapatha (also, Śatapatha, shatapatha) translates to “hundred paths”. This page contains the text of the 2nd brahmana of kanda IV, adhyaya 3.
Kanda IV, adhyaya 3, brahmana 2
[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]
1. Now truly when the Hotṛ praises (recites the śastra[1]), he sings, and to him thus singing the
Adhvaryu responds (prati-ā-gar), whence the name response (pratigara).
2. [The Hotṛ] calls upon that (Adhvaryu) seated (before him) with his face towards the east[2]. For all others except the Udgātṛ perform their priestly duties while facing the east, and in this manner that priestly duty of his is performed towards the east.
3. Now the Udgātṛ is Prajāpati, and the Hotṛ, (being) the Ṛk (fem.), is a female. And when he chants, then the Udgātṛ, Prajāpati, implants seed in the female Hotṛ, the Ṛk; this the Hotṛ brings forth by means of the śastra (recitation), he sharpens it even as this man is sharpened[3], and because he thereby sharpens (śo) therefore it is called sastra.
4. Having turned round (so as to face the Hotṛ, the Adhvaryu) then responds: thereby he quickens[4] that implanted seed. On the other hand, were he to respond while standing with his face turned away (from the Hotṛ), that implanted seed would assuredly perish away, and would not be brought forth; but thus facing each other (the male and female) bring forth the implanted seed.
5. Now the strength of the metres was exhausted by the gods, for it was by the metres that the gods attained the world of heaven. And the response (song) is ecstasy (mada[5])--what ecstasy there is in the ṛc and that which there is in the Sāman, that is sap: this sap he now lays into the metres, and thus makes the metres of restored strength; and with them of restored strength they perform the sacrifice.
6. Hence if (the Hotṛ) recites by half-verses, let (the Adhvaryu) respond at each half-verse; and if he recites by pādas (hemistichs), let him respond at each pāda. For whenever, in reciting, he (the Hotṛ) draws breath, there the Asura-Rakṣas rush into the sacrifice: there he (the Adhvaryu) closes it up by means of the response, so that the evil spirits, the Rakṣas, cannot rush in; and thus he destroys the world of the sacrificer's enemies.
7. Now, in the beginning the metres consisted of four syllables. Then Jagatī flew up for Soma and came back, leaving behind three syllables. Then Triṣṭubh flew up for Soma and came back, leaving behind one syllable. Then Gāyatrī flew up for Soma, and she came back bringing with her those syllables as well as Soma. Thus she came to consist of eight syllables: wherefore they say, 'Gāyatrī is octosyllabic.'
8. With her they performed the morning feast of the Soma-sacrifice,--whence the morning feast pertains to Gāyatrī. With her they performed the midday feast. Triṣṭubh then said to her, 'To thee will I come with three syllables: invite me, and exclude me not from the sacrifice!'--'So be it!' she said and invited her. Thus the Triṣṭubh came to consist of eleven syllables, and therefore they say, 'The midday Soma feast pertains to Triṣṭubh.'
9. With her (Gāyatrī) indeed they performed the evening feast. Jagatī then said to her, 'To thee will I come with one syllable: invite me, and exclude me not from the sacrifice!'--'So be it!' she said and invited her. Thus the Jagatī came to consist of twelve syllables; and therefore they say, 'The evening Soma feast pertains to Jagatī.'
10. As to this they say, 'Surely all the Soma feasts pertain to Gāyatrī, since Gāyatrī alone went on increasing.' At the morning feast he should therefore respond with a complete (formula), for complete[6] Gāyatrī returned. At the midday feast (he responds with a formula) containing once (the verb) 'to rejoice (mad)[7],' for she (Triṣṭubh) came back, leaving one syllable behind; and with that same (formula) he then completes her, makes her whole,
11. When triṣṭubh verses were recited. At the evening Soma feast (the Adhvaryu responds with a formula) containing thrice (the verb) 'to rejoice[8],' for she (Jagatī) came back leaving three syllables behind; and with these (formulas) he then completes her, makes her whole,--
12. When (the hymn) to Heaven and Earth is recited[9]. Now these creatures subsist on those two, the heaven and the earth--he thereby imbues those two, heaven and earth, with vigour; and upon those two, thus vigorous and affording the means of subsistence, these creatures subsist. Let him respond with 'Om!' only, for that is truth, that the gods know.
13. Now some respond with 'Othāmo daiva vāk,' saying, 'The response is speech (vāk): thus we obtain speech.' But let him not do this; for surely, in whichsoever way he may respond, speech is obtained by him, since he responds by speech. Let him therefore respond with 'Om[10]!' only, for that is truth, that the gods know.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Every chant or hymn (stotra) of the Udgātṛs is followed by a 'song of praise' (śastra) recited by the Hotṛ or one of his three assistants (Maitrāvaruṇa, Brāhmaṇāchaṃsin, and Achāvāka); the first two śastras at each savana being recited by the Hotṛ, and the three additional ones at the morning and midday feast by his assistants (Hotrakas). The exact correlation between the stotras and śastras at the three savanas will appear from the following table:--
[2]:
While the Adhvaryu sits before the Sadas, with his back to the Hotṛ (p. 322, note 1), the latter performs the (tūṣṇīm-) japa--i.e. the muttering of the formula 'May Father Mātariśvan grant flawless (verse-) feet! may the bards sing flawless hymns!' &c. Ait. Br. II, 38; Āśv. Śr. V, 9, 1--after which he addresses to the Adhvaryu his call (āhāva), 'śõṃsāvõm (let us two recite, Om)!'--which formula is used at all śastras, except that, at the midday and evening libations, it is preceded by 'Adhvaryo' (O Adhvaryu); while at the evening savana the first syllable of the verb is repeated, thus 'śośoṃsāvo.'--The Adhvaryu rises, turns round so as to face the Hotṛ, and responds by 'śoṃsāmo daiva (we recite, O divine one)!' According to Ait. Br. III, 12, the Āhāva and Pratigara together are to consist of the number of syllables corresponding to the metre of the respective libation, viz. 8, 11, 12 respectively. Then follows the Hotṛs Tūṣṇīṃ-śaṃsa or 'silent praise;' viz. 'Earth! Agni is the light, the light is Agni, Om!--Indra is the light, Ether! the light is Indra, Om! Sūrya is the light, the light, Heaven! is Sūrya, Om!'--This is followed by a Puroruc, or preliminary invocation of a deity, recited in a loud voice, (and consisting of twelve short formulas resembling the Nivid part i, p. 114, note 2; ib. I, 4, 2, 5 seq.), which, indeed, takes its place in the śastras of the midday and evening libations, being inserted in the middle or before the last verse of the hymn of the śastra; viz. Agni kindled by the gods, Agni kindled by man, Agni the well-kindling, the Hotṛ chosen by the gods, the Hotṛ chosen by men, the carrier of offerings, the leader of sacrifices, the irresistible Hotṛ, the swift carrier of oblations: may he, the god, p. 327 bring hither the gods! may Agni, the god, worship the gods! may (Agni), the knower of beings, perform the sacrificial rites!' (Ait. Br. II, 34.) Then follows the hymn, the Ājya-sūkta, the chief part of the śastra, viz. Rig-veda III, 13, 'To him, your god Agni, will I sing with loudest voice; may he come hither to us with the gods; may he, the best offerer, sit down on our sacred grass!' &c.; the seven (anuṣṭubh) verses of which are recited in the order 1, 5, 4, 6, 3, 2, 7. The first and last verses being, however, repeated thrice, the number is thus raised to eleven. The recitation of the hymn is followed by the so-called ukthavīrya ('the strength of the praise'), consisting of the formula ukthaṃ vāci, 'praise hath been sung,' with some words added to it differing at different śastras,--at the present śastra 'ghoṣāya tvā,' 'thee (I have recited) for sound (praise)!' [for school-differences as to these formulas, see Haug, Transl. Ait. Br. p. 177],--to which the Adhvaryu responds, 'Om ukthasāḥ,' 'yea, singer of praise!' The Ukthavīrya, together with the response, is again to consist of as many syllables as the characteristic metre of the respective libation. Then follows the recitation, by the Āgnīdhra (Ait. Br. VI, 14), of the yājyā or offering prayer, viz. Rig-veda III, 25, 4.--As regards the term 'ājya,' the Pañc. Br. VII, 2, 1, 2, derives it from āji, a race, in accordance with the following legend: When Prajāpati offered himself as a sacrifice to the gods, the latter could not agree as to which of them should have the first share. Prajāpati then proposed that they should run a race for it. In this race Agni came off first, then Mitravaruna, then Indra. To each of these three divinities an ājya was thereupon assigned; and, by a secret understanding between Indra and Agni, these two divided the fourth ājya between them. Hence the āgneya, maitrāvaruṇa, aindra, and aindrāgna śastra (and stotra), belonging to the Hotṛ, Maitrāvaruṇa, Brāhmaṇāchaṃsin, and Achāvāka priests respectively.
[3]:
That is, fashions him, or makes him slender. A fanciful derivation of śastra (śaṃs, to recite, praise, cf. carmen), from the root śā (śo), to sharpen (? or from śas, to cut, carve). 'Yathāyam purovartī puruṣas tīkṣṇakṛtaḥ, avaya(va)vibhāgena spaṣṭīkṛtas tathā śastreṇaitad retaḥ śyati spaṣṭaṃ karoti,' Sāy.
[4]:
Upanimadati, 'cheers;' the Kāṇva text (W.) has 'upanivadati.'
[5]:
Or, intoxication, intoxicating drink. See paragraph 10, and p. 330, note 1
[6]:
Or perhaps, successful, saṃsiddhā [svakīyāny akṣarāṇy aparityajyāvikṛtā (? avikṛttā), Sāy.]. The response (pratigara) here alluded to, is probably the one ordinarily used by the Adhvaryu, whenever the Hotṛ pauses in his recitation, at the end of half-verses p. 330 (or pādas), nivids, &c., viz. 'Othamo daiva,'--or, Othāvo daivom, whenever the Hotṛ puts in the sacred syllable 'om.' 'Tasmāt kāraṇād gāyatra-prātaḥsavane saṃsiddham avikṛtaṃ vidhāsyamānam omantam prati-gṛhṇīyāt,' Sāy. For the Adhvaryu's response, 'śaṃsāmo daiva,' to the Hotṛ's summons (āhāva), see p. 326, note 1.
[7]:
When the first verse of the triṣṭubh hymn, Rig-veda X, 73, is recited by the Hotṛ in the Marutvatīya Sastra at the midday feast, the Adhvaryu's response is 'madāmo daiva' (we rejoice, O divine one). Kāty. X, 3, 8; cf. Weber, Ind. Stud. X, p. 37.
[8]:
According to Kāty. X, 6, 6 'madāmo daiva' is optionally the Adhvaryu's response at the recitation in the Āgnimārutra Śastra of three of the so-called Anupānīya (or Svādushkilīya) triṣṭubh verses VI, 47, 1-4 (see note on IV, 4, 2, 18). Possibly the present paragraph may refer to those verses, in which case the words 'when triṣṭubh verses are recited' would begin a fresh paragraph. Sāyaṇa, however, seems to take it in the same way as above; cf. also the Kāṇva reading in next note.
[9]:
This is the (Jagatī) hymn I, 159 recited in the Vaiśvadeva Sastra. According to Kāty. X, 6, 5, the response is to be thrice (after each of the three first verses) 'madāmo daiva.' The Kāṇva has for paragraphs 10-12, 'At the morning feast he responds by a complete (formula), for complete Gāyatrī returned. At the midday feast he responds once with one containing "mad," when he p. 331 recites triṣṭubh verses, for she (Triṣṭubh) returned leaving one syllable behind: hereby now he completes her, makes her whole. At the evening feast with something containing thrice "mad," for she (Jagatī) returned leaving three syllables behind: hereby now he completes her, makes her whole. At the (hymn) to Heaven and Earth he responds with one that contains "mad;" when he recites (the hymn) Heaven and Earth--these creatures subsisting on those two, Heaven and Earth--he thereby puts juice into them, and upon those two, thus rendered juiceful, these creatures subsist. He responds with "Om," for that is truth, that the gods know.'
[10]:
That is, instead of 'vāk,' hence 'Othāmo daivom.' 'Om' pure and simple is the response at the end of the śastra.