Kanda V, adhyaya 3, brahmana 4

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

1. He collects (various kinds of) water. The reason why he collects water, is that--water being vigour--he thereby collects vigour, the essence of die waters.

2. In a vessel of udumbara wood,--the udumbara (ficus glomerata) being sustenance, (that is) food---for the obtainment of sustenance, food: hence in an udumbara vessel (he mixes the different liquids).

3. He first takes (water)^[1] from the (river) Sarasvatī, with (Vāj. S. X, i), 'The gods took honey-sweet water,'--whereby he says, 'the gods took water full of essence;'--'sapful, deemed king-quickening,'--by 'sapful' he means to say, 'full of essence;' and by 'deemed king-quickening' he means to say, '(water) which is recognised as king-quickening;'--'wherewith they anointed Mitra and Varuṇa,' for therewith they did anoint (sprinkle) Mitra and Varuṇa;--'wherewith they guided

Indra past his enemies,' for therewith they indeed guided Indra past the fiends, the Rakṣas. Therewith he sprinkles him,--Sarasvatī being (the goddess of) Speech: it is with speech he thereby sprinkles him. This is one kind of water: it is that he now brings.

4. Thereupon the Adhvaryu, having taken ghee in four ladlings, steps down into the water, and takes the two waves which flow away (in different directions) after an animal or a man has stept (or plunged) into it.

5. The one which rises in front of him he catches up with (Vāj. S. X, 2), 'Thou art the male's wave, a bestower of kingship: bestow kingship on me, hail!--Thou art the male's wave, a bestower of kingship: bestow kingship on N.N.!'

6. He then catches up that (wave) which rises up behind him with, 'Thou art the lord of a host of males, a bestower of kingship: bestow kingship on me, hail!--Thou art the lord of a host of males, a bestower of kingship: bestow kingship on N.N.!' With that (water) he sprinkles; for indeed that is the vigour of the water which rises when either beast or man plunges into it: it is with vigour he thus sprinkles him. This is one kind of water: it is that he now brings.

7. He then takes flowing (water) with (Vāj. S. X, 3), 'Task-plying ye are, bestowers of kingship: bestow ye kingship on me, hail!--Task-plying ye are, bestowers of kingship: bestow ye kingship on N.N.!' With that (water) he sprinkles; for with vigour these (waters) flow, whence nothing stops them flowing along: it is with vigour he thus sprinkles him. This is one kind of water: it is that he now brings.

8. He then takes such (water) as flows against the stream of the flowing water with, 'Powerful ye are, bestowers of kingship: bestow ye kingship on me, hail!--Powerful ye are, bestowers of kingship: bestow ye kingship on N.N.!' With that (water) he sprinkles, for with vigour indeed those (waters) flow against the stream of the flowing ones: it is with vigour he thus sprinkles him. This is one kind of water: it is that he now brings.

9. He then takes (water) that flows off (the main current) with, 'Overflowing waters ye are, bestowers of kingship: bestow ye kingship on me, hail!--Overflowing waters ye are, bestowers of kingship: bestow ye kingship on N.N.!' With that (water) he sprinkles. Now that (flow of water), after separating itself from that (main current), comes to be that again^[2]; and so there is in his kingdom even one belonging to some other kingdom, and even that man from another kingdom he absorbs: thus he (the Adhvaryu) bestows abundance upon him (the king), and it is with abundance that he thus consecrates him. This is one kind of water: it is that he now brings.

10. He then takes the lord of rivers (sea-water) with, 'Thou art the lord of waters, a bestower of kingship: bestow thou kingship on me, hail!--Thou art the lord of waters, a bestower of kingship: bestow thou kingship on N.N.!'

With that (water) he sprinkles him; and that lord of rivers (the ocean) being the same as the lord of waters, he thereby makes him (the king) the lord of the people. This is one kind of water: it is that he now brings.

11. He then takes (water from) a whirlpool with, 'Thou art the offspring of the waters, a bestower of kingship: bestow thou kingship on me, hail!--Thou art the offspring of the waters, a bestower of kingship: bestow thou kingship on N.N.!' With that (water) he sprinkles. Now the waters enclose the offspring (embryo): he thus makes him the offspring of the people. This is one kind of water: it is that he now brings.

12. Then what standing pool of flowing water there is in a sunny spot, that (water) he takes with (Vāj. S. X, 4), 'Sun-skinned ye are, bestowers of kingship: bestow ye kingship on me, hail!--Sun-skinned ye are, bestowers of kingship: bestow ye kingship on N.N.!' With that (water) he sprinkles: it is with lustre he thereby sprinkles him, and makes him sun-skinned. Now it is to Varuṇa that those waters belong which, (whilst being part) of flowing water, do not flow: and Varuṇa's quickening (sava) is that Rājasūya: therefore he sprinkles him therewith. This is one kind of water: it is that he now brings.

13. He then catches such (water) as it rains while the sun shines, with, 'Lustrous as the sun ye are, bestowers of kingship: bestow ye kingship on me, hail!--Lustrous as the sun ye are, bestowers of kingship: bestow ye kingship on N.N.!' With this (water) he sprinkles: it is with lustre he thereby sprinkles him, and lustrous as the sun he thereby makes him. And pure indeed is such water as it rains while the sun shines, for before it has reached this (earth), he catches it: he thus makes him pure thereby. This is one kind of water: it is that he now brings.

14. He then takes (water) from a pond with, 'Pleasing ye are, bestowers of kingship: bestow ye kingship on me!--Pleasing ye are, bestowers of kingship: bestow ye kingship on N.N.!' With that (water) he sprinkles: he thereby makes the people steady and faithful to him. This is one kind of water: it is that he now brings.

15. He then draws (water) from a well with, 'Fold-dwellers ye are, bestowers of kingship: bestow ye kingship on me, hail!--Fold-dwellers ye are, bestowers of kingship: bestow ye kingship on N.N.!' With this (water) he sprinkles. He thereby brings (some of) the water which is beyond this (earth), and also (he does so) for the completeness of the waters, this is why he sprinkles him therewith. This is one kind of water: it is that he now brings.

16. He then takes dew-drops^[3] with, 'Devoted^[4]

ye are, bestowers of kingship: bestow ye kingship on me, hail!--Devoted ye are, bestowers of kingship: bestow ye kingship on N.N.!' With that (water) he sprinkles: it is with food he thereby consecrates him, and food he thereby bestows upon him, For even as this fire burns up (the wood) so does that sun yonder, even in rising, burn up the plants, the food. But those waters coming down, quench that (heat), for if those waters were not to come down, there would be no food left remaining here: it is with food he thus sprinkles him. This is one kind of water: it is that he now brings.

17. He then takes honey with, 'Most powerful ye are, bestowers of kingship: bestow ye kingship on me, hail!--Most powerful ye are, bestowers of kingship: bestow ye kingship on N.N.!' With this (water) he sprinkles, and it is by the essence of the waters and plants that he thereby sprinkles him. This is one kind of water: it is that he now brings.

18. He then takes embryonic (waters) of a calving cow with, 'Mighty ye are, bestowers of kingship: bestow ye kingship on me, hail!--Mighty ye are, bestowers of kingship: bestow ye kingship on N.N.!' With that (water) he sprinkles: it is with cattle he thereby consecrates him. This is one kind of water: it is that he now brings.

19. He then takes milk with, 'Man-supporting ye are, bestowers of kingship: bestow ye kingship on me, hail!--Man-supporting ye are, bestowers of kingship: bestow ye kingship on N.N.!' With that (water) he sprinkles:

it is with cattle he thereby consecrates him. This is one kind of water: it is that he now brings.

20. He then takes clarified butter with, 'All-supporting ye are, bestowers of kingship: bestow ye kingship on me, hail!--All-supporting ye are, bestowers of kingship: bestow ye kingship on N.N.!' With that (water) he sprinkles: it is with the essence of cattle he thereby consecrates him. This is one kind of water: it is that he now brings.

21. Having then caught up (moist) sun-motes with the hollow of his hands, he mixes them (with the other kinds of water), with, 'Self-ruling waters ye are, bestowers of kingship: bestow ye kingship on N.N.!' For those sun-motes are indeed self-ruling waters, since they are flowing, as it were, and, not yielding to one another's superiority, keep being now higher now lower: he thus thereby bestows self-ruling power upon him. This is one kind of water: it is that he now brings.

22. These then are seventeen (kinds of) water he brings together, for Prajāpati is seventeenfold, and Prajāpati is the sacrifice: that is why he brings together seventeen kinds of water.

23. Now sixteen kinds of water are those he offers upon; and he offers sixteen oblations: that makes thirty-two. On two of them he does not offer, viz. on the water from the Sarasvatī and on the sun-motes: that makes thirty-four. For three and thirty are the gods, and Prajāpati is the thirty-fourth: he thus makes him to be Prajāpati (the lord of creatures).

24. And as to why he takes (water) each time after offering,--the ghee, to be sure, is a thunderbolt:

having won them, one by one, by means of that thunderbolt, the ghee, and made them his own, he takes them.

25. And as to why he does not offer on the (water) from the Sarasvatī,--Sarasvatī, to be sure, is (the goddess of) Speech, and the ghee is a thunderbolt: 'Lest I should injure (the goddess of) Speech! thus (he thinks, and) therefore he does not offer on the water from the Sarasvatī.

26. And as to why he does not offer on the sun-motes: 'Lest I should offer that oblation in a doubtful way^[5]!' thus (he thinks, and) therefore he does not offer on the sun-motes.

27. He pours them together into an udumbara vessel with, 'Let the honey-sweet mix with the honey-sweet!'--'Let those full of essence mix with those full of essence!' he thereby says;--'Winning great power (kṣatra) for the Kṣatriya!' in saying this he prays in a covert way for power to the Sacrificer.

28. He deposits them in front of the Maitrāvaruṇa's hearth, with, 'Unimpaired rest ye, the strengthful!'--'unimpaired by the Rakṣas rest ye!' he thereby says; and by 'strengthful' he means to say 'powerful; 'bestowing great power on the Kṣatriya;'--in saying this he prays in an overt way for power to the Sacrificer.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

This water gathered from an adjacent river and pond, with some admixture of genuine water from the sacred river Sarasvatī-whence the whole water is also called 'sārasvatya āpaḥ'--is to be used partly in the place of the ordinary Vasatīvarī water, and partly for the consecration or anointment (sprinkling) of the king. The different kinds of water or liquids are first taken in separate vessels of palāśa (butea frondosa) wood, and then poured together into the udumbara vessel.

[2]:

That is to say, it ultimately flows back and mingles again with the main current.

[3]:

Sāyaṇa explains 'prushvā' by 'nīhārāḥ' (mist water), the commentators on Kāty. XV, 4, 38, by 'hoar-frost.'

[4]:

It is difficult to see in what sense the author takes vāśa. While Mahīdhara (Vāj. S. X, 4) explains it by 'pleasing' or 'desirable' (uśyante janaiḥ kāmyante'nnaniṣpattihetutrāt); Sāyaṇa leaves a choice between that meaning (sarvaiḥ kāmyamānā) and that of 'obedient, submissive' (yadvā vaśyā stha, nīhāro hi nadīpravāhavan manushyādigatim na pratibadhnāti, ato vaśyatvam prushvāṇām annādyātmakatvam upapādayati; MS. I. O. 657). The St. Petersburg dictionary gives the meaning 'submissive,' but leaves it doubtful whether it may not be derived from vaśa, 'fat, grease.'

[5]:

On account of the doubtful nature of the watery sun-motes.