Satapatha-brahmana
by Julius Eggeling | 1882 | 730,838 words | ISBN-13: 9788120801134
This is Satapatha Brahmana XII.2.2 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 XII, adhyaya 2.
Kanda XII, adhyaya 2, brahmana 2
1. Here, now, they say, 'Whereby are the Abhiplavas possessed of light (jyotis) on both sides[1], and the Pṛṣṭhya of light on one side only?' Well, the Abhiplavas are these worlds, and these worlds are indeed possessed of light on both sides--through the fire on this side, and through the sun on yonder side; and the Pṛṣṭhya is the seasons, and the seasons are indeed possessed, of light on one side only: he who burns yonder (the sun) is their light.
2. Verily, those two wheels of the gods, established on the Pṛṣṭhya[2], revolve crushing[3] the Sacrificer's evil; and, indeed, if during a sacrificial session any one speaks evil of such initiates as know this, those two wheels of the gods cut off his head: the (chariot-) seat is the Daśarātra, and the two wheels are the Pṛṣṭhya and Abhiplava.
3. Concerning this they say, 'Seeing that the two wheels (of a cart) are alike, and those stomas unlike, how are those stomas one after another performed alike for him?' Let him reply, 'Thereby, that there are six of the one, and six of the other.'
4. 'Let him make the Pṛṣṭhya and Abhiplava two warps[4],' said Paiṅgya; 'let him make their
Stotras and Śastras run together:' inasmuch as he makes them run together, these (channels of the) vital airs, though separate from one another, run together, with one and the same aim[5], into a common web; but were he not to make them run together, the Sacrificer would be liable to perish; and liable to perish, indeed, is one who is either blind or deaf.
5. The Agniṣṭomas amount to nine in a month[6];--now, there are nine vital airs: it is the vital airs he thus lays into them (the Sacrificers); and thus they attain the full term of life, and so, indeed, they do not depart this world before the (full) term of life.
6. And the Ukthyas (amount) to twenty-one;--now, there are twelve months in the year, five seasons, and three worlds, that makes twenty, and he who burns yonder (the sun) is the twenty-first[7],
--that consummation (he attains), and by that consummation he ascends month by month to the world of heaven, and gains, in monthly portions, the world of heaven, and the twenty-one-fold Stoma, and the Bṛhatī metre[8].
7. The Agniṣṭomas amount to thirty-four in a month[9]--for the obtainment of all the gods; for there are thirty-three gods, and Prajāpati is the thirty-fourth. And there is one Ukthya with the Ṣoḍaśin (stotra); for the Ukthya means food, and the Ṣoḍaśin vital strength.
8. By means of that food and vital strength the gods obtained all their desires, and secured all their desires; and in like manner does this (Sacrificer); by means of that food and vital strength, obtain all his desires, and secure all his desires: with a view to that object he who is initiated for (a sacrificial session of) a year should therefore perform the Pṛṣṭhya and Abhiplava (-ṣaḍahas).
9. Now, the Ādityas and the Aṅgiras, both of them sprung from Prajāpati, were contending together saying, 'We shall be the first to reach heaven,--we shall be the first!'
10. By means of four Stomas, four Pṛṣṭhas[10], and light (simple) hymn-tunes, the Ādityas sailed across to the heavenly world; and inasmuch as they sailed (abhi-plu) to it, they (these six-days’ periods) are called Abhiplava.
11. By means of all the Stomas, all the Pṛṣṭhas[11], and heavy (complicated) hymn-tunes, the Aṅgiras, coming after (the gods), as it were[12], touched (reached) the heavenly world; and inasmuch as they touched (spṛś) it, it (this six-days’ period) is called Pṛṣṭhya[13].
12. It is a six-days’ Abhiplava, because it consists of six days; or a five-days’ Abhiplava, because it consists of five days, for the last day is the same as the first; or a four-days’ Abhiplava, for there are four Stomas (used) in it--the thrice-threefold (trivṛt), the fifteen-versed, the seventeen-versed, and the twenty-one-versed one; or a three-days’ Abhiplava, for it is of three orders--Jyotis, Go, and
Āyus[14]; or a two-days’ Abhiplava, for there are two Sāmans (used) in it--the Bṛhat and the Rathantara[15]; or a one-day's Abhiplava, for it is performed with the Stomas of a one-day's (Soma-sacrifice[16]). Twelve Stotras and twelve Śastras of the four Ukthyas are in excess[17]--they make a seventh Agniṣṭoma, and thus the Agniṣṭomas amount to seven.
13. Now, Proti Kauśāmbeya[18] Kausurubindi dwelt with Uddālaka Āruṇi as a religious student. The teacher asked him, 'My son, how many days did thy father[19] consider that there are in the year?'
14. 'Ten,' he replied.--'Ten, indeed,' he said; 'for the Virāj consists of ten syllables, and the sacrifice is of Virāj nature;--
15. But how many are there really?'--'Nine,' he replied.--'Nine, indeed,' he said; 'for there are nine vital airs, and by means of the vital airs the sacrifice is performed;- 16. But how many are there really?'--'Eight,' he replied.--'Eight, indeed,' he said; 'for the Gāyatrī consists of eight syllables, and the sacrifice is of Gāyatrī nature;--
17. But how many are there really?'--'Seven,' he replied.--'Seven, indeed,' he said; 'for there are seven metres (successively) increasing by four (syllables), and by means of the metres the sacrifice is performed;--
18. But how many are there really?'--'Six,' he replied.--'Six, indeed,' he said; 'six seasons make up a year, and the sacrifice is the year; and one and the same day are those two, the opening and concluding (Atirātra[20]);--
19. But how many are there really?'--'Five,' he replied.--'Five, indeed,' he said; 'the sacrifice is fivefold; the sacrificial animal is fivefold[21]; there are five seasons in the year, and the sacrifice is the year;
and one and the same day are those two, the Caturviṃśa and the Mahāvrata.;--
20. But how many are there really?'--'Four,' he replied.--'Four, indeed,' he said; 'animals are four-footed, and animals constitute a sacrifice; and one and the same day are those two, the Pṛṣṭhya and Abhiplava;--
21. But how many are there really?'--'Three,' he replied.--'Three, indeed,' he said; 'there are three metres, three worlds; and the (Soma-) sacrifice consists of three services; and one and the same day are those two, the Abhijit and Viśvajit;--
22. But how many are there really?'--'Two,' he replied.--'Two, indeed,' he said; 'for man is two-footed, and the sacrifice is man; and one and the same day are the Svarasāmans;--
23. But how many are there really?'--'One,' he replied.--'A day, indeed,' he said; 'the whole year is just that day after day:'--this is the mystic import of the year; and, verily, whosoever thus knows this mystic import[22] of the year grows more (and more) glorious up to (the end of) it; he becomes possessed of a (new) body, he becomes the year, and in the shape of the year he joins the gods.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
The difference between the Abhiplava-ṣaḍaha and the Pṛṣṭhya-ṣaḍaha was thus explained in part iii, introd., p. xxi, note 2:--'In both kinds of ṣaḍaha, the Pṛṣṭha-stotras (at the Mādhyandina-savana) are performed in the ordinary way--viz. either in the Agniṣṭoma or the Ukthya way (see ib., p. xvi, note 2, as the correct reference is);--but whilst, in the Abhiplava-ṣaḍaha, the Rathantara and Bṛhat-sāmans are used for the Hotṛ's Pṛṣṭha-stotra on alternate days, the Pṛṣṭhya-ṣaḍaha requires a different Pṛṣṭha-sāman on each of the six days. The two kinds of ṣaḍahas also differ entirely in regard to the sequence of Stomas prescribed for the performance of the Stotras.' It is this difference in the 'sequence of Stomas' which is referred to in our passage. On the six days of the Abhiplava-ṣaḍaha, the sequence of Stomas (the first four of which, viz. Trivṛt, Pañcadaśa, Saptadaśa, and Ekaviṃśa, are only used) varies from day to day in this way: 1. Jyotiṣṭoma; 2. Goṣṭoma; 3. Āyuṣṭoma; 4. Goṣṭoma; 5. Āyuṣṭoma; 6. Jyotiṣṭoma (for the difference between these, see part iv, p. 287, note 2). It will thus be seen that the Abhiplava has the 'jyotih (stoma)' on both sides, on the first and the last days. For the Hotṛ's Pṛṣṭha-stotra on these successive days the Rathantara-sāman and Bṛhat-sāman are used; and, as the Goṣṭoma and Āyuṣṭoma are Ukthya-days, the usual practice which requires the Bṛhat-sāman for such days, is not followed; just as the final Jyotiṣṭoma in this case requires the Bṛhat-sāman.--As regards the Pṛṣṭhya-ṣaḍaha, each successive day requires for its stotras a single Stoma, in the ascending order: Trivṛt, Pañcadaśa, Saptadaśa, Ekaviṃśa, Triṇava, Trayastriṃśa;--a different Pṛṣṭha-sāman being used for the Hotṛ's Pṛṣṭha-stotra p. 149 on each of the six days. Here only the first day has the same Stoma at the beginning, as the Jyotiṣṭoma,--whence it has 'jyotis' on one side only.
[2]:
This 'pṛṣṭhyapratiṣṭhite' looks rather strange,--perhaps the correct reading is 'pṛṣṭhapratiṣṭhite,' 'established on the pṛṣṭha-sāmans'; unless, indeed, 'pratiṣṭhita' has to be understood here to refer to the Abhiplava, as the established, or ordinary, Ṣaḍaha, which doubtless would make the best sense,--'those two wheels of the gods, the Pṛṣṭhya and the established (Abhiplava-) ṣaḍaha.'
[3]:
Or, as we would rather say, whilst revolving, crush the Sacrificer's evil.
[4]:
? Or, possibly, two kinds of threads, those of the warp and the woof (or weft), which are combined into one web. The St. Petersb. p. 150 Dict., on the other hand, takes 'tantra' here in the sense of 'model form, type,'--and, indeed, the one meaning constantly passes into the other. The MS. of the comm. is too corrupt to be of much use.
[5]:
This is a doubtful rendering of 'ekoti.' Though, doubtless, the juxtaposition of 'ekoti' and 'samānam ūtim' cannot be accidental, the word 'ūti' may probably have a different derivation and meaning in the two occurrences. Cf. Kern, Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, introd., p. xvii; Journ. of the Pāli Text Society, 1885, pp. 32-38.
[6]:
During five complete months of the first half, and four complete months of the second half, of the year four Abhiplava-ṣaḍahas and one Pṛṣṭhya-ṣaḍaha are performed. Now, the six clays of the Abhiplava-ṣaḍaha consist of 1. Agniṣṭoma; 2-5. Ukthyas; 6. Agniṣṭoma; and those of the Pṛṣṭhya-ṣaḍaha of 1. Agniṣṭoma; 2. 3. Ukthya; 4. Ṣoḍaśin; 5.6. Ukthya. For the four Abhiplavas and the one Pṛṣṭhya of each month this, accordingly, gives nine Agniṣṭomas, twenty Ukthyas, and one Ṣoḍaśin (counted, however, as an Ukthya in paragraphs 6 and 7).
[7]:
The reason why the Sun is so often referred to as the twenty-first or twenty-one-fold, is not easy to discover. Possibly it may be from the fact that the Vishuvat day, or central day of the great session and the longest day of the year, is identified with the Sun, p. 151 and that this day is flanked on both sides by ten special days which together with the central day, form a special group of twenty-one days. But, on the other hand, it may be exactly the other way, viz. that this central group was made one of twenty-one nays because of the already recognised epithet of Āditya as the 'ekaviṃśa.' Cf. A. Hillebrandt, Die Sonnwendfeste in Alt-Indien, p. 6 seq.
[8]:
Here the twenty-one Ukthyas are symbolically identified with the twenty-one-versed hymn-form; and the nine Agniṣṭomas (of paragraph 5) with the Bṛhatī metre which consists of four pādas of nine syllables each.
[9]:
This number is evidently arrived at by counting the twenty Ukthyas as Agniṣṭomas (hence 9 + 20), and adding thereto five more Agniṣṭomas obtained by the calculation referred to in paragraph 12 (see note thereon), according to which the characteristic Stotras and Sastras of the Ukthya make one additional Agniṣṭoma in every four Ukthyas. The Ṣoḍaśin, thus, is not taken into account in this calculation.
[10]:
Besides the Rathantara and Bṛhat, used on alternate days for the Hotṛ's Pṛṣṭha-stotra at the Abhiplava, the Vāmadevya and Kāleya-sāmans, used on each day for the Maitrāvaruṇa's and Acchāvāka's Pṛṣṭha-stotras, seem to be counted here as making up the four Pṛṣṭha-sāmans of the Abhiplava-ṣaḍaha. For the four Stomas, see p. 148, note.
[11]:
See ib., and part iii, introd., p. xxi.
[12]:
The 'iva' would seem here (as, indeed, pretty frequently) to have the meaning of 'eva,' 'indeed,' thus--coming considerably after (the gods). Cf. Ait.-Brāhm. IV, 17, 5, where the Aṅgiras are said to have reached heaven sixty years after the Ādityas.
[13]:
This etymology is of course not meant to be taken seriously, the word 'pṛṣṭhya' being derived from 'pṛṣṭha,' 'back' (XII, 1, 4, 1).
[14]:
See p. 148, note; part iv, p. 287, note 2.
[15]:
These two principal Pṛṣṭha-sāmans are used on alternate days of the Abhiplava-ṣaḍaha for the first (or Hotṛ's) Pṛṣṭha-stotra at the midday-service.
[16]:
Viz. with the four Stomas used at the ordinary Agniṣṭoma-sacrifice.
[17]:
Whilst the Agniṣṭoma includes twelve Stotras and twelve Śastras, the Ukthya-sacrifice has three additional (Uktha-) Stotras and Sastras, which in the four Ukthya days of the Abhiplava-ṣaḍaha make up another twelve chants and twelve recitations.
[18]:
That is, either a descendant of Kuśāmba; or, as Harisvāmin takes it, a native of the city Kauśāmbī; cf. Weber, Ind. Stud. I, p. 193.--Prakṛṣṭabhūpati-kośāmbīnivāsi-kusurabindasyāpatyam; MS. comm.
[19]:
Harisvāmin applies to the father the epithet 'mahāyājñika,' or performer of the great sacrifices.
[20]:
In the scheme of the Gavām ayanam, given above (p. 139, note 1), there is one day in excess of the year, viz. either the central Vishuvat day (XII, 2, 3, 6) or the final Atirātra; but by making this latter day identical with the opening Atirātra, Uddālaka would seem to bring the whole within the compass of one year of six seasons. In the next paragraph, on the other hand, the same result is obtained by the identification of the second and the last but one days of the session. Another, and perhaps more probable, explanation of Uddālaka's calculation would, however, be this. In the scheme of the sacrificial session there occur, as not included in the different sacrificial groups or periods (the ṣaḍahas, svarasāmans, &c.), seven special days--the opening and final Atirātras, the Caturviṃśa and Mahāvrata days, and the Abhijit, Vishuvat, and Viśvajit days. These seven days he here successively reduces to six and five days. The further reduction of this number by the identification of the Pṛṣṭhya and Abhiplava, as well as of the Svarasāman days, requires no explanation. Cf., however, the Addenda.
[21]:
For the 'pāṅkta' nature of the sacrifice, see III, 1, 4, 19. 20; XIII, 2, 5, 1, for the five kinds of sacrificial animals, VI, 1, 2, 32 seqq.
[22]:
Prof. Oldenberg (Zeitschr. d. Deutschen Morg. Ges., vol. 50, p. 460) takes 'upaniṣad' in the sense of 'worship'--'this is the worship to be offered to the year.' Perhaps 'meditation' might be the more appropriate rendering:--'this is the form in which the year should be meditated upon.' Cf. X, 4, 5, 1; 5, I, 1.