Satapatha-brahmana
by Julius Eggeling | 1882 | 730,838 words | ISBN-13: 9788120801134
This is Satapatha Brahmana XIII.5.1 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 1st brahmana of kanda XIII, adhyaya 5.
Kanda XIII, adhyaya 5, brahmana 1
[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]
THE STOTRAS AND ŚASTRAS OF THE SOMA-DAYS.
1. Then, on the morrow, there is (used) Gotama's Stoma (form of chanting) successively increasing by four (verses)[1]: the Bahiṣpavamāna thereof is on four, the Ājya (stotras) on eight, the Mādhyandina Pavamāna on twelve, the Pṛṣṭha (stotras) on sixteen, the Ārbhava Pavamāna on twenty, and the Agniṣṭoma-sāman on twenty-four (verses).
2. Now, some make its Agniṣṭoma-sāman a Sāman of four (verses), saying, 'It is neither an Agniṣṭoma, nor an Ukthya[2].' If they do so, let hire (the Hotṛ), after reciting the Stotriya[3] (strophe) together, recite the Anurūpa (strophe) together: the Rathantara Pṛṣṭha-sāman[4], the Śastra containing the Rathantara (text), and the Agniṣṭoma sacrifice--thereby he makes sure of this world.
3. 'There are twenty-one Savanīya[5] victims, all of them sacred to Agni: for these there is one and the same performance,' so say some; but, indeed, he should immolate two sets of eleven (victims), with the view of his obtainment of whatever desired object there may be in (victims) belonging to a set of eleven.
4. When the Agniṣṭoma is completed, and the Vasatīvarī water carried round, the Adhvaryu performs the Annahomas[6] (oblations of food): the import of these has been explained. With twelve
Anuvākas (Vāj. S. XXII, 23-34), 'To the in-breathing hail! To the off-breathing hail!' (he offers)--twelve months are a year, and the year is everything, and the Aśvamedha is everything: thus it is for his obtaining and securing everything.
5. The central day is an ekaviṃśa day[7]; for the twenty-one-fold is yonder sun, and he is the Aśvamedha: by means of his own Stoma he thus establishes him in his own deity,--therefore it is an ekaviṃśa day.
6. And, again, as to why it is an ekaviṃśa day;--man is twenty-one-fold--ten fingers, ten toes, and the body (self) as the twenty-first: by means of that twenty-one-fold self he thus establishes him in the twenty-one-fold (day) as on a firm foundation,--therefore it is an ekaviṃśa day.
7. And, again, as to why it is an ekaviṃśa day;--the ekaviṃśa, assuredly, is the foundation of Stomas, and manifold is that ever-varying performance which takes place on this day,--and it is because he thinks that that manifold and ever-varying performance which takes place on this day, shall take place so as to be established on the ekaviṃśa as a firm foundation, that this is an ekaviṃśa day.
8. Now, as to the morning-service of this day. The Hotṛ, having recited as the Ājya (hymn[8]) in the Paṅkti (metre) 'Agni I think on, who is good . . .,' recites thereto the one of a one-day's
Soma-sacrifice[9]. And the Bārhata Praüga and the Mādhuchandasa one he recites both together[10] in triplets--(this being done) for the obtainment of the objects of desire which (may be contained) both in the Bārhata and the Mādhuchandasa Praüga. The morning-service is (thus) set right.
9. Then as to the midday-service. For the obtainment of the Aśvamedha, the atichandas (verse, II, 22, 1), 'In the three troughs the buffalo drank the barley-draught,' is the opening verse of the Marutvatīya (śastra); for outstanding, indeed, is this atichandas (hypercatalectic verse) amongst metres, and outstanding is the Aśvamedha amongst sacrifices. This (verse), being recited thrice, amounts to a triplet, and thereby he obtains the object of desire which (may be contained) in the triplet. 'Here, O good one, is the pressed plant' (Ṛg-veda VIII, 2, 1-3) is the 'anucara' (sequent triplet): this same (triplet) is the constant connecting link of the one-day's sacrifice[11]. Having recited both the paṅkti (verses, I, 80, 1-16) 'Here in the Soma-draught alone (the Brahman gave thee strength),' and the six-footed ones (VIII, 36, 1-7) 'The patron thou art of the offerer of Soma,' he inserts the Nivid in the (hymn) of the one-day's sacrifice. Thus as to the Marutvatīya (-śastra).
10. Then as to the Nishkevalya (-śastra[12]). The Mahānāmnī (verses) are the Pṛṣṭha (-stotra); and he recites them along with the anurūpa (verses) and pragātha (-strophes), for the obtainment of all the objects of his desire, for in the Mahānāmnīs, as well as in the Aśvamedha, are contained all objects of desire. Having recited the paṅkti verses (I, 81, 1-9) 'Indra hath grown in ebriety and strength,' and the six-footed ones (VIII, 37, 1-7) 'This sacred work didst thou protect in fights with Vṛtra,' he inserts the Nivid in the (hymn) of the one-day's sacrifice[13]. The midday-service is (thus) set right.
11. Then as to the evening-service. The atīchandas verse (Vāj. S. IV, 25), 'Unto that god Savitṛ within the two bowls (do I sing praises[14]),' is the opening verse[15] of the Vaiśvadeva(-śastra[16]): the mystic import thereof is the same as of the former (atichandas verse). The Anucara[17] (Ṛg-veda I, 24, 3-5), 'Unto (abhi) thee, (the lord of treasures), O god Savitṛ, (ever helpful we come for our share . . .),' contains (the word) 'abhi,' as a form (sign) of victory (abhibhūti). Having recited the Sāvitra (triplet, VI, 71, 4-6), 'Up rose this god Savitṛ, the friend of the house . . .,' he inserts the Nivid in the (hymn) of the one-day's sacrifice[18]. Having recited the four verses to Heaven and Earth (IV, 56, 1-4), 'The mighty Heaven and Earth, the most glorious, here . . .,' he inserts the Nivid in the (hymn I, 159) of the one-day's sacrifice. Having recited the Ārbhava (hymn, IV, 34), 'Ṛbhu, Vibhvan, Indra, Vāja, come ye to this our sacrifice . . .,' he inserts the Nivid in the (hymn, I, 111) of the one-day's sacrifice. Having recited the (hymn, V, 41) to the All-gods, 'Who is there righteous unto you, Mitra and Varuṇa? . . .,' he inserts the Nivid in the (hymn, I, 89) of the one-day's sacrifice. Thus as to the Vaiśvadeva (-śastra).
12. Then as to the Āgnimāruta[19]. Having recited the (hymn, VI, 7) to (Agni) Vaiśvānara, 'The head of the sky, and the disposer of the earth . . .,' he inserts the Nivid in the (hymn, III, 3) of the one-day's sacrifice. Having recited the (hymn, V, 57) to the Maruts, 'Hither, O Rudras, come ye united with Indra . . .,' he inserts the Nivid in the (hymn, I, 87) of the one-day's sacrifice. Having recited the nine verses (VI, 15, 1-9) to Jātavedas, 'This guest of yours, the early-waking . . .,' he inserts the Nivid in the (hymn, I, 143) of the one-day's sacrifice. And as to why the (hymns) of the one-day's sacrifice are used for inserting the Nivid, it is for the sake of his (the Sacrificer's) not being deprived of a firm foundation, for the Jyotiṣṭoma is a foundation.
13. For this (day) there are those sacrificial animals--'A horse, a hornless he-goat, and a Gomṛga[20],' fifteen 'paryaṅgyas': the mystic import of these has been explained. Then these wild ones--for spring he seizes (three) kapiñjalas[21], for summer sparrows, for the rainy season partridges: of these (wild animals) also (the mystic import) has been told[22].
14. Then those (victims) for the twenty-one (stakes). He seizes twenty-one animals for each of the (eleven) deities of the Seasonal offerings[23]; for as many as there are gods of the Seasonal offerings so many are all the gods; and all objects of desire are in the Aśvamedha: 'by gratifying all the deities I shall gain all my desires,' so he thinks. But let him not proceed in this way.
15. Let him seize seventeen victims for the central stake[24], in order that he may gain and secure every-thing, for the seventeenfold is Prajāpati, and the seventeenfold (stoma) is everything, and the Aśvamedha is everything;--and sixteen at each of the other (stakes) in order that he may gain and secure everything, for everything here consists of sixteen parts, and the Aśvamedha is everything. Thirteen wild (beasts) he seizes for each intermediate space, in order that he may gain and secure everything, for the year consists of thirteen months, and the Aśvamedha is everything.
16. Now, prior to the (chanting of the) Bahiṣpavamāna, they (the assistants of the Adhvaryu) bring up the horse, after cleansing it; and with it they glide along for the Pavamāna: the mystic import of this has been explained[25]. When the Bahiṣpavamāna has been chanted, they make the horse step on the place of chanting: if it sniffs, or turns away, let him know that his sacrifice is successful. Having led up that (horse), the Adhvaryu says, 'Hotṛ, sing praises!' and the Hotṛ sings its praises[26] with eleven (verses, Ṛg-veda I, 163, 1-11)--
17. 'When, first born, thou didst neigh . . .'--thrice (he praises) with the first, and thrice with the last (verse), these amount to fifteen,--fifteenfold is the thunderbolt, and the thunderbolt means vigour: with that thunderbolt, vigour, the Sacrificer thus from the very first repels evil: thus[27], indeed, it is to the Sacrificer that the thunderbolt is given in order to smite for him whoever is to be smitten.--[Ṛg-veda I, 163, 12. 13], The swift racer hath gone forward to the slaying. . . .'--'The racer hath gone forward to the highest place. . .'--
18. Having omitted these two (verses), he inserts the hymn (I, 162), 'Never (shall forget us) Mitra, Varuṇa, Aryaman, Āyu . . .,' in the Adhrigu[28] (litany). Some, however, insert this verse (I, 162, 18), 'Thirty-four (ribs) of the steed, akin to the gods, (doth the knife hit) . . .,' before the (passage,--'twenty-six are its) ribs,' thinking lest they should place the holy syllable 'om' in the wrong place[29], or lest they should suggest the plural by a singular[30]. Let him not proceed thus, but let him insert the hymn as a whole.--'The swift racer hath gone forward to the slaying . . .'--'The racer hath gone forward to the highest place . . .'--
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Regarding the Catuṣṭoma, see p. 329, note 1.
[2]:
According to the practice here referred to, the Agniṣṭomasāman would not consist merely of the one triplet (usually Sāmav. II, 53-4 i.e. the so-called yajñāyajñīya triplet) ordinarily used for it, but of four different Sāmans, inasmuch as three of the triplets which may be used for the Uktha-stotras (of the Ukthya and other sacrifices) are added to that yajñāyajñīya triplet. In that case, however, the latter is not chanted to its own 'yajñāyajñīya' tune, but the Vāravantīya tune is used for all the four triplets. This practice is somewhat vaguely referred to in Tāṇḍya-Br. XIX, 5, 10-11. 'One Sāman (tune), many metres (texts): therefore one (man) feeds many creatures. Verily, the Agniṣṭoma (sāman) is the self, and the metres (hymn-texts) are cattle: he thus secures cattle for his own self. It is neither an Ukthya nor an Agniṣṭoma (sacrifice), for cattle are neither (entirely) domestic nor wild (viz. because though kept "in the village," they also freely graze "in the forest").' Here the passage 'One Sāman, many metres,' according to the commentary, refers to the Vāravantīya tune as being employed, on this occasion, for the texts of the Yajñāyajñīya, the Sākamaśva (II, 55-57, here the Calc. ed., by mistake, calls the second tune figured for chanting, like the first, Sākamaśva, instead of Vāravantīya), the Saubhara (II, 230-2, where the Calc. ed., by mistake, omits the name Vāravantīya), and the Tairaśca (II, 233-5; curiously enough, the Tairaśca is not mentioned, in Lāṭy. Sr. VIII, 9-10, amongst the Sāmans that may be used for the third--or the Acchāvāka's--Uktha, but Sāyaṇa, on Sāmav. II, 233, states distinctly, 'tairaścaṃ tṛtīyam uktham'). Whilst, as Uktha-stotras, the last three texts would usually he chanted in the ekaviṃśa, or twenty-one-versed form, in the present instance, as part of the catuṣṭoma, they would be chanted (along with the Yajñāyajñīya) in the twenty-four-versed form. Thus, though an Agniṣṭoma sacrifice, inasmuch as it has twelve stotras, yet it is not a regular one; neither is it an Ukthya, because the Ukthas are not chanted as so many Stotras, followed by the recitation of separate Sastras. In the Āśv. Śr. X, 6, different alternatives are proposed for the chanting of the Agniṣṭoma-sāman p. 377 in the 'Gotamastoma (i.e. Catuṣṭoma) antarukthya' and the corresponding Sastra, including apparently the employment of the Yajñāyajñīya-sāman either for all the four triplets, or for the Yajñāyajñīya triplet alone with the respective Sāmans used for the other triplets; different modes of recitation being thereby implied with regard to the Stotriya and Anurūpa pragāthas.
[3]:
For the Āgnimāruta-śastra, recited by the Hotṛ after the chanting of the Agniṣṭoma-sāman, and containing, amongst various hymns and detached verses, the triplet which forms the text of the Stotra, i.e. the 'Stotriya pragātha,' as well as a corresponding antistrophe, the 'Anurūpa pragātha,' see part ii, p. 369 note. On the present occasion, however, this constituent element of the Sastra would have to include the triplets of all the four Sāmans, as well as four 'antistrophes' which are thus 'recited together.'
[4]:
Or, Pṛṣṭha-stotra, viz. the first stotra of that name at the midday-service, for which that Sāman is used in the Agniṣṭoma sacrifice (part ii, p. 339, note 2).
[5]:
That is, victims sacrificed on the Sutyās, or Soma-days. Two complete sets of eleven such victims are, however, required on each of the three days, see p. 309, note 2.
[6]:
See XIII, 2, 1, 1 seqq., and p. 297, note 1.
[7]:
That is one on which all Stotras are chanted in the 'ekaviṃśa' Stoma, or twenty-one-versed hymn-form.
[8]:
Viz. Ṛg-veda V, 6, forming the special feature of the Ājyaśastra at the Aśvamedha.
[9]:
Viz. the Ājya-sūkta, Ṛg-veda III, 13, forming the chief part of the Hotṛ's Ājya-śastra, or first Śastra of the Agniṣṭoma, for which see part ii, p. 327 note.
[10]:
The Bārhata Praüga, or Praüga-śastra in the Bṛhatī metre,--being the one recited on the fifth day of the Pṛṣṭhya-ṣaḍaha (Āśv. Śr. VII, 12, 7), and consisting of the seven different triplets, addressed to as many different deities,--is to be recited also on this occasion; and along with it (or rather, intertwined with it, triplet by triplet) the ordinary Praüga-śastra of the Agniṣṭoma, made up of the two hymns Rig-veda I, 2 and 3 which are ascribed to Madhuchandas, and consist of nine and twelve verses, or together seven triplets. I do not understand why Harisvāmin mentions 'Vāyur agregāḥ' (? Vāj. S. XXVII, 31) as being the first triplet of the Mādhuchandasa Praüga, instead of I, 2, 1-3 'vāyav ā yāhi darśata.' The Praüga is the Hotṛ's second Śastra of the morning-service, being preceded by the chanting of the first Ājya-stotra; see part ii, p. 325.
[11]:
See part ii, p. 337, where the same triplet forms the anucara of this Sastra at the Agniṣṭoma. It is followed there by the Pragāthas VIII, 53, 5-6; I, 40, 5-6 (read thus! each two counting as one triplet); three Dhāyyā verses, and the Marutvatīya Pragāthas VIII, 89, 3-4 (!), These are to be followed up, on the present occasion, by the two hymns I, 80, and VIII, 36, after which the Indra hymn X, 73, the chief part of the normal Marutvatīya Sastra, is to be recited, with the Nivid formula inserted after the sixth verse.
[12]:
That is, the Śastra succeeding the chanting of the first, or Hotṛ's, Pṛṣṭha-stotra (see part ii, p. 339). Whilst, however, in the one-day's sacrifice, the Rathantara (or the Bṛhat) sāman is used for that stotra, the Mahānāmni verses (see part iii, introd. p. xx, note 2), with the Sākvara tune, are to be used as the Stotriyās on this occasion, and are therefore likewise to be recited by the Hotṛ as Stotriya-pragāthas (cf. Āśv. VII, 12, 10 seqq.), to be followed up by the antistrophe (anurūpa)--here consisting of the triplets I, 84, 10-12; VIII, 93, 31-3; I, 11, 1-3--and the Sāma-pragātha, VIII, 3, 1-2.
[13]:
Viz. after the eighth verse of the hymn Ṛg-veda I, 32, the chief part of the normal Nishkevalya-śastra.
[14]:
For the complete verse see III, 3, 2, 1 2.
[15]:
This verse is again recited thrice, and thus takes the place of the ordinary opening triplet.
[16]:
For this Śastra, recited after the Ārbhava-Pavamāna-stotra, see part ii, p. 361.
[17]:
Āśv. Śr. X, 10, 6 prescribes the ordinary anucara V, 82, 4-7; whence Sāyaṇa on I, 24, 3 (-5) offers no indication of the ritualistic use of that triplet on this occasion.
[18]:
Viz. IV, 54, before the last verse of which the Nivid is inserted.
[19]:
Viz. the final Sastra of the evening-service, preceded by the chanting of the Agniṣṭoma-sāman; see part ii, p. 369.
[20]:
See p. 298, note 4; p. 338, note 1.
[21]:
The 'Kapiñjala' is a kind of wildfowl, apparently of the quail or partridge species--a hazel-cock, or francoline partridge. Some of the later authorities, however, identify it with the 'cātaka' p. 383 ('cuculus melanoleucus'). With regard to some of the wild animals referred to in the corresponding section of the Vāj. S., the commentator Mahīdhara significantly remarks (Vāj. S. XXIV, 29; cf. Kāty. XX, 6, 6 scholl.) that the meaning of such names as are not understood must be made out with the help of quotations (nigama), Vedic vocabularies (nighaṇṭu) and their comments (nirukta), grammar (vyākaraṇa), the Unādivṛtti, and dictionaries.
[22]:
Viz. XIII, 2, 4, 1 seqq. It is not easy to see why the text should break off abruptly with the birds representing the rainy season. For autumn there are to be (three) quails, for winter 'kakara,' and for the dewy season 'vikakara.' Then follow, to the end of the 260 wild animals, a long series of divinities to each of which (or sometimes to allied deities) three animals are consigned. Thirteen of these wild animals are placed on each of the twenty spaces between the twenty-one stakes.
[23]:
Or, perhaps, for the (eleven) deities of the Seasonal offerings he seizes twenty-one animals for each (stake); which would certainly simplify the distribution of those animals. Regarding the victims actually consecrated to the deities of the Cāturmāsya offerings, see p. 309, note 2.
[24]:
This does not include the twelve 'paryaṅgyas' tied to the horse's limbs, but only the horse and two other victims sacred to Prajāpati, and twelve of a long series of beasts, of which three are dedicated to each successive deity (or allied group of deities). To these are afterwards added Agni's two victims belonging to the two sets of eleven victims (of the other twenty of which one is assigned to each of the other stakes).
[25]:
XIII, 2, 3, 1.
[26]:
The mode of recitation is similar to that of the kindling-verses (likewise eleven, brought up, by repetitions of the first and last, to fifteen), viz. by making a pause after each half-verse, but without adding the syllable 'om' thereto. Āśv. Śr. X, 8, 5.
[27]:
Harisvāmin explains 'tad vai' as standing for 'sa vai' (liṅgavyatyayena)--viz. that fifteenfold thunderbolt.
[28]:
On this recitation, consisting of a lengthy set of formulas, addressed to the slaughterers, see part ii, p, 188, note 2. The whole of the formulas are given Ait. Br. II, 6-7. The hymn, according to Āśv. X, 8, 7; is to be inserted either before the last formula of the litany, or somewhat further back--viz. before the formula 'ṣaḍviṃśatir asya vaṅkrayas,' 'twenty-six are its ribs'--whilst our Brāhmaṇa rather allows the alternative of the eighteenth verse of I, 162 being inserted at the latter place,--unless, indeed, the insertion in that case is to be made immediately before the word 'vaṅkrayaḥ' which is scarcely likely.
[29]:
Harisvāmin seems to take this to mean that as this verse is of the same nature as the formulas of the Adhrigu litany, he is to treat it as such, as otherwise, in reciting he would have to pronounce 'om' after that verse, which is not done after those formulas.
[30]:
Or, the plurality by the individual. Owing to the corrupt state of the MS., the commentator's explanation of this passage is not clear. He seems, however, at any rate, to take the 'plural' to refer to the formula 'ṣaḍviṃśatir asya vaṅkrayas,' where apparently 'eṣām' has to be substituted for 'asya' on this occasion, as many victims are immolated, and the ribs of a plurality of beasts are thus indicated, whilst in verse eighteen of the hymn, on the p. 386 contrary, only the ribs of one horse (thus forming a kind of unit) are referred to; and if that verse were recited, along with the whole hymn, before the final formula which refers to all the victims, the necessary connection would be interrupted.