The role of the Seers and Man in General for obtaining the Sacrifice

It is already discussed that the sacrifice or the sacrificial rites either obtained from Prajāpati or ‘Seen’ or ‘Created’. But these sacrificial rites are not easily obtained by men. Gods first tried to hide the sacrifice, as by means of sacrifice Gods conquered the heaven. So, the Gods want to make the sacrifice unattainable by men. Then the Gods drained the sacrifice and affected the traces of it with the sacrificial post. The seers heard this and went on praising and toiling. For by praising and toiling the Gods had attained whatever they want to attained and the seers did the same manner. The seers came to the place where Gods had sacrificed. There they found the sacrificial cake which had become a tortoise and creeping about. Then the seers thought that “this must be sacrifice”. They said, “Stand still for Aśvins! Stand still for Indra!” but it did not stand still, it crept on. Then the seers again said, “Still for Agni”. It then stood still. The seers having enveloped it in the fire offered it completely. Then the sacrifice shone forth to them. They produced it and spread it. The sacrifice was taught by the former to the later. The father teaches it to the son when he is a student (brahmacārin). In this way the sacrifice is taught by the former to the later and remained continued. The Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa also records this statement^[1]. Similarly, the another passage of the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa also gives the record of the continuity of the tradition of sacrifice in the Brahmanical period-“Even as people hand on from the one to the other a full vessel in the same way the priests hand down the sacrifice from the one to the other. They hand it down by means of speech. They keep the tradition by means of it”^[2].