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The Satapatha Brahmana: Eleventh Kânda, Seventh Adhyâya
First Brâhmana
The animal sacrifice.1
1. He performs the animal sacrifice. Now the animal sacrifice means cattle: thus, when he performs the animal sacrifice (pasubandha, the binding of the animal), it is in order that he may be possessed of cattle. Let him perform it at his home, thinking, 'I will bind (attach) cattle to my home.' Let him perform it in the season of abundant fodder, thinking, 'I will bind to myself cattle in a season of abundant fodder.' For, whilst he is offering2, the Sacrificer's fires become worn out, and so does the Sacrificer, along with the worn-out fires, and along with the Sacrificer his house and cattle.
2. And when he performs the animal sacrifice, he renews his fires, and so, along with the renewal of his fires, does the Sacrificer (renew himself), and along with the Sacrificer his house and cattle. And beneficial to life, indeed, is that redemption of his own self3; for whilst he is offering the Sacrificer's fires long for flesh; they set their minds on the Sacrificer and harbour designs on him. In other fires4 people do indeed cook any kind of meat, but these (sacrificial fires) have no desire for any other flesh but this (sacrificial animal), and for him to whom they belong.
3. Now, when he performs the animal offering. he thereby redeems himself--male by male, for the victim is a male, and the Sacrificer is a male. And this, indeed, to wit, flesh, is the best kind of food: he thus becomes an eater of the best kind of food. Let not a year pass by for him without his offering; for the year means life: it is thus immortal life he thereby confers upon himself.
Second Brâhmana
1. Now there is one animal sacrifice of the Haviryagña order5, and another of the order of the Soma-sacrifice. Of the Haviryagña order is that at which he (the Adhvaryu) brings him fast-food6, leads water forward7, and pours out a jarful of water8, and at which (the Sacrificer) strides the Vishnu-strides9; and of the order of the Soma-sacrifice is that (animal sacrifice) at which these (rites) are not performed.
2. Concerning this they ask, 'Is the animal sacrifice an ishti or a great (Soma-) sacrifice?'--'A great sacrifice,' let him say; 'for in that (other) case10 thou hast made the animal sacrifice an ishti, and shattered it.' Thus he should say to him.
3. Its fore-offerings are the morning-service11, its after-offerings the evening-service, and its sacrificial cake12 the midday-service.
4. Now, some bring up the Dakshinâs (presents to the priests) when the omentum has been offered13; but let him not do so, for if, in that case, any one were to say of him, 'Surely, this (Sacrificer) has brought the Dakshinâs outside of the vital airs (or, of life), he has not strengthened his vital airs: he will become either blind, or lame, or deaf, or paralyzed on one side;' then that would indeed he likely to come to pass.
5. Let him perform it in this way:--when the Idâ of the cake-offering has been invoked, he should bring up the Dakshinâs; for to Indra belongs this vital air in the centre (of the body): by means of the Dakshinâs he thus strengthens this vital air in the centre (of the body); and to Indra also belongs the midday Soma-service, and at the midday-service the Dakshinâs are brought up: therefore. he should bring up the Dakshinâs after the invocation of the Idâ of the cake-offering.
6. Here now they say, 'Seeing that the want of the purificatory bath in the case of the initiated is improper, Adhvaryu, when didst thou initiate him?' Well, let them14 sustain him till the purificatory bath,--to wit, the Adhvaryu, the Pratiprasthâtri, the Hotri, the Maitrâvaruna, the Brahman, and the Âgnîdhra, for it is through these that this (formula) is called 'shaddhotri15': having rapidly muttered that 'shaddhotri,' he offers, performing either one or five oblations of ghee16,--'The heaven is his17 back, the air his body, O Vâkaspati, by his limbs he gave rise to the sacrifice, by his forms to the earth; by his flawless voice and his flawless tongue to the god-gladdening invocation, Hail!' This, indeed, is his initiation.
7. As to this they say, 'Seeing that the want of the purificatory bath in the case of the initiated is improper, Adhvaryu, when didst thou take him down to the purificatory bath?' Well, when they perform with the heart-spit18, that is his purificatory bath.
8. Madhuka Paiṅgya once said, 'Some perform the animal sacrifice without Soma, and others do so with Soma. Now, Soma was in the heavens, and Gâyatrî, having become a bird, fetched him; and inasmuch as one of his leaves (parna) was cut off19, that was how the Parna-tree arose:' such, indeed, is (the passage in) the Brâhmana that is told. And some, it is true, perform the animal sacrifice without Soma, and others with Soma; for he who makes the sacrificial stake other than of Palâsa wood, performs the animal sacrifice without Soma; and he who makes the sacrificial stake of Palâsa performs the animal sacrifice with Soma: therefore let him make his sacrificial stake of Palâsa wood.
Third Brâhmana
1. Such a (sacrificial stake) as has much substance20 is not auspicious to cattle, whence he who desires to have cattle should not make such a one his sacrificial stake: but such a one as is of little hardness is auspicious to cattle, whence he who desires to have cattle should make such a one his sacrificial stake.
2. And such a one as, while being crooked, has a top like a spit, is called 'kapotî21'; and whoever makes such a one his sacrificial stake certainly goes to yonder world before his full measure of life: therefore let no one wishing for long life make such a one his sacrificial stake.
3. And such a one as is bent at the top, and bent outwards22 in the middle, is a type of hunger (poverty); and if any one makes such a one his sacrificial stake, his dependants will certainly be hungry; therefore let no one wishing for food make such a one his sacrificial stake. But such a one as is bent at the top and bent inwards in the middle, is a type of food (prosperity): therefore let him who wishes for food make such a one his sacrificial stake.
Fourth Brâhmana
1. Now, when he who is about to perform an animal sacrifice makes a stake one cubit long, he thereby gains this (terrestrial) world; and when (he makes) one two cubits long, he thereby gains the air-world; and when be makes one three cubits long, he thereby gains the heavens; and when he makes one four cubits long, he thereby gains the regions. But, indeed, that sacrificial stake of the (ordinary) animal sacrifice is either three or four cubits long, and one that is above that belongs to the Soma-sacrifice.
2. As to this they say, 'Should he offer the butter-portions or not?'--'Let him offer them,' they say; 'for the two butter-portions are the eyes of the sacrifice, and what were man without eyes?' For as long as a co-sharer is not bought off by (receiving) a share of his own, so long does he consider himself not bought off; but when he is bought off by a share of his own, then, indeed, he considers himself bought off: when the Hotri, on that occasion23, recites, 'Endow the Rakshas with blood!' he buys him off by (assigning to him) a share of his own.
3. For on that occasion24 the anguish of the victim, in being slaughtered, becomes concentrated in the heart, and from the heart (it flows) into the spit. Thus, if they (were to) cook the animal together with the heart, the anguish would again spread all over the animal: let him therefore cook it (the heart) after spitting it from the side on a stick.
4. He makes an underlayer of ghee (in the offering-ladle): this he makes a type of the earth; he then puts a chip of gold thereon: this he makes a type of fire; he then puts the omentum thereon: this he makes a type of the air; he then puts a chip of gold thereon: this he makes a type of the sun; and what (ghee) he pours upon it, that he makes a type of the heavens. This, then, is that five-portioned omentum,--fivefold is the sacrifice, fivefold the sacrificial animal, and five seasons there are in the year: this is why the omentum consists of five portions25.
Footnotes
1. Whilst a full account is given in the third Kânda (part ii, p. 162 seqq.) of the animal sacrifice performed on the day before the Soma-sacrifice, the Brâhmana, in the last two adhyâyas of the present Kânda, touches on certain features in which the performance of the animal sacrifice of the pressing-day differs from that of the preceding day.
2. Viz. the Agnihotra every morning and evening.
3. That is, the ransoming of one's own life from the sacrificial fires, by offering an animal victim to them in lieu of his own self.
4. That is, in ordinary, culinary fires.
5. That is, the offering of the Agnîshomîya he-goat which takes place on the day before the press-day (see part ii, p. 162 seqq.); whilst the Savanîya-pasubandha is performed on the day of the Soma-sacrifice itself; the victim being slaughtered during the morning-service, and the flesh-portions cooked during the day and offered at the evening-service (cf. part ii, p. 313, note 3; p. 356, note 3).
6. That is, milk from the Vratadughâ cow (which may be mixed with some rice or barley; III, 2, 2, 14), the only food to be taken by the Sacrificer during his dîkshâ, or period of initiation--in this case on the day before the Soma-sacrifice.
7. That is, the so-called 'pranîtâh' used for sacrificial purposes generally, and especially for supplying what is required for pressing the Soma. Cf. the comm. on Kâty. VI, 7, 19, where the 'pranîtâpranayana' is expressly referred to as a necessary element of the performance of the Agnîshomîya.
8. For the pouring out of the water on the south side of the Vedi, at the end of the Haviryagña, see I, 9, 3, 1 seqq.
9. The Sacrificer intercepts with his hands some of the water poured out, touches his face therewith, and then strides the three Vishnu-strides; cf. I, 9, 3, 8 seqq.
10. Viz. in case of the animal sacrifice being performed on the Haviryagña or Ishti model; which, strictly speaking, would involve the use of no other offering-material except milk, ghee, and dishes made of cereals.
11. The usual order of subject and predicate would require the translation, 'the morning-service is its fore-offerings,' which would hardly be in accordance with the author's reasoning.
12. For the pasu-purodâsa, III, 8, 3, 1 seqq.
13. That is, prior to the offering of the 'animal cake' (pasu-purodâsa), whilst the presentation of the dakshinâs--a head of cattle, or a milch-cow, or some other desirable object--according to Kâty. VI, 7, 29, should take place after the offering of the Idâ, which marks the end of the Pasu-purodâsa-ishti.
14. Sâyana supplies 'ganâh,' 'the people;' but possibly the text of the commentary may be corrupt in this place. The author's meaning would seem to be that, as there is no purificatory bath at the end of the animal sacrifice performed on the Soma-day, the Sacrificer's strength is to be kept up by the Shaddhotri formula (representing the six priests themselves) which will carry him as far as the purificatory bath at the end of the Soma-sacrifice. I am, however, far from sure that this is the real meaning of the passage. The Shaddhotri is performed (at the animal sacrifice of the pressing-day) shortly after the beginning of the ceremonies connected with the Pasubandha, viz. immediately after the 'yûpâhuti,' see part ii, p. 162 seqq.
15. That is, one containing (mentioning), or requiring, six offering-priests, the number required for the animal sacrifice.
16. In either case the offering consists of five ladlings of ghee; and in the case of a single oblation, according to Sâyana, a different dipping-spoon (sruva) would seem to be used for each ladling; unless, indeed, 'ekaikena sruvena' mean 'with one sruva-full each.' According to Kâty. VI, 1, 36, the formula is merely 'run through mentally.'
17. Sâyana interprets 'thy back'; and he apparently supplies 'prâpnoti' at the end of the first half-verse, whilst 'airayat' he takes to stand for the second person singular.
18. That is, when the heart is roasted on the spit prior to its being offered; see III, 8, 3, 16. This use of the spit is to take the place of the purificatory bath, the technical term of which is 'spit-bath' (sûlâvabhritha), the spit being on that occasion buried at the point where the dry and the moist meet,' see III, 8, 5, 8-10.
19. Either a leaf of Soma or a feather of Gâyatrî was cut off by an arrow shot by an archer pursuing Gâyatrî, and, on its falling to the earth, a Palâsa, or Parna, tree (Butea frondosa) sprang forth, see III, 3, 4, 10.
20. That is, as would seem, made of very hard wood. It cannot mean 'pithy,' because at XIII, 4, 4, 9, the Khadira (acacia catechu), a tree of very hard, solid wood, is mentioned as 'bahusâra.'
21. Either 'that which has a pigeon (sitting) on it' (kapotin, viz. yûpa), or, as Sâyana takes it, fem. of 'kapota,'--a female pigeon; i.e. a tree too much pointed at the top.
22. That is, as would seem, bent to the opposite side from that towards which the top tends.
23. Viz. at the time when the victim is cut up. Cf. Ait. Br. II, 7,--'Endow ye the Rakshas with blood!' he says; for by (assigning to them) the husks and the sweepings of the grain the gods deprived the Rakshas of their share in the Haviryagña, and by the blood (they deprived them) of that in the great (Soma-) sacrifice: thus by saying, 'Endow ye the Rakshas with blood!' he dispossesses the Rakshas of the sacrifice by assigning to them their own share.--The Adhvaryu then smears a stalk of grass with the blood with, 'Thou art the Rakshas’ share,' throws it on the heap of rubbish, and treads on it with, 'Herewith I tread down the Rakshas,' &c. Cf. III, 8, 2, 13-15.
24. See III, 8, 5, 8.
25. Or, cuttings; see III, 8, 2, 26.
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