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Satapatha Brahmana Part IV (SBE43), Julius Eggeling tr. [1897], at sacred-texts.com
10:4:1:11. When the gods restored the relaxed Pragâpati, they poured him, as seed, into the fire-pan (ukhâ) as the womb, for the fire-pan is a womb. In the course of a year they prepared for him this food, to wit, the fire-altar built here, and enclosed it in a body; and, being enclosed in a body, it became the body itself; whence food, when enclosed in a body, becomes the body itself.
10:4:1:22. In like manner does the Sacrificer now pour his own self (or body), as seed, into the fire-pan as the womb, for the fire-pan is a womb. In the course of a year he prepares for it (his self) this food, to wit, the fire-altar here built, and encloses it in a body, and, being enclosed in a body, it becomes the body itself; whence food, when enclosed in a body, becomes the body itself.
10:4:1:33. He places him (the Ukhya Agni, on the fire-altar) with 'Vaushat 2!' for 'vauk' is he (Agni),
and 'shat (six)' is this six-layered food: having prepared it, he offers it to him as proportionate to this body, for food which is proportionate to the body satisfies, and does not injure it; but when there is too much, it does injure it, and when there is too little, it does not satisfy it.
10:4:1:44. Now that Arka 1 (flame) is this very fire which they bring here; and the Kya 1 is this his food, to wit, the fire-altar built here: that (combined) makes the Arkya 2 in respect of the Yagus. And the Great one (mahân) is this (Agni), and this vrata 3 (rite) is his food: that makes the Mahâvrata (sâman) in respect of the Sâman. And 'uk' is this (Agni), and 'tha' his food,--that (combined) makes the Uktha (sastra, recitation) 4 in respect of the Rik. Thus, whilst being only one, this is accounted threefold.
10:4:1:55. Now Indra and Agni were created as the Brahman (priesthood) and the Kshatra (nobility): the Brahman was Agni and the Kshatra Indra. When created, the two were separate. They spake, 'Whilst being thus, we shall be unable to produce creatures (people): let us both become one form!' The two became one form.
10:4:1:66. Now those two, Indra and Agni, are the same as these two, to wit, the gold plate and the (gold) man 5: Indra is the gold plate, and Agni the man.
[paragraph continues] They are made of gold: gold means light, and Indra and Agni are the light; gold means immortal life, and Indra and Agni mean immortal life.
10:4:1:77. It is these two, Indra and Agni, that they build up. Whatever is of brick that is Agni: whence they bake that (part) by fire, and all that is baked by fire is Agni. And what filling of earth there is (in the altar) that. is Indra: whence they do not bake that (part) by fire, lest it should be Agni, and not Indra. Thus it is these two, Indra and Agni, that are built up.
10:4:1:88. And the two become that one form, to wit, the fire which is placed on the built (altar), and hence those two, by means of that form, produce creatures. Now Agni, indeed, is this single brick 1, and into this the whole Agni passes: this, indeed, is the perfection of bricks,--it is that one syllable (akshara) 'vauk,' it is this into which the whole Agni passes, and which is the perfection of syllables.
10:4:1:99. It is this that the Rishi saw when he said, 'I praise what hath been and what will be, the Great Brahman, the one Akshara,--the manifold Brahman, the one Akshara; for, indeed, all the gods, all beings pass into that Akshara (imperishable
element 1): it is both the Brahman and the Kshatra; and the Brahman is Agni, and the Kshatra Indra; and the Visve Devâh (all the gods) are Indra and Agni.' But the Visve Devâh (the All-gods) are also the peasantry: hence it is Priesthood, Nobility, and Peasantry.
10:4:1:1010. And, indeed, Syâparna Sâyakâyana, knowing this, once said, 'If this my sacrificial performance were complete, my own race would become the kings (nobles), Brâhmanas, and peasants of the Salvas; but even by that much of my work which has been completed 2 my race will surpass the Salvas in both ways;'--for this (Agni, the fire-altar), indeed, is (social) eminence and fame, and an eater of food 3.
10:4:1:1111. And regarding this, Sândilya, having instructed Vâmakakshâyana 1, said, 'Thou wilt become eminent, famous, and an eater of food (rich);' and, indeed, he who knows this becomes eminent, famous, and an eater of food.
10:4:1:1212. And this Agni is no other than Pragâpati.
[paragraph continues] The gods, having restored this Agni-Pragâpati, in the course of a year prepared this food for him, to wit, this Mahâvratîya cup of Soma.
10:4:1:1313. The Adhvaryu draws it by means of a cup, and inasmuch as he draws (grah) it, it is (called) a draught (graha, cup of Soma). The Udgâtri (chanter), by the Mahâvrata (sâman), puts flavour (vital sap) into it; and the Mahâvrata (sâman) being (composed of) all those (five) sâmans, he thus puts flavour into it by means of all sâmans (hymn-tunes). The Hotri puts flavour into it by means of the Great Recitation; and the Great Recitation being (composed of) all those Rik-verses: he thus puts flavour into it by all the Rik-verses.
10:4:1:1414. And when they chant the hymn, and he (the Hotri) afterwards recites (the sastra) 1, he (the Adhvaryu) offers that (cup of Soma) to him (Agni-Pragâpati) as the Vashat-call is uttered. Now 'vauk' is this (Agni), and 'shat' this sixfold food 2: having prepared it, he offers it to him as proportionate to his body; for food which is proportionate to the body satisfies, and does not injure it; but when there is too much, it does injure it, and when there is too little, it does not satisfy it.
10:4:1:1515. Now that Arka (flame) is this very fire-altar
built here; and the Kya is this his food, to wit, the Mahâvratîya-graha: that (combined) makes the Arkya in respect of the Yagus. And the Great one (mahân) is this (Agni), and this rite (vrata) is his food: that makes the Mahâvrata in respect of the Sâman. And 'uk' is this (Agni), and 'tha' his food: that makes the (Mahad) Uktha in respect of the Rik. Thus, whilst being only one, this is accounted threefold.
10:4:1:1616. And this Agni is Pragâpati, the year 1: the Sâvitra (oblations) are one half thereof, and the Vaisva-karmana (oblations) 2 the (other) half; the Sâvitra are eight digits (kalâ 3) thereof, and the Vaisvakarmana (the other) eight; and that which is performed between them is the seventeenfold Pragâpati. Now what a digit is to men that a syllable (akshara) is to the gods.
10:4:1:1717. And 'loma (hair)' is two syllables, 'tvak 4 (skin)' two, 'asrik (blood)' two, 'medas (fat)' two, 'mâmsam (flesh)' two, 'snâva (sinew)' two, 'asthi (bone)' two, 'maggâ (marrow) 5' two,--that makes sixteen digits; and the vital air which circulates therein, is the seventeenfold Pragâpati.
10:4:1:1818. These sixteen digits convey the food to that vital air; and when they take to conveying no food to it, then it consumes them and departs (from the body): hence he who is hungry here, feels very
restless, consumed as he is by his vital airs; and hence he who suffers from fever becomes very thin, for he is consumed by his vital airs.
10:4:1:1919. Now for that seventeenfold Pragâpati they prepared this seventeenfold food, the Soma-sacrifice: those sixteen digits of his are these sixteen officiating priests,--one should not, therefore, take a seventeenth priest 1 lest one should do what is excessive;--and what vital sap there is here--the oblations that are offered--that is the seventeenfold food.
10:4:1:2020. And when they chant the hymn, and when he (the Hotri) afterwards recites (the sastra), he (the Adhvaryu) offers to him that food as the Vashat-call is uttered. Now 'vauk' is this (Agni), and 'shat' this sixfold food: having prepared it, he offers it to him as proportionate to his body; for food which is proportionate to the body satisfies, and does not injure it; but when there is too much it does injure it, and when there is too little, it does not satisfy it.
10:4:1:2121. Now that Arka (flame) is this very fire-altar built here; and the Kya is this his food, to wit, the Soma-sacrifice: that (combined) makes the Arkya in respect of the Yagus. And the Great one (mahân) is this (Agni), and this rite (vrata) is his food: that makes the Mahâvrata in respect of the Sâman. And 'uk' is this (Agni), and 'tha' his food: that makes the (Mahad) Uktha in respect of the Rik. Thus, whilst being only one, this is accounted threefold. With this food he went upwards; and he who
went upwards is yonder sun, and that food wherewith he went up is that moon.
10:4:1:2222. He who shines yonder is indeed that Arka (flame), and that moon is his food, the Kya: that (combined) makes the Arkya in respect of the Yagus. And the Great one (mahân) is this (Agni), and this rite (vrata) is his food: that makes the Mahâvrata in respect of the Sâman. And 'uk' is this (Agni), and 'tha' his food: that makes the (Mahad) Uktha in respect of the Rik. Thus, whilst being only one, this is accounted threefold. Thus much as to the deity.
10:4:1:2323. Now as to the body. The Arka (flame), doubtless, is the breath (vital air), and the Kya is its food: that makes the Arkya in respect of the Yagus. And the Great one (mahân) is this (Agni), and this rite (vrata) is his food: that makes the Mahâvrata in respect of the Sâman. And 'uk' is this (Agni), and 'tha' his food: that makes the (Mahad) Uktha in respect of the Rik. Thus, whilst being only one, this is accounted threefold. And, indeed, that (Agni) is that (sun) as to the deity, and this (breath) as to the body.
341:2 See IX, 2, 3, 35, where it was stated that the fire should be laid down with the Vashat-call ('vaushat!') uttered after the two verses, Vâg. S. XVII, 72. 73. Here, as at I, 7, 2, 21, the sacrificial call, 'vaushat'--for 'vashat,' apparently an irregular subjunctive aorist of 'vah': 'may he bear (the oblation to the gods)!'--is fancifully explained as composed of 'vauk' (i.e. vâk, speech), and 'shat,' six.
342:1 See X, 3, 4, 2 seq.
342:2 That is, what relates to the Arka (the Fire, or Agnikayana).
342:3 That is, here, the Mahad uktham, or Great Recitation of the Mahâvrata day.
342:4 Perhaps with the implied sense of 'fast-food,' 'fast-milk,' the milk taken by the Sacrificer during the initiation as his only food.
342:5 For the gold plate worn by the Sacrificer whilst carrying about p. 343 the Ukhya Agni, and ultimately deposited on the lotus-leaf in the centre of the altar-site before the first layer is laid down, see VI, 7, I, 1 seq.; VII, 4, 1, 10 seq. For the gold man placed on the gold plate, VII, 4, 1, 15 seq. Whilst the gold man was indeed identified with Agni-Pragâpati, as well as with the Sacrificer, the gold plate was taken throughout as representing the sun.
343:1 According to Sâyana, this one brick is the syllable ('akshara,' which also means 'the imperishable, indestructible') 'vauk' contained in the 'Vaushat,' uttered when the sacred fire is placed on the newly-built altar.
344:1 Aksharam avinasvaram sarvagatam vâ brahma sakkidânandaikarasam. Sâyana.
344:2 Or, perhaps--but since so much of my work has been completed, my race will thereby surpass the Salvas. Cf. Delbrück, Altind. Syntax, p. 266.
344:3 Sâyana takes this as intended to explain the 'in both' ways' of the quotation, viz. in regard to 'srî' (social distinction) on the one hand, and to 'yasas' (fame) and food (material prosperity) on the other. There is, however, nothing in the text to favour any such grouping of the distinctive objects of aspiration associated with the three classes (varnatrayâtmakatvam upagivya karmanah, srîyasoऽnnâdalakshanam phalam. Sâyana), or with men generally (cf. Aitareyâr. I, 4, 2, 10). Perhaps it means both in an intellectual and material point of view. The Syâparnas seem to have been a rather self-assertive family of priests. The Aitareya Brâhmana tells the following story about them (VII, 27):--Visvantara Saushadmana, setting aside the Syâparnas, got up a sacrifice without them. The Syâparnas, becoming aware of this, came to the sacrifice and sat them down inside the sacrificial ground. On seeing them, Visvantara said, 'There sit those doers of evil deeds, those speakers of foul language, the Syâparnas: turn them out let them not sit inside my sacrificial ground!'--'So be it!' they said, and p. 345 turned them out. In being turned out, they cried aloud, 'At a sacrifice of Ganamegaya, son of Parikshit, performed without the Kasyapas, the Asitamrigas from amongst the Kasyapas won the Soma-drink from the Bhûtavîras (who were officiating). In them they had heroic men on their side: what hero is there amongst us who will win that Soma-drink?'--'Here is that hero of yours,' said Râma Mârgaveya. Râma Mârgaveya was a Syâparnîya, learned in sacred lore. When they rose to leave, he said, 'O king, will they turn out of the sacrificial ground even one so learned as me?'--'Whoever thou art, what knowest thou, vile Brâhman?'--'When the gods turned Indra away because he had outraged Tvashtri's son Visvarûpa, and laid low Vritra, and thrown devotees before the jackals, and slain the Arurmaghas, and retorted on Brihaspati (the teacher of the gods)--then Indra was deprived of the Soma-cup; and along with him the Kshatriyas were deprived of the Soma-cup. By stealing the Soma from Tvashtri, Indra obtained a share in the Soma-cup, but to this day the Kshatriyas are deprived of the Soma-cup: how can they turn out from the sacrificial ground one who knows how the Kshatriya race can be put in possession of the Soma-cup from which they are deprived?'--'Knowest thou (how to procure) that drink, O Brâhman?'--'I know it indeed.'--'Tell us then, O Brahman?'--'To thee, O king, I will tell it,' he said. Ultimately the Syâparnas are reinstated in their sacrificial duties. Cf. R. Roth, Zur Litteratur and Geschichte des Weda, p. 118. At VI, 2, I, 39, Syâparna Sâyakâyana was stated to have been the last who was in the habit of immolating five victims instead of two, as became afterwards the custom.
345:1 In the succession of teachers of the doctrine of the fire-altar, given at the end of the present Kânda, Vâmakakshâyana is said to have received his instruction from Vâtsya, and the latter from Sândilya, who, in his turn, received it from Kusri. Cf. Weber, Ind. Stud. I, p. 259.
346:1 Viz. the Mahad uktham (see p. 110, note 3), preceded by the chanting of the Mahâvrata-sâman (see p. 362, note 5) (p. 382 originally--JBH).
346:2 That is, according as it is flavoured by the six different 'rasas' (flavours or tastes)--sweet (madhura), sour (amla), salt (lavana), pungent (katuka), bitter (tikta), and astringent (kashâya). Thus according to Sâyana; but see also paragraph 3, where the sixfold nature of the food is identified with the six-layered altar. Perhaps both explanations are intended to apply.
347:1 Or, perhaps, this Pragâpati-Agni is the year.
347:2 For these two sets of formulas and oblations, see IX, 5, 1, 43 and note.
347:3 A 'kalâ' is the sixteenth part of the moon's diameter, and then a sixteenth part generally.
347:4 Pronounce 'tu-ak.'
347:5 For five of these parts of the body, see X, 1, 3, 4.
348:1 This prohibition is probably directed against the Kaushîtakins, who recognise a seventeenth officiating priest, the Sadasya, who seems to have taken no other part in the sacrificial performance except sitting in the Sadas as the permanent custodian thereof.