Sacred Texts Hinduism Satapatha Brahmana Index Previous Next
Buy this Book at Amazon.com
Satapatha Brahmana Part V (SBE44), Julius Eggeling tr. [1900], at sacred-texts.com
13:5:3:11. Now as to the offering of the omenta. 'They should proceed with them singly up to the omentum of the Vaisvadeva (victim) 1; and when the omentum of the Vaisvadeva has been offered, they should thereupon offer the others,' said Satyakâma Gâbâla; 'for, doubtless, the All-Gods (Visve Devâh) are all (sarve) the gods: it is in this way he gratifies them deity after deity.'
13:5:3:22. 'When the omentum of the Aindrâgna (victim) has been offered, they should thereupon offer the others,' said the two Saumapa Mânutantavya;'for, doubtless, Indra and Agni are all the gods: it is in this way he gratifies them deity after deity.'
13:5:3:33. 'When the omentum of the (victim) sacred to Ka has been offered, they should thereupon offer
the others,' said Sailâli; 'for, doubtless, Ka is Pragâpati, and behind Pragâpati are all the gods: it is in this way he gratifies them deity after deity.'
13:5:3:44. 'Having gone through the twenty-one deities of the Seasonal 1 (victims), let them proceed by dividing (the omenta) into twenty-one parts 2,' said Bhâllaveya; 'for as many as there are Seasonal deities so many are all the gods: it is in this way he gratifies them deity after deity.'
13:5:3:55. 'Let them proceed (with the omenta) singly and not otherwise,' said Indrota Saunaka; 'why, indeed, should they hasten? It is in this way he gratifies them deity after deity.' This, then, is what these have said, but the established practice is different therefrom.
13:5:3:66. Now Yâgñavalkya said, 'They should proceed simultaneously with the (omenta) of Pragâpati's 3 (victims), and simultaneously with those consecrated to single gods: it is in this way that he gratifies them deity after deity, that he goes straightway to the completion of the sacrifice, and does not stumble.'
13:5:3:77. When the omenta have been offered, the Adhvaryu enters (the Havirdhâna shed) and draws
[paragraph continues] Pragâpati's second Mahiman cup of Soma in a silver vessel. The Puroruk thereof is (Vâg. XXIII, 3), 'He who by his greatness hath become the one king of the breathing and blinking world, [and who here ruleth over the two-footed and the four-footed: to the god Ka (Who?) will we pay homage by offering].' The Anuvâkyâ and Yâgyâ are interchanged so as to (ensure) unimpaired vigour 1, and the Praisha (direction to Hotri) is the same (as that of the first cup). As the Vashat is uttered, he offers with (Vâg. S. XXIII, 4), 'What greatness of thine there hath been in the night, and the year, [what greatness of thine there hath been in the earth and the fire; what greatness of thine there hath been in the Nakshatras and the moon, to that greatness of thine, to Pragâpati, to the gods, hail 2].' He does not repeat the Vashat: the significance of this has been explained.
13:5:3:88. Of the blood of the other victims they make no sacrificial portions; of (that of) the horse they do make portions 3. Of (the blood of) the others they make portions 4 on the south side, of (that of) the horse on the north side (of the altar); of (the blood of) the others he makes portions on (a mat of) plaksha (ficus infectoria) twigs, of (that of) the horse on rattan twigs.
13:5:3:99. But concerning this, Sâtyayagñi said, 'They may indeed do it in either way, only one must not depart from the (right) path.' But the former, indeed, is the established practice. The sacrifice (of the second day) is an Ukthya: thereby he causes the air-world to prosper. The last day is an Atirâtra with all the Stomas, for him to obtain and secure everything, for the Atirâtra with all the Stomas is everything, and the Asvamedha is everything.
13:5:3:1010. Its Bahishpavamâna (stotra) is in the Trivrit (9-versed Stoma), the Âgya (stotras) in the Pañkadasa (15-versed), the Mâdhyandina-pavamâna in the Saptadasa (17), the Prishthas in the Ekavimsa (21), the Tritîya Pavamâna in the Trinava (27), the Agnishtoma-sâman in the Trayastrimsa (33), the Ukthas in the Ekavimsa (21), the Shodasin in the Ekavimsa, the night (chants) in the Pañkadasa, the Sandhi (twilight chant) in the Trivrit (9). Whatever Sastra is (recited) for the second day of the Prishthya Shadaha that is (used at) the Atirâtra sacrifice 1; thereby he causes yonder (heavenly) world to prosper.
13:5:3:1111. 'There are twenty-one Savanîya victims, all of them consecrated to Agni, and there is one and the same performance for them,' so say some; but let him rather immolate those twenty-four bovine (victims 2) for twelve deities,--twelve months are a year, and the year is everything, and the Asvamedha
is everything: thus it is for the sake of his obtaining and securing everything.
392:1 Whilst there are amongst the victims immolated on the second day, several others consecrated to the Visve Devâh, Indra and Agni, and Ka,--the Vaisvadeva, Aindrâgna, and Kâya victims, referred to in this and the following two paragraphs, belong to the Kâturmâsya, or Seasonal victims, being amongst those tied to the fourteenth and sixteenth stakes. Though the text speaks only of one Vaisvadeva &c. victim, there are really three such victims in each case. According to the views referred to in these paragraphs (cf. comm. on Kâty. XX, 7, 23), the omenta of all the preceding victims (from the 'paryaṅgya' onwards) up to the beginning of the Kâturmâsyas, would be offered together after (or along with) the vapâs of those of the respective victims (Vaisvadeva &c.) specified in these paragraphs; and along therewith the vapâs of all the subsequent Seasonal victims. The deities to which this heap of omenta would be offered, would thus be either the Visve Devâh, or Indra and Agni, or Ka, as representing all the deities. Âsv. S. X, 9, 7, assigns the omenta of all the victims, except the three Prâgâpatya ones, to the Visve Devâh.
393:2 According to this view, the omenta of all the victims after the three first (Prâgâpatya) ones,--i.e. beginning from the 'paryaṅgya' animals (see p. 299, note 2) up to the end of the Kâturmâsya, or Seasonal victims, which are the last of the domesticated animals--would be put together in one heap and divided into twenty-one portions, which would then be offered to the first twenty-one deities of the Seasonal offerings, that is to say, to those of the Vaisvadeva, Varunapraghâsa, Sâkamedha, and Mahâhavis offerings, thus omitting the deities of the Pitryeshti and the Sunâsîriya offerings.
393:3 That is the first three victims, viz. the horse, the hornless he-goat, and the Gomriga.
394:1 By simple repetition this would be impaired.
394:2 See XIII, 2, 11, 2 with note.
394:3 See XIII, 3, 4, 2-5.
394:4 This would be an alternative view. According to the scholl. on Katy. XX, 8, 1-3, this would seem to refer to the other Prâgâpatya victims, in which case one would, however, expect the dual here, as there are only two of them besides the horse.
395:1 In the same way Âsv. S. X, 4, 8 lays down the rule that the Sastras of the second day are those of the fifth day of the Vyûdha Prishthya-shadaha; cf. above, XIII, 5, 1, 7 seqq.
395:2 See XIII, 3, 2, 3.