1 See I, 5, 2, 17, where the principal formulas used in making oblations are computed as consisting together of seventeen syllables. Tank. Br. 18, 6 insists especially on the symbolic identity of Pra^a- pati and the Vagapeya on the double ground that the Va^apeya consists of seventeen stotras, and has for its characteristic mode of chanting the Saptada^a-stoma, or seventeen-versed hymn. That this is indeed so will appear from a glance at the chief chants. The Bahishpavamana-stotra, which in the ordinary Agnish/oma is chanted in the trivr/t-stoma, consisting of three triplets, or nine verses (see part ii, p. 310), is at the Va^apeya made to consist of seventeen verses, by the insertion of eight verses (S.V. II, 180-82 ; 186-90) between the second and third triplets. Again, the Madhyandina-pavamana, ordinarily chanted in fifteen verses (part ii, p. 333), here consists of seventeen, viz. II, 105-7 (sung twice in two tunes=six verses); II, 663 (one verse); II, 663-4 (sung as triplet, in two tunes=six verses); II, 665 (one verse); II, 821-23
V KANDA, I ADHYAYA, 2 BRAHMAiVA, 15. 9
its measure, with that much he thus wins its truth, its prosperity, its light.
12. And why he draws seventeen cups of Sura ; —
Pra^apati is seventeenfold, Pra^apati is the sacrifice :
as great as the sacrifice is, as great as is its measure,
with that much he thus wins its untruth, its misery,
its darkness.
13. These two amount to thirty-four cups; for
there are thirty-three gods, and Pra^apati is the
thirty-fourth : he thus wins Pra^apati.
14. Now when he buys the king (Soma), he at
the same time buys for a piece of lead the Parisrut
(immature spirituous liquor) from a long-haired man
near by towards the south. For a long-haired man
is neither man nor woman ; for, being a male, he is
not a woman ; and being long-haired (a eunuch), he
is not a man. And that lead is neither iron nor
gold ; and the Parisrut-liquor is neither Soma nor
Sura 1 : this is why he buys the Parisrut for a piece
of lead from a long-haired man.
15. And on the preceding day they prepare two
(three verses) — making together seventeen verses. Similarly, the Arbhava-pavamana (chanted at the Agnish/oma also in the Saptada^a-stoma, cf. part ii, p. 315; but here with modifications) consists of II, 165-7 (sung twice in two tunes = six verses); II, 42, 44 (two verses); II, 47-9 (in two tunes = six verses); II, 720-23 (three verses) — making together seventeen verses. For the similarly constructed Va^apeya hymn see page 11, note 1. See also La/y. Sr. VIII, 11, 15 seq., where the number of officiating priests, as well as that of the various sacrificial fees, is fixed at seventeen. Similarly, Asv. Sr. IX, 9, 2-3 says that there are either to be seventeen dikshas, or the whole ceremony is to be performed in seventeen days.
1 According to Sayawa, the difference between sura and parisrut would seem to be that the former beverage is prepared from mature shoots (of rice, &c), and the latter from such as are not quite ripe.
1 0 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
earth-mounds x, the one in front of the axle, and the
other behind the axle : ' Lest we should deposit
together the cups of Soma, and the cups of Sura/ —
this is why, on the preceding day, they prepare two
mounds, one in front, and the other behind the axle.
1 6. Now, when they take the Vasativart water2 (into
the havirdhana shed) by the front door, the Neshtrt
takes in the Parisrut-liquor by the back door. From
the south they bring in the drinking vessels. The
Adhvaryu, seated in front of the axle, with his face
towards the west, draws the cups of Soma ; and the
Nesh/rz, seated behind the axle, with his face towards
the east, draws the cups of Sura. The Adhvaryu
draws a cup of Soma, the Neshtri a cup of Sur& ;
the Adhvaryu draws a cup of Soma, the Nesh/rz
a cup of Sura : in this way they draw them
alternately.
17. Neither does the Adhvaryu hold the Soma-
cup beyond the axle towards the back, nor the
Nesh^rz the Sura-cup beyond the axle towards the
front, thinking, ' Lest we should confound light and
darkness ! '
18. The Adhvaryu holds the Soma-cup just over the axle, and the Neshtri the Sura-cup just below
1 The mounds (khara) thrown up in the havirdhana cart-shed, are used for placing the cups of Soma (and Sura) after they are drawn, until they are used for the libations. See the plan of the sacrificial ground at the end of part ii ; only that on the present occasion there is to be a second mound, for the placing of the Sura- cups, under or just behind the axle of the southern Soma-cart (in the place where the Nanm^sa cups to the Fathers were temporarily deposited at the Agnish/oma; see III, 6, 2, 25 with note). On this occasion a small door is also made in the southern wall of the cart-shed, by breaking through the hurdle.
2 Part ii, p. 222 seq.
V KANDA, I ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMAiVA, I. II
the axle, with (V. S. IX, 4), ' United ye are:
unite me with happiness !' Thinking, ' Lest we
should say "evil"/ they withdraw them again, with,
'Disunited ye are: disunite me from evil!'
Even as one might tear a single reed from a clump
of reed-grass, so do they thereby tear him from out
of all evil : there is not in him so much sin as the
point of a grass-blade. They deposit the two (cups
each time on the mounds).
19. Thereupon the Adhvaryu draws the Madhu-
graha (honey-cup) in a golden vessel, and deposits
it in the middle of the Soma-grahas. He then draws
the Ukthya, then the Dhruva. And when, at the
last chant (of the evening press feast1), he has
poured those Soma-grahas one by one into the cups
of the officiating priests, they make offering and
drink them. At the midday-pressing it is told
regarding the honey-cup, and the cups of Sura :
thereof then 2.
Third Brahmatva.
1. At the Agnish/foma (Saman 3) he seizes a (victim) for Agni, for the Agnish/oma (i.e. 'Agni's
1 The last chant (at the evening feast) of the Vag-apeya sacrifice is the so-called Va^apeya-saman, or Brz'hat-stotra (Samav. II, 975-7), chanted, to the Brz'hat tune, in the Saptada^a-stoma ; the three verses being, by repetitions, raised to the number of seventeen. — ' When he has poured . . . they offer it : ' this is apparently a case of the absolute construction of the gerund in '-ya/ cf. Delbriick, Altindische Syntax, p. 108.
2 On these cups, or libations, see V, 1, 5, 28.
3 Of the seven fundamental forms (sa/rcstha) of Soma-sacrifice, each higher, or more complex, form is obtained by some additional ceremony, or ceremonies, being added on to one of the simpler forms of sacrifice. In the present paragraph, the author briefly reviews the lower forms of Soma-sacrifice, contained in the Va^a-
SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
praise 1 ') is Agni : he thereby wins Agni. For
the Ukthas2 he seizes one for Indra and Agni ;
for the hymns (uktha) relate to Indra and Agni :i :
the hymns he thereby wins. For the Sho^asin
he seizes one for Indra; for the Sho^asin is Indra :
the Shoafasin (Indra) he thereby wins.
2. For the seventeenth (or seventeenfold) stotra4
he seizes one for Sarasvati : thereby, while there
is no over-night performance 6, it is yet made like
the night (performance) ; for he who offers the Va^a-
peya, with the view of enumerating the victims to be slaughtered at its performance; viz. the Agnish/oma with twelve chants and one victim ; the Ukthya with fifteen stotras and two victims; and the Sho^a^in with sixteen chants and three victims. For further particulars, see part ii, p. 397, note 2.
1 The Agnish/oma-saman, the last (twelfth) and distinctive stotra of the Agnish/oma sacrifice, is in praise of Agni (see part ii, p. 368, note 2). At the Vag-apeya the ordinary (ya^zaya^iya) hymn is not chanted, but S.V. II, 973-4, sung to the Varavantiya tune (Calc. ed., vol. v, p. 144), takes its place. Fank. Br. 18, 6, 16.
2 The three Uktha stotras (chants) and jastras (recitations) constitute the distinctive element of the Ukthya sacrifice; as the Sho^a^i- stotra and jastra (part ii, p. 401, note 3; p. 402, note 1) constitute that of the Shod'a.rin sacrifice.
3 On the important place assigned to these two deities in the traditional arrangement of the Rigveda-sa^hita, see the introduction to part i, p. xvi.
4 That is the Va^apeya-saman, see note 1, p. 11.
5 The author here alludes to another form of Soma-sacrifice, not contained in the Va^apeya, viz. the Atiratra, which is obtained by following up the Sho^/a^in (with its sixteen chants) with the so-called ratri-paryaya^, or night-rounds, consisting of three rounds of four chants each, or together twelve chants. These are succeeded, at day-break, by the Sandhi-stotra (or twilight chants), consisting of three chants. Although this night performance does not take place on the present occasion — the Va^apeya-saman taking its place — the author claims for this form of sacrifice also the moral benefits which would accrue to the sacrificer from the Atiratra, for the reason that the same victim (a he-goat for Sarasvati) is offered on both occasions.
V KANDAy I ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMAiVA, 4. I 3
peya wins Pra^apati, and Pra^apati is the year : by
that (victim) for Sarasvati he now wins the night :
hence, while there is no night performance, it is made
like the night.
3. Thereupon he seizes a spotted sterile cow for
the Victorious Maruts ; for the spotted sterile
cow is this (earth) : whatever food, rooted and root-
less, is here established on her, thereby she is a
spotted cow. Now, he who offers the Va^apeya
wins food, for va^a-peya l doubtless means the same
as anna-peya (food and drink) ; and the Maruts are
the peasants, and the peasants are food (for the
noble). ' To the Victorious (Maruts) ! ' he says, even
for the sake of victory. It is difficult to obtain an
invitatory and offering prayer containing the word
' victorious :' if he should be unable to obtain such
as contain the word ' victorious,' any other two
verses to the Maruts will do. Difficult to obtain
also is a spotted sterile cow : if he cannot obtain
a spotted sterile cow, any other sterile cow will do.
4. The course of procedure thereof (is as follows).
When the Hotrt recites after the Mahendra libation,
then let them proceed with (the offering of) her
omentum, for that, the Mahendra2, is Indra's special
(nishkevalya) libation ; and his also are the Nish-
kevalya-stotra and Nishkevalya-sastra. Now the
sacrificer is Indra : thus he thereby puts strength
into the sacrificer in the very middle (of the sacri-
1 In Taitt. Br. I, 3, 2, 3, on the other hand, va^apeya (which doubtless means ' drink of strength ') is explained first by va^-apya, ' that through which the gods wished to obtain (aipsan) strength (va^-am)/ and then by 'drink of strength/ i.e. Soma 'by drinking (pitva) which one becomes strong (va^in)/
2 For this libation, and the accompanying Nishkevalya-^astra, at the midday Soma-feast, see part ii, pp. 338, 339, note 2.
1 4 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
fice) : that is why they should proceed with her omentum at that particular time.
5. They cook the portions * in two lots. Of the
one lot thereof, after making an 'under-layer' of
ghee (clarified butter) in the ^uhu spoon, he makes
two cuttings from each (portion), bastes them once,
and replenishes with ghee (the empty places of) the
cuttings. Thereupon he makes one cutting from
each into the upabhrzt spoon, bastes them twice,
but does not replenish (the places of) the cuttings.
Now, when of the one lot (of portions) he makes
two cuttings from each, thereby that (sterile cow)
becomes whole ; and when he proceeds with those
(portions), thereby he wins the divine race. He
then presents the (other) half to the human kind :
and thereby he wins the human kind (people, vis).
6. But let him not do it in this wise ; for verily
he who departs from the path of the sacrifice,
stumbles ; and he who does it in this wise certainly
departs from the path of the sacrifice. Hence when
they proceed with the omenta of the other victims,
only then let them proceed with the omentum of
that (cow). They cook the portions in one lot, and
do not present any to the human kind.
7. He then seizes seventeen victims for Pra^a-
pati. They are all hornless, all dark-grey2, all
(uncastrated) males; for he who offers the Va^a-
peya, wins Pra^apati ; but Pra^apati is food, and
the victim (cattle) is food : he thus wins Pra^apati.
And Pra^apati is Soma, and the victim is the visible