the sacrificial system might be considered desirable in this place ; but I have found it necessary to defer this part of my duty as translator to some future opportunity. Those who desire further information on this point, I may refer to Professor Weber's general surv^ey of Hindu sacrifices, in vols. X and xiii of his Indische Studien. No other scholar has contributed so much to our knowledge of the sacrificial ceremonial of the Hindus. I need hardly say that I have also obtained much useful information from the late Pro- fessor Haug's notes to his translation of the Aitareya- brahmawa, although on many points the practices of modern 6'rotriyas, on which he chiefly relied, are manifestly at vari- ance with those enjoined by the old ritualistic authorities. For the first ka;/^a, I have also been able to avail myself of Dr. Hillebrandt's careful exposition of the new and full- moon sacrifice ; and though I had already worked myself through that part of the ritual before the appearance of his treatise, his constant references to the Sutras of the Black Ya^r-veda have been of great assistance to me.
The Brahma;/as and Kalpa-sutras treat of the so-called 5rauta or Vaidik sacrifices, requiring for their performance three sacrificial fires; while the Paka-ya^/ias, or simple oblations of cooked food prepared on the domestic fire, are dealt with in the Gr^liya-sutras. The present volume con- tains that portion of the Brahma;/a which deals with the Havir>'a^y?as — or offerings of milk, butter, rice, barley, and similar materials — as distinguished from the animal and Soma sacrifices. The new and full-moon offering being considered as the normal type of an ish/i, or simplest form of a com- plete sacrificial performance, the place of honour is assigned to it in most texts of the Ya^s : only points of difference being generally noted regarding the performance of ish/is, as parts of subsequent sacrifices. In point of time, the Dar^-a- pur;/amasau ought to be preceded — as indeed they are in the Kawva text of the Brahmawa — by the Agnyadhana, or esta- blishment of a sacred fire on the part of a young householder; and by the Agnihotra, or morning and evening libations.
DATAPATH A-BRAHAIA.VA.
FIRST KAiVZ^A.
THE DAR5APUR.VAMASA-ISH7i OR NEW AND FULL-MOOX SACRIFICES.
First Adhyaya. First Brahmajs-a.
A. The Vow of Abstdcexce.
Each of the two half-monthly sacrifices, the regular performance of which is enjoined on the Brahmawical householder for a period of thirty years from the time of his performance of the ceremony of agny-adhana, or setting up of a fire of his own, — according to some authorities even for the rest of his life — usually occupies the greater part of two consecutive days. Whilst the first day — the upavasatha or fast-day — is chiefly taken up with preparatorj' rites, such as the sweeping and trimming of the fire-places and lighting of the fires ; and the formal taking of the vow of absti- nence (vrata) by the sacrificer and his wife; the second day is reserved for the main performance of the sacrifice. As to the exact days of the month appointed for these ceremonies, there is some diflference of opinion among native authorities, some of them deciding in favour of the last two days of each half of the lunar month, whilst the generality of ritualistic writers consider the first day of the half-month — or the first and sixteenth day of the month respectively — to be the proper time for the main perform- ance. The personal restrictions involved in the householder's entering on the vrata include chiefly the abstention from certain kinds of food, especially meat, and from other carnal pleasures ; the cutting (optional, according to some) of the beard and hair, except the crest-lock ; the sleeping on the ground in one of the chief fire-houses ; and the obser\ance of silence during the cere- monies. It was, however, permitted to compress the two-days'
^ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
rites of the Full-moon sacrifice into one single day, in which case some of these restrictions would of course not be applicable.
The ceremonies begin with the preparation of the sacrificial fires. [First, the fivefold lustration successively of the Ahavaniya and Dakshiwagni fire-places, to render them fit for receiving the fire from the Garhapatya or householder's fire, viz. by thrice sweeping the hearths; thrice besmearing them with gomaya; drawing three lines across them from west to east, or south to north, with the wooden sword (sphya); removing the dust from the lines with the thumb and ring-finger; and thrice sprinkling the lines with water\] Then the Adhvaryu performs the agny-uddha- ra«a, or twice taking out of the fire from the Garhapatya, and putting it successively on the forepart of the Ahavaniya and Dakshiwagni hearths. After this takes place the agny-anva- dhana, or putting (fuel) on the fires, by either the householder or the Adhvaryu ; two logs being put on each of the three fires. This may be done in three different ways, viz. first on the Ahavaniya, then on the Garhapatya, and last on the Dakshiwagni, in which case the first log is put on by him whilst muttering the verse Rig-veda X, 128, i (Taitt. S. IV, 7, 14, i), ' Let there be lustre, O Agni, at my invocations !' &c., the second log silently. Or the first logs are put on with one of the three mystical words 'bhiar, bhuva^, svar' on the Garhapatya, Dakshi7/agni, and Ahavaniya successively, and the second logs again silently. Or both logs may be put on silently, the order of fires being in that case the one in which they originate, viz. Garhapatya, Ahavaniya, and Dakshi«agni.
In the afternoon the householder and his wife partake of the vratopaniya or fast-day food (prepared chiefly of rice, barley, or mudga beans) with clarified butter ; whereupon they take the vow in the manner prescribed in the Brahma«a. In the evening, immediately after sunset, and on the following morning just before sunrise, the householder has, as usual, to perform the Agnihotra, a burnt-offering of fresh milk, which has to be made by him twice daily, with certain exceptions, from the Agnyadhana to the end of his life.
I. He who is about to enter on the vow, touches water ^, whilst standing between the Ahavaniya
^ The statements enclosed in brackets [ ] are drawn from the comments and Paddhati on Katyayana's ^rauta-siitra.
"^ I. e. ' he dips his hand into water contained in a vessel,' Schol. Katy. .S'r. S. I, 10, 14. According to the general rule there given.
I Kanda, T Adhyaya, I Brahma77a, 3. 3
and Garhapatya fires, with his face turned towards
east. The reason why he touches water is, that man
is (sacrificlally) impure on account of his speaking
untruth ; and because by that act an internal purifi-
cation (is effected), — for water is indeed (sacrificially)
pure. 'After becoming sacrificially pure, I will enter
on the vow/ thus (he thinks); for water is indeed
purifying. * Having become purified through the
purifying one, I will enter on the vow,' thus (he
thinks, and) this is the reason why he touches
water.
2. Looking towards the (Ahavaniya) fire^, he
enters on the vow, with the text (Va^. S. I, 5 a):
* O Agni, Lord of Vows ! I will keep the vow ! may
I be equal to it, may I succeed in it ! ' For Agni is
Lord of Vows to the gods, and it is to him therefore
that he addresses these words. In the words, ' I
will observe the vow ; may I be equal to it ; may
I succeed in it,' there is nothing that requires
explanation.
3. After the completion (of the sacrifice) he di-
vests himself (of the vow), with the text (Vaf. S. II,
28a), ' O Agni, Lord of Vows ! I have kept the
vow ; I have been equal to it ; I have succeeded in
the same purificatory act has to be repeated whenever, in the course of ceremonial performances, a sacrificial formula or prayer has been used, which is addressed to, or directed against, Rudra, the Ra- kshas and Asuras, and the Manes ; or one directed against some specified enemy of the sacrificer with the view of exorcising or averting the evil influences with which the latter is supposed to be threatened from that quarter ; or lastly, when a touching of one's self has taken place, either accidentally or as part of the ceremonial. ' 'Stepping between the Garhapatya and Dakshiwa fires (apa- ragni), and standing west of the Ahavaniya, with his face turned eastward and looking at the fire.' Katy. Sr. S. II, i, 11.
5ATAPATIIA-BRAHMAiVA.
it ; ' for he who has attained the completion of the
sacrifice, has indeed been equal to it ; and he who
has attained the completion of the sacrifice, has
succeeded in it. It is in this way that most (sacri-
ficers) will probably enter on the vow ; but one may
also enter on it in the following way.
4. Twofold, verily, is this, there is no third, viz.
truth and untruth. And verily the gods are the
truth, and man is the untruth. Therefore in saying
(Va^. S. I, 5 b), 'I now enter from untruth into
truth,' he passes from the men to the gods ^
5. Let him then only speak what is true ; for this
vow indeed the gods do keep, that they speak the
truth ; and for this reason they are glorious : glorious
therefore is he who, knowing this, speaks the truth.
6. After the completion (of the sacrifice) he di-
vests himself (of the vow), with the text (Va^. S. II,
28 b) : * Now I am he who I really am.' For, in
entering upon the vow, he becomes, as it were, non-
human; and as it would not be becoming for him to
say, ' I enter from truth into untruth ;' and as, in
fact, he now again becomes man, let him there-
fore divest himself (of the vow), with the text :
' Now I am he who I really am.'
7. Now then of the eating (or) fasting ^. And on
this point Asha^^/^a Savayasa, on the one hand,
was of opinion that the vow consisted in fasting. For
assuredly, (he argued,) the gods see through the mind
of man ; they know that, when he enters on this
^ I. e. ' he obtains a divine body (devatSjanram),' Mahidh. ; * man's existence is untruth on account of its perishableness,' id.
^ The discussion which here follows refers to the evening meal which the sacrificer is allowed to take after he has performed the Agnihotra. Cf Katy. Sx. S. II, i, 13.
I KANDA, I ADHYAYA, I BRAiIMAJVA, IO. 5
VOW, he means to sacrifice to them the next
morning. Therefore all the gods betake them-
selves to his house, and abide by (him or the
fires, upa-vas) in his house; whence this (day) is
called upa-vasatha^
8. Now, as it would even be unbecoming for him
to take food, before men (who are staying with him
as his guests) have eaten ; how much more would it
be so, if he were to take food before the gods (who
are staying with him) have eaten : let him therefore
take no food at all.
9. Ya^;^avalkya, on the other hand, said: 'If
he does not eat, he thereby becomes a sacrificer to
the Manes ; and if he does eat, he eats before the
gods have eaten : let him therefore eat what, when
eaten, counts as not eaten.' For that of which no
offering is made, even though it is eaten, is con-
sidered as not eaten. When he therefore eats,
he does not become a sacrificer to the Manes ; and
by eating of that of which no offering is made, he
does not eat before the gods have eaten.
10. Let him therefore eat only what grows in the
forest, be it forest plants or the fruit of trees. And
in regard to this point Barku Varsh/^a said:
'Cook ye beans for me, for no offering is made of
them !' This, however, he should not do ; for pulse
^ The primary meaning of upa-vas probably is 'to dwell or abide near (?the gods or fires);' its secondary and technical meaning being 'to fast,' whence upavasatha, 'a fasting or fast- day,' literally ' the abiding near (? or honouring, the gods or fires).' Cf III, 9, 2, 7. The term is more usually applied to the prelimi- nary fast-day of the Soma-sacrifice; but the latter being considered the most solemn and efficacious of sacrificial rites, a strong ten- dency prevails to establish some kind of connection between it and the other ceremonies. Cf. Katy, ^r. S. IV, 15, 36.
i-ATAPATHA-BRAHMAA^A.
serves as an addition to rice and barley; and hence
he increases the rice and barley by means of it : let
him therefore eat only what grows in the forest.
II. Let him sleep that night in the house of the
Ahavaniya fire or in the house of the Garhapatya
fire. For he who enters on the vow approaches the
gods ; and he sleeps in the midst of those very
gods whom he approaches. Let him sleep on the
ground ^ ; for from below, as it were, one serves
one's superior.