Śāṅkhāyana (Kauṣītaki) Āraṇyaka 1.2

1.2

ŚĀ 1.1
Prajāpati is the year. His self is this Mahāvrata rite. Therefore, one should not recite it for another, lest one place the self of all beings in another. Moreover, Indra's self is this Mahāvrata rite. Therefore, one should not recite it for another, lest one place Indra's self in another. Moreover, the person consisting of the Ṛgveda, consisting of the Yajurveda, consisting of the Sāmaveda, whom they consecrate—his self is this Mahāvrata rite. Therefore, one should not recite it for another, lest one place the self of all metres in another. But at will, the Hotṛ of those performing a sacrificial session may recite it for his father or for his teacher; for him, that recited [rite] belongs indeed to the self; through the self he thus makes the sacrifice prosperous. Its stoma praise is the twenty-five-fold one. Twenty-four indeed are the half-months of the year, [and this is] for attaining the year. Moreover, Prajāpati is the year, the twenty-fifth. Moreover, the twenty-four-fold has been performed before; this twenty-five-fold is its goal. A bull sacred to Indra and a goat sacred to Prajāpati are to be seized. For this day belongs to Indra; and Indra is Prajāpati. That is the form sacred to Prajāpati. Moreover, that a bull [is seized] is the form sacred to Indra among animals.