[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Vedic Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda) › [Brāhmaṇas (ritual exegesis)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana) › [Aitareyabrahmana](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.aitreya) › 1.25 # Aitareyabrahmana 1.25 Aitareyabrāhmaṇa 1.25 - **Language:** Sanskrit ### [1.25](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.aitreya.1.25) śiro vā etad yajñasya yad ātithyaṃ, grīvā upasadaḥ. samānaharhiṣī bhavataḥ, samānaṃ hi śirogrīvam iṣuṃ vā etāṃ devāḥ samaskurvata yad upasadas. tasyā Agnir anīkam āsīt, Somaḥ śalyo, Viṣṇus tejanaṃ, Varunaḥ parnāni. tām ājyadhanvāno vyasṛjaṃs, tayā puro bhindanta āyaṃs tasmād etā ājyahaviṣo bhavanti caturo 'gre stanān vratam upaity upasatsu, catuḥsaṃdhir hīṣur: anīkaṃ śalyas tejanam parṇāni trīn stanān vratam upaity upasatsu, triṣaṃdhir hīṣur: anīkaṃ śalyas tejanaṃ. dvau stanau vratam upaity upasatsu, dviṣaṃdhir hīṣuh: śalyaś ca hy eva tejanaṃ caikaṃ stanaṃ vratam upaity upasatsv, ekā hy eveṣur ity ākhyāyata, ekayā vīryam kriyate paro varīyāṃso vā ime lokā arvāg aṃhīyaṃsaḥ, parastād arvācīr upasada upaity eṣām eva lokānām abhijityā upasadyāya mīḷhuṣa, imām me agne samidham imām upasadaṃ vaner iti tisras-tisraḥ sāmidhenyo rūpasamṛddhā. etad vai yajñasya samṛddhaṃ yad rūpasamṛddhaṃ, yat karma kriyamāṇam ṛg abhivadati jaghnivatīr yājyānuvākyāḥ kuryād agnir vṛtrāṇi jaṅghanad, ya ugra iva śaryahā, tvaṃ somāsi satpatir, gayasphāno amīvahe, daṃ viṣṇur vi cakrame, trīṇi padā vi cakrama ity etā viparyastābhir aparāhṇe yajati ghnanto vā etābhir devāḥ puro bhindanta āyan yad upasadaḥ sachandasaḥ kartavyā na vichandaso yad vichandasaḥ kuryād, grīvāsu tad gaṇḍaṃ dadhyād, īśvaro glāvo janitos tasmāt sachandasa eva kartavyā na vichandasas tad u ha smāhopāvir Jānaśruteya, upasadāṃ kila vai tad brāhmaṇe: yasmād apy aślīlasya śrotriyasya mukhaṃ vy eva jñāyate tṛptam iva rebhatīvety. ājyahaviṣo hy upasado, grīvāsu mukham adhyāhitaṃ; tasmād dha sma tad āha > i. 25 (iv. 8). The guest reception is the head of the sacrifice, the Upasads the neck; they are performed on the same strew, for the head and the neck are the same. In the Upasads the gods fashioned an arrow; of it the point was Agni, the socket Soma; the shaft Viṣṇu, the feathers Varuṇa. It they discharged, using the butter as a bow; with it they kept piercing the citadels; therefore these have butter as the oblation. At the Upasads he has first recourse to four teats for the fast milk, for the arrow is composed of four elements, point, socket, shaft, and feathers; three teats he has recourse to for the fast milk in the Upasads, for the arrow is composed of three elements, point, socket, and shaft; two teats he has recourse to for the fast milk in the Upasads, for the arrow is composed of two elements, the socket and the shaft only; one teat he has recourse to for the fast milk in the Upasads, for it is called the one thing ‘arrow’, by one is strength exercised. These worlds are broader above and narrower below; he performs the Upasads from the top downwards, for the conquering of these worlds. ‘To the generous to be adored’, ‘This kindling stick of mine, O Agni, this waiting upon thee do thou accept’ are sets of three kindling > — Arthur Berriedale Keith 1920, Rigveda Brahmanas: The Aitareya and Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇas of the Rigveda (HOS 25) > verses, perfect in form; that in the sacrifice is perfect which is perfect in form, that rite which as it is being performed the verse describes. He should use (verses) containing (the word) ‘slay’, as invitatory and offering verses, ‘Let Agni slay the foes,’ ‘Who is dread, as it were, a slayer with darts,’ ‘Thou, O Soma, art very lord,’ ‘Bestowing prosperity, slayer of disease,’ ‘Over this Viṣṇu strode,’ ‘Three steps he strode apart,’ these are they. He sacrifices in the afternoon with (the verses) inverted. With these in the Upasads the gods kept slaying and destroying the citadels. They should be of the same metre, not of different metres; if he were to make them of different metres, he would cause swelling on the neck; he would produce boils; therefore should they be made of the same metre, not of different metres. Now as to this Upāvi Jānaçruteya used to say, that is in his explanation of the Upasads, ‘In that the face of even an ugly Çrotriya is seen as joyous as it were and as singing, (it is) because the Upasads have butter as the oblation, and (it is) a face placed on the neck’; therefore was he wont to say this. > — Arthur Berriedale Keith 1920, Rigveda Brahmanas: The Aitareya and Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇas of the Rigveda (HOS 25) - [Previous: 1.24](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.aitreya.1.24) - [Next: 1.26](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.aitreya.1.26) - [Up: 1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.aitreya.1) ## Translations (2) - [Rigveda Brahmanas: The Aitareya and Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇas of the Rigveda (HOS 25)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.aitreya~en-keith.1.4.p16) — Arthur Berriedale Keith 1920, English - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.aitreya~en-mt.1.25) — English, machine translation ## Commentaries (1) - [Aitareyabrāhmaṇabhāṣya (Vedārthaprakāśa)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.aitreya!sayana.2.p121) — Sāyaṇa, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.aitreya.1.25](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.aitreya.1.25) · Pramāṇa