Aitareyabrahmana 1.3: ADHYĀYA III

Rigveda Brahmanas: The Aitareya and Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇas of the Rigveda (HOS 25) 1.3

Language: English

ADHYĀYA III

i. 12 (iii. 1). In the eastern quarter the gods bought Soma the king; therefore in the eastern quarter is he bought. Him from the thirteenth month they bought; therefore the thirteenth month is not known; the Soma seller is not known, for the Soma seller is evil. The strengths and powers of him when bought and going towards men went away to the quarters; them they sought to win with one verse; they could not win them; them with two, with three, with four, with five, with six, with seven they could not win; with eight they won, with eight they obtained; that is why eight has its name. Whatever he desires he attains who knows thus. Therefore in these rites eight (verses) each are repeated, to win powers and strengths.

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i. 13 (iii. 2). ‘For Soma when bought and being brought forward, do thou say the invitatory verse’ the Adhvaryu says. ‘From good to better do thou come forward’ he says; this world is good; than it yonder world is better; verily thus he causes the sacrificer to go to the world of heaven. ‘Let Bṛhaspati be thy harbinger’ (he says); Bṛhaspati is the holy power; verily thus he makes the holy power precede him; what has the holy power come to no harm. ‘Do thou stay on the chosen spot of earth’ (he says). The chosen spot of earth is the place of sacrifice to the gods; verily thus he settles him on the chosen spot of earth. ‘Do thou drive afar the foes, with all powers’ (he says); verily thus he drives away the evil rival who hates him, and brings him low. ‘O Soma, thy wondrous’ this triplet to Soma in Gāyatrī

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he recites when Soma the king is being brought forward; verily thus with his own deity, his own metre he makes him successful. ‘All rejoice in the glory that hath come’ he recites; Soma the king is glory; every one rejoices in his being bought, both he who is to gain something in the sacrifice and he who is not. ‘The comrades in the comrade strong in the assembly, (he says); Soma the king is the comrade, strong in the assembly, of the Brahmans. ‘Saving from sin’ (he says); he indeed is a saviour from sin. He who is successful, he who attains pre-eminence, becomes sinful; therefore they say, ‘Do not recite, do not proceed; let them not have sin to requite.’ ‘Winner of nourishment’ (he says); nourishment is food; nourishment is the sacrificial fee; thereby he wins it; verily thus he makes him a winner of food. ‘Ready is he for manly force’ (he says); manly force is power and strength; manly force is not lost by him up to old age who knows thus. ‘The god hath come’ (he says ), for he has come now; ‘With the seasons may he prosper the dwelling’ (he says). The seasons are the royal brothers of Soma the king, as of a man; verily thus with that he causes him to come. ‘May Savitṛ bestow upon us fair progeny and sap’ this benediction he invokes. ‘May he quicken us with nights and days’ (he says); the days are days, the nights are nights; verily then for him with the days and the nights he invokes this benediction. ‘Wealth with offspring may he accord to us’ this benediction he invokes. ‘Thine abodes which they worship with oblation’ he recites; ‘All these of thine be encompassing the sacrifice; conferring wealth, accomplishing with good heroes’ (he says); verily thus he says ‘Be thou a conferrer of cattle on us and an accomplisher.’ ‘Slayer of heroes, O Soma, go forward to the doors’ (he says); the doors are the house; the house of the sacrificer is afraid of Soma the king as he advances; in that he recites this (verse), verily thus he calms him; he calmed injures not his offspring or cattle. ‘This prayer of thy suppliant, O god’, with (this verse) to Varuṇa he concludes; so long as he is tied up, Varuṇa is his deity, so long as he proceeds to the closed places; verily thus with his own deity, his own metre, he makes him successful. ‘Of thy suppliant, O god’ (he says ); he who sacrifices is a suppliant. ‘Insight and skill, O Varuṇa, do thou quicken’ (he says); verily thus he says, ‘Do thou, O Varuṇa, quicken strength and knowledge.’ ‘Let us mount that ship fair crossing by

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which we may pass over all evils' (he says); the ship fair crossing is the sacrifice; the ship fair crossing is the black antelope skin; the ship fair crossing is speech; verily thus having mounted upon speech with it he crosses over to the world of heaven. These he recites eight in number, perfect in form; that in the sacrifice is perfect which is perfect in form, that rite which as it is performed the verse describes. Of them he recites the first thrice, the last thrice; they make up twelve; the year has twelve months; Prajāpati is the year; verily with those whose abode is Prajāpati he prospers who knows thus. Thrice he recites the first, thrice the last; verily thus he ties the ends of the sacrifice, for firmness, for might, to prevent slipping.

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i. 14 (iii. 3). One of the two oxen should be yoked, the other unloosened; then they should take down the king; if they were to take down when both were unloosed, they would make the king have the fathers as his deity; if when yoked, lack of peace and rest would come on offspring; offspring would scatter. The ox which is unyoked is the symbol of offspring who sit in the house; the yoked one is that of those on a journey. Those who take down when one is yoked and one unyoked, produce both peace and rest. The gods and the Asuras strove for these worlds; they contended for this eastern quarter; the Asuras conquered them thence; they contended for the southern quarter; the Asuras conquered them thence; they contended for the western quarter; the Asuras conquered them thence; they contended for the northern quarter; the Asuras conquered them thence. They contended for the north-eastern quarter; they were not conquered thence. This is the unconquered quarter; therefore in this quarter one should strive or cause striving; for he has power to dispose of debts. The gods said, 'Through our lack of a king they conquer us; let us make a king.' 'Be it so' (they said). They made Soma king; with Soma as king they conquered all the quarters. He who sacrifices has Soma as king. While (the cart) stands facing east, they place on (the Soma); thereby he conquers the eastern quarter; him they carry round to the south; thereby he conquers the southern quarter; him they turn round to the west; thereby he conquers the western quarter; him they take down from (the cart) facing north; thereby he conquers the northern quarter. By Soma the king he conquers all the quarters who knows thus.

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The Guest Reception of Soma

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i. 15 (iii. 4). The oblation of the guest reception is offered, when Soma the king has come; Soma the king comes to the house of the sacrificer; to him this oblation of the guest reception is offered; that is why the guest reception has its name. It is offered on nine potsherds; the breaths are nine; (it serves) to arrange the breaths, to recognize the breaths. It is for Viṣṇu; the sacrifice is Viṣṇu; verily thus with his own deity, his own metre, he makes him successful. All the metres and the Pṛṣṭhas follow Soma the king when bought. As many as follow Soma the king, to all these is the guest reception performed. They kindle the fire, when Soma the king has come. Just as in the world when a human king has come, or another deserving person, they slay an ox or a cow that miscarries; so for him they slay in that they kindle the fire, for Agni is the victim of the gods.

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i. 16 (iii. 5). ‘Recite for Agni being kindled’ the Adhvaryu says; ‘To thee, O god Savitṛ,’ (this verse) to Savitṛ he recites. They say ‘Since it is for Agni being kindled that he recites by order, then why does he recite (a verse ) to Savitṛ?’ Savitṛ is lord of instigations; verily thus on the instigation of Savitṛ they kindle him; therefore he recites (a verse) to Savitṛ. ‘May the two great ones, sky and earth, for us,’ (this verse) to sky and earth he recites; they say, ‘Since it is for Agni being kindled that he recites by order, then why does he recite (this verse) to sky and earth?’ By means of sky and earth him when born the gods grasped; by these two even to-day is he grasped; therefore he recites (this verse) to sky and earth. ‘Thee, O Agni, from the lotus’ this triad in Gāyatrī to Agni he recites when the fire is being kindled; verily thus with his own deity, his own metre he makes him successful. ‘Atharvan kindled forth’ is perfect in form; that in the sacrifice is perfect which is perfect in form, that rite which as it is performed the verse describes. If he is not born, if he is long in being born, then should be repeated Gāyatrī verses, Rakṣas slaying, namely, ‘O Agni strike down the foe’ for the smiting away of the Rakṣases. The Rakṣases seize them when he is not born and is long in being born. If he is born when one only has been recited, or when two, then he should recite an appropriate (verse ) containing (the word) ‘born’, ‘Let men say’ for him when born. That which in the sacrifice is appropriate is perfect. ‘Whom with the hand like a quoit’ (he says ), for with the hands they kindle him.

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'The child born' (he says); Agni is a first-born child as it were; 'Like (it) they bear, Agni of the folk, good sacrificer' (he says); *om* is for them what *na* is for the gods. 'Forward bear the god to the feast for the gods, best winner of wealth' is the appropriate (verse ) for him when being taken forward; that which in the sacrifice is appropriate is perfect. 'Let him seat himself in his own place of birth' (he says); he is his own place of birth in that Agni is Agni's. 'Born in the all-knower' (he says ); one is born, one is the all-knower. 'Quicken the dear guest' (he says); he is his dear guest in that Agni is Agni's. 'On a smooth (place) the lord of the house' (he says); verily thus he places him in health. 'By Agni is Agni kindled, the sage, the lord of the house, the youthful, bearer of the oblation, with the ladle in his mouth' is the appropriate (verse ); that which in the sacrifice is appropriate is perfect. 'For thou, O Agni, by Agni, sage by the sage, good by the good' (he says ); one is a sage, the other a sage; one is good, the other good. 'Friend with friend thou art enkindled' (he says); he is his own friend in that Agni is Agni's. 'Him they make bright, the skilled, the victor in contests, the mighty one in his own dwellings' (he says ); he is his own house in that Agni is Agni's. 'With the sacrifice the sacrifice the gods sacrificed', with the last he concludes; with the sacrifice the gods sacrificed the sacrifice in that with Agni they sacrificed to Agni; they went to the world of heaven. 'These laws were first; these greatnesses resort to the sky, where are the ancient Sādhya gods' (he says ); the Sādhya gods are the metres; they first sacrificed to Agni with Agni; they went to the world of heaven. The Ādityas and the Aṅgirases were here; they first sacrificed with Agni to Agni; they went to the world of heaven; the libation to Agni is a heavenly libation. Even if he who sacrifices is not a Brāhmaṇa or is wrongly spoken of, nevertheless his libation goes to the gods and is not united with evil; his libation goes to the gods, and is not united with evil, who knows thus. These thirteen he recites perfect in form; that in the sacrifice is perfect which is perfect in form, that rite which as it is performed the verse describes. Of these he recites the first thrice, the last thrice. They make up seventeen; Prajāpati is seventeenfold,

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the months are twelve, the seasons five; so great is the year; Prajāpati is the year; verily thus with these which have their abode in Prajāpati he prospers who knows thus. He recites the first thrice, the last thrice; verily thus he ties the ends of the sacrifice, for steadiness, for might, to prevent slipping.

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i. 17 (iii. 6). ‘With the kindling-stick honour Agni’ and ‘Swell up; be there gathered for thee’ are the invitatory verses of the two butter portions, referring to the guest reception and 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. (The verse) to Agni contains (the word) ‘guest’, not that to Soma; if (the verse) to Soma contained (the word) ‘guest’, it would clearly be (the verse to be used); but it does contain (the word) ‘guest’ as it contains (the word) ‘made fat’; when they serve him with food, then does he become fat. For them he says as offering verses ‘Delighting’. ‘Over this Viṣṇu strode’ and ‘To his beloved place may I win’ are (two verses) to Viṣṇu. Having used (a verse) of three Padas as invitatory verse, he says one of four as offering verse, there are seven Padas; the guest reception is the head of the sacrifice; there are seven breaths in the head; verily thus he places breaths in the head. ‘The Hotṛ of the sacrifice with brilliant car’ and ‘Famed far is the Agni of Bharata’ are the invitatory and offering verses of the Sviṣṭakṛt, referring to the guest reception and 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. They are Triṣṭubh verses, to secure power. (The sacrifice) ends with the sacrificial food; the gods prospered by means of the guest reception ending with the sacrificial food; therefore should it be performed ending with the sacrificial food. In this case they offer the fore-offerings, not the after-offerings. The fore-offerings and the after-offerings are the breaths; the fore-offerings are those breaths in the head, the after-offerings those below. If in the case one were to offer the after-offerings, that would be as if one were to break off those breaths and seek to place them in the head. That would be superfluous; these breaths, both those and those, are united together; verily thus in that they offer the fore-offerings, not the after-offerings, they obtain their desires in the fore-offerings and in the after-offerings.

Linked texts (1)

Aitareyabrāhmaṇa — Mahidāsa Aitareya, Sanskrit