Aitareyabrahmana 2.1: ADHYĀYA I

Rigveda Brahmanas: The Aitareya and Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇas of the Rigveda (HOS 25) 2.1

Language: English

ADHYĀYA I

ii. 1 (vi. 1). By means of the sacrifice the gods went upwards to the world of heaven; they were afraid, ‘Seeing this of us men and seers will track us.’ Them they obstructed by means of the sacrificial post; in that they obstructed them by means of the post, that is why the post has its name. Having fixed it point down, they went upwards. Then men and seers came to the place of sacrifice of the gods, ‘Let us seek something to track the sacrifice.’ They found the post only, established with point downwards. They perceived, ‘By this the gods have blocked the sacrifice.’ Having dug it out they fixed it upwards; then did they discern the world of heaven. In that the post is fixed upright, (it is) to track the sacrifice, to reveal the world of heaven. The post is a thunderbolt; it should be made of eight corners; the bolt is eight-cornered. This he hurls as a weapon at the rival who hates him, to lay him low who is to be laid low by him. The post is a bolt; it stands erect as a weapon against the foe. Therefore also to him who hates there is displeasure in seeing, ‘This is N.N.’s post, this is N.N.’s post.’ Of Khadira wood should he make the post who desires heaven; by means of a post of Khadira the gods won the world of heaven; thus verily also the sacrificer by a post of Khadira wins the world of heaven. Of Bilva should he make the post, who desires proper food and desires prosperity. Year by year is Bilva taken; this is the symbol of proper food. It should be covered with branches up to the root, this is (the symbol) of prosperity. He prospers in offspring and cattle who knowing thus makes the post of Bilva. Now as to (his using) Bilva, they say ‘Bilva is light’; a light he becomes among his own people, he becomes the chief of his own people, who knows thus. Of Palāça should he make the post, who desires brilliance and desires splendour. The Palāça is the brilliance and splendour of the trees; brilliant and resplendent he becomes

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who knowing thus makes the post of Palāça. As to (his using) Palāça, the Palāça is the birthplace of all trees; therefore they speak with the word 'Palāça' of foliage generally, as 'the foliage of N. N.; the foliage of N. N.' The desire in all trees is obtained by him who knows thus.

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ii. 2 (vi. 2). 'We are anointing the post; do thou recite' the Adhvaryu says. 'They anoint thus at the sacrifice, pious men' he recites, for at the sacrifice pious men anoint him. 'O tree, with divine sweetness'; the butter is the divine sweetness. 'What time thou dost stand aloft, then give us riches, or what time thou dost dwell in the lap of the mother' (he says); 'if thou shalt stand or thou shalt lie, bestow wealth upon us' he says in effect. 'Rise erect, O lord of the forest' is the appropriate (verse ) for it being raised; that which in the sacrifice is appropriate is perfect. 'On the surface of the earth' (he says); that is the surface of the earth where they set up the post. 'Being set up with careful setting, do thou bestow radiance on the bearer of the sacrifice,' this benediction he invokes. 'Rising before the kindled' (he says ), for it is erected before the kindled (fire). 'Winning the holy power unaging, with good heroes', this benediction he invokes. 'Driving misfortune far from us' (he says); misfortune is hunger, the evil; verily thus he drives it away from the sacrifice and from the sacrificer. 'Rise erect for great good fortune,' this benediction he invokes. 'Aloft to our aid do thou arise like the god Savitṛ'; 'the *na* of the gods is their *om*' (they say); verily thus he says 'stand like the god Savitṛ'. 'Aloft as the gainer of booty' (he says); verily thus he gains it as a gainer of booty and winner of riches. 'What time with skilled singers we vie in calling' (he says); the skilled singers are the metres; by means of them the sacrificers vie in calling the gods; 'To my sacrifice come ye, to my sacrifice.' Even if many as it were sacrifice, the gods come to the sacrifice of him where one knowing thus recites this (verse). 'Aloft protect us from tribulation, with thy beams do thou consume every devourer' (he says ); the devourers are the Rakṣases, the evil; verily thus he says, 'Burn the Rakṣases, the evil.' 'Make us erect for motion, for life,' in that he says thus, verily he says 'Make us erect for moving, for life.' Even if the sacrificer is seized as it were, verily thus he gives him to the year. 'Find our worship among the gods', this benediction he invokes. 'Born he is born in the fairness of the days' (he says ), for born he is thus born. 'Waxing great in the mortal ordinance' (he says); verily thus they make

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it grow. 'They purify him, the clever, the busy, with skill' (he says); verily thus they purify it. 'The sage uttereth his speech desirous of the gods' (he says); verily thus he announces it to the gods. 'The youth, well clad, covered round, hath come', with this last (verse ) he concludes; the youth well clad is the breath; it is enclosed with the bodily parts. 'Better he becometh being born' (he says), for ever better he becomes being born. 'Him the wise sages raise up, the prudent, the pious with their minds' (he says); the sages are the learned ones; verily thus they raise it up. Seven (verses) he repeats, 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. Of them he says the first thrice, the last thrice; they make up eleven; the Triṣṭubh has eleven syllables; the thunderbolt of Indra is the Triṣṭubh; verily thus with those whose abode is Indra he prospers who knows thus. He recites the first thrice, the last thrice; verily thus he ties the ends of the sacrifice, for firmness, for might, to prevent slipping.

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ii. 3 (vi. 3). 'Should the post stand? Or should he throw it (into the fire)?' they say. It should stand for one desiring cattle. Cattle would not serve the gods for slaying as food. They having departed kept disputing; 'Ye shall not slay us, not us.' Then the gods saw this post as a thunderbolt; they raised it up against them; fearing it they came back; verily even to-day they come up to it. Thereafter the cattle served the gods for slaying as food. Cattle serve for slaying as food him who knows thus and for whom knowing thus the post continues standing. He should throw (it) after for one who desires heaven; the ancients used to throw it after, (thinking) 'the post is the sacrificer, the strew the sacrificer; Agni is the birthplace of the gods; he, having come into existence from Agni as the birthplace of the gods from the oblation, with a body of gold will go aloft to the world of heaven.' Then those who were later than they saw this chip as a fragment of the post ; it should be thrown after at this time; thence is obtained the desire in the throwing after, thence the desire is obtained which is in the standing. Himself to all the deities he offers who consecrates himself; all the deities are Agni; all the deities are Soma; in that he offers a victim to Agni and Soma, verily thus the sacrificer redeems himself from all the deities. They say, 'As victim for Agni and Soma should be offered one of two colours, for it is for two deities.' That is not to be regarded. It should be offered as fat; cattle are characterized by fat; the sacrificer becomes emaciated as it were; in that the victim is fat, verily thus he makes the sacrificer prosper with his own fat. They say, 'He should not eat of the

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victim for Agni and Soma; of a man he eats who eats of the victim for Agni and Soma, for thereby the sacrificer redeems himself.' That is not to be regarded. (The victim) for Agni and Soma is an oblation connected with the slaying of Vṛtra; by means of Agni and Soma Indra slew Vṛtra; they said to him, 'Through us two thou hast slain Vṛtra; let us choose a boon from thee.' 'Choose' (he said). They chose this boon, the victim on the pressing day of to-morrow. This is regularly performed for those two, for it is chosen as a boon for them. Therefore should the victim be partaken of, and one should be fain to take it.

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ii. 4 (vi. 4). With the Āprī verses he delights; the Āprī verses are brilliance and splendour; verily thus with brilliance and splendour he causes him to prosper. He says the offering verses for the kindling-sticks; the kindling-sticks are the breaths, for the breaths enkindle all that there is here; verily thus he delights the breaths, he places the breaths in the sacrificer. He says the offering verse for Tanūnapāt; Tanūnapāt is the breath, for he protects bodies; verily thus he delights the breath, he places the breath in the sacrificer. He says the offering verse for Narāśaṅsa ; men are offspring; praise is speech; verily thus he delights offspring and speech; offspring and speech he confers upon the sacrificer. He says the offering verse for the sacrificial food; the sacrificial food is food; verily thus he delights food; food he confers upon the sacrificer. He says the offering verse for the strew; the strew is cattle; verily thus he delights cattle; cattle he confers upon the sacrificer. He says the offering verses for the doors; the doors are rain; verily thus he delights rain; rain and proper food he bestows upon the sacrificer. He says the offering verse for dawn and night; dawn and night are day and night; verily thus he delights day and night; in day and night he places the sacrificer. He says the offering verse for the divine Hotṛs; the divine Hotṛs are expiration and inspiration; verily thus he delights expiration and inspiration; expiration and inspiration he confers upon the sacrificer. He says the offering verse for the three goddesses; the three goddesses are expiration, inspiration, and cross-breathing; verily thus he delights them; them he confers upon the sacrificer. He says the offering verse for Tvaṣṭṛ; Tvaṣṭṛ is speech, for speech creates all this as it were; verily thus he delights speech; he confers speech on the sacrificer. He says the offering verse

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for the lord of the forest; the lord of the forest is the breath; verily thus he delights the breath; the breath he places in the sacrificer. He says the offering verse for the calls of Hail!; the calls of Hail! are a support; verily thus on a support at the end he establishes the sacrificer. For these should he use (verses) by the ancestral seer; in that he uses (verses) by the seer, verily thus he does not set loose the sacrificer from his connexion.

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ii. 5 (vi. 5). ‘Recite for the carrying round of fire’ the Adhvaryu says. ‘Agni, the Hotṛ, at our sacrifice’, this triplet to Agni in Gāyatrī he recites when the carrying round of fire is being performed; verily thus with his own deity, his own metre, he makes him prosper. ‘Being a steed he is carried round’ (he says), for him being as it were a steed they carry round. ‘Thrice round the sacrifice Agni goeth like a charioteer’ (he says), for he like a charioteer goes round the sacrifice. ‘The lord of strength, the sage’ (he says), for he is the lord of strength. ‘Do thou give the supplementary direction, O Hotṛ, for the oblations for the gods’ the Adhvaryu says. ‘Agni hath conquered, he hath won strength’, thus the Maitrāvaruṇa begins the supplementary direction. They say, ‘Since the Adhvaryu gives the order for supplementary directions to the Hotṛ, then why does the Maitrāvaruṇa begin the supplementary direction?’ The Maitrāvaruṇa is the mind of the sacrifice; the Hotṛ is the voice of the sacrifice; instigated by mind voice speaks, for the speech which one speaks with his mind elsewhere, that speech is demoniacal and not acceptable to the gods. In that the Maitrāvaruṇa begins the supplementary direction, verily thus with mind he sets speech in motion; with speech set in motion by mind he provides the oblation for the gods.

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ii. 6 (vi. 6). ‘O divine slayers and O human (slayers) make ready’ he says; the slayers of the gods and those of man, them thus he instructs. ‘Bring ye (it) to the doors of sacrifice, ordaining the sacrifice for the lords of the sacrifice’ (he says). The sacrifice is the victim; the lord of the sacrifice the sacrificer; verily thus he makes the sacrificer prosper with his own sacrifice. Or rather they say, ‘To whatever deity the victim is slaughtered, that is the lord of the sacrifice.’ If the victim be for one deity, ‘for the lord of the sacrifice’ he should say; if for two deities, ‘for the two lords of the sacrifice’; if for many deities ‘for the lords of the sacrifice’. That is the rule. ‘Forward for him bear Agni’ (he

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says); the victim as it was borne along saw death before it, and was not willing to go to the gods; the gods said to it, 'Come; we shall make you go to the world of heaven.' It replied 'Be it so; but let one of you go before me.' 'Be it so' (they replied). Before it went Agni; it followed after Agni. Therefore they say, 'Every animal is connected with Agni, for after Agni it followed.' Therefore also they bear Agni before it. 'Spread the strew' (he says); the victim has plants as its body; verily thus he makes the victim have its full body. 'May its mother approve it, its father, its brother from the same womb, its comrade from the same flock' (he says); verily thus they slay it with the approval of its generators. 'Place its feet north; make its eye go to the sun; let loose its breath to the wind, its life to the atmosphere, its ear to the quarters, its body to earth' (he says); verily it he thus places in these worlds. 'Flay off its skin in one piece; before cutting the navel force out the omentum; keep its breath within' (he says); verily thus he places the breaths in cattle. 'Make its breast an eagle, its two front legs hatchets, its two fore feet spikes, its shoulders two tortoises as it were, its loins uncut, its thighs two door leaves, its knees oleander leaves; its ribs are twenty-six; them in order remove; make each limb of it perfect' (he says); verily thus its members and its limbs he delights. 'Make a hole in the earth to cover the offal' he says; the offal is connected with plants; this (earth) is the support of plants; verily thus at the end he establishes it in its own support.

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ii. 7 (vi. 7). 'Unite the Rakṣases with the blood' he says. With the husks and the polishings the gods deprived the Rakṣases of the offerings of oblations (of cereals, &c.), with blood of the great sacrifice. In that he says 'Unite the Rakṣases with the blood', with their own share he excludes the Rakṣases from the sacrifice. They say 'He should not at the sacrifice make mention of Rakṣases; what Rakṣases are there? The sacrifice is without Rakṣases.' They say, however, 'He should make mention; if a man deprive one with a portion of his portion, he revenges himself on him, or if he does not revenge himself on him, then on his son, or on his grandson, but he does revenge himself on him.' If he make mention he should do so inaudibly; the inaudible part of speech is hidden as it were, the Rakṣases are hidden as it were. If he were to make mention audibly he would make his speech the speech of the Rakṣases.

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He who speaks the speech of the Rakṣases (speaks) that speech which a proud person or a man distraught speaks; that is the speech of the Rakṣases. He does not himself become proud, nor in his offspring is a proud son born who knows thus. ‘Its entrails do not cut deeming them an owl (in that shape), lest in your family and offspring a howler may howl, O slayer’ (he says); to the divine and the human slayers verily thus he hands it over. ‘O Adhrigu, toil, carefully toil; toil, O Adhrigu’ thrice should he say and ‘O free from sin’; the slayer of the gods is the Adhrigu, the Nigrabhītṛ the one free from sin; verily thus he hands it over to the slayers and the Nigrabhītṛs. ‘O slayers, whatever here shall be well done, to us that; whatever ill done, elsewhere that’ (he says); Agni was the Hotṛ of the gods; with speech he dissected it; by speech the Hotṛ dissects it. Whatever they cut below or above, whatever is done to excess or defectively, verily thus he indicates it to the Nigrabhītṛs and the slayers; prosperously verily is the Hotṛ set free with full life for fullness of life; all his life he lives who thus knows.

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ii. 8 (vi. 8). The gods slew man as the victim. When he had been slain his sap went out; it entered the horse; therefore the horse became fit for the sacrifice, and him whose sap had departed they dismissed; he became a monkey. They slew the horse; it went away from the horse when slain; it entered the ox; therefore the ox became fit for sacrifice, and it whose sap had departed they dismissed; it became a Gauramṛga. They slew the ox; it departed from the ox when slain; it entered the sheep; therefore the sheep became fit for sacrifice, and it whose sap had departed they dismissed; it became the Gayal. They slew the sheep; it departed from the sheep when slain; it entered the goat; therefore the goat became fit for sacrifice, and it whose sap had departed they dismissed; it became the camel. It dwelt for the longest time in the goat; therefore the goat is of these animals the most often employed. They slew the goat; it departed from the goat when slain; it entered this (earth); therefore this (earth) became fit for sacrifice, and it whose sap had departed they dismissed; it became a Çarabha. These animals whose

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sap is departed are unfit for sacrifice; therefore one should not eat of them. It they followed in this (earth); it, followed, became rice; in that they offer also a cake in the animal sacrifice (it is because they think) ‘Let our sacrifice be with a victim with sap, let our sacrifice be with a victim whole.’ His sacrifice is performed with a victim with sap, his sacrifice is performed with a victim whole who knows thus.

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ii. 9 (vi. 9). The cake (which is offered) is the victim which is killed; the chaff of it is the hairs, the husks the skin, the polishings the blood, the pounded grains and fragments the flesh, whatever is substantial the bone. With the sap of all animals he sacrifices who sacrifices with the cake. Therefore they say, ‘The cake offering is the people’s sacrificial session.’ ‘Ye two, Agni and Soma, of joint power, have placed These constellations in the sky; Ye too the rivers from unspeakable misfortune, O Agni and Soma, set free when fast held;’ this offering verse he says for the omentum. By all these deities is he seized who becomes consecrated. Therefore they say ‘He should not eat (the food) of one consecrated.’ In that he says as offering verse for the omentum ‘O Agni and Soma ye set free when fast held’, verily thus from all the deities he sets the sacrificer free. Therefore they say ‘One should eat when the omentum has been offered, for he then becomes the sacrificer.’ ‘Another from the sky Mātariçvan bore’ he says as offering verse for the cake. ‘Another from the mountain the eagle pressed out’, (he says) for hence as it were is he, hence is the sap gathered. ‘Make ready the oblations, shape food forth’ he uses as offering verse for the Sviṣṭakṛt of the cake (offering). Verily thus he makes ready the oblation for him and places sap and strength in himself. He invokes the sacrificial food; the sacrificial food is cattle; verily thus he invokes cattle; he confers cattle on the sacrificer.

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ii. 10 (vi. 10). ‘Recite for the oblation being cut off for Manotā’ the Adhvaryu says. He recites the hymn ‘For thou, O Agni, are the first thinker.’ They say ‘Since the victim is for other deities also, then why

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does he recite (verses) to Agni alone for the oblation being cut off for Manotā?’ Three are the Manotās of the gods, for in them are their minds woven. Speech is the Manotā of the gods; for in it are their minds woven. The cow is the Manotā of the gods, for in it are their minds woven. Agni is the Manotā of the gods, for in him are their minds woven. Agni is all the Manotās; in Agni the Manotās unite. Therefore he recites (verses) to Agni only for the oblation being cut off for Manotā. ‘O Agni and Soma, of the oblation set forward’ he uses as offering verse for the oblation. In ‘of the oblation’ it is (appropriate and) perfect in form, as ‘set forward’ it is perfect in form. Made perfect with all perfections his oblation goes to the gods who knows thus. He says the offering verse for the lord of the forest; the lord of the forest is the breaths; with life his oblation goes to the gods when one knowing thus says the offering verse for the lord of the forest. He says the offering verse of the Sviṣṭakṛt; the Sviṣṭakṛt is a support; verily thus on a support at the end he establishes the sacrifice. He invokes the sacrificial food; the sacrificial food is cattle; verily thus he invokes cattle; he confers cattle upon the sacrificer.

Linked texts (1)

Aitareyabrāhmaṇa — Mahidāsa Aitareya, Sanskrit