Aitareyabrahmana 8.2: ADHYĀYA II

Rigveda Brahmanas: The Aitareya and Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇas of the Rigveda (HOS 25) 8.2

Language: English

ADHYĀYA II

viii. 5 (xxxvii. 1). Now as to the renewed anointing. His lordly power is consecrated, who being a Kṣatriya consecrates himself. When he concludes, after coming out of the concluding bath and having offered the final offering of a cow, then they again anoint him when the concluding offering has been completed. For him in advance the following preparation has been made: a throne of Udumbara; its feet should be a span in size, the head (and foot) and the cross (boards) an ell in size, the cover seat of Muñja grass, the spread a tiger skin; a goblet of Udumbara; a branch of Udumbara. In this goblet are poured eight elements; curds, honey, melted butter, the waters of rain during heat, grass and green barley, liquor and Dūrvā grass. Where the line drawn by the sword on the south of the altar is, there he places the throne facing east. Two of its feet are within, two outside the altar. Prosperity is the (earth). What is within the altar is its limited form; what is without the altar is the unlimited space. In that its two feet are within the altar, two outside of the altar, (it serves) to obtain both desires, that which is within the altar and that without the altar.

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viii. 6 (xxxvii. 2). He covers (it) with a tiger skin, skin uppermost, neck in front. The tiger is the lordly power of the wild animals, the Rājanya is the lordly power; thus he makes the lordly power prosper with the lordly power. From behind it he approaches it facing east bending the right knee, and taking hold of it with both hands he addresses it with

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‘May Agni in unison with the Gāyatrī metre mount thee; Savitṛ with the Uṣṇih, Soma with the Anuṣṭubh, Bṛhaspati with the Bṛhatī, Mitra and Varuṇa with the Paṅkti, Indra with the Triṣṭubh, the All-gods with the Jagatī.’

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With ‘After them I mount for kingship, for overlordship, for paramount rule, for self rule, for sovereignty, for supreme authority, for kingship, for great kingship, for suzerainty, for supremacy, for preeminence.’

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He should mount the throne, with the right knee first, then the left. ‘Thus, thus (is it to be performed)’ (they say). The gods in unison with the metres increasing by four syllables mounted on the prosperity on which they now are established, Agni with the Gāyatrī, Savitṛ with the Uṣṇih, Soma with the Anuṣṭubh, Bṛhaspati with the Bṛhatī, Mitra and Varuṇa with the Paṅkti, Indra with the Triṣṭubh, the All-gods with the Jagatī. These two are mentioned in ‘The Gāyatrī hath become the yoke fellow of Agni’. Fortune attends him, prosperity ever increasing he attains, he attains control and overlordship over people who, being a Kṣatriya, thus mounts this throne after those deities. Then being about to anoint him, he makes him recite the appeasing of the waters

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‘With eye propitious regard me, O waters;
With propitious body touch my skin;
All the Agnis that sit on the waters I invoke you;
Confer on me radiance, force and might,’

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(thinking) ‘Let not the waters, unappeased, strike away the strength of him when anointed.’

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viii. 7 (xxxvii. 3). Then he anoints him, placing the Udumbara branch between, with

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‘These waters are most auspicious,
These healing all,
These prosper the realm,
These support the realms and are immortal.
With these by which Prajāpati anointed Indra,
Soma the king, Varuṇa, Yama, Manu,
With these waters I anoint thee,
Do thou become here the overking of kings.
Thee great, of the great
People the ruler,
The lady, thy mother, bore
The noble lady, thy mother bore.
On the impulse of the god Savitṛ, with the arms of the Açvins, with the hands of Pūṣan, with the brilliance of Agni, with the radiance of the sun, with the power of Indra I anoint thee, for might, for prosperity, for glory, for the eating of food.’

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With _bhūḥ_ (he concludes) if he desire of him ‘May he eat food’; with _bhūḥ, bhuvaḥ_, if he desire thus of him with two descendants; with _bhūḥ_,

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bhuvah, svar if he desire thus of him with three descendants, or without rivals. Some say ‘These exclamations are an obtaining of all; by using too much it is performed by him for another.’ He should anoint him with this (formula)

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‘On the instigation of the god Savitṛ, with the arms of the Açvins, with the hands of Pūṣan, with the brilliance of Agni, with the radiance of the sun, with the power of Indra I anoint thee, for might, for prosperity, for glory, for the eating of food.’

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This again they reject. ‘If he is anointed without the whole of speech, he is liable to depart before his day’, Satyakāma Jābāla used to say, ‘whom they do not anoint with these exclamations.’ ‘He is liable to live the whole of his life, and to obtain all by conquest’, Uddālaka Āruṇi used to say, ‘whom they anoint with these exclamations. Him he should anoint with this (formula)

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These things have departed from a Kṣatriya who has sacrificed; the holy power and the lordly power, strength, the eating of food, the sap of the plants and the waters, splendour, refreshment, growth and propagation; moreover, as this is a symbol of the lordly power, the sap of food, the lordly power of the plants and support. In that he offers beforehand these two libations, thus he confers on him the holy power and the lordly power.

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viii. 8 (xxxvii. 4). In that the throne is of Udumbara, the goblet of Udumbara, and there is a branch of Udumbara, and the Udumbara is strength and the eating of food, verily thus he confers upon him strength and the eating of food. In that there is curd, honey, and ghee, and it is the sap of the plants and the waters, verily thus he confers upon him the sap of plants and the waters. In that there are waters of rain in sunshine, and the waters of rain in sunshine are brilliance and splendour, verily thus he confers on him brilliance and splendour. In that there are grass and green barley, and these are a symbol of refreshment and growth, and also of propagation, verily thus he confers upon him refreshment and growth and also propagation. In that there is Surā, and this is

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a symbol of the lordly power, and also the sap of food, verily thus he confers upon him the symbol of lordly power and also the sap of food. In that there is Dūrvā grass, the Dūrvā is the lordly power of the plants, the Rājanya is the lordly power, for the Kṣatriya dwelling in the kingdom is fastened here as it were, and supported as it were; the Dūrvā is fastened as it were to the ground with descending growths, and is supported as it were. Thus in that there is Dūrvā grass, verily thus he confers upon him the lordly power of the plants and also a support. Those that have departed from him after sacrificing he thus confers upon him; verily thus he makes him prosper with them. Then he places in his hand a bowl of Surā with

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‘With thy sweetest, most intoxicating
Stream be thou purified, O Soma,
Pressed for Indra to drink.’

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Having placed it with (this verse), he makes him recite the expiation

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‘Separate for you is the place made by the gods,
Be ye not united in the highest heaven,
Surā thou art, the impetuous; he is king Soma;
Harm him not, when entering your own place of birth.’

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This is the discrimination of the drinking of Soma and of Surā. Having drank he should give it to him whom he deems generous, for that is a symbol of friendship; verily thus at the end he establishes it in a friend; for he thus finds support in a friend. He finds support who knows thus.

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viii. 9 (xxxvii. 5). Then he descends towards the Udumbara branch; the Udumbara is strength and the eating of food; verily thus he descends towards strength and the eating of food. Sitting down he places his feet on the earth and says the descent formula

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‘I find support in the sky and the earth; I find support in expiation
and inspiration; I find support in day and night; I find support in food
and drink; in the holy power, in the lordly power, in these three
worlds I find support.’

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At the end he finds support with his whole self; in all this he finds support, prosperity ever increasing he attains, he attains sovereignty and overlord-

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ship over people, who, anointed with the renewed anointing, being a Kṣatriya descends thus. Having descended with this descent formula he sits facing east, making a lap, and thrice pays honour to the holy power with ‘Homage to the holy power! Homage to the holy power! Homage to the holy power.’ Then he utters speech with ‘A boon I give for conquest, for victory, for winning, for success.’ In that he pays thrice homage to the holy power with ‘Homage to the holy power! Homage to the holy power! Homage to the holy power!’ verily thus the lordly power falls under the influence of the holy power. When the lordly power falls under the influence of the holy power, that kingdom is prosperous, rich in heroes; in it a heir is born. In that he utters speech with ‘A boon I give for conquest, for victory, for winning, for success’, that is the conquest [of speech in that he says ‘I give’. Moreover as to the conquest of speech, (he thinks) ‘Through this my rite shall be completed’. Having uttered speech, and having risen up he places a kindling stick on the Āhavanīya with

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‘Thou art a kindling stick; kindle thou, with power, with strength, hail!’

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Verily thus at the end with power and strength he makes himself to prosper. Having put on the kindling stick he steps out three strides north-east. (Saying)

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‘Thou art the orderer of the quarters,
In me be ye ordered for the gods;
Mine be good fortune
Freedom from fear be mine,’

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he reveres the unconquered quarter, to secure the permanence of his conquest. ‘Thus, thus (is it to be performed)’ (they say).

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viii. 10 (xxxvii. 6). The gods and the Asuras strove for these worlds; they strove for the eastern quarter; the Asuras drove them thence; they strove for the southern quarter; the Asuras drove them thence; they strove for the western quarter; the Asuras drove them thence; they strove for the northern quarter; the Asuras drove them thence; they strove for this inter-

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mediate quarter, the north-east; they thence defeated them. If, when two armies meet, a Kṣatriya runs up to him (saying) ‘So do for me that I shall conquer that army’, and if he reply ‘Be it so’, he should touch the body of his chariot with ‘O tree, be thou strong limbed’ and then say to him

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‘Do thou mount, to this quarter for thee let the chariot, well tied, advance, to the north (let it advance), to the west, to the south, to the east, against the foe.’

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With ‘With the attacking oblation’ he should make him turn; then he should look at him with the Apratiratha, Çāsa, and Sauparṇa hymns. He conquers that army. If again he runs up to him when about to engage in battle (saying) ‘So do for me that I shall conquer in this battle’, he should make him contend in this quarter; he conquers in this battle. If again he run up to him, being expelled from his kingdom (saying) ‘So do for me that I may be restored to this kingdom’, he should make him go away to this quarter; so does he again become restored to his kingdom. After the paying of reverence, he goes to the house saying (the verse) for the driving away of foes, ‘Drive away, O Indra, all my foes to the east’; from all sides freedom from foes and danger becomes his, prosperity ever increasing he attains, he attains sovereignty and overlordship over people who goes to the house saying thus this (verse) for the driving away of foes. Having gone to the house he sits down behind the household fire and holds on to the priest who at the end offers three butter libations to Indra, in four portions, with the bowl, in the Prapad way, for freedom from distress, injury, loss, and danger.

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viii. 11 (xxxvii. 7).

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‘Do thou pour forth for the winning of strength; the foe around—
_Bhūḥ_; the holy power, breath, immortality, this N. N. approacheth, protection, guarding, freedom from fear, for safety, with offspring, with cattle—
overcoming:
To overwhelm the foe thou movest like one taking payment for a debt; hail!

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In thee when pressed, O Soma, we delight, in the great— _Bhuvaḥ_; the holy power, breath, immortality, this N. N. approacheth, protection, guarding, freedom from fear, for safety, with offspring, with cattle— kingship of concourse: For the booty, O purifying one, thou dost plunge; hail! Thou hast brought to life, O purifying one, the sun; in the pail— _Svar_; the holy power, breath, immortality, this N. N. approacheth, protection, guarding, freedom from fear, for safety, with offspring, with cattle— with might the milk; In eagerness with the milk that is thy living gift; hail!’

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Free from harm and injury, unoppressed, protected on every side, by the form of the threefold knowledge he wanders through all the quarters, finding support in the world of Indra, for whom the priest at the end offers those three libations of butter in four portions with the bowl, in the Prapad manner. Then at the end he invokes propagation for cows, horses, and men with

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‘Here ye cows, be ye propagated,
Here ye horses, here ye men;
Here with a thousand fees to give
Let the hero, the protector, sit down.’

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He becomes multiplied with offspring and cattle who thus at the end invokes the propagation of cows, horses, and men. This Kṣatriya is never brought low, for whom those knowing thus sacrifice, But they bring him low for whom they sacrifice not knowing thus: just as outcasts, or robbers, or evildoers, seizing a wealthy man in the wild, fling him into a pit and run away taking his wealth, so these priests fling the sacrificer into a pit and run away taking his wealth. Knowing this Janamejaya Pārikṣita used to say ‘Those who know thus sacrifice for me who know thus; therefore I conquer the assailing host, I conquer with an assailing host. Me neither the arrows of heaven nor of men reach. I shall live all my life, I shall become lord of all the earth.’ Him neither divine nor human arrows reach, he lives all his life, he becomes lord of all the earth, for whom men, knowing thus, sacrifice.

Linked texts (1)

Aitareyabrāhmaṇa — Mahidāsa Aitareya, Sanskrit