Aitareyabrahmana 3.31

3.31

He recites the vaiśvadeva [sastra].
Just as mankind is, so is the vaiśvadeva [śastra].
Just as human settlements are within, so are the hymns; just as the forests are, so are the dhāyyā verses.
Therefore, he calls on both sides of a dhāyyā verse.
Therefore, though being wildernesses, they are not wild, having wild beasts and birds—so indeed he used to say.
Just as man is, so is the vaiśvadeva [śastra].
Just as the limbs are within him, so are the hymns; just as the joints are, so are the dhāyyā verses.
Therefore, he calls on both sides of a dhāyyā verse.
Therefore, a man's joints, though loose, are firm,
for they are held by the brahman.
The dhāyyā verses and the offering verses are indeed the root of the sacrifice.
If they were to use different dhāyyā verses and different offering verses,
they would uproot the sacrifice.
Therefore, they should be the same.
This sastra, namely the vaiśvadeva, belongs to the five peoples.
It is the sastra of all the five peoples:
of gods, men, gandharvas and apsarases, serpents, and the fathers; of these
five peoples this is the sastra.
All the five peoples know him;
invocations from the fivefold people go to him who knows thus.
This hotṛ priest who recites the vaiśvadeva [śastra] belongs to all deities.
When about to recite, he should meditate on all quarters; thereby he places essence in all quarters.
If there should be one he hates in a quarter, he should not meditate on it;
having passed him by, he takes away his virility.
With the final verse, 'Aditi is heaven, Aditi is the intermediate space,'
he concludes. This [earth] is Aditi; this is heaven; this is the intermediate space.
'Aditi is the mother, he the father, he the son.' This [earth] is the mother, this the father, this the son.
'All the gods are Aditi, the five peoples.' In her indeed are all the gods; in her the five peoples.
'Aditi is what is born, Aditi is what is to be born.' This [earth] is what is born, this what is to be born.
Twice he concludes by verse-quarters, for cattle are four-footed, for the attainment of cattle;
once by half-verses, for a foundation.
Man has two foundations; cattle are four-footed.
He thus establishes the sacrificer, who has two foundations, upon four-footed cattle.
He should always conclude with the verse belonging to the five peoples.
Touching the ground, he should conclude.
Upon that in which he prepares the sacrifice,
upon that he establishes him in the end.
Having recited the vaiśvadeva sastra, with 'O Viśve Devas, hear this call of mine,'
he offers with a verse to the Viśve Devas;
thereby he pleases the deities according to their share.