Aitareyabrahmana 4.10

4.10

Concerning this they say: / 'Sūrya is not to be over-recited; the bṛhatī is not to be over-recited. / If one were to over-recite Sūrya, one would fall away from priestly lustre; / if one were to over-recite the bṛhatī, one would fall away from the vital breaths.' / He recites the pragātha addressed to Indra: 'Bring us resolve, O Indra' [RV 1.30.6]; / 'Teach us on this journey, O much-invoked one; living, may we attain the light' [RV 1.30.7]: / yonder one indeed is the light; through that he does not over-recite Sūrya. / And since it is a pragātha in the bṛhatī metre, through that he does not over-recite the bṛhatī. / He recites the rāthaṃtara womb: 'We cry aloud to you, O hero' [RV 7.32.22]. / With the rāthaṃtara junction-chant they chant praise for the Aśvina [śastra]. / So when he recites the rāthaṃtara womb, it is for the sake of having the same womb as the rathantara. / '[The lord] of this moving world, seeing the sun' [RV 7.32.23]: / yonder one indeed is the sun-seer; through that he does not over-recite Sūrya. / And since it is a pragātha in the bṛhatī metre, through that he does not over-recite the bṛhatī. / He recites the pragātha addressed to Mitra and Varuṇa: 'Many are those having the eye of the sun' [RV 10.36.1]. / Day is Mitra, night is Varuṇa. / He who undertakes the atirātra sacrifice undertakes both day and night. / So when he recites the pragātha addressed to Mitra and Varuṇa, / he firmly establishes him in day and night. / 'Having the eye of the sun' [RV 10.36.1]: through that he does not over-recite Sūrya. / And since it is a pragātha in the bṛhatī metre, through that he does not over-recite the bṛhatī. / 'Great are heaven and earth for us' [RV 1.159.1] and / 'For they are, O heaven and earth, all-beneficent' [RV 1.160.1]—[these] two verses addressed to Heaven and Earth he recites. / Heaven and Earth are the two foundations: / this one here is the foundation here, yonder one there. / So when he recites the two verses addressed to Heaven and Earth, he firmly establishes him in the two foundations. / 'The shining god Sūrya, through ordinance, the bright goddess' [cf. RV 1.160.1]: through that he does not over-recite Sūrya. / And because a gāyatrī and a jagatī make two bṛhatīs, through that he does not over-recite the bṛhatī. / He recites a dvipadā: 'The goddess of all mortal creatures, who neither hurts nor seizes' [RV 5.41.17]. / People used to call this Āśvina [śastra] 'a pile-fueled chant'. / Nirṛti, holding a noose, used to sit waiting: / 'As soon as the hotṛ priest recites the conclusion, then I shall fasten my nooses.' / Then Bṛhaspati saw this dvipadā: / 'Who neither hurts nor seizes' [RV 5.41.17]; / with it he cast off the nooses of Nirṛti, the noose-bearer, downwards. / So when the hotṛ priest recites this dvipadā, / he casts off the nooses of Nirṛti, the noose-bearer, downwards. / Safely the hotṛ priest is released, [gaining] full lifespan, for the attainment of a full lifespan. / He reaches a full lifespan, whoever knows this. / 'Of mortal creatures' [RV 5.41.17]: / yonder one indeed torments, as it were; through that he does not over-recite Sūrya. / And because the dvipadā is man's metre, and it encompasses all metres: / through that he does not over-recite the bṛhatī.