Aitareyabrahmana 4.25

4.25

This twelve-day sacrifice is indeed Prajāpati's sacrifice; / Prajāpati indeed sacrificed with this twelve-day sacrifice in the beginning. / He said to the seasons and to the months: / 'Perform the twelve-day sacrifice for me.' / Having consecrated him and brought him to a state without turning back, they said: / 'Give to us now, and then we will perform the sacrifice for you.' / He bestowed upon them refreshment and nourishment; that is this nourishment deposited in the seasons and in the months. / They performed the sacrifice for him while he was giving; therefore, one should perform the sacrifice for one who gives. / They performed the sacrifice for him while receiving; therefore, one should perform the sacrifice for one who receives. / Both prosper who, knowing thus, both sacrifice and perform the sacrifice [for others]. / These seasons and months considered themselves heavy, as it were, having accepted [gifts] at the twelve-day sacrifice; / they said to Prajāpati: / 'Perform the twelve-day sacrifice for us.' / He said, 'So be it; undergo the consecration.' The fortnights of the waxing moon underwent consecration first; / they struck away evil. / Therefore they are like the day, for those whose evil is struck away are like the day. / The fortnights of the waning moon underwent consecration later; they did not strike away evil as completely. / Therefore they are like darkness, for those whose evil is not struck away are like darkness. / Therefore, knowing thus, when men undergo consecration, one should desire to undergo consecration as the very first; / he strikes away evil, who knows thus. / That very Prajāpati, the year, established himself in the seasons and months; / these seasons and months established themselves in Prajāpati, the year; / they are established in one another. / In the same way indeed, he who sacrifices with the twelve-day sacrifice establishes himself in the sacrificial priest. / Therefore they say: / 'A bad man should not be made to sacrifice with the twelve-day sacrifice, lest this one establish himself in me.' / This twelve-day sacrifice is indeed the sacrifice of the elder; / he who sacrificed with it in the beginning was indeed the eldest of the gods. / This twelve-day sacrifice is indeed the sacrifice of the foremost; / he who sacrificed with it in the beginning was indeed the foremost of the gods. / The eldest and foremost should sacrifice; auspicious then is the year. / 'A bad man should not be made to sacrifice with the twelve-day sacrifice, lest this one establish himself in me.' / The gods did not submit to Indra for primacy and pre-eminence; / he said to Bṛhaspati: / 'Perform the twelve-day sacrifice for me.' / He performed the sacrifice for him; thereupon indeed the gods submitted to him for primacy and pre-eminence. / His own people submit to him for primacy and pre-eminence; / his own people acknowledge him in pre-eminence, who knows thus. / Upward indeed is the first three-day period, horizontal the middle one, downward the last. / Because the first three-day period is upward, therefore this fire blazes upward, / for upward is its direction. / Because the middle is horizontal, therefore this wind blows horizontally, / the waters flow horizontally; / for horizontal is its direction. / Because the last is downward, therefore that [sun] shines downward, it rains downward, / the constellations are downward; / for downward is its direction. / Harmonious indeed are these worlds, harmonious these three-day periods. / Harmonious these worlds shine for his prosperity, who knows thus.