Aitareyabrahmana 4.9

4.9

Agni ran the race with a chariot drawn by she-mules; driving them on, he burned their wombs; / therefore they do not bring forth young. / Uṣas ran the race with ruddy cows; / therefore when Uṣas has arrived, it shines forth as if ruddy: that is the form of Uṣas. / Indra ran the race with a horse-drawn chariot; / therefore it is loud-sounding and noisy: that is the form of lordship, for it belongs to Indra. / The two Aśvins won out with a donkey-drawn chariot; the two Aśvins obtained [it]. / Because the two Aśvins won out and the two Aśvins obtained [it], / therefore its speed was spent and its milk was milked out, and of all draft-animals it is now the slowest. / But they did not take away the virility of its seed; therefore it has double seed, and is vigorous. / Concerning this they say: 'One should recite seven solar metres, / just as [for the portion] belonging to Agni, just as for that belonging to Uṣas, just as for that belonging to the Aśvins. / There are seven worlds of the gods; one succeeds in all the worlds of the gods.' / That is not to be regarded. / One should recite only three. / Three, indeed, are these threefold worlds; [it is] for the conquest of these very worlds. / Concerning this they say: / 'One should begin the solar [verses] with "Up that all-knowing one [Jātavedas]" [RV 1.50.1].' / That is not to be regarded. / That would be just as if someone, having gone [out], were to miss the goal. / One should begin with this very [verse]: 'May Sūrya protect us from heaven' [RV 10.158.1]. / That is just as if someone, having gone [out], were to reach the goal. / Second, he recites 'Up that all-knowing one [Jātavedas]' [RV 1.50.1]. / In the triṣṭubh metre [he recites]: 'The brilliant face of the gods has arisen' [RV 1.115.1]. / Yonder one indeed arises as the brilliant face of the gods; therefore he recites this. / In the jagatī metre [he recites]: 'Reverence to the eye of Mitra and Varuṇa' [RV 10.37.1]. / That indeed is a blessing-phrase; by this he invokes a blessing both for himself and for the sacrificer.