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# Jaiminīya (Talavakāra) Brāhmaṇa 2-8.304

Jaiminīyabrāhmaṇa 2-8.304

- **Language:** Sanskrit

### [2-8.304](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.jaiminiya.2-8.304)

ātmā vai pṛṣṭhyaṣṣaḍaho'nnaṃ mahāvratam  
sa madhyata evātmano'nnādyaṃ dhāsye so'nnāda śreṣṭha svānāṃ bhaviṣyāmīti  
atho saṃvatsaro vai pṛṣṭhyaṣṣaḍahaḥ  
tanmā saṃvatsareṇānnādyaṃ parigṛhītamupasthāsyata iti  
viśvajitsarvapṛṣṭho'tirātro bhavati  
śrīrvai varṣma pṛṣṭhāni  
tadu śriyaṃ varṣma pṛṣṭhānyabhyutkramiṣyāmīti  
tamu ha brāhmaṇa uvāca yāvajjīviṣyatyannāda eva śreṣṭha svānāṃ bhaviṣyati  
viśīrṣāstveva marteti  
śiro vā etadyajñasya yanmahāvratam  
tadyathā śiraśchitvā tadupapakṣayorupagūhettadvai na śliṣyati tādṛgakṛditi  
hovāca  
jānanta evāsya śiraśchettāra iti  
taddha tathaivāsa  
yāvaddha kratuḥ kārīrādirjijīvānnāda eva śreṣṭha svānāmāsa  
viśīrṣāstveva mamāra  
jānanto ha tvevāsya śiraścicchidurbhāryakāḥ  
sa haiṣa kalyāṇa eva yajñakraturyastvainenānupadraṣṭre yajeta

> "The pṛṣṭhya six-day period is indeed the body, \[and\] the Mahāvrata is food.  
> I shall place food right in the middle of my body; so I shall be an eater of food, the foremost among my own people," \[he thought\].  
> "Moreover, the pṛṣṭhya six-day period is indeed the year;  
> therefore food, enclosed by the year, will be at my disposal," \[he thought\].  
> There is the Viśvajit-Sarvapṛṣṭha Atirātra.  
> Fortune, indeed, is the summit, the pṛṣṭhas.  
> "And so I shall step up to fortune, to the summit, to the pṛṣṭhas," \[he thought\].  
> To him, however, a Brahmin said: "As long as he lives, he will indeed be an eater of food, the foremost among his own people,  
> but he will die headless.  
> For this Mahāvrata is indeed the head of the sacrifice.  
> Just as if one were to cut off the head and hide it in the armpits, it would not stick—such a deed he has done," he said.  
> "They who know will cut off his head."  
> And it happened just like that.  
> As long as Kratu Kārīrādi lived, he was indeed an eater of food, the foremost among his own people,  
> but he died headless.  
> For his own relatives, who knew, cut off his head.  
> Indeed, this sacrificial rite is auspicious, but one should sacrifice with it under a supervisor.  
> — English (machine translation) (machine translation)

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## Translations (1)

- [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.jaiminiya~en-mt.2-8.304) — English, machine translation

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Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.jaiminiya.2-8.304](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.jaiminiya.2-8.304) · Pramāṇa
