Jaiminīya (Talavakāra) Brāhmaṇa 56.295

56.295

athoṣṇikkakubhau
uṣṇikkakubbhyāṃ vā indro vṛtrāya vajraṃ prāharat
tamastṛṇuta
vajro vā uṣṇikkakubhau
vajreṇaiva taddviṣantaṃ pāpmānaṃ bhrātṛvyaṃ stṛṇute ya evaṃ veda
kakubhi parākramatoṣṇihā prāharat
tasmātkakubho madhyamānyakṣarāṇi bhūyiṣṭhāni
parākramamāṇo hyasyā akṣarāṇi samauhat
tasmāduṣṇiha uttamānyakṣarāṇi bhūyiṣṭhāni
paro gururiva hi vajra | ārambhaṇato'ṇīyān
sā kakubabravīdviliṣṭhā vā ahamasmīti
parākramamāṇo vai me'kṣarāṇi samauhīt | pūrvāṃ māṃ prayuñjatāmiti
athoṣṇigabravīdatha vai māṃ pūrvāmācakṣantā iti
tatheti
tasminsamapādayetām
pūrvaprayogamanyāvṛṇīta | pūrvā khyānamasyā
tasmādene evaṃ prayuñjate
tasmāduṣṇikkakubhāvityākhyāyate

Then the Uṣṇih and Kakubh [meters].
With the Uṣṇih and Kakubh, Indra hurled the thunderbolt at Vṛtra.
He laid him low.
The Uṣṇih and Kakubh are the thunderbolt.
With the thunderbolt, he who knows this lays low the evil, hateful rival.
Stepping forward on the Kakubh, he struck with the Uṣṇih.
Therefore, the middle syllables of the Kakubh are the most numerous;
for, stepping forward, he compressed its syllables.
Therefore, the final syllables of the Uṣṇih are the most numerous;
for the thunderbolt is heavier at the far end, thinner at the handle.
That Kakubh said: 'I have been dislocated;
stepping forward, he compressed my syllables. Let them employ me first.'
Then the Uṣṇih said: 'Then indeed let them name me first.'
'So be it.'
Between the two, they agreed upon this.
The one chose the prior employment, the other the prior naming.
Therefore, they employ them in this way.
Therefore, it is named 'the Uṣṇih and Kakubh.'

56.295.p1

tā etā bhavanti
pavasva madhumattama | indramaccha sutā ima
iti
ṛjīṣaṃ vā etaddugche dhītaṃ yātayāma yattṛtīyasavanam
tasmādindro bībhatsamāna udakrāmat
dhītamiva hyāsīt
tasmai vai devāḥ pavasve tyevāpavayan
madhumattama
iti madhumadakurvan
indrāya soma kratuvittamo madaḥ
mahi dyukṣatamo madaḥ
ityabhipūrvamevāsmai madvadakurvan
indramaccha sutā ima

These [verses] are:
'Flow, most honeyed, these pressed [somas] toward Indra.'
This third pressing is pressed-out dregs, sucked dry, past its prime.
Therefore Indra, feeling disgusted, stepped up away [from it];
for it was as if sucked dry.
For him the gods purified it with 'Flow.'
With 'most honeyed,' they made it honeyed.
'O Soma, for Indra, the intoxication that is wisest,
the intoxication that is most heavenly and great,'
thus in regular order they made it intoxicating for him.
'These pressed [somas] toward Indra,'
this line is as if one were to lead [him] back.
Being purifying verses, they are endowed with faculties and possessed of vital power.
Therefore, these very Uṣṇih and Kakubh verses should be used.

56.295.p2

iti yathābhivatyānayedevaṃ vā etatpadam

56.295.p3

pāvamānyassatya ṣandriyo bhavanti vīryavatīḥ
tasmādetā evoṣṇikkakubhaḥ kāryāḥ