Jaiminīya (Talavakāra) Brāhmaṇa 17
English (machine translation) 17
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17.76
Now the Aurṇāyava [sāman]. Ūrṇāyu the Gandharva desired the Apsarases. He saw this sāman. With it he praised. By means of it, whomever he desired, saying 'May I go to her,' whomever he touched, to her he went, her he obtained. This is a wish-granting sāman. He desired this desire. That desire was fulfilled for him. With whatever desire one praises with this sāman, that desire is fulfilled for him. Because Ūrṇāyu the Gandharva saw it, therefore it is called the Aurṇāyava.
17.76.p1
The Aṅgirases, desiring heaven, sat for a sacrificial session.
17.76.p2
They did not discern the heavenly world.
17.76.p3
Śvitra Āṅgirasa, bearing a firewood-door, went forth.
17.76.p4
Ūrṇāyu the Gandharva, swooping down from above with this sāman, said to him: 'This sāman leads to heaven.'
17.76.p5
'Praise with it. Only having praised with it will you discern the heavenly world.'
17.76.p6
'Speak of it, however, as my sāman.'
17.76.p7
"Whoever should ask you, 'Who told you this?', just say, 'Ūrṇāyu told me.'"
17.76.p8
'Do not speak of it as belonging to anyone other than me.'
17.76.p9
He returned and said: 'This sāman leads to heaven.'
17.76.p10
'Let us praise with it.'
17.76.p11
'Only having praised with it will we discern the heavenly world.'
17.76.p12
They said to him: 'Who spoke this to you?'
17.77
'I myself saw it,' he said. They praised with it. Having praised with it, they discerned the heavenly world. As they were going to the heavenly world, he was left behind. For he spoke an untruth. He became this white-spotted snake (śvitra). These snakes (ahi) are indeed those that are white-spotted. Because he was left behind (ahīyata), that is the snakehood of snakes (ahi). Then others are simply creeping serpents. Therefore, from whomever one might learn, of him one should say: 'From so-and-so I learned.' Moreover, one should desire to speak only truth. This is a sāman that leads to heaven. He reaches the heavenly world who knows thus. 'For you indeed, O divine one...'—there is the word 'you' (tvam), the form of the Bṛhat. This day is connected with the Bṛhat. 'O Pavamāna, most brilliant, [purify] the races...'—saying this, [the verses] contain forms of 'born' (jana-). Thus they generate the Ṣoḍaśin from the third pressing.
17.77.p1
Upon them [is sung] the Bṛhatka, one of the Bṛhat [sāmans].
17.77.p2
By this, indeed, this day is made connected with the Bṛhat.
17.77.p3
The gods, desiring heaven, performed ascetic heat.
17.78
They saw this sāman. They praised with it. Becoming large, it carried them to the heavenly world. Having gone to the heavenly world, they said by means of it, "Great indeed has this pleasure of ours become, by which we have reached the heavenly world!" That is the bṛhatka nature of the Bṛhatka sāman. This sāman brings heaven. Great pleasure comes to him; he attains the heavenly world who knows thus. "Soma, purifying himself with his wave, runs through the sheep's fleece, roaring, the purifying one at the head of speech": thus it becomes the head, as it were. For this day is the head, being connected with the Bṛhat. "With prayers they cleanse the steed": they indeed cleanse what is born, as it were. And it is born by means of this day. "The bountiful courser, eager for prize, was sent forth toward the jar; purifying himself, generating speech, he flowed": thus these verses have [the word] "generating". They generate the Ṣoḍaśin from the third pressing; from pressing to pressing they indeed generate the Ṣoḍaśin.
17.78.p1
Upon these [verses] is the Ātīṣādīya sāman.
17.78.p2
Prajāpati created creatures.
17.78.p3
Having been created, they fainted.
17.78.p4
He desired, "May these creatures of mine not faint."
17.78.p5
He saw this sāman.
17.78.p6
With it he touched them.
17.78.p7
They breathed together.
17.78.p8
Creatures perish, as it were, through the fourth day, for they go to the Anuṣṭubh.
17.78.p9
The Anuṣṭubh is indeed far away.
17.78.p10
By this they breathe together with what is far away.
17.78.p11
Therefore, one should approach the finale of this sāman while holding the breath, to secure the full lifespan.
17.79
Regarding this they say: 'One should approach [the finale] without panting.
For when one pants, then one dies.
Therefore one should approach [it] without panting.'
The gods, desiring the heavenly world, performed ascetic heat.
They saw this sāman.
With it they chanted praise.
Becoming a seat, it conveyed them to the heavenly world.
They said: 'Truly, this seat has come!'
Because they said: 'Truly, this seat has come!' (iti vā etaḥ sādaḥ), that is the nature of the Itīṣādīya.
And when they had reached the heavenly world, they said: 'Ah, we sit as if having arrived in the heavenly world!'
That very fact is the nature of the Ātīṣādīya.
This sāman brings about heaven.
He who knows this attains the heavenly world.
Then there are these [verses]:
'Advancing ahead to your food...'
which are Virāj verses [in form of] Anuṣṭubhs on the Vairāja day, to secure Virāj and food.
And just as one might attach two newer wheels, even so they bring around this Anuṣṭubh at the beginning of each three-day period to attain the heavenly world.
17.80
On these [verses is chanted] the Nānada.
With the Nānada, Indra struck Vṛtra while he was loudly roaring (nānadyamāna).
Because he struck him while loudly roaring, that is the nature of the Nānada.
He who knows this strikes down his roaring hateful enemy with this [sāman].
He introduces it with sixteen syllables.
Thereby they tangibly grasp the Ṣoḍaśin.
Aupoditi Gaupālayo used to say: 'He girdled the broad [tree] with a creeping vine;
he made the Nānada on the Anuṣṭubh, and chanted praise to the Ṣoḍaśin with the Gaurīvīta, [saying,] "I shall not fall away from prosperity."'
He who knows this does not fall away from prosperity.
Moreover, that is also prepared through offspring for the following days.
Then the Āndhīgava, a Vairāja sāman, is performed on the Vairāja day, to secure Virāj and food.
In the middle of it, they approach this ten-syllable Virāj; the Virāj has ten syllables, Virāj is food,
to secure Virāj and food.
'Soma purifies himself, generator of thoughts, generator of heaven, generator of earth,
generator of fire, generator of the sun, generator of Indra, and generator of Viṣṇu'—
thus it goes 'generator, generator.'
Thereby they generate the Ṣoḍaśin from the third pressing.
Just as one says, 'Urge, urge! Be born, be born!', even so in regular succession they generate the Ṣoḍaśin from the third pressing.
17.80.p1
On these [verses is chanted] the Vātsapra.
Vatsaprī Bhālandana's fellow session-participants harassed him, saying: 'Your father was a thief.'
He desired: 'May I gain trust; may they invite me.'
He saw this sāman.
With it he chanted praise.
Thereupon he gained trust and an invitation.
They sit for a sacrificial session saying, 'May we gain trust.'
They indeed gain trust.
This sāman is indeed the counterpart of the Vairāja.
Just as the stobhas of the Vairāja consist of repetitions of verses, so too the stobhas of the Vātsapra consist of repetitions of verses.
This is indeed the offspring of the Vairāja.
To him who knows this, a counterpart is born in his offspring.
Then they invited him, saying: 'He has produced the counterpart of the Vairāja.'
It is unimpinged.
From what is unimpinged, offspring and cattle are born.
Unimpinged is the characteristic of this Vairāja day.
Thereby it is richly endowed with characteristic form.
And because Vatsaprī Bhālandana saw it, therefore it is called the Vātsapra.
Linked texts (1)
- Jaiminīyabrāhmaṇa — Sanskrit