Jaiminīya (Talavakāra) Brāhmaṇa 18

English (machine translation) 18

Language: English

18.81 — 11 parts
18.82 — 9 parts
18.83 — 10 parts
18.84 — 8 parts
18.85 — 5 parts
18.86 — 3 parts
18.88 — 1 part

18.81

'Agni who increases for you...'
—for this day is increased, since it belongs to the Bṛhat.

18.81.p1

On these [verses is chanted] the Saindhukṣita.

18.81.p2

Sindhukṣit indeed saw the end of speech.

18.81.p3

They seek speech through this day; through this they find it.

18.81.p4

Sindhukṣit Bhārata was an exiled king; as he wandered for a long time, he desired: 'May I go

18.81.p7

That is the condition of being Sindhukṣit ('dwelling along the Indus').

Whatever desire he desired,
that desire was fulfilled for him.
Whatever desire one has when chanting praise with this sāman, that desire is fulfilled for him.
And that prosperity is kingship itself.
He then attained kingship.
He who knows this attains prosperity and reaches kingship.
And because the king Sindhukṣit Bhārata saw it, therefore it is called the Saindhukṣita.
'And we to you, O unprecedented one...'
—for they have now reached, as it were, an unprecedented body.
On these [verses is chanted] the Saubhara, the brilliance of the Bṛhat.
For the Vairāja sacrifice tends to slacken, as it were;
they shore it up with the Saubhara, with the brilliance of the Bṛhat.
It has ū-kāra as its finale.
This ū-kāra, this ī-kāra, is the direct form of the Bṛhat.
Thereby it is richly endowed with characteristic form.
'Drink this pressed soma, O Indra, the eldest, immortal exhilaration...'
—for they have now reached, as it were, superiority.
Moreover, thereby they place sap and exhilaration into the third pressing.

18.82.p1

On these [verses is chanted] the Vāsiṣṭha.

18.82.p2

Vasiṣṭha desired: 'May I see the Virāj; may I secure it.'

18.82.p3

While chanting the prastāva, he saw this ten-syllable Virāj.

18.82.p4

He approached it; he secured it.

18.82.p5

This sāman is the securing of Virāj and food.

18.82.p6

He who knows this secures Virāj and food, and becomes an eater of food, the best among his own people.

18.82.p7

And because Vasiṣṭha saw it, therefore it is called the Vāsiṣṭha.

18.82.p8

They also call it the Vasiṣṭhasyapriya.

18.82.p9

Vasiṣṭha, bereft and with his sons slain, desired: 'May I proliferate with abundant offspring and cattle.'

18.83

He saw this sāman.
With it he chanted praise.
Thereupon he proliferated with abundant offspring and cattle.
He said: 'Indeed, this dear thing has come to me, by which I have secured dear offspring.'
That is the nature of the beloved (priya).
This sāman brings about procreation.
He who knows this proliferates with abundant offspring and cattle.
And because Vasiṣṭha saw it, therefore it is called the Vasiṣṭhasyapriya.
It is the Achāvāka's sāman with an Iḷā finale.
Cattle are Iḷā.
Thereby they firmly establish themselves in cattle.
Now, the Ṣoḍaśin:
The first day pertains to the morning pressing; the second pertains to the midday pressing; the third pertains to the third pressing.
And this [day] pertains to the Uktha.
For the Ṣoḍaśin is one of the Ukthas.
Since the Ṣoḍaśin is performed here, they thereby cause him to thrive in his own domain.
Because he has thrived for them, he becomes prosperous among his own people.

18.83.p1

'Flow forth, cattle-winner, wealth-winner, gold-winner...'

18.83.p2

—such is the form of the Simans.

18.83.p3

Containing the future tense and the word 'hari', it has the form of the Triṣṭubh.

18.83.p4

Therefore these [chants] are performed on the Triṣṭubh day.

18.83.p5

'Seed-placer, O drop, placed among creatures...'

18.83.p6

—thereby they join the seed-placing bull to the Mahānāmnī verses at the morning pressing for the sake of procreation.

18.83.p7

'You are very heroic, O Soma, knowing all...'

18.83.p8

—that is the characteristic mark of the Simā verses.

18.83.p9

‘To you, wise poets, we have sat singing praises’—the wise poets are indeed the Brahmins. They thus

18.83.p10

worship him with praise.

18.84

‘You have an eye for men, O Soma, on all sides’—‘on all sides’ is the characteristic mark of the Simā verses. / ‘O Pavamāna, O bull, you run through them’—it is a bull, indeed, that they thus introduce into the Mahānāmnī verses at the morning pressing for procreation. / ‘Flow for us, bringing goods and bringing gold’—goods and gold are indeed cattle. / Indeed, they say of one without cattle that he is ‘without gold’. / The Śakvarī verses are cattle. / ‘May we be [here] to live among the worlds’—he thereby speaks a prayer. / ‘Ruler [over them], you traverse these worlds’—‘traverse’ is the characteristic mark of the Simā verses. / ‘Yoking the bay-colored, fine-winged [mares], O drop’—the Śakvarī verses are indeed the bay-colored, fine-winged ones. / They are yoked at this morning pressing; / having been yoked, they ascend at the midday pressing. / ‘Let them flow for you, streaming with sweet ghee’—sweetness is indeed cattle, for they flow with milk, curds, and melted butter. / The Śakvarī verses are cattle. / ‘Let the peoples abide in your service, O Soma’—indeed, this whole universe attends Soma’s service.

18.84.p1

These verses are Jagatīs containing Triṣṭubh syllables, prospering through the characteristic mark of the day.

18.84.p2

Where they cause [the sacrifice] to prosper through the characteristic mark of the day, there prosperity is achieved.

18.84.p3

He prospers who knows this.

18.84.p4

‘[The drop] of Pavamāna, all-knowing’—

18.84.p5

this becomes the corresponding triplet.

18.84.p6

‘All-knowing’ is the characteristic mark of the Simā verses.

18.84.p7

In this regard they say: ‘Through the stotriya triplet they begin the characteristic mark of the sāman, and through the corresponding triplet that of the day.’

18.84.p8

There are the stotriya and the corresponding triplets.

18.85

The stotriya is the in-breath, and the corresponding triplet is the out-breath. / Through in-breath and out-breath they thus proceed prospering. / ‘Forward your gushes have been poured out like the rays of the sun’—like gushes, indeed, cattle are brought forth. / The Śakvarī verses are cattle. / ‘Making a banner beyond heaven, you stream towards all [waters]’—‘towards’ is the characteristic mark of the Rathantara. / This day belongs to the Rathantara. / ‘O Soma, you swell as an ocean’—there are [verses] containing ‘ocean’, for this day is waters. / ‘Being born, you send forth speech’—one is indeed born through the preceding day. / Being born, he [sends forth speech] through this; therefore it is: / ‘Being born, you send forth speech.’ / ‘O Pavamāna, in the distribution [of the sacrifice], / roaring like the divine sun’—thus they attain the solar characteristic mark of the Mahānāmnī verses, / for the Mahānāmnī verses are solar.

18.85.p1

‘Forward have run the Soma drops, flowing clear, bright drops;

18.85.p2

mixing [themselves], they turn within the waters.

18.85.p3

Towards [him] the cows have run, like waters running down a slope;

18.85.p4

becoming purified, they have reached Indra’—

18.85.p5

here there is ‘waters’, ‘waters’, for this day is waters.

18.86

‘Run forward, O Pavamāna, the exhilarating Soma for Indra; / guided by men, you are led forth’— / this becomes a seven-verse hymn. / The breaths are seven. / Prospering through the breaths they proceed, standing firm in the breaths. / Then they say: ‘Since a seven-verse hymn is the characteristic mark of the seventh day, why then is it performed on the fifth day?’ / He should say: ‘The Śakvarī verses have seven metrical feet; the domestic cattle are seven; the meters increasing by four syllables are seven; the principal breaths are seven; the heavenly constellations are twenty-seven; this day is twenty-seven[-fold]. It is for obtaining all this, for attaining this.’ / The next hymn is a seven-verse hymn. / In regular order, prospering through the breaths, they proceed. / A four-verse hymn occurs: cattle are four-footed. / This day is cattle, [and this is] for the attainment of cattle. / There is a concluding verse, for the preservation of offspring and the securing of cattle. / The stoma is the twenty-seven-fold [stoma]. / These worlds are twenty-seven-fold. / In these very worlds they proceed, standing firm.

18.86.p1

‘Bhūḥ’ is the mystical utterance.

18.86.p2

It is this world: Agni is the deity, Gāyatrī the meter, the trivṛt the stoma, Rathantara the sāman, the Vasus the deities,

18.86.p3

and the trees and herbs.

18.87

‘Bhuvaḥ’ is the mystical utterance. / That is this intermediate region: Vāyu is the deity, Jagatī the meter, the seventeen-fold the stoma, Vāmadevya the sāman, the Rudras the deities, and the waters and breathing beings. / ‘Svar’ is the mystical utterance. / That is yonder world: Āditya is the deity, Triṣṭubh the meter, the fifteen-fold the stoma, Bṛhat the sāman, the Ādityas the deities, and the moon and constellations. / Thus these worlds are twenty-seven-fold. / They say in this regard: ‘Four days are paired; the fifth day is unpaired. / Pairing and procreation extend up to four [days].’ / That there is an Ājya hymn addressed to Agni: / ‘Thy splendors like lightning of rain’— / by that very [hymn] the fifth day is paired. / ‘Thy’ has the form of the male; ‘splendors’ of the female. / ‘Like of rain’ has the form of the male; ‘lightning’ of the female. / ‘O Agni’ has the form of the male; ‘like of dawn’ of the female. / ‘When the herbs’ has the form of the female; ‘poured upon’ of the male. / In regular order they thereby establish a pair and procreation for the reproduction of the sacrificer.

18.88

‘Impelled, driven by the wind, according to your will, as you eagerly spread over food, / your separate onslaughts strive like charioteers, O ageless Agni, as you burn’— / when the wind fans the fire, then it blazes greatly. / That very blazing is the characteristic mark of spiritual luster. / ‘The creator of wisdom, the accomplisher of worship, Agni the Hotṛ, the most encompassing thought, / you, the same [offering] of small sacrificial offering, you of great [offering] do they choose, none other than you’— / whether the sacrificial offering is small or great, for all that one chooses Agni as Hotṛ. / ‘For abundant indeed is your favor, O Varuṇa, now of you two, / O Mitra, I would win good will’—this hymn to Mitra and Varuṇa is for the atonement of ill-sacrificed [rites]. / Whatever in the sacrifice has been ill-praised, ill-recited, or defective, it is indeed for the atonement of that. / ‘May we together, free from deceit, reach refreshing food and station; / may we be your friends, O Mitra and Varuṇa! / Protect us, O Mitra and Varuṇa, with guardians, and preserve us with good protection; / may we overcome the enemies with our bodies’— / thereby he speaks a prayer.

18.88.p1

"Rising up together with might"—this is addressed to Indra. The trinava stoma is might and vital power; directly they thus proclaim that. "Both heaven and earth [yielded] to you"—these two are indeed heaven and earth; he thereby speaks to them. "As you contended, they yielded"—they indeed yielded to him as he contended. "O Indra, when you were the slayer of the Dasyu"—this contains the word "slay". This is the sacrificer's own laud, that belonging to the Brahman priest; in their own abode they thus slay all evil of the sacrificer. "Speech with eight feet, nine corners, thriving on truth, I have fashioned my body from Indra"—speech indeed is eight-footed, the Gāyatrī. Its corners are the trivṛt stoma. This is the highest divine couple, productive of offspring: the trivṛt stoma and the Gāyatrī meter. They thereby establish that highest divine couple, productive of offspring, for the propagation of the sacrificer.

Linked texts (1)

Jaiminīyabrāhmaṇa — Sanskrit

Jaiminīya (Talavakāra) Brāhmaṇa 18

Contents

Linked texts (1)