Jaiminīya (Talavakāra) Brāhmaṇa 2-8.304

2-8.304

"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.