Kauṣītaki (Śāṅkhāyana) Brāhmaṇa 20.5.24

20.5.24

trayo vā ime lokāḥ /

these worlds are three; verily thus they obtain these worlds. ‘Stand on the bays being yoked to the car’ is (the hymn ) containing (the word) ‘stand’; it is the symbol of the end; the third day is the end; having gone to the end he stands as it were, for hence whitherward should he go. ‘I shall proclaim the manly deeds of Indra’ is the Niṣkevalya; it contains the symbol of ending in the reference to what has been; ‘He slew the dragon, he penetrated the waters’ is about what has been as it were. ‘Hitherwards the god Savitṛ with the golden’ is (the hymn) to Savitṛ; it contains (the word) ‘ghee’ in ‘With ghee both hands he imbueth, the sacrificer’; the ghee has many deities; the third pressing has many deities; therefore it contains (the word) ‘ghee’. ‘In ghee sky and earth enveloped’ is (the hymn) to sky and earth, containing (the word) ‘ghee’; the explanation of this has been given. ‘They have wrought the car well covered, skilled workers’ is (the hymn) to the Ṛbhus; there is repetition in ‘They have wrought the two steeds, that bear Indra, strong in riches’; the third day is the end; having come to the end he repeats as it were, for hence whitherward should he go? ‘To us from all sides may favouring powers come’ is (the hymn) for the All-gods; there is repetition in ‘Unfailing guardians day by day’; the third day is the end; having gone to the end, he repeats as it were, for hence whitherward should he go? ‘To Vaiçvānara, the praise, increasing holy order’ is (the hymn) to Vaiçvānara; in ‘Like purified ghee to Agni we present’ it contains (the word) ‘ghee’; the explanation of this has been given. ‘The Rudras, with Indra, accordant’ is (the hymn) to the Maruts; it contains the words ‘from the sky’ in ‘Like springs of water from the sky for a thirsty man’; this is the symbol of yonder world. ‘Thee, O Agni, the righteous have kindled’ is (the hymn) to Jātavedas, beginning with the same word ‘Thee’ (in each verse); just as that with the same end, so that with the same beginning is a symbol of the end. They obtain yonder world with the third day, Āditya the god, the form the supreme essence of the deities; they confer sight upon themselves.