Kauṣītaki (Śāṅkhāyana) Brāhmaṇa 23.11.8

23.11.8

ud u ṣya devaḥ savitā savāya iti sāvitram / (soma: pṛṣṭhya sadaha)

xxiii. 8. 'To the god Savitṛ in the bowls, the sage', with this (verse) in a metre beyond the normal he begins the Vaiçvadeva; the sixth day is connected with a metre beyond the normal; the metre beyond the normal thus attains the third pressing. Moreover the sixth day is connected with Prajāpati; Prajāpati is beyond the normal metre; this is a symbol of Prajāpati. The antistrophe contains (the word) 'towards'; the explanation of this has been given. 'Up this god Savitṛ for instigation' is (the hymn)

to Savitṛ; there is repetition in ‘Savitṛ for instigation’; the sixth day is the end; having gone to the end, he repeats as it were; for hence whitherward should he go? ‘Which is the first, which the latter of these two?’ is (the hymn) to sky and earth; there is repetition in ‘first’ and ‘latter’; the sixth day is the end; having gone to the end, he repeats as it were, for hence whitherward should he go? ‘Why hath the best, why hath the youngest come to us?’ is (the hymn) to the Ṛbhus; there is repetition in ‘best’ and ‘youngest’; the sixth day is the end; having gone to the end, he repeats as it were, for hence whitherward should he go? ‘This dread thing be of glad speech’ is (the hymn) to the All-gods, containing (the word) ‘stand’ in ‘When making his parents, standing firm on liberality’; this is a symbol of the end; the sixth day is the end; having gone to the end, he stands still as it were, for hence whitherward should he go? Having left over the last two (verses), he throws in (the hymn) to Narāśaṅsa, ‘Those who through the sacrifice are adorned with the fee.’ The hymn is the body, (the hymn) to Narāśaṅsa is offspring and cattle; verily thus in the middle in the body he places both sets, offspring and cattle. ‘The dark day and the bright day’ is (the hymn) to Vaiçvānara; there is repetition in ‘and the bright day’; the sixth day is the end; having gone to the end, he repeats as it were, for hence whitherward should he go? ‘Forward the Maruts, devoted, with gleaming lances’ is (the hymn) to the Maruts; in that it has the same endings it is a symbol of the end. ‘This praise to Jātavedas who doth deserve it’ is (the hymn) to Jātavedas; in that it has the same endings it is a symbol of the end. ‘Let us not be harmed; let us not be harmed’ at the end is a symbol of freedom from harm. The waters with the sixth day they obtain, the Atichandas metre, the Trayastriṅça Stoma, the Raivata Sāman, the zenith quarter, the cool of the seasons, the All-gods, Prajāpati, born of the gods, the overlord.