Kauṣītaki (Śāṅkhāyana) Brāhmaṇa 26.10

26.10.1

anto gatir navamam ahaḥ /

The ninth day is the end, the goal.

xxvi. 14. Going is the end; so yonder sky, yonder world, and the ninth day; therefore at the ninth day are recited hymns containing (the word) ‘go’. ‘We have gone with great praise to the youngest’ and ‘Me, the strong, O Agni, of the Soma’, these two (hymns) are the Ājya, containing (the word) ‘go’ in ‘We have gone’; this is a symbol of the end; the ninth day is the end; he returns as it were, having gone to the end, for hence whitherward should he go? It contains (the word) ‘stand’ in ‘Here stand the cows, fattening’; this is a symbol of the end; the ninth day is the end; having gone to the end, he stands as it were, for hence whitherward should he go? ‘“We have gone with great praise to the youngest”, this triplet alone should form the Ājya,’ Paiṅgya used to say. It contains (the word) ‘go’ in ‘We have gone’; this is a symbol of the end; the ninth day is the end; he returns as it were, having gone to the end, for hence whitherward should he go? ‘How can a triplet make up the Aṣṭācatvāriṅça Stoma?’ Kauṣītaki used to say. ‘Me the strong, O Agni, of the Soma’ he should also recite; this contains a symbol of ending in its reference to what has taken place; ‘We have brought forward the sacrifice’ and ‘From the sky they have learned’ are regarding what has taken place as it were. ‘Here however, the Stoma is not pervaded’ Paiṅgya used to say, ‘since by verses alone the Stoma cannot be pervaded’. ‘The verse by means of syllables makes up the Stoma, with syllables the Nivid or Puroruc the verse; the Stoma is pervaded then when either a Nivid or a Puroruc is recited.

26.10.2

asau dyaur asau lokaḥ /

Yonder sky is that world.

26.10.3

tasmād gatavanti navame ahant sūktāni śasyante /

Therefore on the ninth day hymns containing words of going are recited.

26.10.4

aganma mahā namasā yaviṣṭham somasya mā tavasam vakṣy agna ity ete ubhe tad ājyam / (soma: chandomāh)

‘We have approached the youngest with great reverence’ and ‘Speak, O Agni, of me as strong with soma’—these both are that Ājya recitation.

26.10.5

agamna iti gatavat /

‘We have approached’ contains a word of going.

26.10.6

tad anta rūpam /

That is the characteristic of the end.

26.10.7

anto navamam ahaḥ /

The ninth day is the end.

26.10.8

eti iva vā gantam gatvā /

Having gone to the end, one indeed moves as it were;

26.10.9

kadryan hi tata iyāt / (soma: chandomāh)

whither indeed should one go from there?

26.10.10

asthur atra dhenavaḥ pinvamānā iti sthitavat /

‘Here the cows stood swelling’ contains a word of standing.

26.10.11

tad anta rūpam /

That is the characteristic of the end.

26.10.12

anto navamam ahaḥ / (soma: chandomāh)

The ninth day is the end.

26.10.13

tiṣṭhati iva vā antam gatvā /

Having gone to the end, one indeed stands still as it were;

26.10.14

kadryan hi tata iyāt /

whither indeed should one go from there?

26.10.15

aganma mahā namasā yaviṣṭham ity etad eva tṛcam ājyam syād iti ha sma āha paiṅgyaḥ / (soma: chandomāh)

‘We have approached the youngest with great reverence’—this triplet alone should be the Ājya recitation, so Paiṅgya used to say.

26.10.16

aganma iti gatavat /

‘We have approached’ contains a word of going.

26.10.17

tad anta rūpam /

That is the characteristic of the end.

26.10.18

anto navamam ahaḥ /

The ninth day is the end.