Kauṣītaki (Śāṅkhāyana) Brāhmaṇa 8.11

8.11.1

gāyatryāv āgneyyau /

The two [verses] to Agni are in the Gāyatrī [metre].

viii. 9. The two verses for Agni are Gāyatrī verses; this world is connected with the Gāyatrī; thus he obtains this world. Those for Soma are Triṣṭubh verses; the world of the atmosphere is connected with the Triṣṭubh; thus he obtains the world of the atmosphere. Those for Viṣṇu are Jagatī verses; yonder world is connected with the Jagatī; thus he obtains yonder world. These he inverts; those which in the forenoon were invitatory verses he makes offering verses in the afternoon; those which were offering verses he makes invitatory verses, to avoid exhaustion, (thinking) ‘The Ṛc becomes exhausted through the vaṣaṭ call; let me perform the vaṣaṭ call with (verses) unexhausted on the same day’. In that he inverts also, (it is) for the strength of the neck; therefore the joints of the neck are as it were intertwined. The gods have butter as their oblation, the sacrificer has milk as his fast food; that is in accord. He should treat them as broader above; on the first day (he should milk) three teats, then two, then one; verily thus he makes the worlds mutually broader. He should not take out; they advance to the world of heaven who undertake the Upasads; the world of heaven is twelve journeys away; he who takes out once, it is with him as if one should follow after those with one object sent on a single

8.11.2

gāyatro ayaṃl lokaḥ /

This world is connected with the Gāyatrī;

8.11.3

tad imaṃl lokam āpnoti / (soma: upasadah)

thus he wins this world.

8.11.4

triṣṭubhau saumyau /

The two [verses] to Soma are in the Triṣṭubh [metre].

8.11.5

traiṣṭubho antarikṣa lokaḥ /

The intermediate world is connected with the Triṣṭubh;

8.11.6

tad antarikṣa lokam āpnoti / (soma: upasadah)

thus he wins the intermediate world.

8.11.7

jagatyau vaiṣṇavyau /

The two [verses] to Viṣṇu are in the Jagatī [metre].

8.11.8

jāgato asau lokaḥ /

Yonder world is connected with the Jagatī;

8.11.9

tad amuṃl lokam āpnoti / (soma: upasadah)

thus he wins yonder world.

8.11.10

tā vai viparyasyati /

Indeed, he reverses them.

8.11.11

yāḥ pūrva ahṇe puronuvākyās tā apara ahṇe yājyāḥ karoti / (soma: upasadah)

Those that are the invitatory verses in the morning, he makes the offering verses in the afternoon;

8.11.12

yā yājyās tāḥ puronuvākyāḥ /

those that are offering verses, [he makes] invitatory verses,

8.11.13

ayāta yāmatāyai /

for freshness.

8.11.14

vaṣaṭ kāreṇa ha vā ṛg yāta yāmā bhavati samāne ahan / (soma: upasadah)

For a verse becomes exhausted on the same day by the vaṣaṭ-call;

8.11.15

ayāta yāmābhir me vaṣaṭkṛtam asad iti /

[he reverses them] so that "the vaṣaṭ-call will be made by me with [verses] that are not exhausted."

8.11.16

yad v eva viparyasyati grīvāṇām sthemne /

Moreover, he reverses them for the firmness of the neck[-joints].

8.11.17

tasmādd ha āsām grīvāṇām vyatiṣaktāni iva parvāṇi bhavanti / (soma: upasadah)

Therefore, the joints of this neck are, as it were, interlocked.

8.11.18

ājya haviṣo devatāḥ /

The deities have ghee as their oblation;

8.11.19

payo vrato yajamānaḥ /

the sacrificer has milk as his vow-food.

8.11.20

tat saloma /

That is harmonious.

8.11.21

tāḥ parovarīyasīr abhyupeyāt trīn agre stanān atha dvāv atha ekam / (soma: upasadah)

He should approach them becoming progressively wider: first three teats, then two, then one.

8.11.22

paraspara eva tal lokān varīyasaḥ kurute /

He thereby makes these worlds progressively wider.

8.11.23

na abhyunnayeta /

He should not increase [the number of teats].

8.11.24

svargam ha vā ete lokam abhiprayanti ya upasada upayanti / (soma: upasadah)

Those who undertake the Upasads set out towards the heavenly world.