Kauṣītaki (Śāṅkhāyana) Brāhmaṇa 12: ADHYĀYA XII

Rigveda Brahmanas: The Aitareya and Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇas of the Rigveda (HOS 25) 12

Language: English

ADHYĀYA XII

xii. 1. The waters are the sacrifice; in that they come to the waters, verily thus they come to the sacrifice. Moreover the waters are strength and sap. Verily thus they unite the sacrifice with strength and sap.

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Moreover, the waters are immortality; verily thus he confers immortality upon himself. Now aforetime the Rakṣases, confounders of the sacrifice, used to watch the waters at the fords; then whosoever came to the waters they killed them all; then Kavaṣa saw this hymn of fifteen verses, 'Forth among the gods let there be speeding for the Brahman'; he recited it; thereby he smote away the confounders of the sacrifice, the Rakṣases, from the fords; thence since then they return in safety and uninjured from the sacrifice. Yonder in the waters the Adhvaryu offers a libation; then should he accompany this (with the verse), 'Send forth our sacrifice with divine offering.' This is the offering verse for this (libation), being appropriate by containing (the word) 'offering'. (He recites) 'Winding hitherward, those of two streams,' when (the waters) are being brought; 'What time the waters are seen coming forward,' when they are discerned; 'Some come together; others come up,' as they come up; some waters come, others come up; 'Like the waters divine, they come up to the vessel of the offering', as they are poured down into the Hotṛ's bowl; 'May the cows with milk eager for the end', the cows are the waters, for the waters impel all this (universe). The Adhvaryu stands turned towards the Hotṛ; the Hotṛ asks him, 'O Adhvaryu, hast thou found the waters?' 'Hast thou found the sacrifice?' verily thus he says to him. 'They have indeed condescended' he replies; 'We have found what we have sought in these waters; for this they have condescended,' verily thus he says to him. Being answered the Hotṛ begins the Nigada; the Nigada is strength and sap; verily strength and sap he places in the oblation by means of the Nigada.

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xii. 2. 'The mothers go with the paths' (he recites); the mothers are the waters, for he praises the waters as they go. 'They have come, rich, with living gifts' (he recites) when they have come up. He concludes with

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(a verse ) containing the word 'across', 'The waters have arrived, eager, to this strew.' He recites appropriate (verses); what in the sacrifice is appropriate, that is perfect; verily (they serve) for the perfection of the sacrifice. The morning litany had been recited, the hymns had not been obtained ; at this conjunction the Asuras went against them; the gods, perceiving in fear, saw this thriceforged thunderbolt; 'The waters' is the first form of the thunderbolt; 'Sarasvatī' is the second form of the thunderbolt ; this is a hymn of fifteen verses, that is the third form of the thunderbolt. The gods with the thriceforged thunderbolt pushed away the Asuras from these worlds; verily thus also the sacrificer pushes away with this thriceforged thunderbolt the rivals who hate him from these worlds.

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xii. 3. The Mādhyamas performed a session on the Sarasvatī. Then Kavaṣa sat down in the midst, they said to him, 'Thou art the son of a female slave; we will not eat with you.' He rushing on in anger praised the Sarasvatī with this hymn; she followed after him; thereupon they felt themselves free from passion ; they went after him and said 'O seer, homage be to thee; harm us not; thou art of us the best, seeing that she follows after thee.' Thus they informed him; they removed his anger. This is the greatness of Kavaṣa and the founder of the hymn (is he). In that they go with their wives, (it is because) the Gandharvas as commissioners in the waters guard the Soma of Indra. They love women, and they turn their minds towards them; so it is as if one might take the sacrifice of careless persons. The sacrifice condescends to him who knows thus. He recites twenty (verses); they make up the Virāj; the waters are connected with the Virāj, the Virāj is food, the waters are food; thus by food he causes proper food to abound. (He recites) the first thrice, and the last thrice; they make up twenty-four; the Gāyatrī has twenty-four syllables; the Gāyatrī supports the morning pressing; thus the waters contain the symbol of the morning pressing. So much for the Aponaptriya.

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The Upāṅçu and Antaryāma Cups.

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xii. 4. The Upāṅçu (cup) is expiration; as it is offered he should breathe forth along it (saying) ‘Protect my expiration, quicken my expiration; hail! Thee of fair birth to the sun!’ This is its call of *vaṣaṭ* and its call of Hail! These libations go not to the gods over which the *vaṣaṭ* call or the call of Hail! is not pronounced. Inspiration is the Antaryāma (cup); as it is offered he should breathe down along it (saying) ‘Protect my inspiration, quicken my inspiration; hail! Thee of fair birth to the sun!’ This is its call of *vaṣaṭ*, and its call of Hail! These libations go not to the gods over which the *vaṣaṭ* call or the call of Hail! is not pronounced. The Upāṅçu and Antaryāma are expiration and inspiration; one of these they offer when the sun has risen, the other before the sun has risen; verily thus they separate expiration and inspiration; therefore expiration and inspiration, though being together, are separate as it were. ‘In that they offer one when the sun has risen and the other before the sun has risen, verily thus from day and night they obstruct the Asuras, for on both sides of yonder sun are day and night, and the sacrificer (obstructs) evil,’ so he used to say. He for whom they offer both (cups) after the sun has risen or before the sun has risen is a sacrificer with water, not a sacrificer with Soma; he for whom these two are offered in their order is a real sacrificer with Soma. So for the Upāṅçu and Antaryāma (cups).

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The Sarpaṇa.

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xii. 5. ‘Should the Pavamāna be followed up or not?’ (they ask). ‘It should not be followed up,’ they say. The abode of the Ṛc is where the Hotṛ stands; that of the Sāman where they yonder sing the Sāman. He who follows up removes the Ṛc from its own abode, and makes the Ṛc a follower of the Sāman. Therefore he should not follow up, (thinking) ‘Let me not remove the Ṛc from its own abode’ and ‘Let me not make the

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Ṛc a follower of the Sāman.’ But, if (the sacrificer) be also the Hotṛ, he should follow up, for to him falls the duty of a chorister, (thinking) ‘The Svarasāman is the world of heaven; let me place myself in the Svarasāman, the world of heaven.’ Then (they ask) ‘All the gods rejoice together in the morning in the Pavamāna; how then is it not then completely consumed?’ When the Pavamāna has been sung, he should mutter the following, ‘Invoked are the gods for the eating of this Soma, the purifying, the discerning; let the gods invoke me for the eating of this Soma, the purifying, the discerning; with mind thee I eat; with speech thee I eat; with breath thee I eat; with the eye thee I eat; with the ear thee I eat.’ This is the joint invocation with the gods. So by him yonder Soma, the king, the discerning, the moon, the food, is eaten, that food yonder which the gods eat.

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The Animal Sacrifice (continued).

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xii. 6. Now as to the victim. The victim is clearly Soma, for if it were not offered it would be as it were a water drinking; thereby he makes firm the pressings. In that they proceed with the omentum, thereby is the morning pressing made firm; in that they cook, in that they proceed with the cake at the animal sacrifice, thereby is the midday pressing made firm; in that they proceed with this (victim) at the third pressing, thereby is the third pressing made firm. This is the making firm of the pressings. The deities who drink the Soma and those who share the victim—there are thirty-three Soma drinking deities who depend on the Soma libations, eight Vasus, eleven Rudras, twelve Ādityas, Indra as the thirty-second, Prajāpati as the thirty-third; then also thirty-three who share the victim—both of these sets are delighted. Of this (victim) which is offered some say ‘It should be for Indra and Agni’, saying ‘All the gods are Indra and Agni; thus by it he delights all the gods.’ But others say ‘This (victim) should be for Agni, the cakes are for Indra; thus Indra and Agni have equal shares.’ ‘Agni's is the morning pressing, this (victim) is offered at the morning pressing; they take for another that which is Agni's who make it have another for its deity; it is as if one were to take for another what is another's; further the year is alone for those who perform a session of a year, (the victim) is for Agni only; it should not change,’ so some say. In the teaching (of Kauṣītaki) (the victim) is determined as for Agni:

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xii. 7. The offering verse for the omentum of the victim contains (the word) ‘become’, ‘Thou hast become the leader of the sacrifice and the region’; that for the cake contains (the word) ‘pure’, ‘Forward to the pure radiance do ye bear’; that for the oblation contains (the word) ‘oblation’ ‘The singers urged by thought’. ‘The set of eleven they should arrange in order’ is the rule. If (the sacrifice) is accompanied with Pṛṣṭhyas, in the invitation he issues invitations for the morning pressing (with the words), ‘Bring the gods to the sacrificer; bring Agni, O Agni; bring the lord of the forest; bring Indra with the Vasus’; he issues invitations for the midday pressing (with the words), ‘Bring Indra with the Rudras’; he issues invitations for the third pressing (with the words), ‘Bring Indra with the Ādityas, with the Ṛbhus, with the Vibhus, with Vāja, with Bṛhaspati, with the All-gods.’ Some include the lord of the forest in this invitation, saying ‘At the end should (the lord of the forest) be invited, for they sacrifice to him at the third pressing.’ As to this they say ‘The victim is the body, the lord of the forests the breath; if one there were to say of him, “He hath separated the body from the breath, he shall not live”, it would be so. Therefore in connexion with the victim the lord of the forest should be invited.’ The victim has been discussed.

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xii. 8. Prajāpati, having created offspring, felt himself empty as it were; he pondered, ‘How now can I sacrifice with such a sacrificial rite that by sacrificing with it I shall obtain my desires and win proper food?’ He saw the set of eleven (victims); he grasped it and sacrificed with it; having sacrificed with it he obtained his desires and won proper food; verily thus also the sacrificer having sacrificed with this set of eleven obtains his desires, and wins proper food. Of this set of eleven the invitatory and offering verses are distinct and those for the oblation to Manotā, but the rest is the same. The first is for Agni; Agni is the holy power; (it serves) to win the glory of the holy power. The second is for Sarasvatī; Sarasvatī is speech; by speech is food made sweet and eaten; (it serves) to obtain proper food. The third is for Soma; Soma is the lordly power; (it serves) to win the glory of the lordly power. The fourth is for Pūṣan; Pūṣan is food; (it serves) to obtain proper food. The fifth is for Bṛhaspati; Bṛhaspati is the holy power; (it serves) to win the glory of the holy power. The

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sixth is for the All-gods; of all forms is food eaten; (it serves) to obtain proper food. The seventh is for Indra; Indra is the lordly power; (it serves) to win the glory of the lordly power. The eighth is for the Maruts; the Maruts are the waters; the waters are food; (it serves) to obtain proper food. The ninth is for Indra and Agni; Indra and Agni are the holy and the lordly powers; (it serves) to win the glory of the holy power and the glory of the lordly power. The tenth is for Savitṛ; instigated by Savitṛ is this food eaten; (it serves) to win proper food. The eleventh is for Varuṇa; Varuṇa is the lordly power; (it serves) to win the glory of the lordly power. Thus Prajāpati, by the holy power and the lordly power and by the lordly power and the holy power, kept encircling on both sides and winning proper food. Verily thus also the sacrificer, by the holy power and the lordly power and by the lordly power and the holy power, keeps encircling on both sides and winning proper food.

Linked texts (1)

Kauṣītakibrāhmaṇa — Kauṣītaki, Sanskrit