Kauṣītaki (Śāṅkhāyana) Brāhmaṇa 9.p4

9.p4

ix. 2. He recites for him as he is taken forth the three verses containing ‘forth’, ‘Forth the god with the thought divine.’ ‘Thee in the footstep of the sacrificial food’, he says ; the sacrificial food is this (earth), for in it he praises (īṭṭe) all. He praises him when deposited with the half verse containing (the word) ‘deposit’, ‘O All-knower, we deposit thee.’ He praises him when he has sat down with (the verses ) containing (the word) ‘sit’, ‘O Agni, of fair face, with all the gods’; ‘Sit, O Hotṛ, in thine own place, discerning’, and ‘The Hotṛ in the Hotṛ’s seat, well knowing.’ He concludes with (a verse ) containing the word ‘herald’, ‘Thou art a herald; thou also our protector from afar.’ He recites appropriate verses; what in the sacrifice is appropriate, that is perfect; verily (it serves) for the perfection of the sacrifice. Eight he recites; the Gāyatrī has eight syllables; Agni is connected with the Gāyatrī, and has the Gāyatrī as his metre; verily thus with his own metre they bring Agni forward. (He recites) the first thrice, the third thrice; they make up twelve; the year has twelve months; verily (they serve) to obtain the year. They repeated together make up eighteen Gāyatrī verses; verily by the metre it is connected with Agni. Of whatever even metre there are six , they make up a Gāyatrī; of whatever there are seven, an Uṣṇih, of whatever there are eight an Anuṣṭubh, of whatever there are nine a Bṛhatī, of whatever there are ten a Paṅkti, of whatever there are eleven a Triṣṭubh, of whatever there are twelve (syllables) a Jagatī.