Kauṣītaki (Śāṅkhāyana) Brāhmaṇa 23.2
English (machine translation) 23.2
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23.2.1
He begins the Marutvatīya recitation with [a verse] containing [the word] 'sacrifice' (yajñavat): "Thee we approach with sacrifices..." [RV 8.40.7].
23.2.2
For on the fourth day the sacrifice is to be undertaken afresh.
23.2.3
He thereby undertakes the sacrifice itself.
23.2.4
"Hear the call, O Indra, do not fail me..." [RV 8.96.11] is the Marutvatīya hymn.
23.2.5
These, indeed, are Triṣṭubhs having the character of Virāj.
23.2.6
They are used here.
23.2.7
For they are endowed with the characteristic form of the day.
23.2.8
"O Indra with the Maruts, drink the Soma here..." [RV 3.51.7] is the well-known Triṣṭubh pressing-supporter (savana-dharaṇa).
23.2.9
Indra, indeed, is connected with the Triṣṭubh.
23.2.10
Indra's domain, indeed, is the midday [pressing].
23.2.11
These well-known Triṣṭubh pressing-supporters do not depart from the midday [pressing], even when the metres are shifted.
23.2.12
Indra belongs to the Triṣṭubh.
23.2.13
[It is retained] lest we should dislodge Indra from his own domain.
23.2.14
"When the gods adorned thee at birth..." [RV 3.51.8] contains [the word] 'born' (jātavat).
23.2.15
For [the word] 'born' (jātavat) is the characteristic mark of the fourth day.
23.2.16
"Now call I him who has wondrous craft..." [RV 8.96.10] is the Gāyatra Marutvatīya hymn.
23.2.17
For this three-day period has the Gāyatrī at midday.
23.2.18
Now as to this, [one asks]: 'Should one make the nyūṅkha here or here?'
23.2.19
The nyūṅkha belongs to the stotriya and anurūpa verses and to the opening verses of the uktha.
23.2.20
Then he should not heed [any deviation].
23.2.21
The stotriya verse is the self; the anurūpa verse is offspring.
23.2.22
The nyūṅkha is food.
23.2.23
He thereby places food in himself and in his offspring.
23.2.24
'One should make an Anuṣṭubh nyūṅkha,' say some.
23.2.25
The fourth day, indeed, belongs to the Anuṣṭubh.
23.2.26
Thus he prospers it with its own metre.
23.2.27
'One should make a Vairāja nyūṅkha,' such is the settled rule.
23.2.28
Virāj is food; the nyūṅkha is food.
23.2.29
He thereby places food in the sacrifice and in the sacrificers.
23.2.30
He should make the nyūṅkha on the middle pada.
23.2.31
The self is the first pada, offspring the last.
23.2.32
The middle pada is the waist.
23.2.33
It is in the middle of the body, indeed, that food is placed.
23.2.34
That is just as if one were to eat food mouthful by mouthful.
23.2.35
"Indra alone for the godhead..." [RV 8.92.19] is the eight-verse Indra Pragātha.
23.2.36
By means of this, indeed, the gods attained all attainments.
23.2.37
Likewise also the sacrificers attain all attainments by this very means.
23.2.38
"Where heard...?" [RV 8.92.1] are the Kuhaśrutīya verses.
23.2.39
They are either Virājs or Anuṣṭubhs.
23.2.40
They are performed here.
23.2.41
For these are endowed with the characteristic mark of the day.
23.2.42
'Of thee the warrior, the bull, the self-ruler' (RV 7.34.1) is recognized as a Triṣṭubh hymn sustaining the pressing; its brāhmaṇa has been stated.
23.2.43
By the word 'self-ruler' (svarāj), it contains svarāj.
23.2.44
Containing svarāj is indeed its characteristic mark.
23.2.45
'Him indeed who is all-conquering for you' (RV 8.66.1) is the Niṣkevalya recitation.
23.2.46
By 'thou dost bring down for help' (ūtaye), it contains ūti.
23.2.47
Containing ūti is indeed its characteristic mark.
23.2.48
It is in the Gāyatrī metre, for this three-day period has the Gāyatrī at the midday [pressing].
Linked texts (1)
- Kauṣītakibrāhmaṇa — Kauṣītaki, Sanskrit