Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa ("of a hundred paths") 10.4.4
Śatapathabrāhmaṇa 10.4.4
- Language
- Sanskrit
10.4.4.1
prajāpatiṃ vai prajāḥ sṛjamānam pāpmā mṛtyurabhiparijaghāna sa tapo'tapyata sahasraṃ saṃvatsarānpāpmānaṃ vijihāsan
When Pragâpati was creating living beings, Death, that evil, overpowered him. He practised austerities for a thousand years, striving to leave evil behind him.
10.4.4.2
tasya tapastepānasya ebhyo lomagartebhya ūrdhvāni jyotīṃṣyāyaṃstadyāni tāni jyotīṃṣyetāni tāni nakṣatrāṇi yāvantyetāni nakṣatrāṇi tāvanto lomagartā yāvanto lomagartāstāvantaḥ sahasrasaṃvatsarasya muhūrtāḥ
Whilst he was practising austerities, lights went upwards from those hair-pits of his; and those lights are those stars: as many stars as there are, so many hair-pits there are; and as many hair-pits as there are, so many muhûrtas there are in a (sacrificial performance) of a thousand years.
10.4.4.3
sa sahasratame saṃvatsare sarvo'tyapavata sa yaḥ so'tyapavatāyameva sa vāyuryo'yam pavate'tha yaṃ tam pāpmānamatyapavatedaṃ tacarīraṃ ka u tasmai manuṣyo yaḥ sahasrasaṃvatsaramavarundhīta vidyayā ha vā evaṃvitsahasrasaṃvatsaramavarunddhe
In the one-thousandth year, he cleansed himself all through; and he that cleansed all through is this wind which here cleanses by blowing; and that evil which he cleansed all through is this body. But what is man that he could secure for himself a (life) of a thousand years? By knowledge, assuredly, he who knows secures for himself (the benefits of a performance) of a thousand years.
10.4.4.4
sarvā evaitā iṣṭakāḥ sāhasrīrupāsīta rātrisahasreṇa rātrisahasreṇaikaikām pariśritaṃ sampannāmupāsītāhaḥsahasreṇāhaḥsahasreṇaikaikāmaharbhājamardhamāsasahasreṇārd hamāsasahasreṇaikaikāmardhamāsabhājam māsasahasreṇa-māsasahasreṇaikaikām māsabhājamṛtusahasreṇartṛsahasreṇaikaikāmṛtubhājam muhūrtasahasreṇa-muhūrtasahasreṇaikaikām muhūrtabhājaṃ saṃvatsarasahasreṇa saṃvatsaraṃ te ya etamevamagniṃ saṃvatsareṇa sampannaṃ viduḥ sahasratamīṃ hāsya te kalāṃ viduratha ya enamevaṃ na vidurna hāsya te sahasratamīṃ cana kalāṃ viduratha ya evaivaṃ veda yo vaitatkarma kurute sa haivaitaṃ sarvaṃ kṛtsnam prājāpatyamagnimāpnoti yam prajāpatirāpnottasmādevaṃvittapa eva tapyeta yadu ha vā evaṃvittapa tapyata ā maithunātsarvaṃ hāsya tatsvargaṃ lokamabhisambhavati
Let him look upon all these bricks as a thousandfold: let him look upon each enclosing-stone as charged with a thousand nights, each day-holder with a thousand days, each half-moon-holder with a thousand half-moons, each month-holder with a thousand months, each season-holder with a thousand seasons, each muhûrta-holder with a thousand muhûrtas, and the year with a thousand years. They who thus know this Agni as being endowed with a thousand, know his one-thousandth digit; but they who do not thus know him, do not even know a one-thousandth digit of him. And he alone who so knows this, or who performs this sacred work, obtains this whole and complete Pragâpatean Agni whom Pragâpati obtained. Wherefore let him who knows this by all means practise austerities; for, indeed, when he who knows this practises austerities, even to (abstention from) sexual intercourse, every (part) of him will share in the world of heaven.
10.4.4.5
tadetadṛcābhyuktam na mṛṣā śrāntaṃ yadavanti devā iti na haivaivaṃ viduṣaḥ kiṃ cana mṛṣā śrāntam bhavati tatho hāsyaitatsarvaṃ devā avanti
It is regarding this that it is said in the Rik (I, 179, 3), 'Not in vain is the labour which the gods favour;' for, in truth, for him who knows there is no labouring in vain, and so, indeed, the gods favour this every (action) of his.
Translations (1)
- The Satapatha-Brahmana according to the Text of the Mâdhyandina School (SBE 12, 26, 41, 43, 44) — Julius Eggeling 1882, English
Commentaries (1)
- Śatapathabrāhmaṇabhāṣya (Sāyaṇa) — Sāyaṇa, Sanskrit
Linked texts (10)
- Metrically restored text (van Nooten & Holland) — Sanskrit
- Original Sanskrit Texts on the Origin and History of the People of India, their Religion and Institutions — John Muir, English
- Altindische Grammatik — Jacob Wackernagel & Albert Debrunner, German
- A Vedic Concordance — Maurice Bloomfield, English
- A History of Indian Literature — M. Winternitz, English
- Geschichte der indischen Litteratur — M. Winternitz, German
- The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads — Arthur Berriedale Keith, English
- Die Religion des Veda — Hermann Oldenberg, German
- Vedic Mythology — Arthur Anthony Macdonell, English
- Saṃvādasūkta — Sanskrit