Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa ("of a hundred paths") 13.4.4

When the year has expired, the Dîkshâ (initiation) takes place. After the slaughtering of the victim sacred to Pragâpati, the (ishti) offerings come to an end. Some, however, say, ‘Let him offer (them) on the fires of his Purohita (court-chaplain). But why should one who is initiated make offering? There are twelve Dîkshâ (days), twelve Upasad (days) and three Sutyâs (Soma-days), that amounts to the thrice-ninefold (stoma); but the thrice-ninefold, indeed, is a thunderbolt, and the horse is the nobility (kshatra), and the Râganya is the nobility; and political power (kshatra) is won by the thunderbolt: thus he wins political power by means of the thunderbolt.

When the Initiation-offering has been completed, and Speech released in the evening, masters of lute-players have come thither: these the Adhvaryu calls upon, 'Masters of lute-players,' he says, 'sing ye of this Sacrificer along with the gods!' and they accordingly sing of him in that manner--

Day by day, after speech has been released, when, on the completion of the Agnîshomîya (animal sacrifices), the Vasatîvarî (water) has been carried round (the sacrificial ground). The reason why they thus sing of him along with the gods is that they thereby make him share the same world with the gods.

On the Sutyâ-days (they sing of him) along with Pragâpati in the same way day by day, after the Vasatîvarî (water) has been carried round, and the Udavasânîyâ (offering) has been finally completed. The reason why they thus sing of him along with Pragâpati is that they thereby finally make him share the same world with Pragâpati.

There are twenty-one sacrificial stakes, all of them twenty-one cubits long. The central one is of raggudâla wood; on both sides thereof stand two pîtudâru (deodar) ones, six of bilva wood (Aegle Marmelos)--three on this side, and three on that,--six of khadira (Acacia Catechu) wood--three on this side, and three on that,--six of palâsa (Butea frondosa) wood--three on this side, and three on that.

Then as to why these stakes are suchlike. When Pragâpati's vital airs had gone out of him, his body began to swell; and what phlegm there was in it that flowed together and burst forth from inside through the nose, and it became this tree, the raggudâla, whence it is viscid, for it originated from phlegm: with that form (quality) he thus endows it (the stake). And as to why it is the (stake) standing by the fire, it is because that one is the centre of the stakes, and that nose is the centre of the (channels of the) vital airs: he thus puts it in its own place.

And what watery (liquid) fire, and what fragrance there was, that flowed together and burst forth from the eye, and became that tree, the pîtudâru; whence that (wood) is sweet-smelling, since it originated from fragrance, and whence it is inflammable, since it originated from fire: with that quality he thus endows it. And because these two (pîtudâru stakes) are on the two sides of the central one, therefore these two eyes are on the two sides of the nose: he thus puts those two in their own place.

And what 'kuntâpa,' what marrow there was, that flowed together, and burst forth from the ear, and became that tree, the bilva; whence all the fruit of that (tree) is eatable inside, and whence it (the tree, or wood) is yellowish, for marrow is yellowish: with that quality he thus endows it. The two (sets of) pîtudâru (stakes) stand inside, and the bilva ones outside, for the eyes are inside, and the ears outside: he thus puts them in their own place.

From his (Pragâpati's) bones the khadira, was produced, whence that (tree) is hard and of great strength, for hard, as it were, is bone: with that quality he thus endows it. The bilva (stakes) are inside, and the khadira ones outside, for inside is the marrow, and outside the bones: he thus puts them in their own place.

From his flesh the palâsa was produced, whence that (tree) has much juice, and (that) red juice, for red, as it were, is flesh: with that quality he thus endows it. The khadira (stakes) are inside, and the palâsa ones outside, for inside are the bones, and outside is the flesh: he thus puts them in their own place.

And as to why there are twenty-one (stakes), twenty-one cubits long,--twenty-one-fold, indeed, is he that shines yonder --there are twelve months, five seasons, these three worlds, and yonder sun is the twenty-first, and he is the Asvamedha, and this Pragâpati. Having thus completely restored this Pragâpati, the sacrifice, he therein seizes twenty-one Agnîshomîya victims: for these there is one and the same performance, and this is the performance of the day before (the first Sutyâ).