A History of Indian Literature v1.c8.s6.32

v1.c8.s6.32

The deities are not always invoked or praised in these sacrifice-formulæ, but in the most diverse ways sacrificial utensils and sacrificial acts are brought into relation to deities. Thus, for example, the priest binds with a rope the sacrificer's wife who takes part in the sacrifice, saying: "A girdle thou art for Aditi." At the consecration for the Soma-sacrifice the sacrificer binds himself with a girdle of hemp and reed-grass with the words: "Thou art the strength of the Angiras,² soft as wool; lend me strength!" Then he makes a knot in his under-garment and says: "The knot of the Soma art thou." Hereupon he enwraps his head in his turban (or in his upper garment) muttering: "Thou art Viṣṇu's protection, the protection of the sacrificer." To the horn of a black antelope, which he wraps up in the hem of his garment he says: "Thou art Indra's womb." The priest takes the sacrificial food from the car with the words: "Thou art the body of Agni, thee for Viṣṇu. Thou art the body of the Soma, thee for Viṣṇu." When the priest takes any sacrificial utensil into his hand, he does it with the oft-recurring formula: "At the god Savitar's instigation I take thee with the arms of the Aśvins, with the hands of Pūṣan."¹