1. At the midday Soma-feast he consecrates (the Sacrificer) by sprinkling; and at the midday Soma-feast they run a race; for, verily, Pragâpati is that sacrifice 1 which is here performed, and from which these creatures have been produced,--and indeed, they are even now produced after this one: thus he thereby wins Pragâpati in the very centre (of the sacrifice).
2. The Mâhendra cup being not yet drawn,--for
4. That chariot, seized by the pole, he turns (from left to right) so as to make it stand inside the vedi 2, with, 'In the winning of wealth, the great Mother'--wealth means food: 'in the winning of food, the great Mother'--is what he thereby says;--'Aditi by name, we praise with speech;' now Aditi is this earth: therefore he says, 'Aditi by name, we praise with speech,'--'whereon all this being hath settled;' for indeed thereon all being here is settled;--'thereon may the divine Savitri prosper our stay!' whereby he means to say, 'thereon may the divine Savitri prosper our Sacrificer!'
5. He then sprinkles the horses with water, either when being led down to be watered, or when brought
7. He then yokes (the team of) the chariot. The right horse he yokes (puts to) first; for in human (practice) they indeed put to the left horse first, but with the gods in this way.
8. He yokes it, with (Vâg. S. IX, 7), Either the wind, or thought--'for there is nothing swifter than the wind, and nothing swifter than thought:' therefore he says, 'Either the wind, or thought;--'(or) the seven and twenty Gandharvas 1,
10. He yokes it, with (Vâg. S. IX, 9), 'What speed hath been secretly laid into thee, O courser, and what (speed), bestowed on the eagle, went along in the wind;'--he thereby says, 'what speed of thine, O courser, is hidden away even elsewhere, therewith win this our sacrifice, Pragâpati!'--'with that strength be thou strong and wealth-winning for us, O courser, and victorious at the gathering!'--wealth means food: he thus means to say, 'And be thou a food-winner for us at this our
12. He now takes out material for a wild-rice pap of seventeen plates for Brihaspati; for he who offers the Vâgapeya wins food,--vâga-peya being doubtless the same as anna-peya (food and drink): thus whatever food he has thereby won, that he now prepares for him.
13. And as to why it belongs to Brihaspati:--Brihaspati won it in the beginning, therefore it belongs to Brihaspati.
14. And why it is prepared of wild rice:--Brihaspati is the Brahman (priesthood), and those wild-rice grains are cooked with the Brahman (prayer),--therefore it is of wild rice. It is one of seventeen plates,
17:1 In the original, 'pragâpatih' is the predicate, not the subject, of the sentence; but considerations of construction seem to render the change desirable in English.
18:1 The Adhvaryu takes it down from the vâhana, or car-stand.
18:2 It is to be placed in the north-eastern part of the vedi, so as to be ready to start on the race northwards along the space between the kâtvâla (or pit) and the utkara (heap of rubbish); the horses thus being close to where the Brahman will have to mount a cartwheel put up on the utkara (V, 1, 5, 2).
19:1 Professor Weber (in his essay on the Nakshatras, II, 278; Abhandl. of Berlin Academy, 1861) takes this passage (--Taitt. S. 1, 7, 7, 2; Kâthaka 13, 14; Maitr. S. I, 11, 1) to contain the first allusion to the system of Nakshatras, or lunar mansions marking the daily stations occupied by the moon (masc.) during his circuit round the heavens.--In the ritual of the Black Yagus (Taitt. S. 1, 7, 7, 2)
22:1 That is, Brihaspati; unless 'lokam' has to be supplied to 'imam' ('this world'), as might appear probable from the next paragraph. See also V. 1, 5, 27-28.
