Satapatha Brahmana Part III (SBE41): Seventh Kânda: VII, 1, 1. First Adhyâya. First Brâhmana
SEVENTH KÂNDA.
THE GÂRHAPATYA HEARTH.
FIRST ADHYÂYA. FIRST BRÂHMANA.
1. Being about to build the Gârhapatya (fire-place), he sweeps (its site) with a Palâsa (butea frondosa) branch. For when he builds the Gârhapatya 1 he settles on that place; and whatsoever builders of fire-altars (there have been), they are indeed settled on this earth; and when he sweeps (that place) he thereby sweeps away those settled (there before hire), thinking, 'Lest I should settle on those already settled (here).'
2. [He sweeps, with Vâg. S. XII, 45] 'Off with you! away with you! crawl away from here 2!'--that is, 'Go off, go away, and crawl away from here!' he says this to those that crawl on their belly;--'Ye that are here of old and of late!' that is, 'both ye who were here of yore, and ye of the present day.'
3. 'Yama hath given the settlement on earth (to this Sacrificer);'--for Yama indeed rules over the settling on this earth, and it is he who grants to this (Sacrificer) a settlement on this earth.
5. With a palâsa branch he sweeps; for the Palâsa tree is the Brahman 1: it is by the Brahman he thus sweeps away those already settled;--with a prayer (he does so), for the prayer is the Brahman: it is by the Brahman he thus sweeps away those already settled. He throws it (the branch) out towards the north 2.
6. He then scatters saline soil (over the hearth-site); for the Gârhapatya is this world, and salt means cattle: he thus bestows cattle on this world,--hence those cattle here in this world.
7. And again why he scatters saline soil. Pragâpati created creatures; he created them with different kinds of amnions: they did not agree together. He desired, 'May they agree together!' He made them to be of the same (kind of) amnion: hence even to this day, being of equal amnions, they agree together. And he who offers, offers thinking, 'May I be (born) with the same (kind of) amnion as the gods!' and when he scatters saline salt (in the hearth-site) he thereby becomes of equal amnion with the gods.
9. He then scatters sand to keep (the saline soil, or amnion) from being scorched 2;--for sand is nothing else than the ashes of Agni Vaisvânara, and him, Agni Vaisvânara, he is indeed about to build up; and Agni does not scorch his own self.
10. And again why he scatters sand,--sand is nothing else than the seed of Agni Vaisvânara 3, and him, Agni Vaisvânara, he is about to build up; but nothing is fashioned from out of the seedless: 'May he (Agni) be fashioned from out of this seed!' so he thinks.
11. [He scatters it, with Vâg. S. XII, 46] 'Agni's ashes thou art! Agni's soil thou art!' for Agni's ashes are useless, and the sand is not useless: he thus makes it (the Gârhapatya hearth) to be useful. He covers with it the whole Gârhapatya; for the
13. And, again, why he encloses it with enclosing-stones;--the Gârhapatya hearth is this (terrestrial) world, and the enclosing-stones are the waters: he thus surrounds this world with water,--it is with the ocean that he thus surrounds it on all sides, and hence the ocean flows round this world on all sides. (He puts up the stones) by turning to the right (or south) 1, whence the ocean flows round this world (from the east) southwards;--by means of a dug out (hole, or moat) 2, whence the ocean flows round this world in a moat.
14. [Vâg. S. XII, 46] 'Ranging ye are!' for he does range them;--'ranging around ye are!' for he does range them all round;--'upwards ranging get ye fixed!' thus he says, placing them upright: hence the ocean surges upwards; but were he to place them sideways, the ocean surely would all at once overflow all this (earth). He does not settle them, for unsettled are the waters; nor does he pronounce the Sûdadohas (verse) on them 3.
16. The enclosing-stones, then, are the womb; the saline earth is the amnion, and the sand is the seed. The enclosing-stones are outside, and the saline earth is inside; for the womb is outside, and the amnion inside. The saline earth is outside, and the sand inside; for the amnion is outside, and the seed inside. He who is born is born from these: it is from them that he thus causes him (Agni) to be born.
17. Thereon he now builds it (the hearth): he
thereby fashions that infused seed; and hence the infused seed is fashioned in the womb.
19. Now he here fashions him (Agni) with wings and tail; for whatlike the seed is fashioned in the womb suchlike (offspring) is born: thus inasmuch as he now fashions him with wings and tail, he is born hereafter 3 with wings and tail.
20. While being indeed furnished with wings and tail, people do not see him as one having wings and tail 4: hence one does not see the child in the womb in its proper shape; but hereafter they (will) see him as one having wings and tail, and hence one sees the child after it is born in its proper shape.
21. Four (bricks) he puts on first, for of him that
22. [He puts it on, with Vâg. S. XII, 47; Rik S. III, 22, 1, &c.] 'This is the Agni wherein Indra taketh the Soma-juice,' for the Gârhapatya hearth is this (terrestrial) world, and the Soma-juice is the waters: Indra thus took up the waters in this world;--'into his belly, craving it,'--for the belly is the centre;--'thousandfold strength, like a swift racer,'--the thousandfold strength, doubtless, is the waters,--'thou, having gained, art exalted, O knower of beings!' that is, 'thou, being built, art built 2, O knower of beings!'
23. [The second brick, with Vâg. S. XII, 48] 'O Agni, what splendour is thine in the heaven,'--his splendour in the heaven doubtless is the sun;--'on earth,' that on earth is this fire;--'and that which is in the plants, in the waters, O holy one!' he thereby means the fire that is both in the plants, and in the waters;--'wherewith thou hast overspread the wide air,'--that is, the wind;--'brilliant is that light, surging, man-viewing;' that is, 'great is that light, surging, man-viewing.'
24. [The third, with Vâg . S. XII, 49] 'O Agni,
26. He puts them down separately: what different desires there are, those he thereby lays into the self. He 'settles' them once: he thereby makes the self one. He pronounces the Sûdadohas 2 verse on them; for the Sûdadohas is the vital air: by means of the vital air he thus makes him (Agni) continuous, joins him together.
27. Thereupon going round behind, he sits down on the north side with his face to the south, and puts on first the southern one of the two behind,
29. These two are his (Agni's) thighs,--separately he puts them on, separately he 'settles' them, separately he pronounces the Sûdadohas verse upon them, for separate are these two thighs. There are two of them, for there are two thighs. Behind he puts them on, for behind are those thighs. At their upper ends they are joined (to the central ones 1), for so are these thighs joined (to the body) at their upper ends.
30. Thereupon, going round again by the same way, he sits down on the south side, with his face to the north, and puts on first the northern one of the two (bricks) in front, with (Vâg. S. XII, 53),
31. These two are his (Agni's) arms,--separately he puts them on, separately he 'settles' them, separately he pronounces the Sûdadohas 2 verse on them; for separate are these two arms. There are two of them, for there are two arms. He puts them on in the forepart, for these arms are here in front. At their upper ends they are joined (to the central ones), for so are these two arms joined (to the body) at the upper ends. Those two (arms) he puts on thus (from north to south), and those two (thighs) thus (from south to north): that is (from east to) southward 3, for thus it is with the gods 4.
32. Eight bricks he puts on (the hearth-site),the Gâyatrî consists of eight syllables, and Agni is Gâyatra 5: as great as Agni is, as great as is his measure, so great he thus builds him. Five times he 'settles' (the bricks)--the fire-altar consists of five layers; five seasons are a year, and Agni is the year: as great as Agni is, as great as is his measure,
34. Both these kinds (of bricks) amount to twenty-one;--there are twelve months, five seasons, these three worlds, and yonder sun as the twenty-first: that sun he thus establishes in this fire-altar.
35. Moreover, there are twenty-one enclosing-stones,--twelve months, five seasons, these three worlds, and that Agni from yonder (sun) 4 as the twenty-first: this Agni he thus establishes in yonder sun. And inasmuch as he puts on those (bricks) in this way, he thereby establishes those two (the sun and the fire) in each other, and (accordingly) those two are established in each other; for both of them he now makes out to be the twenty-first, and both
36. He then throws thereon a layer of earth,--the significance of this (will be told) further on 2. He takes it from the edge of the pit (Kâtvâla); for the Kâtvâla is the same as Agni 3, and in this way does that which is of Agni's nature become his. It (the Gârhapatya altar) should be even with the mouth (of the fire-pan): the significance of this has been told 4.
37. It (the Gârhapatya hearth) measures a fathom (in diameter 5), for man is a fathom high, and man is Pragâpati (the lord of generation), and Pragâpati is Agni: he thus makes the womb of equal size to his (Agni's) body. It is circular, for the womb is circular; and moreover the Gârhapatya is this (terrestrial) world, and this world doubtless is circular.
39. With four (verses) he pours them together,--he thereby establishes concord between them by whatever four-footed cattle there are; and cattle being food, it is by means of food that he establishes concord between them.
40. Let him not look at that (pan) while empty: 'I must not look at the empty one!' so he thinks. Were he to look at the empty (pan), it would certainly devour him.
41. He then pours sand into it 3, for sand (sikatâ) is
43. [He unlooses it from the netting, with Vâg. S. XII, 61] 'Even as a mother her son, so hath the Earth borne Agni Purîshya,'--that is, Agni, favourable to cattle;--'she, the Ukhâ, in her own womb;' that is, the Ukhâ has borne Agni in her own womb;--'May Pragâpati, the all-former, release her, in concert with the All-gods, the seasons!' the All-gods doubtless are the seasons: thus Pragâpati, the all-former, releases it, in concert with the All-gods, the seasons. He deposits it north of the fire, at a cubit's distance: the significance of this has been explained 1.
44. He then pours milk into it,--it first receives seed, and now it receives milk; for the fire-pan is a female: hence when a female receives seed, then it receives milk. The sand is below, and the milk above, for the seed is below, and the milk above. He pours it into the middle, so that thereon he may place the human head 2.
Footnotes
298:1 That is, 'the householder's fire,' which represents the Sacrificer's domestic hearth.
298:2 This first pâda is taken from Rik S. X, 14, 9. The four pâdas of the verse are muttered by the Adhvaryu while sweeping the four sides of the site respectively, beginning in the east and ending in the north. On this place when swept the circular site of the Gârhapatya is then marked off by saline soil being scattered over it (cf. Taitt. S. V, 2, 3, 2-3).
299:1 For the identification of the Palâsa with the Brahman (sacred writ, or the holy spirit embodied therein), see part i, p. 90, note 1.
299:2 'He throws it upwards,' Delbrück, Synt. F. V, 79.
300:1 Sâyana, on Taitt. S. IV, 2, 4, takes 'samgñânam' in the sense of 'knowledge, recognition;' explaining it from the fact that cattle by their smell recognise the places of saline soil and lick them.
300:2 Or, to keep (the fire) from burning over (or through the sand, and injuring the saline soil or amnion). For the construction, see p. 198, note 2.
300:3 This notion is apparently based on the supposed etymological connection of 'sikatâ,' sand, with the root 'sik.'
301:1 That is, from east to south, &c., following the course of the sun.
301:2 ? That is, by digging in each stone, the circle consisting of altogether twenty-one stones.
301:3 The two ceremonies here referred to, viz. the 'sâdana' (settling, setting, steadying, viz. by means of the formula, XII, 53, 'with the help of that deity lie thou steady, like Aṅgiras,' see VII, 1, 1, 30) and the muttering of the Sûdadohas verse (Vâg. S. XII, 55, for which
302:1 Viz. the so-called 'lokamprinâ' (or space-filling bricks), for which see p. 153, note 1.
303:1 That is, with the lines by which they are marked running from west to east. Whilst these four bricks are oblong ones, measuring two feet by one, the four placed at the back and in front of them measure each a foot square, as do also those placed in the corners of the square pile, except the south-east corner, where two bricks are to be placed measuring one foot by half a foot each.
303:2 See VI, 1, 1, 3-6.
303:3 Or 'yonder,' that is, as the great fire-altar, soon to be built, which is ultimately to receive the Âhavanîya fire, taken from the Gârhapatya.
303:4 While in the form of the Gârhapatya the wings and tail are not represented at all, these appendages form an important part of the great altar of the Âhavanîya fire. In the Gârhapatya hearth, Agni would seem represented rather as a man lying on his back with the head towards the east.
304:1 In laying down the bricks he again follows the course of the sun, that is, he lays down the four large or central ones from north to south, then the two back ones from south to north, and finally the two front ones from north to south.
304:2 ? That is, Thou, being built (as the Gârhapatya), art built (once more as the Âhavanîya).
305:1 Viz. inasmuch as 'prâvana' begins with the preposition 'pra,' forward, Sây.
306:1 They are joined to each other, according to Sâyana, but this can hardly be the meaning intended, as the stones lie close to each other also at the lower (western) end.
307:1 This common portion of the two formulas forms the so-called 'settling' (or 'setting') formula (sâdana); Kâty. Sr. XVI, 7, 14; cf. VI, 1, 2, 28, and p. 301, note 3. Aṅgiras-like' apparently means, 'as (thou didst) in the case of, or with, Aṅgiras.'
307:2 Vâg. S. XII, 55; Rik S. VIII, 69, 3. 'At his birth the well-like milking, speckled ones mix the Soma (draught), the clans of the gods in the three spheres of the heavens.' This difficult verse has been differently translated by different translators. The Brâhmana itself also gives a very different, doubtless quite fanciful, interpretation of it at VIII, 7, 3, 21.
307:3 That is, in accordance with the course of the sun.
307:4 Or, 'thus (it goes,--or, Agni, as a bird, flies) to the gods.'
307:5 See VI, 1, 1, 15.
308:1 VIII, 7, 2, 1 seq.
308:2 Viz. one in the north-east, and two (of half the size) in the south-east corner.
308:3 Viz. one in the south-west, and one in the north-west corner; and further, eight more filling up the four segments of the circle. See the outline of the Gârhapatya altar at p. 302.
308:4 Or, perhaps that Agni on yonder sky (or fire-altar?). In any case it is the sun that is referred to.
309:1 That is to say, they will be here after the completion of the two altars,--the Gârhapatya fire being the Agni proper, and the Âhavanîya fire the sun.
309:2 For this, and the formula (Vâg. S. XII, 56) used therewith, see VIII, 7, 3, 1 seq.
309:3 See part ii, p. 116, note 3, 'The earth taken from the pit being used for constructing the high altar, both are of the same size or cubic extent.'
309:4 See VI, 3, 3, 26.
309:5 Or rather, it is a circle corresponding in area to a square of one fathom; which gives a diameter somewhat exceeding in length a fathom (that is, the space between the tips of the middle fingers when the arms are extended). The measurement is (at least theoretically) a relative one, being adapted to the Sacrificer's size; but practically the fathom (vyâma, or purusha, man) may be taken to be of about 6 feet, the vyâma being equal to 4 aratnis (cubits) of 2 prâdesas (spans of some 18 inches each). This allows for a central square of 4 feet, and about 1 foot (in reality somewhat less) for each of the two bisectors of the segments.
310:1 That is, he pours the fire of the pan (ukhyâgni) on the Gârhapatya (hearth).
310:2 'Purîshya' seems here to have the sense of 'rich, plentiful.' See p. 201, note 1.
310:3 'Ukhâ,' the pan, is feminine, and represents the womb from which Agni is born.
311:2 See VII, 5, 2, 14.
