1. By means of the Seasonal sacrifices, Pragâpati fashioned for himself a body. The sacrificial food for the Vaisvadeva 2 sacrifice he made to be this
3. The Varunapraghâsa 4 offerings are this right leg,--the five oblations which this has in common (with the other Seasonal offerings) are these five toes; and the oblation to Indra and Agni is the knuckles: this (oblation) belongs to two deities
5. The Great Oblation, indeed, is this left leg,--the five oblations which it has in common (with the other Seasonal offerings) are these five toes; and the oblation to Indra and Agni is the knuckles: this (oblation) belongs to two deities whence there are
7. Now these Seasonal offerings are tripartite and furnished with two joints 2, whence these limbs of man are tripartite and furnished with two joints. Two of these four (sacrifices) have each three indistinct (low-voiced) oblations; and two of them have two each 3.
8. At all four of them they churn out the fire,
9. As to this they say, 'The Vaisvadeva oblation (should have) all (its formulas) in the Gâyatrî, the Varunapraghâsâh all in the Trishtubh, the Great Oblation all in the Gagatî, and the Sunâsîrîya all in the Anushtubh metre, so as to yield a Katushtoma 3.' But let him not do this, for inasmuch as (his formulas) amount to these (metres) even thereby that wish is obtained.
10. Now, indeed, (the formulas of) these Seasonal offerings. amount to three hundred and sixty-two Brihatî verses 4: he thereby obtains both the year 5
74:2 The Vaisvadeva, or first of the four seasonal sacrifices, requires the following oblations:--1. a cake on eight potsherds to Agni; 2. a pap to Soma; 3. a cake on twelve or eight potsherds to
75:2 That is to say, it is a low-voiced offering, the two formulas, with the exception of the final Om and Vaushat, being pronounced in a low voice. All cakes on one potsherd are (except those to Varuna) of this description; Kâty. Sr. IV, 5, 3; Âsv. Sr. II, 15, 5; cf. Sat. Br. II, 4, 3, 8.
75:3 That is, not clearly defined; the word 'dos,' which is more usually restricted to the fore-arm, being also used for the whole arm, and even the upper arm.
75:4 The Varunapraghâsâh, or second seasonal sacrifice, has the following oblations:--1-5. the common oblations; 6. a cake on twelve potsherds to Indra and Agni; 7. 8. two dishes of clotted curds for Varuna and the Maruts respectively; 9. a cake on one potsherd for Ka (Pragâpati).
76:1 The Sâkamedhâh, or third seasonal sacrifice, consists of the following oblations:--1. a cake on eight potsherds to Agni Anîkavat; 2. 3. paps to the Marutah Sâmtapanâh and Marutah Grihamedhinah; 4. a cake on seven potsherds to the Marutah Krîdinah; 5. a pap to Aditi. Then follows the Great Oblation consisting of 6-10, the five common oblations; 11. a cake on twelve potsherds to Indra and Agni; 12. a pap to Mahendra; and 13. a cake on one potsherd to Visvakarman. Then follows the Pitriyagña.
76:2 Or, according to Sâyana, one gets oppressed or heated on account of the close proximity of the heart and the digestive fire,--urasâ hridaya-sambandhâg gatharasannivesâk ka samtâpana-vishayatvam.
76:3 This offering of a cake to Aditi, mentioned in Kâty. Sr. V, 7, 2, is not referred to in the Brâhmana's account of the Sâkamedhâh, see II, 5, 3, 20.
77:1 The Sunâsîrîya, or last Seasonal offering, consists of--1-5. the common oblations; 6. the Sunâsîrîya cake on twelve potsherds; 7. a milk oblation to Vâyu; 8. a cake on one potsherd to Sûrya.
77:2 The Seasonal offerings are performed so as to leave an interval of four months between them; the fourth falling exactly a year after the first; hence the whole performance consists, as it were, of three periods of four months each, with two joints between them;--corresponding to the formation of the arms and legs.
77:3 Of the five oblations common to the four sacrifices, one--viz. the cake to Savitri--is a low-voiced offering (Kâty. Sr. IV, 5, 5; Âsv. Sr. II, 15, 7), as are also the one-kapâla cakes of which there is one in each sacrifice. According to Sâyana the first and last Seasonal sacrifices have only these two Upâmsuyâgas, whilst the second and third have each one additional low-voiced oblation, but he does not specify them. This is, however, a mistake, as Kâtyâyana, Sr. IV, 5, 6. 7, states distinctly, that the two additional low-voiced oblations are the Vaisvadevî payasyâ in the first, and the oblation to Vâyu in the last, Kâturmâsya.
78:1 According to Sâyana this refers to the first and last Seasonal sacrifices, inasmuch as there is no uttaravedi required for these, and hence only the simple leading forward of the fire to the Âhavanîya hearth; whilst the commentary on Katy. V, 4, 6, on the contrary, refers it just to the other two, because a double leading forth takes place there.
78:2 Or, as Sâyana takes it, man walks on two feet.
78:3 The Katushtoma, properly speaking, is the technical term for such an arrangement of the Stotras of a Soma-sacrifice by which they are chanted on stomas, or hymn-forms, increasing successively by four verses. Two such arrangements (of four and six different stomas respectively) are mentioned, one for an Agnishtoma sacrifice, and the other for a Shodasin. See note on XIII, 3, 1, 4.
78:4 These 362 Brihatî verses (of 36 syllables each) would amount to 13,032 syllables; and, verses of the four metres referred to amounting together to 148 syllables, this amount is contained in the former 88 times, leaving only eight over; so slight a discrepancy being considered of no account in such calculations.
78:5 That is, a year of 360 days; and if, as is done by Sâyana (in
79:2 Viz. inasmuch as the total amount of Brihatîs (362) exceeds by two the number of days in the year.
