1. Now, Ganaka of Videha once met some Brâhmanas who were travelling about 1, to wit, Svetaketu Âruneya, Somasushma Sâtyayagñi, and Yâgñavalkya. He said to them, 'How do ye each of you perform the Agnihotra?'
2. Svetaketu Âruneya replied, 'O great king, I make offering, in one another, to two heats, never-failing and overflowing with glory.'--'How is that?' asked the king.--'Well, Âditya (the sun) is heat: to him I make offering in Agni in the evening; and Agni, indeed, is heat: to him I make offering in the morning in Âditya 2.'--'What becomes of him who offers in this way?' asked the
4. Then Yâgñavalkya said, 'When I take out the fire (from the Gârhapatya), it is the Agnihotra itself, I thereby raise 1 Now when Âditya (the sun) sets, all the gods follow him; and when they see that fire taken out by me, they turn back. Having then cleansed the (sacrificial) vessels, and deposited them (on the Vedi), and having milked the Agnihotra cow, I gladden them, when I see them, and when they see me.'--'Thou, O Yâgñavalkya, hast inquired most closely into the nature of the Agnihotra,' said the king; 'I bestow a hundred cows on thee. But not even thou (knowest) either the uprising, or the progress, or the support, or the contentment, or the return, or the renascent world of those two (libations of the Agnihotra).' Thus saying, he mounted his car and drove away.
5. They said, 'Surely, this fellow of a Râganya has outtalked us: come, let us challenge him to
7. ‘They enter the sky, and make the sky their offering-fire, the sun their fuel, and the moon their pure libation: they satiate the sky, and return from there.
8. ‘They enter this (earth), and make this (earth) their offering-fire, the fire their fuel, and the herbs their pure libation: they satiate this (earth), and rise upwards therefrom.
9. ‘They enter man, and make his mouth their offering-fire, his tongue their fuel, and food their pure libation: they satiate man; and, verily, for him who, knowing this, eats food the Agnihotra comes to be offered. They rise upwards from there.
10. 'They enter woman, and make her lap their offering-fire, her womb the fuel,--for that (womb) is called the bearer, because by it Pragâpati bore creatures,--and the seed their pure libation: they satiate woman; and, verily, for him who, knowing this, approaches his mate, the Agnihotra comes to
112:1 Or, driving about (and officiating at sacrifices); see XI, 4, 1, 1. For a translation of this story see Max Müller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 421 seqq. 112:2 Âdityam sâyamkâle agnâv anupravishtam guhomi havishâ tarpayâmi; athâgnir api gharmah, sa prâtar âdityam anupravisati, tam agnim prâtahkâle âditye sthitam havishâ prînayâmi, Sây.--At II, 3, 1, 36, instead of--'In the evening he offers Sûrya in Agni, and in the morning he offers Agni in Sûrya'--we ought probably to translate,--'In the evening he makes offering to Sûrya in Agni, and in the morning he makes offering to Agni in Sûrya.' The commentary there would admit of either rendering:--Agnir gyotir, iti mantrena guhvad agnâv eva santam sûryam guhoti, tathâ ka gyotihsabdah sûryavakanah; prâtahkâle tu sûrye santam agnim guhoti. 113:1 Yad yadâ âhavanîyam gârhapatyâd aham uddharâmi tat tadânîm kritsnam aṅgopâṅgasahitam agnihotram eva udyakkhâmi udvahâmi, Sây.
