1. Such a (sacrificial stake) as has much substance 1 is not auspicious to cattle, whence he who desires to have cattle should not make such a one his sacrificial stake: but such a one as is of little hardness is auspicious to cattle, whence he who desires to have cattle should make such a one his sacrificial stake.
2. And such a one as, while being crooked, has a top like a spit, is called 'kapotî 2'; and whoever makes such a one his sacrificial stake certainly goes to yonder world before his full measure of life: therefore let no one wishing for long life make such a one his sacrificial stake.
123:1 That is, as would seem, made of very hard wood. It cannot mean 'pithy,' because at XIII, 4, 4, 9, the Khadira (acacia catechu), a tree of very hard, solid wood, is mentioned as 'bahusâra.'
123:2 Either 'that which has a pigeon (sitting) on it' (kapotin, viz. yûpa), or, as Sâyana takes it, fem. of 'kapota,'--a female pigeon; i.e. a tree too much pointed at the top.
124:1 That is, as would seem, bent to the opposite side from that towards which the top tends.
