1. Now, once upon a time, a tiger killed the samrâg-cow 1 of those (who were sacrificing) with (the king of the) Kesin as their Grihapati 2. He (the king 3) said to his fellow-sacrificers, 'What atonement is there for this?' They replied, 'There is no atonement for this: Khandika Audbhâri alone knows an atonement for it; but he certainly desires as much as this, and worse than this 4, (to happen) to thee.'
2. He said, 'Charioteer, put to my horses; I shall drive thither: if so be he will tell me, I shall succeed (with my sacrifice); but if he will have me die, I shall be shattered along with the shattered sacrifice.'
3. Having put to the horses, he drove off, and
4. 'Not so,' he replied; 'a tiger has killed my samrâg-cow, reverend sir; if so be thou wilt tell me, I shall succeed; but if thou wilt have me die, I shall be shattered along with the shattered sacrifice.'
5. He said, 'I will take counsel with my counsellors 4.' Having called them to counsel, he said, 'If I tell him, his race, not mine, will prevail here 5,
6. And, accordingly, he then said to him,--'Having offered the Spritis 3, he (the Adhvaryu) should say, "Drive up another (cow)!" and that one should be thy samrâg-cow 4.'--'[Having offered. with,] "From the moon I take thy mind, hail!--From the sun I take thine eye, hail!--From the wind I take thy breathings, hail!--From the regions I take thine ear, hail!--From the waters I take thy blood, hail!--From the earth
131:1 That is the cow which supplies the milk for the Pravargya; this milk, when heated, being called 'gharma (heat)' or 'samrâg (sovereign king).' See part ii, p. 104, note 3.
131:2 Grihapati, or house-lord, master of the house, is the title of the principal sacrificer at a sacrificial session (sattra).--According to Sâyana, the Kesinah were a race of nobles (râgânah), who, on this occasion, were performing a 'sattra,' and are therefore styled 'householders' (grihapati);--kesino nâma râgânah sattrayâgam anutishthanto grihapataya âsuh, Sâyana thus takes 'kesi-grihapatayah,' not as a bahuvrîhi, but as a tatpurusha (karmadhâraya, 'the Kesin householders') which would, however, require the accent on the second member of the compound.--Though all those taking part in a sacrificial session ought to be Brahmans, the rule does not seem to have been strictly observed. Cf. part iv, introd., p. xxv; Weber, Ind. Stud. X, pp. 25 94.
131:3 Grihapatishu pradhânabhûtah kesirâgah, Sây.
131:4 That is, that even a greater misfortune should happen to thee,--atyantam pâpayuktam govadhâdidoshayuktam ity arthah, Sây.
132:1 Sâyana makes Khandika the subject of this last verb:--sa ha ratham asvaih samyogya Khandikasamîpam yayau; so
132:3 Sâyana's comment on this passage is as follows:--'O Kesin, the skin of the cow that yields the gharma-milk is worn by thee on the neck: those (i.e. suchlike) skins, indeed, are (i.e. are seen) on deer; and having broken (i.e., torn to pieces) the "prishti" (i.e. the small-sized does) amongst them we cook them: that black-antelope skin is fastened on my neck.' Khandika having spoken thus, the king said, 'No, this is not my intention.'
132:4 Literally, those that should be consulted, whom further on Sâyana calls 'âptâh' or trusty men.
132:5 Or, perhaps, the people here (the Kesins) will become his, not mine; cf. Delbrück, Altind. Syntax, pp. 32; 141 (two different renderings). Sâyana, on the other hand, takes 'pragâ,' not in the sense either of 'family' or 'people,' but in that of '(sacred) knowledge'--perhaps with reference to the threefold science (the Veda) as the
133:2 That is, days,--by giving up a brief life of earthly power and glory, he gains eternal life.
133:3 That is, oblations performed with a view of 'taking hold (spri)' of something; cf. Katy. Srautas. XXV, 6, 11. 12.
133:4 The particle 'iti' here causes some difficulty of construction which would be removed by the latter clause being taken as part of the Adhvaryu's speech; though Kâtyâyana, it is true, does not recognise it as such. Perhaps, however, Khandika's speech ends here, and what follows up to 'that one shall be thy samrâg-cow' has to be taken as a ritualistic insertion, in which case the final 'iti' would have some such meaning as 'having been told thus.'
134:1 Sâyana takes this thus:--'Thus instructed, Kesin disappeared (or, passed away, vanished, utsasâda vinashtah) from that region (tato desât)'--after which there is a lacuna in the MS. Perhaps, however, it is Khandika, rather than Kesin, to which this refers,--he (and his race) then, indeed, passed away from that region, whilst the Kesins flourished.
