1. Tvashtri, seeing his son slain, brought Soma suitable for witchery, and withheld from Indra. Indra, committing a desecration of the sacrifice, by main force drank off his (Tvashtri's) Soma juice. He went asunder in every direction,--from his mouth and vital airs his excellence and fame passed
2. The two Asvins and Sarasvatî then prepared for him this sacrifice, the Sautrâmanî, for the purpose of healing him, and thereby consecrated him: thereby he became the highest of gods, and so does he who is consecrated by that (offering) become the highest among his own people.
3. He consecrates him on a black antelope skin; for the black antelope skin is the sacrifice 2: it is at the sacrifice he thus consecrates him; on the hairy side (of the skin), for the hair is the metres: it is on the metres (or sacred writ) he thus consecrates him.
4. On a throne-seat he consecrates him, for imperial dignity is seated (established) on a throne-seat: by means of imperial dignity he thus causes him to attain imperial dignity.
5. It is made of udumbara wood, for the udumbara (ficus glomerata) is strength: for the sake of strength he thus is consecrated. It is knee-high, for knee-high is this (terrestrial) world, and it is for (the rule of) this world that the Kshatriya is consecrated; and the ruler (kshatra) indeed he becomes who is consecrated by the Sautrâmanî: therefore it is knee-high, and of unlimited size horizontally (in width and depth),--
6. For the throne-seat means royal dignity, and of unlimited prosperity is royal dignity. It is covered with plaited reed-work, for reed-grass is meet for sacrifice. Two of its feet stand on the
7. Concerning this, Gaurîviti Sâktya, knowing this, once said, 'Like rulers 2, assuredly, we shall be in yonder world!' Perhaps 3 it was Rishabha Yâgñatura, king of the Svikna, who had told him so.
8. He places the throne-seat, with (Vâg. S. XX, 1), 'Thou art the womb of the Kshatra, thou art the navel of the Kshatra!' for it indeed is the womb and navel of the Kshatra (ruling power).
9. He then spreads the black antelope skin thereon, with, 'May it not injure thee! do not
11. He then throws down a gold and a silver plate (beneath his feet, the silver one beneath the left foot) with, 'Protect (me) from death!' (the gold one beneath the right foot 2 with,) 'Protect (me) from lightning!' The Virâg, doubtless, is the rain, and of this there are these two terrible forms, lightning and hail; of these the gold plate is of the form of lightning, and the silver one of that of hail: against these two deities he affords protection to him, whence he who has performed the Sautrâmanî has no fear of these two deities, as he also who thus knows this.
12. He consecrates him by sprinkling him with the fat gravy of the sacrificial animals, for the gravy of the animals means excellence: with that excellence, the essence of cattle, he thus sprinkles him. But that gravy is also the highest kind of food: with the highest kind of food he thus sprinkles him.
13. There are hoof-cups (of gravy), for on hoofs cattle support themselves: he thus causes him to obtain a support. There are thirty-three (such)
15. The bowl is made of reed, for the reed has its birth-place in the waters, and the waters are all the deities: by means of all the deities he thus consecrates him.
16. A rubbing down (of the Sacrificer) with all manner of sweet-smelling substances takes place (before sprinkling him with fat), for such a rubbing down with all manner of sweet-smelling substances means supreme fragrance: with fragrance he thus consecrates (anoints) him.
17. He sprinkles him (with the fat gravy) in front while (himself) looking towards the back (west), for
19. He consecrates him prior to the Svishtakrit (offering), for the Svishtakrit is the Kshatra: he thus consecrates him by means of the Kshatra (or, by a Kshatriya). And he consecrates him between (the oblation to) the Lord of the Forest 2 and the
20. They then lift him up 2 knee-high, then navel-high, then as high as the mouth; for the Vâgapeya doubtless is the same as the consecration, and the Sautrâmanî is a consecration; and even as there, at the Vâgapeya, he (the Sacrificer) mounts the sacrificial stake 3, like that is this rite.
21. As to this they say, 'But, surely, he who is consecrated by the Sautrâmanî moves away from this world.' Well, he descends again upon the black antelope skin, and, the black antelope skin being the sacrifice, he thus finally establishes himself on the sacrifice.
22. [He descends 4, with Vâg. S. XX, 10,] 'Firmly 5 I establish myself in the Kshatra (lordship), in royal sway,'--in lordship and royal sway he thus establishes himself so as not to lose lordship and royal sway;--'firmly in horses I establish
24. He sings it on a brihatî verse 2, for established on the Brihatî, as his excellence and foundation,
25. He sings it on a brihatî verse relating to Indra, for this sacrifice, the Sautrâmanî, belongs to Indra, and even now he who sacrifices has Indra for his support: he thus consecrates him on his own support (or resting-place).
26. And as to why (these hymns) are called 'bracers 2;' it is because by means of these Sâmans the gods braced Indra up to energy, or vital power: in like manner do the officiating priests, by means of these Sâmans, brace the Sacrificer up to energy, or vital power. 'Samsravase, visravase, satyasravase, sravase 3'--these are the Sâmans: they proclaim
28. 'Thrice eleven are the gods;' this, indeed, is the recitation 1 belonging to that Sâman, this its foundation.
29. Or he (the Adhvaryu) takes a thirty-third cupful (of gravy), with (Vâg. S. XX, 11-12 1), 'Thrice
31. He drinks it, with (Vâg. S. XX, 13), 'My hair is endeavour 2, my skin submission and approach 3, my flesh inclination, my bone wealth, and my marrow submission,'--for he who is consecrated by the Sautrâmanî enters the worlds and among the deities; he now has himself, invited amongst them 4, and thus he arises (in the other world) complete, with a whole body, and with (all) limbs.
249:1 Literally, sprinkled, i.e. anointed, with the 'vasâ,' or fat gravy obtained from the cooking of the sacrificial animals.
249:2 See part i, p. 23, note 2.
250:1 For the two special Vedis, see p. 225, note 1.
250:2 'A kind of Kshatriyas,' Delbrück, Altind. Synt., p. 494.
250:3 For this or some such meaning ('probably'--German, 'wohl' or 'vielleicht') which seems to me to suit best the use of 'sasvat' in the Brâhmanas, see part iii, p. 98, note 2.--Thus, at I, 2, 3, 2, I would now translate 'and perhaps it was Trita who slew him,--Indra at all events was exonerated from that (guilt), for he is a god.' Similarly, I, 8, 1, 4, 'perhaps it was a ghasha, for that (fish) grows best (fastest);' II, 2, 1, 2, 'If, on the other hand, that oblation were not offered up in him, he would perhaps burn either the Adhvaryu, or the Sacrificer.' Somewhat peculiar is the passage, I, 6, 3, 10, where sasvat occurs both in the relative and in the demonstrative clause, and where we can hardly translate otherwise than 'If, perchance, he had said, "Grow thou, the foe of Indra!" he (Vritra) would perhaps have slain Indra.'--Hätte er vielleicht (etwa) gesagt: 'Wachse, du Feind Indras!' so würde er (Vritra) vielleicht (? gewiss) Indra erschlagen haben.--If this be the right interpretation of these passages, they would have td be transferred, in the St. Petersb. Dict., from meaning b (?) to c, where 'vielleicht' would have to be added, as it certainly suits better than 'gewiss' (most likely) the last of the foregoing passages, at all events. The comm. explains 'sasvat' by 'bahukritvah.'
251:1 Cf. V, 4, 4, 5, where the verse is explained.
251:2 Or, on the head, according to others. The plates are of the usual round shape.
252:2 Only the first pâda of this, the first of the sixteen verses, is given in the text. Regarding the allusions in this verse, see XII, 7, 1, 10 seqq.; 2, 17; 7, 3, 3.
253:1 According to Katy. Sr. XIX, 4, 14-17, he sprinkles him up to the mouth, letting it flow down on all four sides; and with each sprinkling he pronounces one of the formulas, first, the Sâvitra one, Vâg. S. XX, 3, 'At the impulse of God Savitri (I consecrate) thee by the arms of the Asvins, and the heads of Pûshan!' followed by the Âsvina one, 'with the healing medicine of the Asvins I sprinkle thee for energy and holy lustre!' and the Sârasvata one, 'with the healing medicine of Sarasvatî I sprinkle thee for vigour and food!' Then a fourth time with a formula referring to all the deities (or with the three great utterances), or with the Aindra text, 'With Indra's power I sprinkle thee for strength, for excellence, and for fame!'
253:2 For this oblation, see III, 8, 3, 33; IV, 5, 2, 11; in both cases it is followed immediately by the oblation to Agni Svishtakrit.
254:1 Kshatriyo râgño
254:3 See part iii, p. 32 (V, 2, 1, 9 seqq.).
254:4 That is, when the throne-seat has been lowered again, he rises from it and stands on the deer-skin.
254:5 The function of 'prati' here seems to be to strengthen the preposition in the verb 'prati-tishthâmi.'
255:1 According to the commentator on Kâty. XIX, 5, 1, the Brahman sings, whilst Lâty. V, 4, 16-19 gives directions from which the Udgâtri would seem to be expected to perform this duty. When the Sacrificer is being anointed, the Udgâtri is to step between the (northern and southern) fires and, as soon as he is called upon by the Adhvaryu, he is to commence the Sâman. It would probably depend on the Brahman's previous studies, whether or not he was sufficiently conversant with the complicated details of the hymnology.
255:2 Viz. Vâg. S. XX, 30 (Riks. VIII, 89, 1), 'To Indra, O Maruts, sing ye the great (hymn), most destructive to Vritra, whereby the promoters of sacred rites produced the light, the wakeful god for the god.'
256:1 Professor Weber, Ind. Stud. VIII, p. 42, refers to a parallel passage in Tândya-Br. VII, 4, 7--'By means of the Bahishpavamâna (of the morning service) the gods carried off Âditya, the sun, to heaven; but he did not stop there. At midday they then fixed him by means of the Brihatî, and for this reason the Brihatî metre is used for the Pavamâna-stotra at the midday service.'
256:2 Literally, sharpeners or sharpenings (samsâna).
256:3 These words--apparently meaning 'for fame all round, for fame far and wide, for true fame, for fame' (or, perhaps, for hearing, or, rather, being heard of all round,' &c.)--are used to form the finales (nidhana) in which all the priests are to join; cf. Sâmav., Calc. ed., I, pp. 533-4, where the figured text is given. According to Katy. XIX, 5, 4-5; Lâty. V, 4, 19, the words, 'samgityai, vigityai, satyagityai, gityai' (for complete victory, victory far and wide, &c.), and 'sampushtyai, vipushtyai,' &c. (for complete prosperity, &c.), are to be used instead, in the case of a Kshatriya and Vaisya respectively, either optionally or necessarily. Though these four words are here, and elsewhere, spoken of as so many different Sâmans, only 'the last of them ('sravase') forms the finale of a Sâman in the ordinary sense of the word; the others being merely combined with certain musical ejaculations, or expletives (stobhas). All the four 'Sâmans' begin with the same phrase (varying only in the verb)--'sam tvâ hinvanti (rinanti,
257:1 According to Katy. Sr. XIX, 4, 24; 5, 8 seq.; 7, 1 seq., the thirty-third libation of gravy is taken with the text, XX, 32, 'yo bhûtânâm adhipatih (he who is the over-lord of creatures),' &c.; whilst, on the conclusion of the Sastra, or Hotri's recitation, the Sacrificer offers the libation from that last cup with XX, 11-12, and drinks the remainder with XX, 13. The Sastra, recited in response to the Sâman, consists of the section of .eleven verses, Vâg. S. XX, 80-90, the first and last verses of which are recited thrice; whilst the 'âhâva' (somsâvom, 'let us praise, om!') is inserted by him before each triplet of the remaining nine verses. The two verses used whilst the Sacrificer offers (XX, 11-12) are likewise recited by the
259:1 According to Kâty. XIX, 5, 9, the priests themselves first smell the remainder of the fat gravy, with the text (XX, 34), 'The protector of my breath thou art,' &c. Cf. also XIV, 2, 2, 42, with note.
259:2 The use of 'prayati' in this sense (here and Vâg. S. XVIII, 1) is peculiar; being apparently derived from 'pra-yam,' one would expect it to have some such meaning as 'offer, gift.' This and the other predicates, according to Mahîdhara, are to show the state of feeling of beings towards the (royal) Sacrificer. The repetition of 'ânati' (bowing, prostration, submission) is strange. A strong alliterative cadence is noticeable in the verse.
259:3 ? Hardly 'return' here; rather, perhaps, 'attaining to (the other worlds),' or, possibly, 'the turning to him, gathering round him (of the people).'
259:4 ? Or, he now calls these to himself in the meantime.
