1. He equips (the Mahâvîra) with its equipments;--inasmuch as he equips it therewith from this and that quarter, that is the equipping nature of the equipments 1 (sambhâra): wheresoever anything of the sacrifice is inherent, therewith he equips it 2.
2. He gets ready a black antelope-skin,--for the black antelope-skin is the sacrifice 3: it is at the
3. With a spade (he digs out the clay), for the spade is a thunderbolt, and the thunderbolt is vigour: with vigour he thus supplies and completes it (the Pravargya).
4. It is made of Udumbara (Ficus glomerata) wood, for the Udumbara is strength 3: with strength, with vital sap, he thus supplies and completes it.
5. Or of Vikaṅkata (Flacourtia sapida) wood; for when Pragâpati performed his first offering, a Vikaṅkata tree sprang forth from that place where, after offering, he cleansed (his hands); now an offering is a sacrifice, and (consequently) the Vikaṅkata is
7. He takes it up, with (Vâg. S. XXXVII, 1), 'At the impulse of the god Savitri, I take thee by the arms of the Asvins, by the hands of Pûshan: thou art a woman;'--the import (of this formula) is the same as before 1.
8. Having placed it in his left hand, he touches it with the right, and mutters (Vâg. S. XXXVII, 2), 'They harness the mind, and they harness the thoughts, the priests of the priest, of the great inspirer of devotion; the knower of the rites alone hath assigned the priestly offices: great is the praise of the god Savitri;'--the import of this is the same as before 2.
9. He then takes the lump of clay with the (right) hand and spade on the right (south) side, and with the (left) hand alone on the left (north) side 3, with (Vâg. S. XXXVII, 3), 'O divine Heaven and Earth,'--for when the sacrifice had its head cut off, its sap flowed away, and entered the sky and the earth: what clay (firm matter) there was that is this (earth), and what water there was that is yonder (sky); hence it is of clay and water that the Mahâvîra (vessels) are made: he thus supplies and
10. Then an ant-hill 2 (he takes, and puts on the skin), with (Vâg. S. XXXVII, 4), 'Ye divine ants,'--for it was they that produced this: just in accordance with the way in which the head of the sacrifice was there cut off, he now supplies and completes it with those (ants);--'the firstborn of the world,'--the firstborn of the world, doubtless, is this earth 3: it thus is therewith that
12. Then Âdâra 2 (-plants), with (Vâg. S. XXXVII, 6), 'Indra's might ye are,'--for when Indra encompassed him (Vishnu) with might, then the vital sap of him, thus encompassed, flowed away; and he lay there stinking, as it were. He said, 'Verily, after bursting open (â-dar), as it were, this vital sap has sung praises:' thence Âdâra (-plants originated); and because he lay there stinking (pûy), as it were, therefore (they are also called) Pûtîka; and hence, when placed on the fire
14. These, then, are the five equipments with which he equips (the Pravargya),--fivefold is the sacrifice, and fivefold the victims, and five seasons are in the year, and the year is he that shines yonder, and the Pravargya also is that (sun): it is him he thus gratifies. These (objects), thus brought together, he touches with, 'For Makha (I consecrate) thee! for Makha's head thee!' the import of this is the same as before.
15. Now there is an enclosed space 2 on the north
16. It is an enclosed space;--for at that time the gods were afraid, thinking, 'We hope that the fiends, the Rakshas, will not injure here this our (Pravargya):' they accordingly enclosed for it this stronghold, and in like manner does this (Sacrificer) now enclose for it this stronghold.
17. He then deposits (the sambhâras 3) on the mound with, 'For Makha thee! for Makha's head thee!' the import of this is the same as before. He then takes a lump of clay and makes the Mahâvîra (pot) with, 'For Makha thee! for Makha's head thee,'--the import of this is
18. Verily this sacrifice is Pragâpati, and Pragâpati
19. He then smooths 2 it by means of Gavedhukâ grass (Coix barbata),--for when the sacrifice had its head cut off, its vital sap flowed away, and therefrom those plants grew up: with that vital sap he thus supplies and completes it;--with, 'For Makha thee! for Makha's head thee!' the import of this is the same as before, In the same way the other two (Mahâvîra pots); silently the two milking-bowls, silently the two Rauhina-plates.
20. He then fumigates these (vessels) with (Vâg. S. XXXVII, 9), 'With dung of the stallion, the impregnator, I fumigate thee,'--for the
23. With, 'For the efficient one thee' (he takes out the second pot),--the efficient one (sâdhu), doubtless, is he (Vâyu, the wind) that purifies here by blowing, for as a permanent one (siddha) he blows through these worlds; and the second Pravargya is that (god): it is him he thus gratifies, and therefore he says, 'For the efficient one (I take) thee.'
24. With, 'For a good abode thee!' (he takes out the third pot),--the good abode, doubtless, is this (terrestrial) world, for it is in this world that all creatures abide; and the good abode also is Agni (fire), for Agni abides with all creatures 1 in this world; and the third Pravargya is that (god): it is him he thus gratifies, and therefore he says, 'For a good abode thee.' Silently (he takes out) the two milking-bowls, and silently the two Rauhina-plates.
25. He then pours goat's milk upon them 2 (the
447:1 See part i, p. 276, note 1. Here, as formerly, it has not been thought desirable to adhere throughout to the technical rendering of 'sam-bhri'
447:2 Pravargya being masculine, the original would, of course, have 'him' here and throughout, the ceremony (just like the sacrifice in general) being indeed looked upon as a person.
447:3 See part i, p. 23, note 2. In making the Gharma, or Mahâvîra,
448:2 The locative, instead of the accusative, is rather strange here. As it stands, the locative is evidently parallel to 'yagñe' and 'khandahsu,' and one has therefore to supply--he collects (prepares) the Pravargya, viz. by putting the lump of clay and the other objects thereon.
448:3 See VI, 6, 3, 2 seqq.
449:1 See I, 1, 2, 17; VI, 3, 1, 38 seq.
449:2 See III, 5, 3, 11-12.
449:3 Between the two actions referred to in paragraphs 8 and 9, the digging up of the clay takes place, and hence the spade, or trowel, has changed hands. Cf. VI, 4, 2, 2.
450:1 The pronouns in this and the subsequent corresponding formulas (vâm, vah, te) are taken by Mahîdhara as accusatives ('te' according to him standing for 'tvâm') to which he supplies 'âdâya'--'having taken you, may I this day compass Makha's head.' The pronouns are certainly somewhat awkward, as they can scarcely be taken as genitives of material--of you, of thee.
450:2 See VI, 3, 3, 5, where 'valmîkavapâ' is qualified by 'sushirâ,' hollow. The comm. on Kâty. XXVI, 1, 2 explains 'valmîkavapâ' as the vapâ (omentum)-like inner lump (? surrounded by a kind of net) of an ant-hill: in the present case, this substance is likewise placed on the black antelope-skin to be mixed with the clay.
450:3 Whilst in the text of the formula this word must be taken as being plural 'prathamagâh,' the Brâhmana (making use of the Sandhi-form) treats it as if it were singular 'prathamagâ.' Mahîdhara also, apparently influenced by the Brâhmana, explains, 'the earth is the firstborn of creatures, and, from their connection with it, ants also are called firstborn.'
451:1 That is, he supplies Pragâpati (and hence also his counterpart, the Sacrificer) with the Earth, his mate. See J. Muir, Orig. Sansk. Texts, vol. i, p. 53; vol. iv, p. 27; and cp. Taitt. I, 10, 8, where the earth is said to have been uplifted by a black boar with a thousand arms.
451:2 At IV, 5, 10, 4 we met with this plant--here also called Pûtîka, and explained, by the comm. on Kâty., as = the flowers (!) of the Rohisha plant (? Guilandina, or Caesalpinia, Bonducella)--as a substitute for Soma-plants.
452:1 Thus perhaps 'suk' should also have been rendered at VI, 4, 4, 7, where it is used in connection with the ass.
452:2 Viz. a space five cubits square enclosed with mats on all sides, and with a door on the east side, the ground being raised in the middle so as to form a mound covered with sand (cf. III, 1, 2, 2). The object of this enclosed space is to prevent any unauthorised person (such as the Sacrificer's wife, and people uninstructed in the scriptures) from seeing the manufacturing of the Mahîvîra (during which the door is kept closed), as well as the completed pot.
453:2 'Vîra,' apparently an allusion to 'Mahâ-vira' (great hero), the name of the pot used at the Pravargya.
453:3 Viz. as placed on the black antelope-skin which is carried northwards to the enclosed place by the Adhvaryu and his assistants taking hold of it on all sides.
454:1 That is, from bottom to top, a belt (mekhalâ) running round it at the distance of three thumbs' breadths from the top (Mahîdhara, and comm. on Katy.). This top part above the belt--here simply called 'mouth,' whilst in the Âpast. Sr. XV, 2, 14 it is called 'back' (sânu)--ends in a hole for pouring the liquid in and out.
454:2 That is, for taking hold of it (mushtigrahanayogyam, comm. on Katy.).
454:3 'Mukha,' for which Katy. XXVI, 1, 16 has 'âsekana' explained by the commentator as a hole (garta; comm. on Âsv. Grihyas. IV, 3 bila), apparently serving as the mouth, or open part of the vessel which seems to be otherwise closed. The edge of the hole would seem to protract sufficiently from the surface to suggest a similarity to the nose. In making the vessel, it seems first to be left solid, the open part which is to hold the milk being then hollowed out by means of a reed from the top hole to the depth of less than the upper half, the remainder remaining solid. Cf. Âsv. Sr. XV, 3, 4.
454:4 Only the first of the three pots is, however, actually used; unless it gets broken by accident.
454:5 According to the comm. on Katy. Sr., these vessels are of the form of the (hand-shaped) bowl of an offering-ladle (sruk, cf. part i, p. 67, note 2).
454:6 The Rauhina-kapâlas are two round, flat dishes for baking the Rauhina cakes on.
455:1 Cf. J. Muir, Orig. Sansk. Texts, vol. v, p. 393, where a passage is quoted from Prof. Cowell's translation of the Maitri-Upanishad (VI, 3), 'There are two forms of Brahma, the embodied (mûrta) and the unembodied (amûrta): the former is unreal (asatya), the latter real (satya).'--Cf. Sat. Br. VI, 5, 3, 7.
455:2 The Sûtras use the verbs 'slakshnayati, slakshnîkurvanti' (to make smooth, or soft), and this, I think, must indeed be the meaning of 'hinv.' It would also suit very well the passage III, 5, 1, 35, where it is said that the Vedi is a woman, and that, by sprinkling the former with water, one 'makes her smooth' for the gods. The polishing of the vessels is done by rubbing them with Gavedhukâ grass, whether with the spike, stem, or leaves is not specified.
456:1 That is, when the Ukhâ was baked, cf. VI, 5, 4, 1; or, perhaps,--they it was that (the gods) made at this juncture. The former translation is more in accordance with what follows, though one would expect 'etad' to mean 'at this time.'
456:2 That is, without using bricks (?).
456:3 Viz. in a square hole dug for the purpose east of the Gârhapatya; the pot being then placed bottom upwards on the burning material, dry herbs, wood, &c. According to Âsv. Sr. XV, 3, 20 such materials are to be used as, whilst being burnt, dye red.
457:1 The accusative with 'kshi' (to inhabit) is rather peculiar here.
457:2 As the pots are, however, standing with their open parts upwards, on sand north of the hole in which they were baked, it would chiefly be inside that they would receive the milk, being thereby cooled (cf. VI, 5, 4, 15). According to Âpastamba, sand is in the first place heaped up around them in the sunwise fashion, i.e. keeping them on the right side whilst strewing it.
458:1 That is to say, as would seem,--even as, in creating the universe, Pragâpati reconstructs his body, or constructs himself a new body, so the Sacrificer, in keeping up the observance of the Pravargya, constructs himself a new body for the future life.
