V, 2, 3. Second Adhyâya. Third Brâhma<I>n</I>a

Satapatha Brahmana Part III (SBE41), Julius Eggeling tr. [1894], at sacred-texts.com

p. 42

5:2:3

B. THE RÂGASÛYA, OR INAUGURATION OF A KING.

SECOND ADHYÂYA. THIRD BRÂHMANA.

5:2:3:11. He offers a full-offering ¹; for the full means the All: 'May I be consecrated after encompassing the All!' thus he thinks. At this (offering) he bestows a boon; for a boon means all: 'Having encompassed the All (the universe), may I be consecrated! thus he thinks. He may perform this offering, if he chooses; or, if he chooses, he may disregard it.

5:2:3:22. And on the following day he prepares a cake on eight potsherds, as sacrificial food for Anumati ². And whatever portion of (the grains) being ground,--either flour or rice-grains,--falls down behind the pin, that he throws together into the dipping-spoon

p. 43

[paragraph continues] (sruva) ¹. They take a firebrand from the Anvâhâryapakana (or southern) fire, and therewith go southward. And where he finds a self-produced hollow ² or cleft,--

5:2:3:33. Having there made up a fire, he offers with (Vâg. S. IX, 35), 'This, O Nirriti, is thy portion: accept it graciously, hail!' For Nirriti is this (Earth); whomsoever she seizes upon with evil, him she seizes upon with destruction (nirriti): hence whatever part of this (Earth) is of the Nirriti nature, that he thereby propitiates; and thus Nirriti does not seize upon him, while being consecrated. And the reason why he offers in a self-produced hollow or

p. 44

cleft, is that that much of this (earth) is possessed with Nirriti.

5:2:3:44. They then return (to the sacrificial ground) without looking backward. He now proceeds with the cake on eight potsherds for Anumati. For Anumati is this (Earth); and whosoever knows to do that work which he intends to do, for him indeed she approves (arm-man) thereof: hence it is her he thereby pleases, thinking 'May I be consecrated, approved by that (genius of) approval!'

5:2:3:55. And as to why it is a (cake) on eight potsherds,--the Gâyatrî consists of eight syllables, and this earth is Gâyatrî. And as to why he offers of the same sacrificial food ¹ both (oblations): thereby, indeed, both of it comes to be this latter one (viz. Anumati, or approval). A garment is the sacrificial fee for this (offering): for even as one clad in a garment does not venture into the forest, but having deposited that garment (somewhere) escapes (robbers), in like manner no assault befalls him while being consecrated.

5:2:3:66. And on the following day he prepares a cake on eleven potsherds for Agni and Vishnu, and offers it in the same way as the (regular) ishti: this indeed is just what that approved initiation-offering to Agni and Vishnu is there ². Now Agni is all the deities, since in Agni one offers to all deities; and Agni forsooth is the lower end, and Vishnu is the upper end: 'May I be consecrated, after thus encompassing all the deities, and after encompassing

p. 45

the whole sacrifice!' thus he thinks, and hence there is a cake on eleven potsherds to Agni and Vishnu. Gold is the sacrificial fee for this (offering); for to Agni belongs this sacrifice, and gold is Agni's seed. As to Vishnu, he is the sacrifice, and Agni forsooth is the sacrifice: nevertheless this is Agni's alone, therefore gold is the fee.

5:2:3:77. And on the following day he prepares a cake on eleven potsherds for Agni and Soma, and offers it in the same way as an (ordinary) ishti, for it was thereby Indra slew Vritra, and thereby he gained that universal conquest which now is his. And in like manner does this (king, the Sacrificer) thereby slay his wicked, hateful enemy, and in like manner does he gain the victory. 'May I be consecrated, when safety and security from evil-doers have been gained!' thus. he thinks: hence there is a cake on eleven potsherds for Agni and Soma. For this (offering) a bull set at liberty is the sacrificial fee; for yonder moon ¹ they slay while setting him at liberty ²: to wit, by the full-moon offering they slay him, and by the new-moon offering they set him at liberty;--therefore a bull set at liberty is the fee.

5:2:3:88. And on the following day he prepares a cake on twelve potsherds for Indra and Agni, and offers it in the same way as an (ordinary) ishti. Now when

p. 46

[paragraph continues] Indra slew Vritra, that vigour and energy of his went out of him, being frightened: by this offering he again possessed himself of that vigour and energy. And in like manner does this (Sacrificer) by this offering possess himself of vigour and energy; for Agni is fiery spirit, and Indra is vigour and energy: 'May I be consecrated, having embraced both these energies!' thus he thinks: hence there is a cake on twelve potsherds for Indra and Agni. A bull is the fee for this (offering), for by his shoulder he is of Agni's nature ¹, and by his testicles he is of Indra's nature: therefore a bull is the fee for it.

5:2:3:99. Thereupon he performs the offering of first-fruits ²; for verily he who performs the Râgasûya secures for himself (the benefits of) all sacrificial rites, all ishtis, even the spoon-offerings; and instituted by the gods, in truth, is that ishti, the Âgrayaneshti: 'May this also be offered by me! May I be consecrated by this (offering) also!' thus he thinks, and therefore he performs the offering of first-fruits. Moreover, it is for the plants that he who is consecrated, is consecrated; therefore he now makes the plants healthy and faultless, thinking, 'May I be consecrated for (the obtainment of) healthy, faultless plants (crops)!' A cow is the fee for this (offering).

5:2:3:1010. Thereupon he performs the Seasonal offerings ³; for verily he who performs the Râgasûya secures for himself (the benefits of) all sacrificial

p. 47

rites, all ishtis, even the spoon-offerings; and instituted by the gods, in truth, is that sacrificial rite, the Seasonal offerings: 'May these also be offered by me! May I be consecrated by these (offerings) also!' thus he thinks, and therefore he performs the Seasonal offerings.

Footnotes

42:1 On the pûrnâhuti, or libation of a spoonful of ghee, see part i, p. 302 note. According to Kâty. Sr. XV, 1, 4 seq. Âsv. Sr. IX, 3, 2, and other authorities, this full-offering is preceded by the Pavitra (purificatory ceremony), a Soma-sacrifice with four dikshâs or initiation days (? commencing on the first day of the bright fortnight of Phâlguna), serving as the ordinary opening offering (anvârambhanîyeshti). That it formed part of the ceremonial .at the time of the composition of the Brâhmana there can be little doubt (cf. Pañkav. Br. 18, 8. 1), but as it is an ordinary Agnishtoma, the author had no reason to refer to it.

42:2 I. e. the approval or favour of the deities, personified,--According to Yâgñika Deva (to Kâty. Sr. XV, 1, 8), the ceremonies now beginning would commence on the 10th day of the bright half of Phalgunî: the fifth day's ceremony from this day, viz. the first of the four seasonal offerings, having to be performed on the Full-moon of that month; see p. 47, note 1.

43:1 The authorities of the Black Yagus prepare therewith a cake on one kapâla. Taitt. S. I, 8, 1.

43:2 Sâyana, perhaps rightly, takes 'irina' here (and on Taitt. S. vol. ii, p. 6) in the sense of 'ûshara,' a spot of barren (or saline) soil. Cf. VII, 2; 1, 8: 'In whatever part of this (earth) there is produced (of itself) a cleft, or in whatever part of it plants are not produced, verily that part of it Nirriti seizes upon.'--Kausika-sûtra XIII, 28 (A. Weber, Omina and Portenta, p. 386) recommends the following propitiatory rites in case of a sudden cleft in the ground: 'If in the village, or house, or fire-house, or meeting-place, (the ground) should burst open, four cows are got ready, a white, a black, a red, and a one-coloured one. For twelve days he puts down the butter, milked together from these. In the morning of the twelfth, having made up a fire north of where there was that cleft, having swept and sprinkled it, and strewn sacrificial grass around it; and having mixed (the butter) with ghee from the white (cow), and addressed it (the spot) with the three verses, Ath.-veda XII, x, 19-21 ("Agni is in the earth, in the plants, the waters carry Agni, Agni is in the flints, Agni is within men; in cows, in horses are Agnis," &c.), and touched it, let him then offer. In the same way on the south side; in the same way on the western side. Having concluded on the north side, let him offer with the (formulas addressed) to Vâstoshpati (the tutelary genius of the dwelling). Having poured the refuse in the cleft, and completed the oblations, he sprinkles the cleft with lustral water.'

44:1 Though he has offered twice (to Nirriti and Anumati), he has only once taken out rice for oblation.

44:2 Viz. at the ordinary Soma-sacrifice; for the Dîkshanîyeshti, see part ii, p. 22.

45:1 On the identification of Vritra with the moon (and Soma), see I, 6, 3, 27. On the moon serving as food to the gods, see part ii, Introduction, p. xiii. According to a later conception, one kalâ (or sixteenth part of the moon's disc) was taken off each day during the period of the waning, and again added to it during the period of the waxing moon.

45:2 Utsargam . . . ghnanti; perhaps the former has to be taken here as infinitive (in order to set him at liberty) rather than as gerund.

46:1 Cp. I, 1, 2, 9, '(Like) fire, verily, is the yoke of that cart: hence the shoulder of those (oxen) that draw it becomes as if burnt by fire.'

46:2 For the Âgrayaneshti, see part i, p. 369 seq.

46:3 For the four Kâturmâsya (enumerated in the next chapter), see part i, p. 383 seq.