X, 6, 1. Sixth Adhyâya. First Brâhma<I>n</I>a

Satapatha Brahmana Part IV (SBE43), Julius Eggeling tr. [1897], at sacred-texts.com

10:6:1

SIXTH ADHYÂYA. FIRST BRÂHMANA.

10:6:1:11. Now at the house of Aruna Aupavesi ¹ these came once together,--Satyayagña Paulushi, Mahâsâla Gâbâla, Budila Âsvatarâsvi, Indradyumna Bhâllaveya, and Ganasârkarâkshya. They took counsel together regarding (Agni) Vaisvânara, but did not agree as to Vaisvânara ².

10:6:1:22. They said, 'There is that Asvapati Kaikeya who knows Vaisvânara thoroughly ³: let us go to him!' They went to Asvapati Kaikeya. He ordered for them separate dwellings, separate honours, separate Soma-sacrifices each with a thousand gifts. In the morning, still at variance with one another, they

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came again to him, with fuel in their hands ¹, saying, 'We want to become thy pupils.'

10:6:1:33. He said, 'How is this, venerable sirs, when ye are learned in the scriptures, and sons of men learned in the scriptures?' They replied, 'Venerable sir, thou knowest Vaisvânara thoroughly: teach us him!' He said, 'I do indeed know Vaisvânara thoroughly: put your fuel on (the fire), ye are become my pupils ².'

10:6:1:44. He then said to Aruna Aupavesi, 'O Gautama, as whom knowest thou Vaisvânara ³?'--'As Earth only, O king;' he replied.--'Yea,' he said, 'that indeed is Vaisvânara, the foundation; and because thou knowest the Vaisvânara Foundation (pratishthâ) therefore thou art firmly established (pratishthita) with offspring and cattle; and, verily, he who knows that Vaisvânara Foundation, repels Death and attains all life. But, in truth, these are only the feet ⁴ of Vaisvânara, and thy feet would have withered away, hadst thou not come hither; or the feet would be unknown to thee, hadst thou not come hither ⁵.'

10:6:1:55. He then said to Satyayagña Paulushi, 'O Prâkînayogya, as whom knowest thou Vaisvânara?'

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[paragraph continues] --'As Water only, O king;' he replied.--'Yea,' he said, 'that indeed is the Vaisvânara Wealth; and because thou knowest that Vaisvânara Wealth, therefore thou art wealthy and prosperous; and, verily, he who knows that Vaisvânara Wealth, repels death and attains all life. But, in truth, this is only the bladder of Vaisvânara, and thy bladder would have failed thee, hadst thou not come hither; or the bladder would be unknown to thee, hadst thou not come hither.'

10:6:1:66. He then said to Mahâsâla Gâbâla, 'O Aupamanyava, as whom knowest thou Vaisvânara?'--'As Ether only, O king,' he replied.--'Yea,' he said, 'that, indeed, is the Vaisvânara Plenteous; and because thou knowest Vaisvânara Plenteous, therefore thou art plentiful in offspring and cattle; and, verily, he who knows that Vaisvânara Plenteous, repels death and attains all life. But, in truth, this is only the trunk of Vaisvânara, and thy trunk would have failed thee, hadst thou not come hither; or the body would be unknown to thee, hadst thou not come hither.'

10:6:1:77. He then said to Budila Âsvatarâsvi, 'O Vaiyâghrapadya, as whom knowest thou Vaisvânara?'--'As Air (wind) only, O king;' he replied.--'Yea,' he

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said, 'that indeed is the Vaisvânara of divers courses; and because thou knowest that Vaisvânara of divers courses, therefore divers rows of cars follow thee; and, verily, he who knows that Vaisvânara of divers courses, repels death, and attains all life. But, in truth, this is only the breath of Vaisvânara, and thy breath would have failed thee, hadst thou not come hither; or the breath would be unknown to thee, hadst thou not come hither.'

10:6:1:88. He then said to Indradyumna Bhâllaveya, 'O Vaiyâghrapadya, as whom knowest thou Vaisvânara?'--'As Sun only, O king,' he replied.--'Yea,' he said, 'that indeed is the Vaisvânara of Soma's splendour ¹; and because thou knowest the Vaisvânara of Soma's splendour, therefore that Soma-juice never fails to be consumed and cooked ² in thy house; and, verily, he who knows that Vaisvânara of Soma's splendour, repels death, and attains all life. But, indeed, this is only the eye of Vaisvânara, and thine eye would have failed thee, hadst thou not come hither; or the eye would be unknown to thee, hadst thou not come hither.'

10:6:1:99. He then said to Gana Sarkarâkshya, 'O Sâyavasa, as whom knowest thou Vaisvânara?'--'As Heaven only, O king,' he replied.--'Yea,' he said, 'that indeed is Vaisvânara Pre-eminence; and because thou knowest the Vaisvânara Pre-eminence, therefore thou art pre-eminent among thine equals; and, verily, he who knows that Vaisvânara Preeminence

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repels death, and attains all life. But, indeed, this is only the head of Vaisvânara, and thy head would have failed thee, hadst thou not come hither; or the head would have been unknown to thee, hadst thou not come hither.'

10:6:1:1010. He said to them, 'Ye then, knowing different Vaisvânaras, have been feeding on different kinds of food; but verily, the well-beknown gods have attained, as it were, the measure of a span ¹; but I will so tell them unto you that I shall make them attain no more nor less than the measure of a span.'

10:6:1:1111. Pointing at the head he said, 'This, indeed, is the Vaisvânara Pre-eminence;'--pointing at the eyes he said, 'This, indeed, is the Vaisvânara of Soma's splendour;'--pointing at the nostrils he said, 'This, indeed, is the Vaisvânara of divers courses;'--pointing at the space in the mouth he said, 'This, indeed, is the Vaisvânara Plenteous;'--pointing at the water in the mouth he said, 'This, indeed, is the Vaisvânara Wealth;'--pointing at the chin he said, 'This, indeed, is the Vaisvânara Foundation.'

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[paragraph continues] This Agni Vaisvânara is no other than the Purusha; and, verily, whosoever thus knows that Agni Vaisvânara as Purusha-like, as established within the Purusha, repels death, and attains all life; and, verily, Vaisvânara does no harm to him that speaks of him.

Footnotes

393:1 Khândogyop. V, 11, where another version of this story occurs, has here the name of Aruna's son, Uddâlaka Âruni; and, instead of Mahâsâla Gâbâla, it has Prâkînasâla Aupamanya.

393:2 Sâyana takes this to mean, 'he (Aruna) was unable to instruct them in regard to Vaisvânara,'--so^ऽrunas teshâm satyayagñâdînâm pañkânâm vaisvânaravidyâm bodhayitum na samiyâya samgatah sakto nâbhavat,--probably, however, 'samiyâya' is better taken impersonally ('there was no agreement between them'), as is done by the St. Petersb. Dict.; though Khând. XI, 3 favours Sâyana's view.

393:3 Sâyana takes 'samprati' in its ordinary sense of 'now.' The knowledge of Vaisvânara implied here, according to Sâyana, means the knowledge of the supreme deity (paramesvara).

394:1 That is, in the way in which pupils approach their teacher.

394:2 Literally, 'Ye have entered (my tuition);' upetâ stha upâsînâ bhavatha. Sây.

394:3 Or, perhaps, 'what Vaisvânara knowest thou?'

394:4 'Pratishthâ' (rest, foundation) also commonly means 'the feet.'

394:5 It is not quite clear whether the words 'or the feet, &c.' really (as Sâyana takes them) form part of the king's speech, or whether they are merely meant as explanatory of the latter part of the king's remarks. If Sâyana be right, the words 'the feet would be unknown by thee,' seem to admit of a double meaning, viz. 'thou wouldst p. 395 have become footless,' or 'not even Vaisvânara's feet would have been known by thee;' though in the latter sense some particle such as 'eva' might have been expected. Sâyana, however, seems to take these words in yet another sense (if, indeed, he had not another reading before him),--vaisvânarasyâgñânât pâdau te tava viparîtagrâhino amlâsyatâm amlânau gamanâsamarthâv abhavishyatâm yadi mâm nâgamishyah; ittham doshaparyavasânayuktam ekadesagñânam eva nâvasesha ity âha, pâdau to viditâv iti vaisvânarasya pâdamâtram tvayâ viditam na tu kritsno vaisvânarah; atah sâdhv akârshîr yat tvam âgato^ऽsîty abhiprâyah.

396:1 Or, perhaps better, 'of Soma's fire.' The Khândogya-upanishad has 'Sutegas (of beautiful splendour, or light),' instead of 'sutategas.'

396:2 According to Sâyana, this refers to the cooking, or baking, of the cakes (purodâsa) connected with the Soma-sacrifice.

397:1 Sâyana apparently takes this thus: but the gods, knowing well that (essential element) which is merely of the space of a span, have become successful;--yat tv evam yathoktâvayavaih prithivîpâdâdibhir dyumûrdhântair avayavair visishtam ekam vastu tat prâdesamâtram prâdesapramânam iva devâh suviditah samyag gñâtavanto^ऽbhisampannâh prâptaphalâ babhûvur ity arthah. Though this interpretation looks very plausible, the accent of 'súvidita' would scarcely admit of the word being taken as a bahuvrîhi compound. In the words which follow, Sâyana takes 'them (enân)' to refer to the bodily parts of Vaisvânara, identified with the imperfect doctrines of the king's disciples. It is, indeed, quite possible that 'the gods' are here identified with the special Vaisvânaras, the unity of whom, in the one Purusha, or Atman (self), the Brâhmana endeavours to inculcate.