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


8:1:2

SECOND BRÂHMANA.

8:1:2:11. And at the back (western part of the altar), with (Vâg. S. XIII, 56), 'This one behind, the all-embracer;'--the all-embracer, doubtless, is yonder sun, for as soon as 1 he rises, all this embracing space comes into existence. And because he speaks of him as (being) 'behind,' therefore one sees him only when he goes towards the back (west). The Sun, indeed, having become the eye, remained behind: it is that form he now bestows (on Agni).

8:1:2:22. 'His, the all-embracer's child, the Eye,'--from out of that (all-embracing) form, the Sun, he fashioned the eye;--'the rains, the offspring of the eye,'--from out of the eye he fashioned the rainy season;--'the Gagatî, the daughter of the rains,'--from out of the rainy season he fashioned the Gagatî metre;--'from the Gagatî the Riksama,'--from out of the Gagatî metre he fashioned the Riksama hymn-tune 2;--'from the Riksama

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the Sukra,'--from out of the Riksama-sâman he fashioned the Sukra-graha;--'from the Sukra the Saptadasa,'--from out of the Sukra cup he fashioned the seventeen-versed hymn-form;--'from the Saptadasa the Vairûpa,'--from out of the Saptadasa-stoma he fashioned the Vairûpa-prishtha.

8:1:2:33. 'The Rishi Gamadagni,'--the Rishi Gamadagni, doubtless, is the eye: inasmuch as thereby the world of the living (gagat) sees and thinks, therefore the Rishi Gamadagni is the eye.--'By thee, taken by Pragâpati,'--that is, 'by thee, created by Pragâpati,'--'I take the eye for my descendants,' therewith he introduced the eye from behind. Separately he lays down (these ten bricks): what separate desires there are in the eye those he thereby lays into it. Only once he settles them: he thereby makes this eye one; but were he to settle them each separately, he assuredly would cut the eye asunder. This is a threefold brick: the meaning of this has been explained.

8:1:2:44. And on the left (upper, north) side, with (Vâg. S. XIII, 57), 'This, on the upper side, heaven,'--in the upper sphere, doubtless, are the regions (quarters); and as to why he speaks of them as being 'on the upper (left) side,' the regions, indeed,

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are above everything here. And as to why he says, 'heaven (or, the light),' the regions, indeed, are the heavenly world (or world of light). The regions, having become the ear, remained above: it is that form he now bestows (on Agni).

8:1:2:55. 'Its, heaven's, child, the Ear,'--from out of that form, the regions, he fashioned the ear;--'the autumn, the daughter of the ear,'--from out of the ear he fashioned the autumn season;--'Anushtubh, the daughter of the autumn,'--from out of the autumn season he fashioned the Anushtubh metre;--'from the Anushtubh the Aida,'--from out of the Anushtubh metre he fashioned the Aida-sâman 1;--'from the Aida the Manthin,'--from out of the Aida-sâman he fashioned the Manthin cup;--'from the Manthin the Ekavimsa,'--from out of the Manthi-graha he fashioned the twenty-one-versed hymn-form;--'from the Ekavimsa the Vairâga,'--from out of the Ekavimsa-stoma he fashioned the Vairâga-prishtha.

8:1:2:66. 'The Rishi Visvâmitra,'--the Rishi Visvâmitra ('all-friend'), doubtless, is the ear: because therewith one hears in every direction, and because there is a friend (mitra) to it on every side, therefore the ear is the Rishi Visvâmitra.--'By thee, taken by Pragâpati,'--that is, 'by thee, erected by Pragâpati;'--'I take the ear for my descendants,'

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[paragraph continues] --therewith he introduced the ear from the left (or upper) side. Separately he lays down (these bricks): what separate desires there are in the ear, those he thereby lays into it. Only once he settles them: he thereby makes the ear one; but were he to settle them each separately, he assuredly would cut the ear asunder. This is a threefold brick: the meaning of this has been explained.

8:1:2:77. Then in the centre, with (Vâg. S. XIII, 58), 'This one, above, the mind,'--above, doubtless, is the moon; and as to why he speaks of him as (being) 'above,' the moon is indeed above; and as to why he says, 'the mind,' the mind (mati), doubtless, is speech, for by means of speech everything thinks (man) here 1. The moon, having become speech, remained above: it is that form he now bestows (on. Agni).

8:1:2:88. 'Its, the mind's, daughter, Speech,'--from out of that form, the moon, he fashioned speech;--'Winter, the son of Speech,'--from out of speech he fashioned the winter season;--'Paṅkti, the daughter of Winter,'--from out of the winter season he fashioned the Paṅkti metre;--'from the Paṅkti the Nidhanavat,'--from out of the Paṅkti metre he fashioned the Nidhanavat-sâman 2;--'from the Nidhanavat the Âgrayana,'--from out of the Nidhanavat-sâman he fashioned the Âgrayana cup;--'from the Âgrayana the Trinava and Trayastrimsa,'--from out of the Âgrayana-graha he fashioned the thrice-nine-versed and the three-and-thirty-versed hymn-forms;--

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[paragraph continues] 'from the Trinava and Trayastrimsa the Sâkvara and Raivata,'--from out of the Trinava and Trayastrimsa-stomas he fashioned the Sâkvara and Raivata-prishthas 1.

8:1:2:99. 'The Rishi Visvakarman,'--the Rishi Visvakarman ('the all-worker'), doubtless, is Speech, for by speech everything here is done: hence the Rishi Visvakarman is speech:--'By thee, taken by Pragâpati,'--that is, 'by thee, created by Pragâpati;'--'I take speech for my descendants,'--therewith he introduced speech from above. Separately he lays down (these bricks): what separate desires there are in speech, those he now lays into it. Only once he settles them: he thereby makes speech one; but were he to settle them each separately, he assuredly would cut speech asunder. This is a threefold brick: the meaning of this has been explained.

8:1:2:1010. This, then, is that same food which both the vital airs and Pragâpati created: just so great indeed is the whole sacrifice, and the sacrifice is the food of the gods.

8:1:2:1111. He lays them down by ten and ten,--of ten syllables consists the Virâg (metre), and the Virâg is all food: he thus bestows on him (Agni) the whole food. He puts them down on every side: on every side he thus bestows the whole food on him. And verily these same Virâg (verses) sustain those vital airs, and inasmuch as they sustain (bhri) the vital airs (prâna) they are called Prânabhritah.


Footnotes

8:1 Or, perhaps, 'only when' (yadâ-eva).

8:2 No explanation of this sâman has been found anywhere. Sâyana, on the corresponding formula, Taitt. S. IV, 3, 4, 2 (where the term is spelt rikshama), merely remarks that it is a kind of sâman.' The meaning of the term 'similar to a rik' would seem to indicate a hymn-tune involving little, or no, modification of the text chanted to it. At V, 4, 1, 5 it is the Vairûpa-sâman which (together with the Gagatî, the Saptadasa-stoma, the rainy season, and the Vis) is in this way connected with the West. Now the textual parts of the Pañkanidhanam Vairûpam (Sâma-v., vol. v, pp. 387, 575-6), ordinarily used as a prishtha-sâman, show p. 9 hardly any modifications on the original verses (Sâma-v., vol. ii, p. 278), even less so indeed than the simple Vairûpa-sâman (Sâma-v., vol. i, p. 572), and possibly 'riksama' (if it does not apply to a whole class of sâmans) may be another name for the Vairûpa (of which there are two other forms, Sâma-v., vol. i, pp. 425, 438) in its simplest form. The Vairûpa, in its prishtha form, would in that case, indeed, have originated from the Riksama-sâman. It is true, however, that there is no special connection between the other Prishtha-sâmans and the respective hymn-tune with which they are symbolically connected in the foregoing formulas.

10:1 Aida-sâmans are those sâmans which have the word 'idâ' for their nidhana, or chorus. Such sâmans are, eg. the Vairûpa (Sâma-v., vol. V, p. 387) and the Raurava (iii, 83), the latter of which forms the central sâman of the Mâdhyandina-pavamâna-stotra. What connection there can be between the Aida and the Vairâga-prishtha (Sâma-v., vol. v, p. 391; cf. vol. i, pp. 814-5) it is not easy to see. In Sat. Br. V, 4,i, 6 the North is connected with the Anushtubh, the Vairâga-sâman, the Ekavimsa and the autumn.

11:1 Or, perhaps, one thinks everything here.

11:2 That is a sâman which has a special nidhana, or chorus, added at the end (or inserted in the middle) of it.

12:1 For these Prishtha-sâmans see part iii, introd. pp. xx-xxi. In V, 4, I, 7 the upper region is symbolically connected with the Paṅkti metre, the Sâkvara and Raivata-sâmans, the Trinava and Trayastrimsa-stomas, and the winter and dewy seasons.


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