Kāṇḍa 9 — Philosophical hymns, prayers

The Asvins* Honey-whip was bortt from heaven and earth, from middle air^ and oceatii and from fire and wind.

They call thee earth's great strength ih every form,

In sundry spots, repeatedly reflecting, men view

Daughter of Vasus, mother of Adityas, centre of

The deities begat the Whip of Honey : her embryo

Who understandeth well, who hath perceived it»

He understandeth them, he hath perceived them, her

She who with voice upraised in constant clamour,

On whom, well-fed, the Waters wait in worship, and

The thunder is thy voice, O Lord of Creatures :

As at the morning sacrifice the Asvins twain love

As at the second sacrifice Indra and Agni love him

As at third sacrifice Soma is the Bibhus^ well-belov^

Fain would I bring forth sweetness, fain would make

Grant me, O Agni, splendid strength, and progeny,

As honey-bees collect and add fresh honey to their

As over honey flies besmear this honey which the

May all the sweetness that is found in hills and

May both the Asvins, Lords of Light, balm me with

The thunder is thy voice, O Lord of Creatures :

The Whip itself is Heaven, Earth ia the haadle,

Whoever knows the Whip's seven kinds of honey,

Sweet is the man, sweet are his goods and chattels :

The thundering of Praj&pati in heaven is verily

Kama the Bull, slayer of foes, I worship with molten

That which is hateful to mine eye and spirit, that

K4ma, do thou, a mighty Lord and Ruler, let loose

Drive them away, drive them afar, O K&ma ; indigence

She, KSima ! she is called the Cow, thy daughter,

By K&ma's might. King Varu^ia's and Indra^s, by

May K&ma, mighty one, my potent warder, give me

We with our incantation loose the net that hath a

Ye, Indra, Ag«i, K4ma.! come together and oast mine adversaries down beneath me. When they hav^ sunk into the deepest darkness, O Agni, with thy fire consume their dwellings.

There let her come to meet this man. Firm, strong-

K4ma hath slain Chose who were mine oppohents, and

Let them drift downward like a boat torn from the

Agni averts, Indra averts, and Soma : may the

Agni thou shelterest within, and people with domes-

This potent lightning nourishes things shaken, and

Thy. firm and triply-barred protection, K4ma 1 thy

Far from the world wherein we live, O K&ma,

As G^ds repelled the Asuras, and Indra down to the

First before all sprang Kftma into being. Gods,

Wide as the space which heaven and earth encompass,

The point of juncture: gdrhhah (from grahh=grnhy to take, to conceive) ; the receptacle, meaning here the place where the thong is attached to the whip-stock.

Many as are the bees, and bats, and reptiles, and

Conquers the worlds of sweetness : gains admittance into heaven.

From right to left invested: prdchinopavitdh ; wearing the sacrificial cord over the right shoulder and passed under the left arm.

Thy lovely and auspicious forms, O KAma, whereby

Now from the south side of the house, eto,

Now from the west side of the house, etc,

Now from the north side of the house, etc

So from the mansion's every side to the Great

The Bull, fierce, thousandfold, filled full of vigour,

He who at first became the Waters' model, a match

Masculine, pregnant, stedfast, full of vigour, the Bull

The husband of the cows, the young calves' father,

He is the G'ods^ allotted share and bundle, essence

A beaker filled with Soma juice thou bearest;,framer

Both arms of Varuqa, and Indra's vigour, the Maruts' hump is he, the A&vins* shoulders. They who are sages, bards endowed with wisdom,, call hint Brihaspati compact and heightened.

Thou, vigorous, reachest to the tribes of heaven. Thee they call Indra, thee they call Sarasv4n. Turned to one aim, that Brahman gives a thousand who offers up the Bull as his oblation.

Brihaspati, Savitar gave thee vital vigour : tby

Let the priest joyfully extol the limbs and members

The sides must be Anumati's, and both rib-pieces

The Adityas claim the hinder parts, the loins must

To SAryi they assigned the skin, to Sinlv411 inward

They made a jest of kindred's curse : a jar of Soma juice was set, What time the deities, convened, assigned the Bull's divided parts. X6 They gave the hooves to tortoises, to Saram^ scraps of the feet :

To tortoises: that they might renovate their shells with thd homy materiaL Saramd : the hound of Indra, represented in Bigveda X. 14. 10 as the mother of Yama's two brindled four-eyed dogs. See V. 30. 6. Scraps of the feet : kdehtkiJUtfy ; according to Slyana, the contents of the entrails. Cf. IX. 7. 10 ; X. 9. 23.

That Bull, the husband of the kine, pierces the

With hundred sacrifices he worships : the fires

He who hath given away the Bull to Br4hmans frees

Let there be cattle, let there be bodily strength and

Indra here verily hath rejoiced : let him bestow

With close connexion mingle with the cows in this

Here we restore this Bull, your youthful leader :

The stanza appears to point to the future removal of the house, built entirely of timber, ban^boos, reeds, and straw, to some ocher situ-,

Seize him and bring him hither. Let him travel^ foreknowing, to the regions of the pious.

1 bring thee hither as a share for Indra ; prince, at this sacrifice, for him who worships. Grasp firmly from behind all those who hate us : so let the sacrificer's men be sinless.

Wash from his feet all trace of evil-doing : fore-

Cut up this skin with the grey knife, Dissector !

With verse : reciting a richy a sacred verse or hymn of praise, (listinguishe4 from the adman which is si^ng or cl^anted, and from the yajus or sacrificial formula.

With verse upon the fire I set the caldron : pour in the water ; lay him down within it! Encompass him with fire, ye Immolators. Cooked, let him reach the world where dwell the righteous.

The Goat is Agni : light they call him, saying that

Pafichaudana : offered with a fivefold mess, or five messes, of boiled rice, or grain mashed and cooked with milk. Three lights : three liuninous heavens. See stanza 1. In Jive divisions: one for each odana ^X lueiis of boiled rice. Farted : referring to th^ goat, divided into fiye.

Rise to that world, O Goat, where dwell the right- eous : pass, like a Sarabha veiled, all difficult places. The Goat Paflchaudana, given to a Brahman, shall with all fulness satisfy the giver.

The Goat Paflchaudana, given to a Brahman, sets

That is the third light that is yours, ye Fathers. He

Seeking the world of good men who have worshipped,

Truly the Goat sprang from the glow of Agni, in-

Home- woven raiment let him give, and gold as

Near to thee, Goat ! approach these streams of Soma,

Unborn art thou, O Goat : to heaven thou goest.

Convey our sacrifice to heaven, that it may reach the

The Goat Pafichaudana, when cooked, transporteth,

The droppings of the Odanas attending the Goat

This Unborn cleft apart in the beginning : his breast

His eyes were Truth and Right. The whole together

This stanza is taken, with variations, from Bigveda YI. 2& 8. The impregnation of the cows is the object of the wish*

The stanza is addressed to the cows.

This, eve.n this is his true form : the man uniteth

The five gold pieces, and the five new garments, and

The five gold pieces are a light to light him, robes

When she who hath been wedded finds a second

One world with the re-wedded wife becomes the

They who have given a cow who drops a calf each

Himself, the father and the son, the grandson, and

The man who knows the season named the Scorching

The man who knows the season called the Working

The man who knows the season called the Meeting

The man who knows the season called the Swelling

The man who knows the season called the Rising

The man who knows the season called Surpassing

He cooks the Goat and the five boiled rice messes.

May these preserve him for thee. Here I offer to

Whoso will know Prayer with immediate knowledge, whose members are the stuff, whose spine the verses :

Whose hairs are psalms, whose heart is called the Yajus, whose coverlet is verily oblation —

Verily when a host looks at his guests he looks at the place of sacrifice to the Gods. 4 When he salu- tes them reverently he undergoes preparation for a religious ceremony : when he calls for water, he solemnly brings sacrificial waten 5 The water that is solemnly brought at a sacrifice is this same water,

The libation which they bring, the sacrificial victim dedicated to Agni and Soma which is tied to the post, that, verily, is this man. 7 When they arrange dwelling-rooms they arrange the sacred chamber and the shed for housing the Soma cars. 8 What they spread upon the floor is just Sacrificial Grass. 9 With

Preparation for a religious ceremony : the initiatory or prepara- tory rite called Diksh^ or Consecration. 7 Sacred chamber : sddas ; literally, seat (of the Oods) ; a shed erected in the sacrifioial court or enclosure to the east of the Pr&chinavansa chamber, which has itd supporting beam turned towards the east. Soma cars : light carts iii which the plants are brought to be pressed. 10 Green sticks : which

When they call the man who prepares food they summon the preparer of oblation. 14 The grains of rice and barley that are selected are just filaments of the Soma plant. 15 The pestle and mortar are really the stones of the Soma press. 1 6 The win- nowing*basket is the filter, the chaff the Soma dregs,

Or the host acts in this way to a Yajam&na's Br4hman : when he looks at the furniture and uten- sils he says, More here ! Yet more here. 19 When he says, Bring out more, he lengthens his life thereby.

He brings oblations : he makes the men sit down.

As the guest of the seated company he himself offers up sacrifice. 22 With ladle, with hand, in life, at the sacrificial post, with cry of Ladle ! with ex- clamation of Vashat ! 23 Now these guests, as priests beloved or not beloved, bring one to the world of Svarga. 24 He who bath this knowledge should

The man who supplies food hath always pressing stones adjusted, a wet Soma filter, well prepared religious rites, and mental power to complete the arranged sacrifice. 28 The arranged sacrifice of the man who offers food is a sacrifice to Praj&pati.

The man who offers food follows the steps of PrajApati. 30 The fire of the guest« is the Ahava- niya, the fire in the dwelling is the G4rhapatya, that whereon they cook food is the Southern Sacrificial Fire.

Now that man who eats before the guest eats up the sacrifice and the merit of the house. 32 He devours the milk and the. sap : 33 And the vigour and prosperity : 34 And the progeny and the cattle :

And the fame and reputation. 36 The man who eats before the guest eats up the glory and the un- derstanding of the house. 37 The man should not eat before the guest who is a BrAhman versed in holy lore. 38 When the guest hath eaten he should eat. This is the rule for the animation of the sacri-

These : the Quarters of the sky, with the intermediate points.

The man who having this knowledge pours out milk and offers it wins for himself as much thereby as he gains by the performance of a very successful Aguish toma sacrifice. 41 The man who having this knowledge pours out clarified butter and offers it wins for himself thereby as much as he gains by the per-

He who pours out mead and offers it wins for himself thereby as much as he gains by the perfor- mance of a very successful Sattrasadya sacrifice,

He who having this knowledge besprinkles flesh and offers it wins for himself thereby as much as he gains by the performance of a very successful Twelve- Day sacrifice. 44 The man who having this know- ledge pours out water and offers it obtains a resting- place for the procreation of living beings and becomes

For him Dawn murmurs, and Savitar sings the prelude; Brihaspati chants with vigour, and Tvashtar joins in with increase ; the Visve DevAh take up the conclusion. He who hath this knowledge is the abiding-place of welfare, of progeny, and of cattle.

For him the rising Sun murmurs, and Early Morning sings the prelude ; Noon chants the psalm. Afternoon joins in ; the setting Sun takes up the con- clusion. He who hath this knowledge is the abiding Elace of welfare, of progeny, and of cattle. 47 For im the Rain-cloud murmurs when present, sings the

When he summons the door-keeper he gives in- struction. 50 He (the door-keeper) pronounces the sacrificial formula in his answer to what he hears.

When the attendants with vessels in their hands, foremost and hindmost, come in, they are just the priests who manage the Soma cups. 52 Not one of

PrajApati and Parameshthin are the two horns, Indra is the head, Agni the forehead, Yama the joint of the neck.

King Soma is the brain, Sky is the upper jaw. Earth is the lower jaw.

Lightning is the tongue, the Maruts are the teeth, Revatl is the neck, the Krittik4s are the shoulders, the Gharma is juice is drunk. 53 The hath of purifieati<m : the avabhrttha^ water for the purification of the sacrificer and the sacrificial vessels at the con- clusion of the ceremony. 54 Pritstly f^t: diikshind; meaning origi- nally a good milch-cow, which iu the earliest timefr was tba usual honorarium. The hymn, which is entirely prose, lis a glorification of the' typical Bull and Cow. 1 Parameshthin : Lord Supreme. In T. 7. 2, Jitayedas (Agni) is so called ; in IX. 3. 11, the title is given to Prajllpati. 3 Revatt : one of the Lunar Mansions. The KrittikAs : the Pleiades (a Lunar Mansion) personified as the nurses of Skauda or Kum4ra the War-God, who is the shoulder-bar.

His universe is Vftyu, Svarga is bis world, Krishnadram is the tendons and verte- brae.

The Syeua ceremony is the breast, Air is the region of the belly, B^ihaspati is the hump, Brihatl the breast-bone and cartilages of the ribs.

The consorts of the Gods are the ribs, the attend- ants are ribs.

Mitra and Varupa are the shoulder- blades, Tvashtar and Aryaman the fore-arms, Mah4- deva is the arms.

Indr&Ql is the hinder parts, V4yu the tail, Pavam^na the hair.

Priestly rank and princely power are the hips, and strength is the thigh.

DhAtar and Savitar are the two knee- bones, the Gandharvas are the legs, the Apsarases are bits of the feet, Aditi is the hooves. 1 1 Thought is the heart, intelligence is the liver, law the pericar- dium.

Hunger is the belly, refreshing drink is the rectum, mountains are the inward parts.

Wrath is the kidneys, anj^er the testes, oflEspring the genera- tive organ.

The river is the womb, the Lords of the Rain ar« the breasts, the thunder is the udder.

The All-embracing (Aditi) is the hide, the herbs are her hair, and the Lunar Mansions her form.

The hosts of Gods are her entrails, men are her bowels, and demons her abdomen.

R4kshasas are the blood, the Other Folk are the contents of the stomach.

The rain-cloud is her fat, her resting- place her marrow.

Sitting he is Agni, when he hath stood up he is the Asvins.

Standing east- wards he is Indra, standing southwards, lama. henoe called Kilrttikeya. 4 Krishnadram : the word is unintelligible. 5 Syena: a kind of Ek&ha or Soma sacrifice lasting one day. 7 MahAdeva: Great God, an appellation usually giyen to Rudra or one of the Gods connected with him. In classical Sanskrit, and at the present time, the title is applied to Siva, Mah&deo. 8 Indrdni : the Consort of Indra. Favamdna: the deified Soma juice. \0 Dhdtar : the Ordainer. 14 The Cow is now the subject of glorification. 17 Other Folk : a euphemistic expression for certain beings considered to be spirite of darkness. Cf. VIII. 10. 28. 19 The Bull is again the subject. Sitting : Agni as Sacrifio al Fire being stationary. 20 Indra : HYMN 8.] TEB ATHAR7A^7BDA. 465

Standing westwards he is Dh^tar, standing northwards Savitar.

When he hath got his grass he is King Soma.

He is Mitra when he looks ahout him, and when he hath turned round he is joy.

When he is yoking he belongs to the All-Gods, when yoked be is Prajipati, when unyoked be is All.

This verily is omniform, wearing all forms, bovine- formed.

Upon him wait omniform beasts, wearing every shape, each one who hath this knowledge.

Each pain and ache that racks the head, earacbe,

From both thine ears, from parts tbereof, thine ear-

So that Consumption may depart forth from thine

The malady that makes one deaf> the malady that

The throbbing pain in all thy limbs that rends thy

The malady whose awful look makes a man quiver

Disease that creeps about the thighs and, after,

If the disease originates from love, from hatred, from

The yellow Jaundiee from thy limbs, and Colic from

Let wasting malady turn to dust, become the water of disease. I have evoked the poison-taint of all Consumptions out of thee.

Forth from thy belly and thy lungs, forth from thy

The penetrating stabs of pain which rend asunder

The pangs that stab the heart and reach the breast-

The stabs that penetrate the sides and pierce their

The penetrating pangs that pierce thy stomach as

The pains that through the bowels creep, disorder-

Consumptions with their Colic pains which make thy limbs insensible — I have evoked the poison-taint of all Consumptions out of thee.

Of piercing pain, of abscesses, rheumatic ache,

I have dispelled the piercing pains from feet, knees,

Sound are the skull-bones of thy head and thy

Thb second brother of this lovely Hotar, hoary with

The seven make the one-wheeled chariot ready :

The seven who on this seven- wheeled car are mounted

Who hath beheld at birth the Primal Being, when

Let him who knowetb presently declare it, this lovely Bird's securely-founded station. Forth from his head the Cows draw milk, and wear- ing his vesture with their foot have drunk the water. t Unripe in mind, in spirit undiscerning, I ask of these

The yearling Calf: probably the Sun, in reference to his yearly course. What the seven threads are is uncertain. S^yana says they^ are the seven forms or divisions of a Soma sacrifice (the Jyotishtoma^

Here, ignorant, I ask the wise who know it, as one

The Mother gave the Sire his share of Order. With

Yoked was the Mother to the boon Cow's car-pole: in humid folds of cloud the infant rested. Then the Calf lowed and looked upon the Mother, the Cow who wears all shapes in three directions.

Bearing three mothers and three fathers, single he

Upon the five-spoked wheel revolving ever, whereon

They call him in the farther laif of heaven the Sire

Formed with twelve spokes, too strong for age to

The wheel revolves, unwasting, with its felly : ten

They told me these were males, though truly females.

Of the co-born they call the seventh single-born:

Beneath the upper realm, above this lower, bearing

Who, that the father of this Calf discerneth beneath

Those that come hitherward they call departing,

Ophthalmia : alaji ; more precisely, disease of the eye attended with the appearance of small red pimples at the jmicture of the cornea and sclerotica. See Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, p. 296.

The tree whereon the fine Birds eat the sweetness,

Ha$t chased away the heacTi disease : cf. * Surya, remove my

How on the Giyatri the G4yatrl was based ; how from the Trish^up they fashioned the Trishtup forth ;

With GAyatrl he measures out the praise-song, S4man with praise-song, triplet with the Trishtup, The triplet with the two or four-foot measure, and with the syllable they form seven metres;

The GijQ,tr| metre consiatfi of three p&das ov (jliviflionA, apd t^ Saman or cbantei hymn is generally composed of three riehat or verses of praise. Triplet : the word vdkd in the text is said to mean either two or three connected stanzas, that is, a short hymn. Two or fowr- foot measure : consisting of two or four padas, divisions, or hemistichs. The meaning is not dear. With tfu syllabU : they form the seven

I invoeate this Milch-cow good at milking, so that

She, Lady of all treasures, hath come hither, yearn-

The Cow hath lowed after her blinking youngling :

He also snorts, by whom encompassed round the Cow

That which hath breath and life and speed and mo-

The old hath waked tlie young Moon from his slum-

He who hath made him doth not comprehend him : from him who saw him surely he is hidden.

I saw the Herdsman, him who never gtumbles,

Dyaus is our father, our begetter : kinship is here.

I bid thee tell me earth's extremest limit, about the

The earth's most distant limit is this altar: this

What thing I truly am I know not clearly : myste-

Back, forward goea he, grasped by power inherent,

Seven germs unripened yet are Heaven's proHBc

Upon what syllable of holy praise-hymn^, as 'twere

They, ordering the verse's foot by measure, with the

Fortunate mayst thou be with goodly pasture, and

The Cow her ielf hath lowed: the great rain-cloud, ''regarded as V4k, Speech or Soimd, has thundered. Sayan-i explains one-footed as Bounding from the cloud ; two-footed, from cloud and sky ; four-footed^ from the four cardinal points ; eight-footed^ from the four points and the four intermediate points ; the nine feet being these eight and the

The fine birds here Are perhaps the priests, and the Universe's Guard and Keeper may be the deified Soma, the inspirer of the poet.

This stanza is taken, with an unimportant variant, from Bigveda I. 152. 3. The footless Maid : Ushas or Dawn, who moves unsupported in "the sky: Cf. * First, Indra Agni! hath this Maid come footless unto

Vir&j is Speech, and Earth, and Air's mid-region. lie is BrajApati, and he is Mrityu.

I saw from far away the smote of fuel with spires

Three with long tresses show in ordered season. One

Speech hath been measured out in four divisions :

The footless Maid precedeith footed creatures. "Who marfceth, Mitra Varana ! this your doing ? The Babe unborn supporteth this world's burthen, supporteth Right and watcheth Wrong and False- Jiood.

Forming the water-floods the Cow herself hath