Adhyāya 23: Aśvamedha, continued

^ In the beginning rose Hiranyagarbha, etc.

Taken upon a base art thou. 1 take thee welcome to Prajipati Thi-j is thy place : Sdrya thy majeaty. The meyesty that haa aoorued to thee in the day, in a year, that majeaty which has accrued iu the wind, in the hrma- ment, to that majesty of thlne^ to Praj^pati> to the Gods» All-^huil I

Taken upon a base art thou. I take thee welcome ta Praj4patL ^ This is thy place: the Moon thy majesty.

He yokes the Horse ta a gildied ciiariot, reciting the text taken from K. V. I. 6. 1.

They who atand round him as he movea harness the biught» . C , \ the ruddy Steed :

Th^fiood: the water ta which the Horae is driYea to be bathedL

Who by his grandeur hath become sole Ruler of all tha moving world that breathes and slumbers ; He who is Sovran of the^e men and cattle — ^vrhat God slialt we adore witii our oblation \

Here intervenes a Brahmodyam, a discussion in question and answer of coimogonical and mystic "-theological doctrine. The queKtions are couched In- designedly enigmatical language, constituting a sort of * cosmic charade/ as Prof. M Bloomfield calls it. Who moveth ; etc. : the Brahman question^ the Hotar.

The Sun mores single and alone. The Moon is brought to life again.

The Hotar questions the Brahman.

Heaven was the antecedent thought. The Courser was the '

y^yu help thee with cooked viands! Blackneck with goats ; V Nyagrodha with cups ; S ilraali with increase ; this Stal- lion here, good for the chariot— let him verily come with . his four feet. Brahmakfishna help us! Obeisance to Agni !

Fitted.' or, quickened. Brahmi : the Great One, the Horse. Water^ horn : lis identified with the Sun who springs out of the oQe^ of air. See B. V.I. 163. 1. Soma's lead : to heaven.

The Horse is slaughtered,

The Morse is addressed The first line is taken from R V. I. 162. 21,

Agni wds the victim : offered by the Gods of creation. Thy world f the Horse is addressed. Jn whieh Vdyu is : the firnjao^ent. /» which SHi'ya is : the sky.

2*0 vital breathf etc. ; three fire-oblations are offered with these three formulas. Airtbd, etc. : women's names. The Chief Queen calls on her feliow- wives for pity. as. to obtain a son, f he ha« to pass the night in disgusting contiguity to the slaughtered Horse : " No one takes me (bv force to the h<»r8e) ; (but if I go not of myself), the (spiteful) horse will lie with (an-

The three Queens walk ninle tfines rbTiod ihe Bforse, reciting the for^ mulas. The Chief Queeo then begins the performance ol the revolting ceremony^

MaldtM rtfayamev^^vav^namdhrUfiya svdyonau sthdpayati. This ntid the following nine stanzas are nat reproducible eVen in the Ben>i-ot»flcnrit.y of a teamed European language ; and stanzas 30, 31 would be unintelligi- ble without them.

On the following nnominfg the offieiating priests raise the Chief Qncen from the place where sh^ has spent the night, and recite the t*'xt, taken from R V. IV. 89. 6. to purify their mouths after the abominable obKceui- tiee which they have uttei'ed. Dadhilcr^van : or in tlie shorlfcr form, Dadhi- kr^ or Dadhikra, described as a kind of divine ordeilied horse, and proWab- ly, like Tirkshya (XV. 18), a personification of the morning sun. The verse

Oiysttrf, Trishtup, Ja^att, and PaAktt with Anushtap joined^ Byihati, Kaknp, UshnihSt pacify thee with needle-points !

Two-footed, those that have four feet, those With three feet

May Muh&namnis, Revatis, all far-spresid Regions of the sky. Voices, and lightnings frotn the cloud pacify thee with needle^

May married dames of human birth skilfully separate thy

They, made of silver, gold, and lea4, are used as helpers in

What then 1 As men whose fields are full of barley, etc., as

In due time let the seasons as thy Slaughterers divide thy

Let the Half-months and let the Months, while sacrificing,

Let the divine Adhvaryus flay thy body and dissect thy

Mav Sky, Earth, Air, and Wind supply each failing and de-

Well be it with thine upper parts, well be it with the parts

Before the vapd or omentum is offered as a bumt^blation the follaw* ing ^rahmodyam (see voise 9) iotervones. Ye^ves 45, 40 repeikted from

Bmhma ia lustre like the Sun. Heaven is a flood to match the Sea.

The Brahman questions the Udg&tar, the priest who chants the St- mans. Three steps : or places ; earth, air, and sky, over and through which he strode as the Sun ; according to M ahtdhara, the Glrhapatya, Ahavanlya, and Dakshina fires are inieuded.

I also am in those three steps of Vishnu wherewith this Uni- verse he permeated. The earth and heaven I circle in a moment and this heaven's summit with a single organ. - 61 What are the things which Purusha hath entered ? What things hath Purusha contained within him f

The Udg^tar questions the Brahman. Purusha : the Person ; Person- ality ; the Cosmic Man, or Embodied Spirit ; dtmd, the soul or self, accord- ing to BCahfdhara.

Within five things hath Ptirusha found entrance: these

What was the antecedent thought! etc., as in verse 11.

Heaven was the antecedent thought, etc., as in 12.

Who, tell me, is the yellowish she ? Who is the darkly-

The she-goat, Sir, is yellowish, dark-yellewish is the percu-

How many diifecent forrus bath this^ how many syllables,

Who knoweth this world's central poiRt % Who knowetlif the

The tJdg&tar replies. Single organ : my mind.

I a*k thee of the earth' » extremest limit, where is the cen-

The Brahman replies. Five things: the five vital breathings. These: the senses ; the substrata of hearing, etc.

The Strong, the Self-existent One, the First, wHhin the

The ffatar: the Hotar af the Qoda. Mahiman-Soma : contained mihte gold cup called Mahiman, Glory, see verse 1, note,

Praja-pati, tboii only, etc., as ia X. 20.

Sixfold its foriB, iia syllables a hn&dred^ eighty bn^Bt-^ffer- ings, just three brands for kindling. To thee I tell the rites of sacrificing- Seven Hotars wofshif in appointed season,

Who ? or J^Af that U Prajdpabi himself performs the^e sacrificial opera* tions, and not I the human priest.

Lead ; meauipg, probably, copper or iron, as Mahtdhara ezplaius.