Satapatha-Brâhmana, Part 29

BY: SUN STAFF - 25.4 2018

Bharadwaja Rishi 
Company School, Patna, 19th c. 
British Museum Collection

A serial presentation of the Satapatha Brahmana, translated by Julius Eggeling in 1882.

First Kânda - The Darsapûrnamâsa-Ishtî or New And Full-Moon Sacrifices

Fifth Adhyâya – First Brâhmana

1:5:1:1 - 1. He (the Adhvaryu) now utters his call for the Pravara (choosing of the Hotri) [2]. The reason why he utters his call, is that the (Adhvaryu's) call is the sacrifice: 'having bespoke the sacrifice, I will choose the Hotri,' thus (he thinks, and) for this reason he utters his call for the Pravara.

1:5:1:2 - 2. He utters his call after taking the fuel-band; for if the Adhvaryu were to utter his call without taking hold of the sacrifice, he would either be unsteady or meet with some other ailment.

1:5:1:3 - 3. Here now some utter the call after taking sacrificial grass (barhis) from the covered altar, or they utter the call after cutting off and taking a chip of fire-wood, arguing, 'this, surely, is something belonging to the sacrifice; after taking hold of this, the sacrifice, we will utter the call.' Let him, however, not do this; for that also wherewith the firewood was tied together and wherewith they sweep the fire [1] is, doubtless, something belonging to the sacrifice; and thus indeed he utters his call after taking hold of the sacrifice: for this reason let him utter the call after taking the fuel-band.

1:5:1:4 - 4. Having uttered the call, he in the first place chooses him who is the Hotri of the gods, that is, Agni. Thereby he propitiates both Agni and the gods: for by first choosing Agni, he propitiates Agni; and by first choosing him who is the Hotri of the gods, he propitiates the gods.

1:5:1:5 - 5. He says, 'Agni, the god, the divine Hotri--,' for Agni is indeed the Hotri of the gods, therefore he says 'Agni, the god, the divine Hotri:' thereby he propitiates both Agni and the gods; for by his first mentioning Agni he propitiates Agni; and by his first mentioning him who is the Hotri of the gods, he propitiates the gods.

1:5:1:6 - 6. 'May he worship, knowing the gods [1], he the thoughtful one,'--for he, Agni, indeed, knows the gods well: hence, he thereby says 'may he who knows them well worship (them) in due form!

1:5:1:7 - 7. 'Like as Manu (did), like as Bharata;'--Manu, indeed, worshipped with sacrifice in olden times, and doing as he did these descendants of his now sacrifice: therefore he says 'like as Manu.' Or, say they, (it means) 'at the sacrifice of Manu,' and therefore he says 'as (he did) with Manu.'

1:5:1:8 - 8. 'Like as (with) Bharata,'--for, say they, he bears (bhar) the oblation to the gods, hence Bharata (the bearer) is Agni; or, say they, he, having become the breath, supports (bhar) these creatures, and therefore he says 'like as Bharata.'

1:5:1:9 - 9. He then chooses (Agni as) the ancestral (Hotri). He thus introduces him both to the (ancestral) rishis and to the gods (as if he were saying), 'he is of mighty strength who obtained the sacrifice!' for this reason he chooses (him as) the ancestral one.

1:5:1:10 - 10. He chooses from the remote end (of the sacrificer's ancestral line) [2] downwards; for it is from the remote end downwards that a race is propagated. Thereby he also propitiates the lord of seniority; for here among men the father comes first, then the son, and then the grandson: this is the reason why he chooses from the remote end downwards.

1:5:1:11 - 11. Having named the ancestral, he says, 'Like as, Brahman;'--for Agni is the Brahman (the Veda, or the sacerdotium), and therefore he says 'like as Brahman;'--'may he bring (the gods) hither!' what deities he bids him bring hither, those he refers to in saying 'may he bring (them) hither.'

1:5:1:12 - 12. 'The Brâhmanas (priests) are the guardians of this sacrifice;' for guardians of the sacrifice, indeed, are those Brâhmanas who are versed in the sacred writ, because they spread it, they originate it: these he thereby propitiates; and for this reason he says, 'the Brâhmanas are the guardians of the sacrifice.'

1:5:1:13 - 13. 'N.N. is the man,' thereby he chooses this man for his Hotri; heretofore he was not a Hotri, but now he is a Hotri.

1:5:1:14 - 14. The chosen Hotri mutters,--has recourse to the deities: in order that he may give the vashat-call to the gods in its proper order, that he may convey the oblation to the gods in its proper order, that he may not stumble, he has thus recourse to the deities.

1:5:1:15 - 15. He mutters on this occasion [1], 'Thee, O divine Savitri, they now choose,'--thereby he has recourse to Savitri for his impulsion (prasava), for Savitri is the impeller (prasavitri) of the gods;--'(thee who art) Agni, for the Hotriship,' thereby he propitiates both Agni and the gods; for by first naming Agni, he propitiates Agni; and by first naming him who is the Hotriof the gods, he propitiates the gods.