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Satapatha Brahmana Part III (SBE41), Julius Eggeling tr. [1894], at sacred-texts.com


5:4:2

SECOND BRÂHMANA.

5:4:2:11. He (the king) is anointed (sprinkled) whilst standing with his face turned towards the east. A Brâhman--either the Adhvaryu, or he who is his (the king's) court chaplain--sprinkles him in front, from behind;--

5:4:2:22. With (Vâg. S. X, 17), 'With Soma's glory I sprinkle thee,'--'with vigour' he thereby says; 'With Agni's glow . . . 1,'--'with vigour' he thereby says;--'With Sûrya's splendour . . .,'--'with vigour' he thereby says;--'With Indra's energy. . .,'--'with vigour' he thereby says;--'Be thou the chieftain of chiefs!'--'be thou the supreme king of kings' he thereby says;--'Guard (him) 2 against darts!'--darts meaning arrows, it is past murder by arrows that he thus guides him: therefore he says, 'guard him against darts!'

5:4:2:33. [Vâg. S. X, 18] 'Quicken him, O gods, to

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be unrivalled!'--he thereby says, 'Quicken him, O gods, so as to be without an enemy;'--'For great chiefdom, for great lordship!'--in this there is nothing obscure;--'For man-rule!'--'for the ruling of men' he thereby says;--'For Indra's lordly sway!'--'for power' he means to say, when he says, 'for Indra's lordly sway!'--'Him, the son of such and such (a man), the son of such and such (a woman),'--whatever be his parentage regarding that he says this;--'of such and such a people'--that is to say, of the people whose king he is;--'This man, O ye (people), is your king, Soma is the king of us Brahmans!'--he thereby causes everything here to be food for him (the king); the Brâhman alone he excepts: therefore the Brâhman is not to be fed upon, for he has Soma for his king 1.

5:4:2:44. He (the king) then rubs the sprinkled water

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over himself with the horn of a black antelope; for that collected essence of the waters wherewith he now anoints him means vigour: 'May this vigour of mine spread through my whole self,' thus he thinks, and therefore he rubs it all over himself.

5:4:2:55. He rubs it over himself, with (Vâg. S. X, 19), Forth from the back of the mountain, of the bull,'--even as the mountain stands out here, even as the bull stands out beyond the cattle, so does he who performs the Râgasûya stand out beyond everything here, and everything here is below him: therefore he says, 'Forth from the back of the mountain, of the bull,'--'The ships keep moving, the self-pouring; they, the upwards bent, have turned back downwards, flowing after the dragon of the deep 1.'

5:4:2:66. He then makes him step the (three) Vishnu-steps within (the extent of) the tiger's skin, with, 'Vishnu's outstepping thou art! Vishnu's outstep thou art! Vishnu's step thou art!' Now Vishnu's outstepping (vikramana), Vishnu's outstep (vikrânta), and Vishnu's step (krânta) 2 are these (three) worlds: thus having ascended these worlds, he is high above everything here, and everything here is below him.

5:4:2:77. He then pours the remainders (of the water) together into the Brâhman's vessel: he thereby makes the Brâhman an object of respect after the king, whence the Brâhman is an object of respect after the king.

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5:4:2:88. And to him who is his (the king's) dearest son, he hands that vessel, thinking, 'May this son of mine perpetuate this vigour of mine!'

5:4:2:99. He then returns to the Gârhapatya fire, (his son) holding on to him behind, and offers, with (Vâg. S. X, 20), 'O Pragâpati, than thee none other hath encompassed all these forms: for whatsoever object we sacrifice, let that accrue unto us!--This one is the father of N.N.!'--him who is the son, he makes the father, and him who is the father, he makes the son 1: he thereby links together the vigour of both of them.--'N.N. is the father of this one!' him who is the father, he makes the father, and him who is the son, he makes the son: after linking together the vigour of these two, he puts it again in the proper way,--'May we be the lords of riches, hail!'--this is the blessing of that ceremony a blessing he thereby invokes.

5:4:2:1010. And any residue that is left over, he offers in the Âgnîdhrîya; for redundant is that residue, and redundant also is the Âgnîdhrîya,--in the Gârhapatya they cook the oblations, and in the Âhavanîya they offer, but that one is redundant: thus he puts the redundant to the redundant. He offers it on the north part (of the hearth), for that is the region of that god (Rudra): hence he offers it on the north

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part. He offers with, 'O Rudra, whatever potent 1, highest name is thine, therein thou art an offering, thou art a home-offering, hail!'


Footnotes

94:1 While the preceding formula is used by the priest, the present and two succeeding ones (each with the words '. . . I sprinkle thee; guard him against darts!') are pronounced by the other three persons specified in V, 3, 5, 12-14, each sprinkling the king with the water in his respective vessel.

94:2 Mahîdhara explains: 'O Soma, protect him, the Sacrificer, in overcoming the enemy's missiles.'

95:1 Either at this juncture, or after the game at dice, the Hotri recites the legend of Sunahsepha, as given Ait. Br. VII, 13-18.--'King Hariskandra, of the race of Ikshvâku, being childless, made a vow that if he obtained a son he would sacrifice him to Varuna. A son was born, who received the name of Rohita, but the father postponed, under various pretexts, the fulfilment of his vow. When at length he resolved to perform the sacrifice, Rohita refused to be the victim, and went out into the forest, where he lived for six years. He then met a poor Brâhman Rishi called Agîgarta, who had three sons, and Rohita purchased from Agîgarta, for a hundred cows, the second son, named Sunahsepha, to be the substitute for himself in the sacrifice. Varuna approved of the substitute, and the sacrifice was about to be performed, the father receiving another hundred cows for binding his son to the sacrificial post, and a third hundred for agreeing to slaughter him. Sunahsepha, however, saved himself by reciting verses in honour of different deities, and was received into the family of Visvâmitra, who was one of the officiating priests.' Dowson, Dict. of Hindu Mythology.

96:1 Ahi Budhnya, the Πύθων ὄφις of Hellenic mythology (St. Petersburg dict.).

96:2 In the Black Yagus ritual the three steps are called 'krama, krânta, and vikrânta.'

97:1 By way of illustration, Mahîdhara explains what would have happened at the inauguration of king Dasaratha (of Ayodhyâ), the father of Râma; viz. in that case the first formula would run,--'Râma is the father of Dasaratha;' and the second--'Dasaratha is the father of Râma.' According to the ceremonial of the Black Yagus the offering of the residue takes place at the house (first of the favourite son, according to Âpastamba, and then) of the queen. Taitt. S., vol. ii, p. 154.


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