Satapatha Brahmana Part V (SBE44), Julius Eggeling tr. [1900], at sacred-texts.com
12:7:3:11. By means of the Surâ-liquor Namuki, the Asura, carried off Indra's (source of) strength, the essence of food, the Soma-drink. He (Indra) hasted up to the Asvins and Sarasvatî, crying, 'I have sworn to Namuki, saying, "I will slay thee neither by day nor by night, neither with staff nor with bow, neither with the palm of my hand nor with the fist, neither with the dry nor with the moist!" and yet has he taken these things from me: seek ye to bring me back these things!'
12:7:3:22. They spake, 'Let us have a share therein, and we will bring them back to thee.'--'These things
[paragraph continues] (shall be) in common to us,' he said, 'bring them back, then!'
12:7:3:33. The Asvins and Sarasvatî then poured out foam of water (to serve) as a thunderbolt, saying, 'It is neither dry nor moist;' and, when the night was clearing up, and the sun had not yet risen, Indra, thinking, 'It is neither by day nor by night,' therewith struck off the head of Namuki, the Asura.
12:7:3:44. Wherefore it has been said by the Rishi (Rig-veda S. VIII, 14, 13), 'With foam of water, Indra, didst thou sever the head of Namuki, when thou wert subduing all thine enemies.' Now, Namuki is evil: having thus, indeed, slain that evil, his hateful enemy, Indra wrested from him his energy, or vital power. Let him who has an enemy perform the Sautrâmanî: he thereby slays that evil, his hateful enemy, and wrests from him his energy, or vital power. In his (Namuki's) severed head there was the Soma juice mixed with blood. They loathed it. They perceived that (means of) drinking separately (one of) the two liquids,--'King Soma, the drink of immortality, is pressed 1;'--and having thereby made that (Soma) palatable, they took it in (as food).
12:7:3:55. With (Vâg. S. XIX, 1), 'Thee, the sweet (liquor I mix) with the sweet (Soma),' he compounds (the ingredients for the preparation of) the Surâ-liquor 2, and makes it palatable;--'the strong
with the strong,' he thereby bestows energy on him (the Sacrificer);--'the immortal with the immortal,' he thereby bestows life on him 'the honeyed with the honeyed,' he thereby bestows flavour to it (the liquor);--'I mix with the Soma,' he thereby makes it (the Surâ-liquor) a form of Soma.
12:7:3:66. 'Thou art Soma: get thee matured for the Asvins! get thee matured for Sarasvatî! get thee matured for Indra Sutrâman!' for these were the deities who first prepared that sacrifice, and with their help he now prepares it; and, moreover, he thereby provides these deities with their share. He distils it with a view to (its being like) the Soma-pressing. For three nights it remains standing, for the Soma remains standing for three nights after it has been bought: he thus makes it a form of Soma.
12:7:3:77. There are two Vedis 1 (altar-grounds),--'Two worlds in truth there are,' they say, 'the world of the gods, and the world of the Fathers.' One (of the Vedis) is in the north, and the other in the south, for the world of the gods is in the north, and the world of the Fathers in the south; by the northern one he secures the world of the gods, by the southern one the world of the Fathers.
12:7:3:88. There are both milk and Surâ-liquor; for milk is Soma, and the Surâ-liquor food: through the milk he secures the Soma-drink, and through the Surâ-liquor food. And milk is the nobility (chieftaincy), and Surâ-liquor the peasantry (clan); the milk he purifies after purifying the Surâ-liquor: he thus produces the nobility from out of the peasantry, for the nobility is produced from out of the peasantry.
12:7:3:99. With (Vâg. S. XIX, 3), 'Purified by Vâyu's
purifier is the backward-flowing, exceeding swift Soma,' he purifies (the liquor 1) in the case of one purged by Soma: in a suitable manner he thus purifies him (the Sacrificer);--'Indra's faithful companion:' whatever energy, or vital power, had passed away from him with that (Soma), that he now restores to him.
12:7:3:1010. With, 'Purified by Vâyu's purifier is the forward-flowing, exceeding swift Soma,' he purifies (the liquor) in the case of one who has vomited Soma: in a suitable manner he thus purifies him (the Sacrificer);--'Indra's faithful companion:' whatever energy, or vital power, had passed away from him with that (Soma), that he now restores to him.
12:7:3:1111. With (Vâg. S. XIX, 4), 'She purifieth thy liquor,' he, for prosperity, purifies (the Surâ) in the case of one wishing for prosperity;--'thy Soma, she, the daughter of Sûrya:' the daughter of Sûrya (the sun) assuredly is Faith, and by faith that (liquor) becomes Soma juice, and by faith he makes it to be Soma-juice;--'with the perpetual tail,' for with a tail-whisk that (liquor) is purified.
12:7:3:1212. With (Vâg. S. XIX, 5), 'The Brahman
and Kshatra he purifieth,' he purifies the milk 1: he thus produces the Kshatra from out of the Brahman, for from out of the priesthood the nobility is produced;--'the fiery spirit and energy;' fiery spirit and energy, vital power, he thus bestows on him;--'with the Surâ the Soma,' for with the Surâ-liquor is Soma;--'the juice, is distilled,' for from the distilled the juice is obtained;--'for joy,' to joy (intoxication), indeed, the Soma juice contributes, and to joy also does the Surâ-liquor: he thus secures both the joy of the Soma, and the joy of the Surâ;--'with the pure juice, O god, satiate the deities!' that is, 'with the pure juice satisfy thou the deities;'--'with sap bestow thou food on the Sacrificer,' sap and food he thereby bestows on the Sacrificer. The cups of milk are taken first, then the cups of Surâ-liquor: he thereby makes the peasantry obedient to the nobility.
12:7:3:1313. With (Vâg. S. XIX, 6), 'Yea, even as the owners of barley cut their barley 2. . .,' (the Adhvaryu) fills (three) cups of milk,--barley-stalks are Soma-stems, and milk is Soma juice: by means of Soma he thus makes it Soma-juice. With a single (verse) he fills them: singly and solely on the Sacrificer he thus bestows prosperity, for milk is prosperity.
12:7:3:1414. With (Vâg. S. XIX, 7), 'Separately, indeed, a seat, acceptable to the gods, hath been prepared for you two,' he fills the (three) cups
of Surâ-liquor; for separate, indeed, are the Soma-juice and the Surâ-liquor; and 'acceptable to the gods' he says, because these two are indeed acceptable to the gods; and 'separately a seat hath been prepared' he says, because there are two altar-grounds;--'do not ye mingle in the highest heaven!' he thereby keeps him (the Sacrificer) from evil;--'the potent Surâ-liquor thou art,' he thereby makes Surâ to be Surâ;--'and this is Soma,' he thereby makes Soma to be Soma;--'entering thine own seat, injure me not!' he thereby turns it (the Surâ-liquor) away to its own seat for his own safety. With a single (verse) he fills them: singly and solely on the Sacrificer he thus bestows fame, for the Surâ-liquor is fame.
12:7:3:1515. Verily, the cups of milk are the nobility (chieftaincy), and the cups of Surâ-liquor are the peasantry (clan): thus, were he to draw (the cups) without interlinking them, he would detach the peasantry from the nobility, and the nobility from the peasantry, and would cause confusion between the higher and lower, and a failure of the sacrifice. He draws them so as to be interlinked 1, and thereby combines the peasantry with the nobility, and the nobility with the peasantry, for the prevention of confusion between the higher and lower, and for the success of the sacrifice.
12:7:3:1616. And the cups of milk are the vital airs, and the cups of Surâ-liquor the body: thus, were he
to draw (the cups) without interlinking them, he would detach the body from the vital airs, and the vital airs from the body, and the Sacrificer would be liable to perish. He draws them so as to be interlinked, and thereby combines the body with the vital airs, and the vital airs with the body; and, indeed, he also lays vital power (or life) into him: whence he who has performed the Sautrâmanî, and even he who thus knows this, attains the full (measure of) life.
12:7:3:1717. And the cups of milk are Soma, and the cups of Surâ-liquor food: thus, in that both cups of milk and cups of Surâ-liquor are taken, he indeed secures for himself both the Soma-drink and food.
12:7:3:1818. And the cups of milk are cattle, and the cups of Surâ-liquor food: thus, in that both cups of milk and cups of Surâ-liquor are taken, he indeed secures for himself both cattle and food.
12:7:3:1919. And the cups of milk are domestic animals, and the cups of Surâ-liquor wild animals: thus, in that both cups of milk and cups of Surâ-liquor are taken, he indeed secures for himself both domestic and wild animals. And he mixes the cups of milk with both cultivated and wild-growing (fruit), whereby both cultivated and wild-growing food is secured to the domestic animals.
12:7:3:2020. As to this they say, 'In that there are those wild beasts, this is a form of that cruel deity; and if he were to mix the cups of milk with hairs of those beasts, he would thrust the cattle into the mouth of Rudra, and the Sacrificer would be without cattle let him not mix them, or cattle would not be secured by him, for Rudra is the ruler of animals.' The cups of Surâ-liquor alone he mixes with hairs of those
beasts: he thus puts into the Surâ what belongs to Rudra, whence by drinking Surâ-liquor one becomes of violent (raudra) mind; and on the wild beasts alone he thus directs Rudra's shaft so as to insure safety to the domestic animals; and cattle are secured by him and he does not thrust the cattle into the mouth of Rudra.
12:7:3:2121. [Vâg. S. XIX, 10; 11,] 'That dysentery which spareth both the tiger and the wolf, the winged eagle and the lion, may it spare this (Sacrificer) trouble!--Whereas, as a child, joyfully sucking, I chafed my mother, so now, O Agni, I become freed from my debt: unharmed by me are my parents.'
12:7:3:2222. With two eagle-feathers, the Adhvaryu and Pratiprasthâtri purify the Sacrificer, turned towards the cast behind the altar-ground 1, both upwards and downwards,--this is a form of the in-breathing and the upward breathing: the in-breathing and the upward breathing he thereby secures; for both upwards and downwards this breath passes along the body. With (Vâg. S. XIX, 1I), 'Uniting ye are: unite me with happiness 2!' he touches the cups of milk: with prosperity and fame he thereby endows him. With, 'Disuniting ye are: disunite me from evil!' he touches the cups of Surâ-liquor: he thereby keeps him from evil.
223:1 Vâg. S. XIX, 72 seq. On the myth cp. Muir, O. S. T., vol. v, p. 94.
223:2 The preparation of the Surâ is described in Kâty. XIX, i, 20-21 and comms., and by Mahîdhara on Vâg. S. XIX, 1, in the following way. Having purchased (a) malted rice (sashpa), malted barley (tokma), and fried rice (lâgâh), and (b) various vegetable substances (called with the generic name of nagnahu) serving as spices and ferments, such as the bark of Vatica robusta, three p. 224 myrobalans (nutmeg, areca-nut, and cloves), ginger, hog-weed, &c., he takes them into the fire-house, and pounds the two lots separately. He then prepares two gruels or mashes of rice and millet respectively, adding more water than is ordinarily used, puts them on the fire till they boil over, and catches the overflowing water in two separate vessels. He then acids thereto one-third part of the (still separate) pounded malted rice and barley and fried rice (or one-sixth part into each vessel), and likewise one-half of the spice (or one-fourth part into each vessel): this mixture, called mâsara (serving both as malt and as flavouring matter), is allowed to dry and is then pounded. One-half of the remaining pounded malted rice and barley and fried rice, as well as the whole of the remaining spices, is then, in equal parts, added to the two mashes, which are thereupon poured into a large vessel, after which the pounded 'mâsara' is mixed with the compound whilst the above formula is pronounced; and the pot is deposited in a hole dug in the south-western corner of the fire-shed (sâlâ), where it remains standing for three days (and nights), during which the milk of one, two, and three cows respectively, and the remaining quantities of malted and fried grain are gradually added to it (see XII, 8, 2, 8-10).
225:1 The two Vedis are prepared, in front of the Âhavanîya, by the Adhvaryu and Pratiprasthâtri respectively in a way similar to those required for the Varunapraghâsâh, see part i, p. 392, note. There is some space between them, but not more than will allow a seat to stand on both Vedis (XII, 8, 3, 6). The dimensions (of the northern altar-ground) are in accordance with those of the mahâvedi (measuring thirty-six prakramas or steps long, twenty-four on the hind (west) side, and thirty-six (or thirty) on the front (east) side), except that the unit of measure, in this case, is one-third prakrama,--the area being thus equal to one-ninth of the mahâvedi (some authorities, however, making it one-third). Behind the two Vedis two mounds (khara) are thrown up for the three cups of milk, or three cups of Surâ-liquor respectively, to be deposited thereon. On the northern Vedi an uttara-vedi (high-altar), occupying about one-third of its area, is prepared, on which a sacrificial fire (taken from the Âhavanîya) is afterwards laid down for the use of the Adhvaryu in making libations from the cups of milk; another fire being laid down on the southern mound for the use of the Pratiprasthâtri in making libations from the cups of Surâ-liquor.
226:1 This performance thus takes place on the fourth day. Behind the mound of the southern Vedi a hole is dug, and an ox-hide spread over it. On this skin the unstrained liquor (parisrut) is either poured, a fine strainer (made of bamboo) being then laid thereon so that the clear liquor percolates through the holes, and the dregs remain below; or the strainer is placed on the skin, and the unstrained liquor is poured on it so as to allow the clear liquor to flow through on the skin. The liquor is then poured into a pan (sata), and further purified by a whisk of cow and horse-hair being drawn through it, or the liquor being strained through the hair.
227:1 This takes place on the northern Vedi, by means of a wooden (reed) vessel and a strainer of goat's and sheep's hair.
227:2 For the complete verse, see V, 5, 4, 24.
228:1 That is to say, in drawing the cups he draws alternately a cup of milk, and a cup of Surâ; Kâty. Sr. XIX, 2, 21. According to ib. 22, the three cups of milk may, however, be drawn first, and then the cups of liquor.
230:1 That is, behind the mahâ-vedi, near the antahpâtya-peg, where the purchase of the ingredients for the preparation of the Surâ had taken place.
230:2 Cf. V, 1, 2, 18, where the same two formulas are used whilst the Soma and Surâ-cups are first held together, and then withdrawn from each other; and the terms 'samprik' and 'viprik' were accordingly taken in a passive sense, 'united' and 'disunited;' whilst here the active sense seems preferable, the term 'viprik' probably referring to the tendency of fiery liquor for producing broils.