by Roshen Dalal
with the Gayatri metre,
I take you, in the manner of Angiras.
You are the spade, you are the woman,
from the abode of the earth I bear Agni of the dust in the manner of Angiras;
with the Trishtubh metre I grasp you in the manner of Angiras.
You are the bearer, you are the woman;
through you may we be strong to dig Agni of the dust in his place;
with the Jagati metre I grasp you in the manner of Angiras.
Grasping in your hand, Savitr,
Bearing the spade of gold,
Therewith digging Agni
Do you bring for us light unperishing.
With the Anushtubh metre I grasp you in the manner of Angiras.
(4.1.1)
NOTE: These verses correspond to the first eleven verses of Adhyaya 11 of the Vajasaneyi Samhita.
A passage from the section on the preparation of the ground for the fire Headed by Vishnu the gods won finally these worlds by the metres; in that he strides the strides of Vishnu, the sacrificer becoming Vishnu wins finally these worlds. ‘You are the step of Vishnu, overcoming hostility,’ he says; the earth is connected with the Gayatri, the atmosphere with the Trishtubh, the sky with the Jagati, the quarters with the Anushtubh; truly he wins in order these worlds with the metres. Prajapati created Agni; he being created went away from him.
He followed him with this (verse), ‘He has cried’; with it he won the home dear to Agni; in that he repeats this (verse), he wins thereby the home dear to Agni. Now he who steps the strides of Vishnu is apt as he goes away to be burnt up; he turns with four (verses); the metres are four, Agni’s dear body is the metres; truly he turns round on his dear body.
He turns round from left to right; truly he turns round on his own strength; therefore the right side of the body is the stronger; truly also does he turn with the turning of the sun. Varuna seized Shunahshepa Ajigarti, he saw this verse addressed to Varuna, by it he freed himself from the noose of Varuna; Varuna seizes him who takes the fire pan; ‘From us the highest knot, O Varuna,’ he says; truly thereby he frees himself from Varuna’s noose.
‘I have drawn you,’ he says, for he draws him. ‘Be thou firm and motionless’, he says, for support. ‘Let all the people desire you,’ he says; truly with the people he unites him. ‘In him establish the kingdom’, he says; truly in him he makes the kingdom to abide. If he desire of a man, ‘May he be a ruler’, he should think of him with his mind; truly he becomes a ruler.
‘In greatness he has risen erect in the van of the dawns,’ he says; truly he makes him the first of his peers. ‘Emerging from the darkness,’ he says; truly he smites away darkness from him. ‘He has come with the light,’ he says; truly he bestows light upon him. He places him with four (verses); the metres are four; truly with the metres (he places him); with an Atichhandas as the last; the Atichhandas is the highest of metres; truly he makes him the highest of his peers; it contains the word ‘sit’ (sad); truly he makes him attain reality (sat-tvam).
With (the hymn) of Vatsapri he reverences (him); by that did Vatsapri Bhalandana win the home dear to Agni; truly by it he wins the home dear to Agni. It has eleven (verses); truly in eleven places he bestows strength on the sacrificer. By the stoma the gods prospered in this world, by the metres in yonder world; the hymn of Vatsapri is the type of the stoma; in that he pays reverence with (the hymn) of Vatsapri, he wins with it this world; in that he strides the steps of Vishnu, he wins by them yonder world. On the first day he strides forth, on the next day he pays reverence; therefore the minds of some creatures are set on energy, those of others on rest; therefore the active lords it over him who takes his ease therefore the active fixes upon a man who takes his ease. He clenches his fist, he restrains his speech, for support.
(5.2.1)
NOTE: Vatsapri: a rishi, son of Bhalanda; Gayatri, Trishtubh, Jagati, Anushtubh, Atichhandas: the names of metres used in the Vedas.
A passage from recitations for the Ahina sacrifices
Atri gave offspring to Aurva who was desirous of children. She deemed herself empty, without strength, weak, worn out. He saw the four night rite; he grasped it, and sacrificed with it. Then indeed were four sons born for him, a good hotr, a good udgatr, a good adhvaryu, a good councillor. He, who knowing thus offers the four-night rite, has four sons born for him, a good hotr, a good udgatr, a good adhvaryu, a good councillor.
The Pavamana (stomas) which are twenty-fourfold are splendour; the increasing stomas are prosperity. Atri who had faith as his deity and offered sacrifices was not visited by the four strengths, brilliance, power, splendour, food. He saw these four Soma libations with the four stomas; he grasped them and sacrificed with them. He won brilliance with the first, power with the second, splendour with the third, food with the fourth. He, who knowing thus, grasps the four Soma libations with the four Stomas and sacrifices with them, wins brilliance with the first, power with the second, splendour with the third, food with the fourth. With the success which Atri had, the sacrificer prospers.
(7.1.8)
Vajasaneyi Samhita
The two passages below are based on the translation by R.T.H. Griffith.
Adhyaya 18
These verses are recited for the benefit of the sacrificer by the adhvaryu in the ceremony known as Vasordhara. The sacrificer offers 401 oblations of ghi while the recitation takes place. The first twenty-nine out of seventy-seven verses are given here.
May my strength and my gain, and my inclination and my
influence, and my thought and my mental power, and
my praise and my fame, and my renown and my light,
and my heaven prosper by sacrifice.
May my in-breathing and my out-breathing, and my
through-breathing and my vital spirit, and my thought and my
reflection, and my voice and my mind, and my eye and
my ear, and my ability and my strength prosper by
sacrifice.
May my energy and my force, and my self and my body,
and my shelter and my shield, and my limbs and my
bones, and my joints and my body, and my life and
my old age prosper by sacrifice.
May my pre-eminence and my overlordship, and my wrath
and my angry passion, and my violence and my impetuosity,
and my victorious power and my greatness, and my
breadth and my width, and my height and my length,
and my increase and my improvement prosper by sacrifice.
May my truth and my faith, and my cattle and my wealth,
and my goods and my pleasure, and my play and my
enjoyment, and my children and my future children, and
my hymn and my pious act prosper by sacrifice.
May my religious rite and my immortality, and my freedom
from consumption and my freedom from disease, and my
life and my longevity, and my freedom from enemies
and my freedom from danger, and my happiness and my
lying down, and my fair dawn and my fair day prosper
by sacrifice.
May my controller and my supporter, and my security and
my firmness, and my goods and my pleasure, and my
knowledge and my understanding, and my begetting and
my propagation, and my plough and my harrow prosper
by sacrifice.
May my welfare and my comfort, and what I hold dear and
what I desire, and my love and my gratification, and my
enjoyment and my substance, and my happiness and my
felicity, and my higher bliss and my fame prosper by
sacrifice.
May my vigour and my pleasantness, and my milk and my
sap, and my butter and my honey, and my meal in company
and my drinking in company, and my ploughing and my husbandry, and my superiority and my
pre-eminence prosper by sacrifice.
<
br /> May my wealth and my property, and my prosperity and
my growth, and my pervading power and my lordship,
and my abundance and my greater abundance, and my
bad harvest and my unwasted crop, and my food and
my satiety prosper by sacrifice.
May my gain and my future gain, and what I have and
what I shall have, and my good road and my good path,
and my success and my succeeding, and my achievement
and my contrivance, and my thought and my good counsel
prosper by sacrifice.
May my rice plants and my barley, and my beans and my
sesamum, and my kidney beans and my vetches, and my
millet and my Panicum milliaceum, and my Panicum
frumentaceum and my wild rice, and my wheat and my
lentils prosper by sacrifice.
May my stone and my clay, and my hills and my mountains,
and my pebbles and my trees, and my gold and my bronze,
and my copper and my iron, and my lead and my tin
prosper by sacrifice.
May my fire and my water, and my creepers and my plants,
and lily plants with culture-ripened fruit and my plants
with fruit ripened without culture, and my domestic
animals and my wild animals, and my substance and my
future substance, and my belongings and my power be
produced by sacrifice.
May my treasure and my dwelling, and my religious service
and my ability to perform it, and my object and my
course, and my way and my going prosper by sacrifice.
May my Agni and my Indra, and my Soma and my Indra,
and my Savitr and my Indra, and my Sarasvati and my
Indra, and my Pushan and my Indra prosper by sacrifice.
May my Mitra and my Indra, and my Varuna and my Indra,
and my Dhatr and my Indra, and my Maruts and my
Indra, and my All-Gods and my Indra prosper by sacrifice.
May my Earth and my Indra, and my Air and my Indra,
and my Sky and my Indra, and my half-months and my
Indra, and my Lunar Mansions and my Indra, and my
Sky-regions and my Indra prosper by sacrifice.
May my Amshu and my Rashmi, and my Adhipati and my
Upamshu, and my Antaryama and my Aindra-Vayava, and
my Maitra-Varuna, and my Ashvina and my Pratiprasthana,
and my Shukra and my Manthin proper by sacrifice.
May my Agrayana and my Vaishvadeva, and my Dhruva and
my Vaishvanara, and my Aindragna and my Mahavaishvadeva,
and my Marutvatiya and my Nishkevalya, and my Savitra
and my Sarasvata, and my Patnivata and my Hariyojana
prosper by sacrifice.
May my ladles and my cups, and my Vayu vessels and my
Soma reservoirs, and my pressing stones and my two press boards,
and my Putabhrit and my Adhavaniya, and my
altar and altar grass, and my Avabhritha and my cries of
Svaga prosper by sacrifice.
May my Agni and my charms, and my Arka and my Surya,
and my Prana and my Ashvamedha, and my Prithivi and
my Aditi, and my Diti and my Sky, and my fingers, powers,
and sky regions prosper by sacrifice.
May my vow and my seasons, and my austere devotion, and
my day and night, thighs and knees, and two Great
Rathantaras prosper by sacrifice.
May my One and my Three, and my Three and my Five,
and my Five and my Seven (and similarly up to thirty-three)
prosper by sacrifice.
May my Four and my Eight and my Twelve (and similarly
up to forty-eight) prosper by sacrifice.
May my eighteen-months steer and my eighteen-months
heifer, and my two-year bull and cow (and similarly up
to four-year) prosper by sacrifice.
May my six-year bull and my six-year cow, and my bull and
my barren cow, and my young bull and my calf-slipping
cow, and my ox and my milch cow prosper by sacrifice.
To strength, Hail! To Gain, Hail! To After-born, Hail! To
Power, Hail! To Vasu, Hail! To the Lord of Days, Hail!
To the Failing Day, Hail! To the Final Sprung from
the Transitory, Hail! To the Transitory sprung from the
Final, Hail! To the Final Mundane, Hail! To the Lord
of the World, Hail! To the Sovereign Lord, Hail! To Prajapati,
Hail! This is your kingdom. You are a guiding controller
for the friend. You for vigour, you for rain,
you for the sovereign lordship of creatures.
May life succeed through sacrifice. May life-breath thrive
by sacrifice. May the eye thrive by sacrifice. May the
ear thrive by sacrifice. May the voice thrive by sacrifice.
May the mind thrive by sacrifice. May the self thrive by
sacrifice. May Brahman thrive by sacrifice. May light
succeed by sacrifice. May heaven succeed by sacrifice.
May the hymn thrive by sacrifice. May sacrifice thrive
by sacrifice; And hymns of praise and sacrificial text, and verse of
praise and Sama chant, the Brihat and Rathantara.
Gods, we have gone to light. We have become the children
of Prajapati. We have become immortal.
NOTE:
Verse 16: Ardhendra or half-Indra oblations are offered to twelve deities, jointly with Indra.
Verse 19: This and the succeeding two verses list the pairs of Soma cups and the sacrificial implements.
Verse 22: These are two sets of oblations known as yajnakratus.
Verse 24: This refers to the hymns of praise (stomas) with an uneven number of verses.
Verse 25: This refers to stomas with an even number of verses.
Adhyaya 24
This lists the animals for the ashvamedha and the gods to whom they are dedicated. There are 327 domestic animals and 282 wild animals (including birds and insects). The wild animals were later freed.
Horse, hornless goat, gomriga, these belong to Prajapati.
A black-necked goat, devoted to Agni, (is to be bound)
in front to the forehead (of the horse); Sarasvati’s ewe
below his jaws; two goats belonging to the Ashvins, with
marks on the lower parts of the body, to his fore-legs; a
dark-coloured goat, Soma’s and Pushan’s, to his navel; a
white and a black, sacred to Soma and Varuna, to his sides;
Tvashtr’s two, with bushy tails, to his hind feet; Vayu’s
white goat to his tail; for Indra the Good Worker, a cow
who slips her calf; a dwarf belonging to Vishnu.
The red goat, the smoky-red, the jujube-red, these belong to
Soma. The brown, the ruddy brown, the parrot-brown,
these are Varuna’s. One with white ear holes, one with
partly white, one with wholly white, belong to Savitr.
One with forefeet white, partly white, wholly white,
belongs to Brihaspati. She-goats speckled, with small spots,
with big spots, these belong to Mitra-Varuna.
The bright-tailed, the wholly bright-tailed, the jewel-tailed,
these belong to the Ashvins. The white, the white-eyed,
the reddish, these are for Rudra, Lord of Beasts. Long-eared
goats are for Yama; proud ones for Rudra; cloud-coloured
ones for Parjanya.
Goats speckled, transversely speckled, upward speckled are
for the Maruts. The reddish she-goat, the red-haired, the
white, these belong to Sarasvati. The goat with diseased
ears, the short-eared, the red eared are Tvashtr’s. The
black-neck
ed, the white-flanked, one with bright-coloured
thighs belong to Indra and Agni. Those with black marks,
small marks, large marks belong to Usha (Dawn).
Parti-coloured female victims belong to the Vishvedevas (All-Gods);
red-coloured, eighteen months old to Vak; victims without
distinguishing marks to Aditi; those of one same colour
to Dhatr; weaned kids sacred to the Consorts of the Gods.
Black-necked victims for Agni; white browed for the Vasus;
red for Rudra; bright ones for the Adityas; cloud-coloured
for Parjanya.
The tall goat, the sturdy, the dwarf, these are Indra-Vishnu’s;
the tall, the white fore-footed, the black-backed,
Indra-Brihaspati’s; parrot-coloured the Vajins’; speckled
Agni-Maruts’; dark-coloured Pushan’s.
Variegated, Indra-Agni’s; two-coloured, Agni-Soma’s; dwarf
oxen, Agni-Vishnu’s; barren cows, Mitra-Varuna’s; partly
variegated, Mitra’s.
Black-necked ones, Agni’s; brown, Soma’s; white, Vayu’s;
undistinguished, Aditi’s; self-coloured, Dhatr’s; weanlings,
the Gods’ Consorts’.
Black ones for Earth; smoke-coloured for Firmament; tall
ones for Sky; brindled ones for Lightning; blotched ones
for Stars.
Smoke-coloured ones he sacrifices to Spring; white to
Summer; black to the Rains; red ones to Autumn;
speckled to Winter; reddish-yellow to the Dewy Season.
Calves eighteen months old to Gayatri; steers of two and
a half years to Trishtup; two-year-old steers to Jagati;
three-year-olds to Anushtup; four-year-olds to Ushnih.
Four-year-old steers to Viraj; full grown bulls to Brihati;
strong bulls to Kakup; draught oxen to Pankti; milch cows
to Atichhandas.
Black-necked victims sacred to Agni; brown to Soma; spotted
to Savitr; weaned she-kids to Sarasvati; dark-coloured
goats to Pushan; speckled victims to the Maruts;
many-coloured to the All-Gods; barren cows to Heaven
and Earth.
Called contemporary, the dappled belong to Indra-Agni;
black ones to Varuna; speckled to the Maruts; hornless
he-goats to Ka.
To Agni foremost in place he sacrifices firstling goats; to
the consuming Maruts those born of one mother; to the