Satapatha Bramhana Part 02

SR No.: 007678
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Julius Eggeling
Publisher: Oxford
Publication Year: 1885
Total Pages: 2521
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 44 MB

Page 1309

218
THE LÎ xi.
BK. XXI.
the opposite side; while the Great officers followed in order. When they had entered the gate of the temple, they fastened the victim to the stone pillar. The ministers and Great officers then bared their arms, and proceeded to inspect the hair, paying particular attention to that of the ears. They then with the knife with the bells attached to it, cut it open, took out the fat about the inwards, and withdrew (for a time"). Afterwards they offered some of the flesh boiled, and some raw, then (finally) withdrawing. There was the highest reverence about everything.
18. The sacrifice in the suburb of the capital was the great expression of gratitude to Heaven, and it was specially addressed to the sun, with which the moon was associated. The sovereigns of Hsiâ presented it in the dark. · Under the Yin dynasty they did so
They withdrew for a time, 'to offer the hair and blood.' % This sentence is translated by Zottoli:-'Coeli sacrificio summe rependitur coelum sed potissimum intenditur sol, consociatus cum luna. Callery says :- Le sacrifice qu'on offre dans la campagne est un acte de grande reconnaissance envers le ciel, et principalement envers le soleil, auquel on associe la lune.'
Here, again, nature-worship seems to crop up. Khăn Hảo says on the passage :- Heaven is the great source of tạo (the course of nature and duty), and of all the visible bodies which it hangs out, there are none greater than the sun and moon. Therefore, while the object of the suburban sacrifice was a grateful acknowledgment of Heaven, the sun was chosen as the restingplace for its spirit (or spirits). The idea in the institution of the rite was deep and far-reaching.' It must be borne in mind that the rites described in the text are those of former dynasties, especially of that of Kâu. I cannot bring to mind any passages in which there is mention made of any sacrifice to the sun or sunspirit in connexion with the great sacrifice to Heaven, or Shang Tî, at the service on the day of the winter solstice in the southern suburb.
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