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SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA.
to wit, the five layers (of the fire-altar): for them he thus lays down five homes; and seeing that, Agni turns unto him.
17. And when (he offers) 'to the Agnis,'—it is because there are here many Agnis, to wit, those layers; and when (he offers) to the desire, it is in order that the Sacrificer may obtain the object for which he performs that ceremony.
18. A man (purusha) he slaughters first, for man is the first of animals; then a horse, for the horse comes after man; then a bull, for the bull (or cow) comes after the horse ; then a ram, for the sheep comes after the cow; then a he-goat, for the goat comes after the sheep: thus he slaughters them according to their form, according to their excellence.
19. Their ropes may be unequal; that of the man being the longest, then shorter and shorter : thus he makes the ropes according to the form of the animals, to avoid confusion between good and bad. But let them be all alike, all similar; for all these victims are alike, all similar, for they are (all) called Agnis, they are called food: hence they are alike and similar.
20. Here now they say, 'How is that complete five-bricked fire of his gained in the animals ?'Well, in the kapâlas of the sacrificial cakes that first brick, the earthen one, is obtained; and when he slaughters the animal, thereby the animal brick is obtained, and when two gold chips are (placed) on both sides of the omentum, thereby the gold brick is obtained; and what firewood, stake, and enclosing sticks there are, thereby the wooden brick is obtained; and what ghee, sprinkling-water, and cake there are, thereby the fifth brick, the food, is
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