Page Text
________________
IX KÂNDA, I ADHYAYA, I BRÂHMANA, 30. 163
26. These are seven formulas,--of seven layers the fire-altar consists, and the year consists of seven months, and Agni is the year : as great as Agni is, as great as is his measure, by so much food he thus gratifies him. These two kinds (of formulas) amount to twenty-one,—the twelve months, the five seasons, these three worlds, and yonder sun as the twentyfirst (make up) this amount.
27. He then offers (the libations of the)'unstringing'-formulas! For at that time the gods, having gratified those (Rudras) by that food, unstrung their bows by means of these 'unstringing'-formulas; and in like manner this (Sacrificer), having gratified them by that food, now unstrings their bows by means of these 'unstringing'-formulas; for with an unstrung bow one injures no one.
28. Here now he says 'at a thousand leagues,' for a thousand leagues is the farthest distance; and he thus unstrings their bows at what is the farthest distance.
29. And, again, as to why he says ‘at a thousand leagues,'-a thousand leagues means this Agni (firealtar), for neither this way nor that way is there any other thing greater than he; and it is when he makes offering in the fire that he unstrings their bows at a thousand leagues.
30. 'Countless thousands,-in this great sea'—thus, wheresover they are, there he unstrings their bows.
· Viz. Våg. S. XVI, 54-63: What countless thousands of Rudras there are upon earth, their bows do we unstring at a thousand leagues.-The Bhavas that are in this great sea, in the air, their bow do we unstring at a thousand leagues.' Thus each formula ends with the unstringing 'refrain.
M2
Digitized by Google
| SR No. | 007681 |
| Book Title | Questions of King Milinda Part 01 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | T W Rhys Davids |
| Publisher | Oxford |
| Publication Year | 1890 |
| Total Pages | 2695 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 47 MB |