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UNI.
VIII KANDA, 6 ADHYAYA, I BRAHMANA, 16. 105
these worlds of theirs from above. They put those protectors over these worlds, to wit, those shafts and missiles; and in like manner does the Sacrificer now put those protectors over these worlds, to wit, those shafts and missiles.
16. He places one in front, with (Vâg. S. XV, 15), 'This one in front, the yellow-haired one,'Agni, no doubt, is in front; and as to his saying of him as (being) in front,' it is because they take him out (of the Gârhapatya hearth) towards the front, and attend upon him towards the front1; and as to why he calls him yellow-haired, it is because Agni is, as it were, yellow;-'the sun-rayed one,' for Agni's rays are like those of the sun;-'and Rathagritsa and Rathaugas, his commander and his chieftain,' the two spring-months are these two ;'and the nymphs Puñgikasthalâ and Kratusthala-quarter and intermediate quarter,' said Mâhitthi; but army and battle these two are ;'mordacious beasts the shaft, manslaughter the missile,'-inasmuch as they fight in army and battle, those mordacious beasts are the shaft; 'manslaughter the missile,'-inasmuch as they slay one another, manslaughter is the missile;-' to them be homage!' it is to them he pays homage;-'be they gracious unto us!' they are indeed gracious to him;-'he whom we hate, and he who hates us,
1 See p. 3, note 2.
That is, 'skilled in chariot (-fight),' and 'mighty in chariot (-fight).'
The meaning of these names is rather obscure: the symbolical explanations army and battle' might seem to point to some such meanings as 'grounded on heaps' and 'grounded on intelligence (or plan).'
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