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SATAPATHA-BRÂHMANA.
and inasmuch as sacrifice after sacrifice (yagña) goes up to him, the moon is the Yagñayagñiya : he thus makes the moon his (Agni's) tail, and that tail of his he thus makes boneless and immortal.
40. He then sings the heart of Pragâ pati;—the heart assuredly is yonder sun, for he (the sun) is smooth, and the heart is smooth; he is round, and the heart is round. On the body (of the altar) he sings, for the heart is in the body ;-—at the armpit?, for the heart is in (the vicinity of) the armpit ;
1 The Pragâpati-hridaya, or Pragâpater hridayam, as figured for chanting, is given, Sâma-v. Calc. ed. vol. ii, p. 499. It consists of the words, imâh pragâh pragâpate(r) hridayam pragârūpam agigane, with inserted stobhas and modulations. It is followed by a simpler form, which is perhaps the one used on the present occasion.
· Viz. on the place where the right wing joins the body of the altar. According to other authorities, the Syaita hymn-tune is likewise to be sung near the left arm-pit (or, according to Sândilya, at the place where the Adhvaryu mounts the altar). For other variations, see Weber, Ind. Stud. XIII, p. 276. I do not think that the ritual of the White Yagus, in omitting the left arm-pit, shows any gap or inconsistency, since the right arm-pit is marked out, not for any bodily parallelism, but for the simple reason that it is supposed to indicate the position of the heart. Whilst all the other places on which hymns are sung are essential parts of the bird Agni, the arm-pit is not an essential part, but is merely indicative of the central organ of the body. Láty. I, 5, 11 seqq. supplies the following directions, apparently implying a somewhat different order of procedure from that followed in our text: He passes along the south, and whilst standing (east of the altar) with his face towards the west, he sings the Gayatra at the head. Returning, he sings the Rathantara at the right wing. Going round behind, he sings the Brihat at the left wing. Going back, and standing behind the tail, with his face towards the east, he sings the Yagñayagñiya. The Vâmadevya he sings at the right, and the Pragâpati-hridaya at the left, arm-pit. Then follow different views held by different teachers.With this ceremony, by which homage is paid to the different parts of Agni-Pragapati's body, compare the similar, but more elaborate, ceremony of the Parimâdah at the Mahâvrata, X, 1, 2, 9 with note.
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