________________
220
SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA.
creatures art thou!' They thereby entreat him,
For all this art thou unto us : for all this have we consecrated thee!' And therefore people thus entreat a human king who has been consecrated.
12. He then offers the Prospering: (libations);the prospering (libations) are the vital airs : it is the vital airs he thus puts into him.—May the vital strength prosper by sacrifice! may the vital air prosper by sacrifice! ... He thus puts proper vital airs into him.
13. Twelve prospering (libations) he offers, -a year consists of twelve months, and Agni is the year: as great as Agni is, as great as is his measure, by so much he thus puts proper vital airs into him. And as to why he offers the prospering (libations),the prospering (libations) are vital airs, and the vital airs are the immortal element: with the immortal element he thus consecrates him. .
14. He then says, 'The Stoma, and the Yagus, and the Rik, and the Saman, and the Brihat, and the Rathantara,'—this, doubtless, is the triple science, and the triple science is food: it is with food he thus gratifies him, and with food he thus consecrates him ;—'to the heavenly light we gods have gone, we have become immortal,'for he indeed goes to the heavenly light, and becomes immortal ;-Pragâ pati's children have we become!'—for he indeed becomes Pragâpati's child,—'vet! svâhâ !'--the Vet-call, doubtless, is
1 This final set of twelve ( sixteen) libations is called thus (kalpa), because, in the formulas used with them (Vág. S. XVIII, 29), the verb 'klip (to prosper, to be right and proper)' is repeated each time. At the conclusion of these twelve formulas the priest mutters the final benediction given in full in paragraph 14.
Digitized by Google