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X KÂNDA, 5 ADHYAYA, 2 BRAHMANA, 6. 367
radiant one (vivasvant), doubtless, is yonder sun, for he irradiates (vi-vas) day and night; and it is him that (Death) puts on, for on every side he is surrounded by him;-Death's self is in the radiant,'-for the self (body) of that man indeed is in that orb : such, then, is that verse.
5. Now, that orb is the foundation (foothold) of both that light and that man; whence one must not recite the Great Litany for another 1, lest he should cut away that foothold from beneath his own self; for he who recites the Mahad Uktham for another, indeed cuts away that foothold from beneath his own self: wherefore the (professional) singer of praises (sastra) is greatly despised, for he is cut off from his foothold. Thus in regard to the deity.
6. Now as to the sacrifice. That shining orb is the same as this gold plate (under the altar) 2, and that glowing light is the same as this lotusleaf (under the altar); for there are those (divine)
parastâd ity arthasiddhah; anena amritamadhyavartitvam uktam ity arthah; dvitîyapâdagatâmritapadenârkir adhikaranam mandalam ukyate, tat purushe pratish/hitam tapati, tena hi tasya mandalasya gagatprakâsakatvam asti. Sây. But for this interpretation, one might have rendered the first pâda by, 'Close unto death is immortality,' for after death comes immortality.
1 Cf. Aitareyâr. V, 3, 3, 1, 'No one but a dikshita (initiated) should recite the Mahâvrata (sastra); and he should not recite it at a (Mahâvrata) unless it be combined with (the building of) a firealtar; neither should he do so for another person, nor at a (sacrificial session lasting) less than a year,' so say some; but he may recite it for his father or for his teacher, for in that case it is recited on his own behalf.
In these symbolical identifications, one might also take the relative clause to be the predicate, not the subject, of the sentence; the former usually preceding the latter.
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