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SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA.
adheres to his opinion that there is no atonement for such an offence. There can be no doubt, however, that the Agnikayaną, at any rate, was not restricted to the Bråhmaxical order1; and this passage, if it does not merely record a former sacrificial practice, has probably to be understood in the sense that one must not officiate for another at an Agnikayana which is to be followed by a Soma-sacrifice with the Mahâvrata. If the Sattra performed was one of the shortest kind, viz. a Dvâdasâha, or twelve days' performance-consisting of a Dasarâtra, preceded and followed by an Atirâtra-the Mahâvrata was inserted, it would seem, between the Dasarâtra and the final Atirâtra. Usually, however, the Sattra, like the Agnikayana, lasted a full year; the favourite form being the 'Gavâm ayanam,' arranged, in accordance with the progress of the sun, in two halves, an ascending and a descending one, divided by a central day, the Vishuvat. The Mahâvrata was performed on the last day but one of the year, the day before the final Atuâtra, being itself preceded (as it was in the case of the Dvådasâha) by a Dasarâtra, or ten days' performance. Now, the chief feature of the Mahâvrata day is the chanting,-in connection with a special cup of Somajuice, the Mahâvrattya-graha-of the Mahâvrata-sâman 2, as the Hotri's Prishtha-stotra at the midday service; this chant being followed by the recitation of the Mahad Uktham, or Great Litany, by the Hotrs. The special feature, however, of these two ceremonies, which recalls the mystic Agni-Pragapati doctrine, is the supposed birdlike form of both the chant and the litany. The Lord of Creatures, as the embodiment of all things, also represents the 'trayi vidya,' or sacred threefold science, the Veda Accordingly, the Stomas (hymn-forms) of the single Sâmans (chanted
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1 See, for instance, Sat. Br. VI, 6, 3, 12-15, where duections are given as to certain alternatives of performance at the initiation ceremony in case the Sacrificer is either a Kshatriya, or a Purohita, or any other person The ceremonies connected with the consecration of the Sacrificer (IX, 3, 4, I seqq.) point chiefly to a king.
2 See p 282, note 5 of the present volume.
3 See notes to pp 110-113 of this volume.
