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XIII KÂNDA, 8 ADHYAYA, 3 BRÂHMANA, 12. 435
7. There are thirteen of them,-thirteen months are a year : on the seasons, on the year, he thus establishes him, as on a firm foundation.
8. They measure a foot (square),—the foot is. a foundation: a foundation he thus prepares for him. Unmarked they are, for in secret, as it were, are the Fathers, and in secret, as it were, is what is unmarked: he thus secretes what is in secret
9. One of them he places in the middle, with the front side towards the east: this is the body (trunk) ;-three in front, fitted to the position of) the head : that is the head ;-three on the right: that is the right wing (side) ;-three on the left: that is the left wing ;-three behind: that is the tail. Thus this his body, furnished with wings and tail, is just like that of Agni (the fire-altar).
10. He then bids them bring some soil from a cleft in the ground, for thus the Fathers' (share) in this earth) is not excessive; and he also thereby makes the (dead man's) sin to be restricted? And some, now, dig in that intermediate (south-eastern) quarter, and fetch it from there; and others, again, do so towards the south-west, and fetch it northwards from there: he may do as he chooses.
11. Let him not make it (the sepulchral mound) too large, lest he make the (deceased's) sin large. For a Kshatriya he may make it as high as a man with upstretched arms, for a Brahmana reaching up to the mouth, for a woman up to the hips, for a Vaisya up to the thighs, for a Sadra up to the knee; for suchlike is their vigour.
12. But let him rather make it so as to reach
* See XIII, 8, 1, 15.
Ff 2
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