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438
... SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA.
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with (Vag. S. XXXV, 11), 'O Apå mårga, drive thou away from us sin, away guilt, a way witchery, away infirmity, away evil dreams!' -as the text so its import.
5. They bathe at any place where there is water. With (Våg. S. XXXV, 12), 'May the waters and plants be friendly unto us!' he takes water with his joined hands,- for water is a thunderbolt: with the thunderbolt he thus makes friendship,--and with,
Unfriendly may they be unto him who hateth us, and whom we hate!' he throws it in the direction in which he who is hateful to him may be, and thereby overthrows him. :
6. And if it be standing water, it makes their (the bathers') evil stop; and if it flows, it carries away their evil. Having bathed, and put on garments that have never yet been washed, they hold on to the tail of an ox !, and return (to their home),- for the ox is of Agni's nature: headed by Agni they thus return from the world of the Fathers to the world of the living. And Agni, indeed, is he who leads one over the paths (one has to travel), and it is he who leads these over.
That is to say, one of them takes hold of the tail, whilst the others follow in single file, each holding on to the one walking in front of him. Prof. Weber, Ind. Stud. IX, p. 21, note, refers to the somewhat analogous practice of tying to the left arm of a dead man the tail of the anustarani-cow slain at the funeral sacrifice, whereby the deceased is supposed to be led safely-across the river Vaitarani (Styx): see Sây. on Shadv. Br., as quoted Ind. Stud. I, p. 39; cf. also Colebrooke, Misc. Essays, second ed., p. 199–to the world of the Fathers. According to Katy. XXI, 4, 24 the ceremony of taking hold of the tail is performed with the verse, Våg. S. XXXV, 13, 'For our well-being we hold on to the ox, sprung from Surabhi : even as Indra to the gods, so be thou 2 saving leader unto us!'
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