________________
XIV KÂNDA, I ADHYAYA, 3 BRÂHMANA, 3. 459
two milking-bowls, the two Rauhina-plates, the two offering spoons for the Rauhina (cakes), and whatever other implement) there is,-these make ten, for the Virág consists of ten syllables, and the sacrifice is Virág: he thus makes this to be equal to the Virág, the sacrifice. And as to their being in pairs,-a pair means strength, for when two take hold of each other they exert strength; and a pair (couple) means a productive union: with a productive union he thus supplies and completes it.
2. Then the Adhvaryu takes the (lustral) sprinkling water, and, stepping up, says, 'Brahman, we shall proceed : Hotri, sing praises !' for the Brahman is seated on the right (south) side as the guardian of the sacrifice: to him he thus says, 'Sit thou undistracted: we are about to restore the head of the Sacrifice;' and Hotri, sing praises !' he says, because the Hotri is the sacrifice: he thus thereby says to him, 'Restore the head of the sacrifice!' and accordingly the Hotri begins to recite
3. [Våg. S. XIII, 3,] 'The Brahman, firstborn from afore 1,—the Brahman, doubtless, is yonder
pieces of wood or laths apparently fastened together by a kind of clasp (or a cord) at one end, so as to serve the purpose of a pair of tongs (parisäsau samdamsâkârau, comm. on Katy. XXVI, 2, 10) for taking up the Mahavira pot, which must not be handled in any other way. According to Haug, Ait. Br., Transl., p. 51, they are placed underneath the pot in lifting it, but this seems very improbable, seeing that, at the end of the sacrifice, the Adhvaryu, by means of them, turns the pot upside down so as to pour the remainder of its contents into the offering spoon (see Katy. XXIV, 6, 17 with comm.); nor could the blackened pot in that way be cleansed properly and placed on the supporting tray (XIV, 2, 1, 16–17).
For the complete verse, see VII, 4, 1, 14. For the complete
Digitized by Google
