________________
462
SATAPATHA-BRÂHMANA.
13. And when the Hotri recites this (verse, Rig-v. V, 43, 7), 'Whom the priests anoint, as if spreading him ...,' he anoints that Mahavira which is to be used, all over with ghee, with,
May the god Savitri anoint thee with honey!' for Savitri is the impeller of the gods, and honey means everything whatever there is here: he thus anoints it (or him) all over with everything here, and Savitri, as the impeller, impels it for him,—this is why he says, "May the god Savitri anoint thee with honey!'
14. Now sand has been strewed ? on the north side of it: below that he (previously) throws (a plate of) white golds, with, Protect it from contact with the earth!' For at that time the gods were afraid lest the Rakshas, the fiends, might injure that (Pravargya) of theirs from below; and that, to wit, gold, being Agni's seed, it (serves) for repelling the fiends, the Rakshas. But, indeed, the Earth also was afraid of this lest this (Pra. vargya), when heated and glowing*, might injure
Kâty. XXVI, 2, 4 refers to the pot as containing ghee (ágyavant),' which the comm. takes to mean "filled with consecrated ghee;' whilst Âpast. XV, 7, 5 leaves the option between greasing it (añg) and filling it (abhipûr) with ghee. It would doubtless, at all events, be abundantly greased inside.
North of the Garhapatya and the Abavanfya in the sala two mounds (kbara) are formed, covered with (or consisting of) sand. The one north of the latter fire is here alluded to.
3 That is, a silver plate weighing a hundred grains,
• Though 'taptah' and 'susukânal' are here translated as if they were actually co-ordinate predicates, I am not sure whether we should not rather take the passage to mean, that this glowing one, when heated; or rather, this one when heated so as to be glowing. Cf. XIV, 2, 1, 18; 3, 1, 14, where I prefer to subordinate one of the participles to the other.
Digitized by Google
