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486
SATAPATHA-BRÂHMANA.
is what he thereby means to say ;—'preserve the priesthood, preserve the nobility, preserve the people!'-—' preserve all that, is what he thereby means to say.
31. He then offers by means of the pieces of (split) wood ?,—the pieces of wood being the vital airs, it is the vital airs he thus bestows upon him ;
32. With (Vâg. S. XXXVIII, 15), 'Hail to Pashan, to the cream!'- Pushan, doubtless, is he who blows here, for he (the wind) supports (push) everything here; and the breath also is that (wind): it is breath he thus bestows upon him, whence he says, 'Hail to Pashan, to the cream!' The call of 'hail!' he places first, and the deity last : the significance of this is the same as before. Having offered by means of the first piece) he leans it against the middle enclosingstick ? (paridhi).
33. 'Hail to the pressing-stones!'-the pressing-stones being the vital airs, it is the vital airs he thus bestows upon him. Having offered (with the second stick) he leans it against the middle enclosing-stick.
34. ·Hail to the sounding-holes'!'--the
The St. Petersb. Dict. assigns to it the meaning 'not shooting, incapable of shooting
For these pieces of wood, or large chips, of Vikankata wood (Flacourtia sapida) which were laid round the pot, see XIV, 1, 3, 26. They are dipped into the remains of the hot milk and ghee, the liquid adhering to them being then offered.
· That is, that one of the three fresh sticks enclosing the fire which is laid down first, along the back, or west side, and forms the base of a triangle the apex of which points eastwards. Cf. I, 3. 4, I seqq.
* This meaning is, by the St. Petersb. Dict., assigned to 'prati-rava'
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