Satapatha Bramhana Part 03

Author(s): Julius Eggeling
Publisher: Oxford

Page 54

V KANDA, I ADHYAYA, 5 BRAHMANA, 15. 25
sacrifices; for Brihaspati is the Brahman, and the Brahmana is the Brahman.
12. And if a Râganya sacrifices, with, 'This hath been your true concord whereby ye have caused Indra to win the race;-Indra ye have caused to win the race: be released, ye woodlords!' for Indra is the Kshatra, and the Râganya is the Kshatra.
13. A Raganya then shoots seventeen arrow's ranges northwards from the edge of the altar; for as much as is one arrow's range, so much is Pragâpati crosswise; and as much as are seventeen arrow's ranges, so much is Pragâpati lengthwise.
14. And as to why a Râganya shoots,-he, the Raganya is most manifestly of Pragâpati (the lord of creatures) hence, while being one, he rules over many; and because 'pragâpati' has four syllables, and 'raganya 2' also has four syllables, therefore a Raganya shoots. He shoots seventeen arrow's ranges, because Pragâpati is seventeenfold: he thereby wins Pragâpati.
15. And whichever (horse) he yokes with a formula, up to that the Sacrificer now steps, with (Vâg. S. IX, 13), 'At the impulse of the divine Savitri,
1 That is, after (or at the same time when) the drums are put up. He is to shoot northwards through the space between the utkara and kâtvâla. At the end of the seventeenth arrow's range he plants an udumbara branch in the ground to serve as the goal round which the chariots are to turn sunwise on their way back to the sacrificial ground.
Pronounce 'râ-ga-ní-a.'
In the Taittirîya ritual (Taitt. S. I, 7, 7, 2; Taitt. Br. I, 3, 5, 4) the Sacrificer steps up to the chariot with the three Vishnustrides, with appropriate formulas.
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