In the beginning rose Hiranyagarbha, etc.

2 Taken upon a base art thou. I take thee welcome to Prajâpati. This is thy place: Surya thy majesty.

The majesty that has, accrued to thee in the day, in a year, that majesty which has accrued in the wind, in the firmament, to that majesty of thine, to. Prajapati, to the Gods, All-hail!

3 Who by his grandeur hath become sole Ruler of all the moving world that breathes and slumbers;

He who is Sovran, of these men and cattle-what God shall we adore with our oblation ?

4 Taken upon a base art thou.. I take thee welcome to Prajâpati.. This is thy place: the Moon thy majesty.

Thy majesty that has accrued to thee by night, in a year,. thy majesty that has accrued in the earth, in Agni, in thestars and in the Moon, to that majesty of thine, to Prajâpati and to the Gods, All-hail!

5 They who stand round him, as he moves harness the bright,, the ruddy Steed,:

The lights are shining in the sky.

6 On both sides to the car they yoke the two Bay Coursers dear to him,

Bold, tawny, bearers of the Chief.

7 When, swift as wind, the Horse has reached the form that Indra loves, the flood,

Again, O singer, by this path bring thou our Courser hitherward.

The ceremonies subsequent to the return of the Horse from his wander. ings are continued.

I The Sacrificer offers two Mahiman or Grandeur libations, so called from the name of the golden vessels in which they are presented, and recites the text, repeated from XIII. 4, taken from R. V. X, 121, 1. Hiranyagarbha: the Gold-Germ, or Golden Child; Prajapati, with whom the Sacrificial Horse is identified.

2 Thou: the Cup. Majesty: or grandeur; mahima: thy grandeur is like the Sun's.

3 Taken from R. V. X. 121. 3. What God?: other than Prajapati. Or, according to Mahidhara: Worship we Ka the God. See I. 6, note.

5. He yokes the Horse to a gilded chariot, reciting the text taken from R. V. I. 6. 1.

6 Three other horses are harnessed to the same chariot, with the text from R. V. I. 6. 2.

7 The flood: the water to which the Horse is driven to be bathed.

8 Let the Vasus anoint thee with Gayatrî metre. Let the Rudras anoint thee with Trishṭup metre. Let the Adityas anoint thee with Jagatî metre. Earth! Ether! Heaven! O Gods, eat this food, parched grains and groats in the product of barley and in the product of cows: eat this food, Prajapati.

9 Who moveth single and alone? Who is brought forth to life again!

What is the remedy of cold, or what the great receptacle? 10 The Sun moves single and alone. The Moon is brought to life again.

Fire is the remedy of cold; Earth is the great receptacle. Il What was the antecedent thought? What was the bird of mighty size?

The slippery matron, who was she? Who was the reddish-coloured one?

12 Heaven was the autecedent thought. The Courser was the mighty bird.

The slippery matron was the earth: Night was the reddishcoloured one.

13 Vayu help thee with cooked viands! Blackneck with goats;; Nyagrodha with cups; Silmali with increase; this Stallion here, good for the chariot-let him verily come with his four feet. Brahmâkrishna help us! Obeisance to Agni!

8 When the Horse has been brought back from the water, the Chief Queen and two other royal Consorts anoint him with clarified butter, reciting their respective formulas. The Chief Queen anoints the fore-quarters, and the others the barrel and hind-quarters. Earth! etc. with these sacrificial exclamations the three Queens, respectively, entwine the hair of the Horse's head, neck, and tail with chains or other ornaments of gold. O Gods the Sacrificer offers the Horse the remains of the night-oblation of grain, which is thrown into the water if he refuses to eat it. Product of cows the sour curds with which the oblation was mixed. Prajapati meaning the deified Horse.

9 Here intervenes a Brahmodyam, a discussion in question and answer of cosmogonical and mystico-theological doctrine. The questions are couched in designedly enigmatical language, constituting a sort of cosmic charade,' as Prof. M Bloomfield calls it. Who moveth; etc., the Brahman questions the Hotar.

10 The Hotar replies.

11 The Hotar questions- tlie Brahman.

12 The Brahman replies. Heaven meaning rain, according to Mahi hara. The Courser the Sacrificial Horse. Mighty bird: that carries the sacrifice of himself to heaven. Earth: Mahidhara's explanation of avih (sheep ;; woollen cloth; Soma-strainer). Slippery after rain.

13 The Horse, a hornless he-goat, and a Gomriga or wild ox (Bos Gavaeus)) are bound to sacrificial stakes near the fire, and seventeen other victims,; as

14 The car is fitted with the rein, the steed is fitted with the rein, Fitted in waters, water-born, is Brahmâ following Soma's lead, 15 Steed, from thy body, of thyself, sacrifice and accept thyself, Thy greatness can be gained by none but thee.

16 No, here thou diest not, thou art not injured; only by fair paths to the Gods thou goest,

May Savitar the God in that world place thee where dwell the pious, whether they have journeyed.

17 Agni was the victim. With him they sacrificed. He won this world in which Agni is. This shall become thy world. This shalt thou win. Drink these waters. Vâyu was the victim. With him they sacrificed. He won this world in which Vâyu is. This shall become, etc., as above. Surya was the victim, etc. He won the world in which Surya is. This shall become, etc.

18 To vital breath, Hail! To out-breathing, Hail! To diffusive breath, Hail!

Amba! Ambikâ! Ambâlika! No one is taking me away.

The sorry horse will lie beside another, as Subhadra the dweller in Kâmpila.

he-goat and a ram among them, are attached to the Horse. To the other stakes are tied a great number of animals, tame and wild, the total, according to the Commentator, amounting to six hundred and nine. Vayu help thee: the Horse is addressed. Blackneck: Agni, the fire with its dark smoke. Nyagrodha: the Ficus Indica, of whose wood sacrificial vessels are made, Salmali: the Seemul or Silk Cotton tree, also used for sacred purposes. With his four feet: with all speed. BrahmAkrishna: the Brahman in whom there is no black spot; said to mean the Moon.

14 Fitted or, quickened. Brahm: the Great One, the Horse. Waterborn as identified with the Sun who springs out of the ocean of air. See R. V. I. 163. 1. Soma's lead to heaven.

15 The Horse is slaughtered,

16 The Horse is addressed. The first line is taken from R. V. I. 162. 21, and the second from a funeral hymn R. V. X. 17. 4.

17 Agni was the victim: offered by the Gods of creation. Thy world: the Horse is addressed. In which Vayu is: the firmament. In which Sûrya is: the sky.

18 To vital breath, etc.: three fire-oblations are offered with these three formulas. 4b, etc. women's names. The Chief Queen calls on her fellowwives for pity, as. to obtain a son, she has to pass the night in disgusting contiguity to the slaughtered Horse: "No one takes me (bv force to the horse); (but if I go not of myself), the (spiteful) horse will lie with (another, as) the (wicked) Subhadrâ who dwells in Kímpíla."-Weber, History of Indian Literature, p. 114. Subhadra: probably the wife of the King of Kampila in the country of the Pañchilas in the North of India. The Chief Queen must submit to the revolting ceremony, or its benefits will go to another woman. See Ramayana, Book I. Canto XIII. Schlegel's edition.

19 Thee we invoke, troop-lord of troops. Thee we invoke, the loved ones' lord.

Thee, lord of treasures, we invoke. My precious wealth!.

32 Now have I glorified with praise strong Dadhikrâvan, conquering steed.

Sweet may he make our mouths: may he prolong the days we have to live.

33 Gayatri, Trishṭup, Jagati, and Pankti with Anushṭup joined, Brihati, Kakup, Ushnihâ pacify thee with needle-points! 34 Two-footed, those that have four feet, those with three feet and those with five,

Metreless, with one metre, these pacify thee with needlepoints!

35 May Mahânâmnîs, Revatis, all far-spread Regions of the sky, Voices, and lightnings from the cloud pacify thee with needlepoints!

36 May married dames of human birth skilfully separate thy hair:

The Regions, Consorts of the Gods, pacify thee with needlepoints!

19 The three Queens walk nine times round the Horse, reciting the formulas. The Chief Queen then begius the performance of the revolting ceremony.

20 Mahishi svayamevAşvaṣiṣnamákṛishya svayonau sthapayati. This and the following nine stanzas are not reproducible even in the semi-obscurity of a learned European language; anď stanzas 30, 31 would be unintelligible without them.

32 On the following morning the officiating priests raise the Chief Queen from the place where she has spent the night, and recite the text, taken from R. V. IV. 39. 6, to purify their mouths after the abominable obscenities which they have uttered. Dadhikrávan: or in the shorter form, Dadhikrâs or Dadhikrâ, described as a kind of divine or deified horse, and probab ly, like Târkshya (XV. 18), a personification of the morning sun. The verse is called the Dadhikrî, and is used as a purifier after foul language. Cf. The Hymns of the Atharva-Veda, Vol. II. Appendix, p. 457,

33 The three Queens with a hundred and one needles, gold, silver and copper, mark out the lines, on the body of the horse, which the dissector's knife is to follow. Pacify: or, send to rest; a sacrificial euphemism.

34 Two-footed: dvipadás; verses with two padas or metrical divisions. With one metre: having the same metre throughout.

35 Mahanamnis: whose name is great; nine verses of the Samaveda in Sakvart metre. Revatis: verses from which the Raivata Siman is formed, so named from R. V. I. 30. 13 in which the word revuti, splendid, or wealthy,

occurs.

37 They, made of silver, gold, and lead, are used as helpers in the work.

As lines on the strong Courser's skin may they console and give thee rest.

38 What then? As men whose fields are full of barley, etc., as in X. 32.

39 Who flays thee? Who dissects thee? Who prepares thy limbs

for sacrifice ?

Who is the Sage that slaughters thee?

40 In due time let the seasons as thy Slaughterers divide thy joints,

And with the splendour of the Year sacrifice thee with holy rites.

41 Let the Half-months and let the Months, while sacrifieing, flay thy limbs:

Let Day and Night and Maruts mend each fault in sacrificing thee.

42 Let the divine Adhvaryus flay thy body and dissect thy frame,

And let the sacrifieing lines prepare thy members joint by joint.

43 May Sky, Earth, Air, and Wind supply each failing and defect of thine:

May Surya with the Stars of heaven duly prepare a world for thee.

44 Well be it with thine upper parts, well be it with the parts below!

Well be it with thy bones and with thy marrow and with all thy frame!

45 Who moveth singly? etc., as in verse 9.

46 The Sun moves singly, etc., as in verse 10.

47 What lustre is like Surya's light? What lake is equal to the Sea?

37 Lead: meaning, probably, copper or iron, as Mahîdhara explains. 39 Who? or Ka, that is Prajapati himself performs these sacrificial operations, and not I the human priest.

42 The divine Adhvaryus: the Asvins, the Adhvaryus of the Gods. Sucrificing lines: traced on the body of the horse to guide the Immolator's knife. See verse 33.

43 Stars: or lunar asterisms.

45 Before the vapú or omentum is offered as a burnt-oblation the following Brahmodyam (see verse 9) intervenes. Verses 45, 46 are repeated from 9 and 10.