Satapatha Bramhana Part 05

SR No.: 007680
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Julius Eggeling
Publisher: Oxford
Publication Year: 1900
Total Pages: 2017
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 44 MB

Page 491

XIII KANDA, 8 ADHYAYA, 4 BRAHMANA, 4. 437
and a Vritra-peg1 on the right (south corner) for sin not to pass beyond.
2. On the right (south) side they then dig two somewhat curved (furrows), and fill them with milk and water, these, indeed, are two inexhaustible streams (that) flow to him in the other world;-and seven (they dig) on the left (north) side, and fill them with water, for sin not to pass beyond, for indeed sin cannot pass beyond seven rivers 3.
3. They throw three stones each (into the northern furrows), and pass over them, with (Våg. S. XXXV, 10; Rig-v. X, 53, 8): 'Here floweth the stony one: hold on to each other, rise, and cross over, ye friends: here will we leave behind what unkind spirits there be, and will cross over to auspicious nourishments;' -as the text so its import.
4. They cleanse themselves with Apâmârga plants-they thereby wipe away (apa-marg) sin—
1 The exact meaning of 'vritra-sanku' is doubtful. Kâty. Sr. XXI, 3, 31 has 'deha-sanku' instead, to which the commentary assigns the rather improbable meaning of stone-pillar,' in favour of which he refers to IV, 2, 5, 15 of our Brahmaяa—' Soma, in truth, was Vritra: the mountains and stones are his body;' whence he makes 'vritra'='asman' (stone).
• Or narrow trenches or ditches-kufile karshû, Kâty. XXI, 4, 20. They are apparently semicircular, probably with their open part towards the grave.
• These seven furrows are straight, running from west to east; thus separating the grave from the north, the world of men.
That is, the Adhvaryu and the members of the Sacrificer's family.
Lit. 'cleansing-plants' or 'wiping-plants,' Achyranthes aspera; also called the burr-plant (Birdwood), a common hairy weed found all over India, and much used for incantations and sacrificial purposes.
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