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182
SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA
Having released his speech, he takes clarified butter, in five ladlings, and throws five chips of gold thereon. Then these three (materials), sour curds, honey and ghee, are poured together, either into a dish, or a pot with a wide mouth; and he puts a handful of sacrificial grass thereon.
2. He then mounts the fire-altar, with (Vâg. S. XVII, 11), 'Homage be to thy heat, thy fire1! homage be to thy flame!'-for that Agni has now been completely restored, and he now is equal to injuring whomever he might wish to injure; and whomever he injures, he injures either by his heat, or by his fire, or by his flame; in this way he does not injure him thereby (etail);'Let thy darts burn others than us! unto us be thou bright and propitious!' as the text, so the sense.
3. Having mounted the altar, he makes the libation of fivefold-taken ghee on the naturallyperforated (brick): the significance of this has been explained 2.
4. On the naturally-perforated (brick) he makes the libation-the naturally-perforated one is the breath: into (the channel of) the breath he thus puts food.
5. And, again, as to why he offers on the naturally-perforated one ;-this (brick) is an uttaravedi (high-altar) of Agni (the fire-altar); and that former libation which he makes belongs to the
1 Or, 'Homage be to thy burning (consuming) fire!' as Mahîdhara takes 'harase sokishe,' and perhaps also the Brahmana, though 'etaih,' used in reference to Agni's weapons, would rather seem to indicate a plurality of them.
2 See VII, 2, 3, 4; VIII, 6, 3, 15.
9 See III, 5, 2, 9-11; the libation of ghee there offered on the
