The Upanishads, Part 1 (SBE01), by Max Müller, [1879], at sacred-texts.com

SECOND KHANDA 6.

1. He recites the hymn, asat su me garitah sâbhivegah (Rv. X, 27, 1), (and in. it the word) satyadhvritam, the destroyer of truth. Verily, that day

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is truth, and as endowed with the word satya, truth, the form of this day is perfect 1.

2. That hymn is composed by Vasukra. Verily, Vasukra is Brahman, and that day is Brahman. Thus he obtains Brahman by means of Brahman 2.

3. Here they say: 'Why then is that Marutvatîya, hymn completed by the hymn of Vasukra?' Surely because no other Rishi but Vasukra brought out a Marutvatîya hymn, or divided it properly 3. Therefore that Marutvatîya hymn is completed by the hymn of Vasukra.

4. That hymn, asat su me, is not definitely addressed to any deity, and is therefore supposed to be addressed to Pragâpati. Verily, Pragâpati is indefinite, and therefore the hymn serves to win Pragâpati.

5. Once in the hymn (Rv. X, 27, 22) he defines Indra (indrâya sunvat); therefore it does not fall off from its form, as connected with Indra.

6. He recites the hymn (Rv. VI, 17, 1) pibâ somam abhi yam ugra tardah.

7. In the verse ûrvam gavyam mahi grinâna indra the word mahi, great, occurs. Endowed with the word mahat, the form of this day is perfect.

8. That hymn is composed by Bharadvâga, and Bharadvâga was he who knew most, who lived longest, and performed the greatest austerities among the Rishis, and by this hymn he drove away evil. Therefore if he recites the hymn of Bharadvâga,

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then, after having driven away evil, he becomes learned, long-lived, and full of austerities.

9. He recites the hymn kayâ subhâ savayasah sanîlâh (Rv. I, 165, 1).

10. In the verse â sâsate prati haryanty ukthâ (Rv. I, 165, 4) the word uktha occurs. Verily, that day (the mahâvrata) is uktha (hymn). Endowed with the word uktha, the form of this day becomes perfect.

11. That hymn is called Kayâsubhîya 1. Verily, that hymn, which is called Kayâsubhîya, is mutual understanding and it is lasting. By means of it Indra, Agastya, and the Maruts came to a mutual understanding. Therefore, if he recites the Kayâsubhîya hymn, it serves for mutual understanding.

12. The same hymn is also long life. Therefore, if the sacrificer is dear to the Hotri, let him recite the Kayâsubhîya hymn for him.

13. He recites the hymn marutvân indra vrishabo ranâya (Rv. III, 47, 1).

14. In it the words indra vrishabha (powerful) occur. Verily, powerful is a form of Indra 2, this day belongs to Indra, and this is the perfect form of that day.

15. That hymn is composed by Visvâmitra. Verily, Visvâmitra was the friend (mitra) of all (visva).

16. Everybody is the friend of him who knows this, and for whom a Hotri priest who knows this, recites this hymn.

17. The next hymn, ganishthâ ugrah sahase turâya (Rv. I, 73, 1), forms a Nividdhâna 3, and,

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according to the one-day (ekâha) ceremonial, is perfect in form. On that day much is done now and then which has to be hidden, and has to be atoned for (by recitation of hymns). Atonement is rest, the one-day sacrifice. Therefore at the end of the year (on the last day but one of the sacrifice that lasts a whole year) the sacrificers rest on this atonement as their rest.

He who knows this rests firm, and they also for whom a Hotri priest who knows this, recites this hymn 1.

18. These, if recited straight on, are ninety-seven verses 2. The ninety are three Virâg, each consisting of thirty, and then the seven verses which are over. Whatever is the praise of the seven, is the praise of ninety also.

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19. By repeating the first and last verses three times each, they become one hundred and one verses.

20. There are five fingers, of four joints each, two pits (in the elbow and the arm), the arm, the eye, the shoulder-blade; this makes twenty-five. The other three parts have likewise twenty-five each 1. That makes a hundred, and the trunk is the one hundred and first.

21. Hundred is life, health, strength, brightness. The sacrificer as the one hundred and first rests in life, health, strength, and brightness.

22. These verses become Trishtubh 2, for the noonday-libation consists of Trishtubh verses.

Footnotes

168:6 The type after which the Marutvatîya-sastra is to be performed is the Katurvimsa day. Hitherto (from â tvâ ratham to nakih sudâsah), all that is taken over from the type to the modification, i. e. the Marutvatîya, has been explained. Now follow the verses which are new and peculiar to the Marutvatîya of the Mahâvrata.

169:1 The commentator endeavours to make the meaning more natural by taking in the word prahantâ, he who kills the destroyer of truth. But considering the general character of these remarks, this is hardly necessary.

169:2 Cf. I, 1, 3, 3.

169:3 By separating the first trika from the second, and so forth.

170:1 Cf. Ait. Brâhm. V, 16.

170:2 Cf. Ait. Âr. II, 2, 1, 8.

170:3 The hymn consists of eleven verses. In the middle, after the sixth verse, nivids or invocations, such as indro marutvân, are inserted, and therefore it is called a nividdhâna hymn.

171:1 With this hymn the Marutvatîya-sastra is finished. All the hymns from â tvâ ratham to asat su me garitar are simply taken over from the Katurvimsa ceremonial, the rest are peculiar to the Mahâvrata day, the day preceding the Udayanîya or final day of the Gavâmayana sattra. All this is more fully described in the fifth Âranyaka (V, 1, 1, 8), containing the Sûtras or rules of Saunaka, while the earlier Âranyakas are reckoned as Brâhmanas, and are therefore mixed up with matters not actually required for the performance of the sacrifice.

171:2

172:1 The left side as well as the right, and then the left and right side of the lower body. Thus we have twenty joints of the five toes, a thigh, a leg, and three joints, making twenty-five on each side.

172:2 Approach the Trishtubh metre of the last hymn. Comm.