SECTION X. Specimens of the Bramhůnů, from the rig, yŭjooră, and ût’hŭrvé védés. Instructions relative to sacrifices. "Let the priest present offerings to Ŭshwinee-koomară from the flesh of the fourth sheep which is dressing, and from the flesh of the goat. Let the mighty Ŭshwineekoomarŭ partake of the flesh prepared with clarified butter, and of the fat and entrails which have been taken from the belly. Let the priest also offer the flesh of other goats to Ushwinee-koomară, and to Suruswutee, and to Indră. Let him present to Ŭgnee, to Somů, and to Indrů, clarified butter mixed with honey; sesamum and barley; and let him so conduct my sacrifice that it may be perfected. "In the sacrifice of the horse, the priest must repeat forms of praise and petition to the animal; bathe him; repeat incantations in his ears and nose; sprinkle him with water; slay him; and, removing the entrails, offer the burnt sacrifice with his flesh. "O priest, with the flesh of the goat worship Ush winee-koomară; with the flesh of the sheep, Suruswйtee; with the flesh of the bull, Indră; and with that of the goat and the sheep, Vrihăspǎtee." Of the sacrifice of animals. "Three altars must be erected; also posts of three kinds of sacred wood; seventeen animals must be selected for the occasion, from each of which three pieces of flesh must be cut, one from the right side, another from the breast, and another from the back of the head. Black, or white, or speckled animals are to be preferred. They must neither have lost a member, nor have a superfluous one, nor be too young, nor too old, nor labour under any distemper, nor be burnt or cut in the skin, nor have any scars arising from wounds inflicted by other animals. Sesamum anointed with clarified butter must be offered in this sacrifice; in the middle altar must be offered on the fire honey, sugar, and milk; on another of the altars a meat offering, consist Near to each altar must sit a bram- ing of boiled rice, honey, and clarified butter. hăn to watch the sacred fire, called Brùmha.* must be placed meat-offerings for the ten regents of the quarters. If the sacrificer wish to make any petition during this sacrifice, he must do it, offering curds to the deity whom he addresses." : Of a sacrifice offered by the sage Twushta, for the destruction of the king of the gods. "Twoshta, a sage, offered a sacrifice for the destruction of Indru, the king of heaven, who had cut off the three heads of his son. First, the sage kindled three fires, eastward, westward and southward, and began to offer on that to the east, and to invite the gods. The gods arrived, but not desiring the destruction of Indră, they began to perplex the sage in his work, stealing the different appurtenances belonging to the sacrifice for instance, they concealed two pestles which were required to pound the rice for the meat-offering; and this compelled the sage to bruise the rice between his nails: the law of the sacrifice is, that if the priest be desirous of scratching his body, he shall do it, not with his nails, but with the horn of a deer; this horn the gods likewise took away. He offered the curds to the god Vishwů, but the water which should have been offered to another god, Vajee, the divine guests clandestinely removed. The bruised rice intended to be offered to Sooryu, who is described as having no teeth, they removed in the same manner. The three kinds of wood which should have been offered in the three fires, the gods also stole, as well as the clarified butter, which should have been poured on the fire in the second stage of the sacrifice. An awning of three kinds of cloth, white, blue, and yellow, is used on these occasions: the white part the gods conveyed away; a pan of water used at this sacrifice, which was surrounded with a piece of cloth; on the top of which three kinds of green branches were laid; the body of which was anointed with curds and rice; and into which five kinds of precious metals or stones, and nine of bruised branches, had been thrown, shared the same fate; of ten wooden dishes placed round the altar, containing offerings, the two placed at the top and bottom of the altar, the gods also conveyed away. In this manner they vexed the sage, till the tears were seen See vol. ii. p. 238. to fall from the fire to the westward; hence one name of the regent of fire became Roodrů, from rodină, to weep; from these tears sprung silver; and hence silver is forbidden to be placed among gifts to the gods, as tears are a mark of uncleanness. The sage too fell into a state of perplexity; and hastening to bring more clarified butter, to supply the place of that which had been stolen, he repeated the prayers incorrectly; for instead of repeating "Be thou the enemy of Indrů,” he said, “Let Indru be thy enemy," and thus the giant, which was brought into existence by the merit of the sacrifice, and which was to have destroyed Indru, was destroyed by him."* [The account of this sacrifice is continued to a considerable length, but the particulars resemble so much what the author has given in vol. ii. p. 258, &c. that it appeared unnecessary to go further into the subject.] The shyénů sacrifice for rendering an enemy speechless. "The priest who offers this sacrifice is to sit on a black seat, wear black garments, offer dark coloured flowers; the four images of the person against whom the sacrifice is to be offered, are also to be dressed in black, the eyes and mouth painted red, and the breast white. The priest must take a hawk, and slay it, placing its flesh upon a yellow garment; after a number of other preparatory ceremonies, he must offer pieces of the flesh in the fire, eight, twenty-eight, one hundred and eight, up to one thousand, one hundred thousand, or a million times, and at each offering use a separate prayer; as he draws back his fingers after casting the flesh into the fire, he must touch the mouth of the image of the enemy with them. On this occasion, the following prayers are uttered: “O Ŭgnee ! "O Ugnee! make dumb the mouth and words of this my enemy.' fasten with a peg the tongue of this enemy.' "O Ugnee! fill with distraction the mind of this my enemy." “O Ŭgnee! confound the speech of the friends of this my enemy." "O Ŭgnee! destroy the senses of this my enemy." "O Ŭgnee! all the gods are centered in thee; do thou render propitious the * See the rig védů. When offerings are made up to or beyond a thousand, it is supposed that an enemy is soon destroyed. judge who is to decide between me and this enemy." "O Ŭgnee! make this judge the enemy of my enemy." In this manner, he must continue the sacrifice for fifteen days and nights: in the darkest part of the night, he must place a lamp near the altar, and thus address it : "O lamp! as the insect, attracted by thee, falls into the blaze, so let my enemy be overthrown in the seat of judgment." “O Ŭgnee! thou who art the mouth of all the gods, as the smoke entering the eyes renders them dim, so do thou destroy the wisdom of my enemy." "OŬgnee! thou who by digesting their food, nourishest mankind, reduce to ashes this my enemy.” Having thus offered the sacrifice, he must take the ashes, the yellow cloth, &c. and throw them where four roads meet.* Of the devotion called oopasănă. "There are two kinds of oopasunů, or devotion; first, that wherein an invisible being is worshipped through a visible object; this is called aropă. The other is meditation on the deity through a description by sensible objects. In these acts of devotion, the mind is employed on the name, form, and qualities of the god, by singing, prayer, repetition of his name, or meditation, so as to excite in the mind religious affections. The mind must be fixed on the object of devotion, without any intermission, except that which is absolutely necessary for the preservation of life; it must be free from injurious thoughts; full of compassion towards the poor, the blind, and even enemies; happy both in pain and pleasure; insensible to the injuries of others; free from desire of unlawful gains; must desire no more than necessary food and clothing; and be free from distraction and error." See the ŭbhicharŭ-kandŭ of the ŭt'hŭrvů-védů. These revengeful prayers, from the uthŭrvě-védů, belong to the preceding section; but the account of this sacrifice seemed to require that the prayers should be inserted with it. "Let the person who wishes to worship the deity in his mind, first choose a place en the banks of a river, or near a temple of Shivů, or near a shalgramů, or in a field where cows are grazing, or near a grove of vilwŭ trees, or on the roots of a grove of dhatrees, or in a holy place, or in a cave, or near a water-fall; at any rate in a secret spot, where the mind can remain undistracted. He must sit on the skin of a tyger or a deer, or on a kooshŭ mat, or on a blanket; a white seat is to be preferred. He may sit in any form common to the animals, but there are eighty-four methods peculiarly excellent; the půdmů posture, which consists in bringing the feet to the sides, and holding the right foot in the left hand, and the left foot in the right hand, is one of the best; another method is to sit cross-legged, and to close with the fingers and feet all the avenues of respiration. The worshipper must next withdraw his mind from all sublunary things, and confirm his distaste of them, by perpetually holding up to himself their unreal nature. He must also bri ng his mind to an undivided attention to the deity, and in a perfectly abstracted manner fix it on him: thus prepared, he must in imagination prepare a beautiful seat for the god, and realize in his mind all the visible attributes of him on whose form he meditates; he must so realize every feature and member, as to feel all the sensations of joy, love, tenderness, &c. arising from real vision. In this state of mind, he must mentally present all the usual offerings to the deity, as, from the primary elements of which his body is composed, earth, water, fire, air, and vacuum, he must present, first, from earth, all the fruits of the earth; from the water, water to wash his feet; from the fire, the sacred lamps; from the air, incense, and from the ethereal elements, flowers; and from whatever the mind delights in, he must present the most precious offerings. Addressing himself to the deity, he must say, "Like myself there is not another sinner on earth; and like thyself there is no saviour; O god, seeing this is the case, I wait thy will," He must next present a bloody sacrifice, by slaying all his passions, as desire, anger, covetousness, inordinate attachment, intoxication, and envy, He must add, "All my works, good or evil, in the fire of thy favour, I present to thee as a burnt-offering.' * See the Vrihŭdarůnyŭků Oopŭnishŭd, |