time, through ignorance, we have neglected to honour thee, we pray, that if thou art displeased with us on account of this sin, thou wilt not destroy us." “O Ŭgnee, and all ye who are invited, assemble, and receiving this our sacrifice, and this our praise, supply us with plenty of food." "O Indră! let us spend our time each with his own wife. Let the messengers of Yămă go to sleep, that they may not see us. Do thou give us thousands of beautiful cows and horses; number us among the great." "O Indră! destroy all our covetous enemies, and cherish our bountiful friends. Give us thousands of beautiful cows and horses; number us among the great." "OŬgnee! enable us abundantly to increase these our prayers. We extol thee to the utmost of our ability: being subdued by our praises, bestow upon us food, power, and excellent wisdom." "O Hůrishchйndră, the priest! O Hůrishchůndrů, the god! Separate the purified somů juice which I have brought to this sacrifice; and pour into a holy vessel the somă juice which has not yet been purified; and that which remains, place in a lea thern vessel." «Shoonů-shéphŭ says, O Ŭgnee, as the birds at a great distance from their nests, on their return to these nests, fly with all their strength, so my mind, destitute of anger, and having no desire to return to the enjoyment of great riches and wealth, flies to thee." "OVŭroonǎ! as the charioteer, after fatigue in running to a great distance, pleases his horse by different services, so we, for our happiness, please thee." “I praise Ŭgnee, the priest [completer] of the offering, [first placed in the sacrifice] the impregnated with gifts to bestow; the consuming sacrificator, supplying abundantly the gems (of reward.)", "O fire, be thou the way of our happiness; as a father to his child, be near to us." "O visible Vayoo, come. These somŭ (offerings) are perpared; drink them; hear the invitation." "O Vayoo and Indra, who dwell in the stream of butter mixed with food, ye know (that the somu) is ready; come speedily." "O Indră, possessor of the horse, come speedily for the védă-incanted praises; accept the food prepared." "May this Surus wǎtee, who commands affectionate and true words, the accomplisher (of the work) of the wise, accept the sacrifice." "O Indră, preserved by thee, we ask for the strong thunderbolt, that we may conquer in battle." “O Indră, give us incalculable, excellent, and undecayable wealth, which consists in cows, food, and long life.” "OŬgnee, let these women, with bodies anointed with clarified butter, eyes (coloured) with stibium, and void of tears, enter the parent of water,* that they may not be separated from their husbands, may be in union with excellent husbands, be sinless, and jewels among women." De "Let us meditate on the divine ruler (Savitréē): may it guide our intellects. sirous of food, we solicit the gift of the splendid sun (Savitree), who should be studiously worshipped. Venerable men, guided by the understanding, salute the diwine sun (Savitree) with oblations and praise."+ * Fire. + This forms the celebrated incantation called the gayutree. SECTION X. Specimens of the Bramhunu, from the rig, yujooru, and ŭt hŭrvă védés. Instructions relative to sacrifices. "Let the priest present offerings to Ushwinee-koomaru from the flesh of the fourth sheep which is dressing, and from the flesh of the goat. Let the mighty Ŭshwineekoomară 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-koomarŭ, and to Sărăswutee, and to Indru. Let him present to Ŭgnee, to Somů, and to Indră, 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-koomaru; with the flesh of the sheep, Suruswйtee; with the flesh of the bull, Indră; and with that of the goat and the sheep, Vrihuspŭtee." 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. hun to watch the sacred fire, called Brumha.* 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 Twŭshta, for the destruction of the king of the gods. "Twěshta, 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 Indru, 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 Vishwu, 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 Sce vol. ii. p. 238. to fall from the fire to the westward; hence one name of the regent of fire became Roodrů, from rodůně, 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 too fell into a state of perplexity; and hastening to bring more clarified sage 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 Indră," 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 Indrů, 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 shyénă 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. the following prayers are uttered: On this occasion, "O Ŭgnee! make dumb the mouth and words of this my enemy." "O Ŭgnee! fasten with a peg the tongue of this enemy." "O Ugnee! fill with distraction the mind of this my enemy." "OŬgnee! 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 védă. When offerings are made np to or beyond a thousand, it is supposed that an enemy is soon destroyed. |