been told you. We have told you the Brâhmi Upanishad. 8. 'The feet on which that Upanishad stands are penance, restraint, sacrifice; the Vedas are all its limbs, the True is its abode. 9. He who knows this Upanishad, and has shaken off all evil, stands in the endless, unconquerable world of heaven, yea, in the world of heaven.' 1 It is impossible to adopt Sankara's first rendering, 'the Vedas and all the Angas,' i. e. the six subsidiary doctrines. He sees himself that sarvângâni stands in opposition to pratishthâ and âyatana, but seeing Veda and Anga together, no Brahman could help thinking of the Vedângas. 2 Might we read agyeye for gyeye? cf. Satap. Brâhm. XI, 5, 7, 1. AITAREYA-ARANYAKA. FIRST ARANYAKA. FIRST ADHYAYA. FIRST KHANDA. I. Now follows the Mahâvrata ceremony. 2. After having killed Vritra, Indra became great. When he became great, then there was the Mahâvrata (the great work). This is why the Mahâvrata ceremony is called Mahâvrata. 3. Some people say: 'Let the priest make two (recitations with the offering of the) âgya (ghee) on that day,' but the right thing is one1. 4. He who desires prosperity should use the hymn, pra vo devâyâgnaye (Rv. III, 13, 1). 5. He who desires increase should use the hymn, viso viso atithim (Rv. VIII, 74, 1). 'That it should be one only is proved from the types, i. e. from other sacrifices, that have to be followed in the performance of the Mahâvrata. The first type is the Agnishtoma, where one sastra is enjoined as âgyasastra, viz. pra vo devâyâgnaye. In the Visvagit, which has to follow the Agnish/oma, another hymn is put in its place, viz. agnim naro dîdhitibhih. In the Mahâvrata, which has to follow the Visvagit, some people recommend the use of both these hymns. But that is wrong, for there must be in the sacrifices which follow the Agnishtoma twelve sastras altogether; and if there were two here, instead of one, we should get a total of thirteen. |