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Aitareya Aranyaka. Ii, 3, 4

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"The Upanishads, Part 1 (sbe01)\", by Max Mller, [1879],

p. 224

Fourth Kha
\"N"D"A.

1. He who knows one sacrifice above another, one day above another, one deity above the others, he is clever. Now this great uktha (the nishkevalya-"s"astra) is the sacrifice above another, the day above another, the deity above others 1.

2.
This uktha is fivefold. With regard to its being performed as a Stoma (chorus), it is Triv"ri"t, Pa"k"ada"s"a, Saptada"s"a, Ekavi"m"sa, and Pa"k"avi"m"sa. With regard to its being performed as a Sman (song), it is Gyatra, Rathantara, B"ri"hat, Bhadra, and Rgana. With regard to metre, it is Gyatr, Ush"n"ih, B"ri"hat, Trish"t"ubh, and Dvipad. And the explanation (given before in the ra"n"yaka) is that it is the head, the right wing, the left wing, the tail, and the body of the bird 2.

in each hymn. This, is the first round. He then sings the three middle verses in each hymn. This is the second round. He lastly sings the last three verses in each hymn. This is the third round. This song is called Udyat.

The Pa"k"ada"s"a stoma is formed out of one Skta only, consisting of three verses. In the first round he sings the first verse p. 225 three times, the second and third once. In the second round he sings the middle verse three times, in the third round he sings the last verse three times. This song is called Vish"t"uti.

The Saptadasa stoma is formed in the same manner, only that in the first round he sings the first verse three times, in the second the middle verse three times, in the third round the middle and last verses three times. This song is called Da"s"asapta.

The Ekavi"m"sa stoma is formed in the same manner, only that in the first round he sings the last verse once, in the second the first verse once, in the third the middle verse once, while the other verses are each repeated three times. This song is called Saptasaptin.

The Pa"k"avi"m"s"a stoma is formed in the same manner, only that in the first round he sings the first verse three times, the second four times, the last once; in the second round the first once, the second three times, the third four times; in the third round the first five times, the second once, the last three times; or he sings in the third round the first verse four times, the second twice, the last three times.

Sya"n"a in his commentary on the Ait. r. takes the Triv"ri"t stoma to be formed out of three hymns, each consisting of three verses, while he says that the other stomas are formed out of one hymn only. B. and R., s"v". triv"ri"t, state that this stoma consists of verses 1, 4, 7; 2, 5, 8; and 3, 6, 9 of the Rig-veda hymn IX, 11, but, according to Sya"n"a, the stoma consists (1) of the first verses of the three Sktas, upsmai gyata, davidyutaty, and pavamnasya at the beginning of the Sma-veda-Uttarr"k"ika, (2) of the second, (3) Of the third verses of the same three hymns. Mahdhra (Yv. X, 9) takes the same view, though the MSS. seem to have left out the description of the second paryya, while Sya"n"a in his commentary to the T"n"d"ya-brhma"n"a seems to support the opinion of B. and R. There is an omission, however, in the printed text of the commentary, which makes it difficult to see the exact meaning of Sya"n"a.

The Pa"k"ada"s"a stoma is well described by Sya"n"a, T"n"d"ya Br. II, 4. Taking the Skta agna yhi (Uttarr"k"ika I, 1, 4 = Rv. Vi, 16, 10-12), he shows the stoma to consist of (1) verse 1 3, 2, 3 (2) verse 1, 2 3, 3; (3) verse 1, 2, 3 3.

The five Smans are explained by the commentator. The p. 226 Gyatra is formed out of the "Ri"k" (iii, 62, 10) tat savitur vare"n"yam. The Rathantara is formed out of the "Ri"k" (vii, 32, 22) abhi tv "s"ra nonuma. The B"ri"hat is formed out of the "Ri"k" (vi, 46, 1) tvm id dhi havmahe. The Bhadra is formed out of the "Ri"k" (x, 57, 1) im nu kam. The R"g"ana is formed out of the "Ri"k" (vii, 27, 1) indram naro nemadhit.

The metres require no explanation.

In identifying certain portions of the Nishkevalya hymn with a bird, the head of the bird corresponds to the hymns indram id gthina"h", the right wing to the hymns abhi tv "s"ra, the left wing to the hymns tvm id dhi, the tail to the hymns im nu kam, the body to the hymns tad id sa, &c. All this was explained in the first ra"n"yaka.

p. 225

3.
He performs the Prastva in five ways, he performs the Udgtha in five ways, he performs the

p. 226

[paragraph continues] Pratihra in five ways, he performs the Upadrava in five ways, he performs the Nidhana in five ways 1. All this together forms one thousand Stobhas, or musical syllables 2.

4.
Thus also are the "Ri"k" verses, contained in the Nishkevalya, recited (by the Hot"ri") in five orders. What precedes the eighty t"ri"k"as, that is one order, then follow the three sets of eighty t"ri"k"as each, and what comes after is the fifth order 3.

p. 227

5.
This (the hymns of this Sastra) as a whole (if properly counted with the Stobha syllables) comes to one thousand (of B"ri"hat verses). That (thousand) is the whole, and ten, ten is called the whole. For number is such (measured by ten). Ten tens are a hundred, ten hundreds are a thousand, and that is the whole. These are the three metres (the tens, pervading everything). And this food also (the three sets of hymns being represented as food) is threefold, eating, drinking, and chewing. He obtains that food by those (three numbers, ten, hundred, and thousand, or by the three sets of eighty t"ri"k"as).

Footnotes

224:1
The uktha is to be conceived as pr"n"a, breath or life, and this pr"n"a was shown to be above the other powers (devats), speech, hearing, seeing, mind. The uktha belongs to the Mahvrata day, and that is the most important day of the Soma sacrifice. The Soma sacrifice, lastly, is above all other sacrifices.

224:2
All these are technicalities connected with the singing and reciting of the uktha. The commentator says: The stoma is a collection of single "Ri"k" verses occurring in the t"ri"k"as which have to be sung. The Triv"ri"t stoma, as explained in the Sma-brhma"n"a, is as follows: There are three Sktas, each consisting of three verses, the first being upsmai gyata, S. V. Uttarr"k"ika I, 1, 1 = Rv. IX, 11. The Udgt"ri" first sings the first three verses a

224:a Hik"ri" with dative is explained as gai with accusative.

226:1
The Smagas sing the R"g"ana at the Mahvrata, and in that Sman there are, as usual, five parts, the Prastva, Udgtha, pratihra, Upadrava, and Nidhana. The Prastot"ri", when singing the Prastva portions, sings them five times. The Udgt"ri" and Pratihart"ri" sing their portions, the Udgtha and Pratihra, five times. The Udgt"ri" again sings the Upadrava five times. And all the Udgt"ri"s together sing the Nidhana five times.

226:2
The Stobha syllables are syllables without any meaning, added when verses have to be sung, in order to have a support for the music. See "Kh". Up. I, 13. In singing the five Smans, each five times, one thousand of such Stobha syllables are required.

226:3
There are in the Nishkevalya hymn, which the Hot"ri" has to recite, three sets of eighty t"ri"k"as each. The first, consisting of Gyatrs, begins with
" indro ya og"as. The second, consisting of B"ri"hats, begins with ya "k"id anyad. The third, consisting of Ush"n"ihs, begins with ya indra somaptama. These three sets form the food of the bird, as the emblem of the "s"astra. The hymns p. 227 which precede these, form the body, head, and wings of the bird. This is one order. Then follow the three sets of eighty t"ri"k"as each; and lastly, the fifth order, consisting of the hymns which form the belly and the legs of the bird.
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