Yajur Veda on Attachment

In that on one post he twines round two girdles, therefore one man wins two wives; in that he does not wind one girdle round two posts, therefore one wife does not find two husbands. If he desire of a man, 'Be a girl born to him', he should intertwine (the girdles) near the ends; verily a girl is born to him; if he desire of a man, 'Be a son born to him', he should cover it round right up to the end; verily a son is born to him [3]. The Asuras drove the gods to the south, the gods repelled them by the Upaçaya (post); that is why the Upaçaya has its name. In that the Upaçaya lies near (upaçáye) on the south, (it serves) to drive away the foe. All the other posts have victims (attached), the Upaçaya has none, its victim is the sacrificer; if he were not to indicate (a victim), the sacrificer would be ruined. 'N.N. is thy victim', (with these words) he should indicate whomsoever he hates; whom he hates [4], him he indicates as a victim to it. If he hates not, 'The mole is thy victim', he should say; he harms not domestic nor wild animals. Prajapati created offspring; he was destitute of proper food, he saw this set of eleven, and therewith he won proper food. In that there are ten posts, the Viraj has ten syllables, and the Viraj is food, he wins proper food by the Viraj [5]; thereby he milks the eleventh breast of her. In that the set of eleven (is set up), a thunderbolt is set up; it is liable to crush the sacrifice face to face; in that he sets up (the stake) (for Tvastr) with the wives, (it serves) to establish the sacrifice and to bind. Prajapati created offspring; he thought himself emptied, he saw this set of eleven (victims), with it he bestowed life, power, and strength upon himself; he who sacrifices creates as it were offspring; then he is as it were emptied; in that this set of eleven is (offered), with it the sacrificer bestows life, power, and strength upon himself.

w Thou art broad, and wealthy art thou. x Before the cruel foe slips away, O glorious one, Taking up the earth, with plenteous drops, The earth which they place in the moon by their offerings, Which wise men use to guide them in the sacrifice. a The Raksas is burnt up, the evil spirits are burnt up. b With Agni's keenest flame I burn you. c May I not brush the place of the cattle, I brush thee that art strong and overcomest foes. d Speech, breath, eye, ear, offspring, the organ of generation may I not brush, I brush thee that art strong and overcomest foes. e Beseeching favour, offspring, prosperity, in devotion to Agni, I gird my body for good action. f With fair offspring, with noble husbands, We are come to thee, O Agni, to thee that deceivest the foe, The undeceivable, we that are not deceived. g I loosen this bond of Varuna, Which Savitr the kindly hath bound, And in the birthplace of the creator, in the place of good action, I make it pleasant for me with my husband. h With life, with offspring, O Agni, with splendour again, As wife with my husband I am united. United be my spirit with my body. i Of the great ones thou art the milk, of plants the sap. Of thee that art the imperishable I make the offering. k Thou art the milk of the great ones, of plants the sap; with undeceived eye I gaze on thee for fair offspring. l Thou art brilliance; follow thou brilliance; may Agni not take away the brilliance. m Thou art the tongue of Agni, the good one of the gods. n Be thou (good) for every sacrifice, for the gods, for every prayer. o Thou art the shining, the radiance, the brilliance. p May the god Savitr purify you With a flawless strainer, With the rays of the bright sun. q I grasp thee shining in the shining, for every sacrifice, for the gods, for every r I grasp thee radiance in the radiance, thee resplendent in the resplendence for every sacrifice, for the gods, for every prayer. a Thou I art a black deer, living in the lair, to Agni thee, hail!

Accomplishing (the rite) with Rc, Saman, and Yajus, Let us rejoice in fullness of wealth, in sustenance. a This is thy body, O pure one. This is thy splendour. With it be united. Win brightness. b Thou art the strong, grasped by mind, acceptable to Visnu. c In the impulse of thee, of true impulse, may I win a support for my speech. Hail! d Thou art pure, thou art nectar, thou art the sacrifice for all the gods. e I have mounted the eye of the sun. The pupil of the eye of Agni, When thou goest with thy steeds, Blazing with the wise. f Thou art thought, thou art mind, thou art meditation, thou art the gift (to the [1], thou art of the sacrifice, thou art of kingly power, thou art Aditi, double- g Be thou successful for us in going, successful in returning. h May Mitra bind thee by the foot. i May Pusan guard the ways, k For Indra, the overseer! l May thy mother approve thee, thy father, thy brother sprung of the same womb, thy friend in the herd. m Go, goddess, to the god, to Soma for Indra's sake. n May Rudra guide thee hither in the path of Mitra. o Hail! Return with Soma as thy comrade, with wealth. a Thou art a Vasvi, thou art a Rudra, thou art Aditi, thou art an Aditya, thou art thou art Candra. b May Brhaspati make thee rejoice in happiness. May Rudra with the Vasus be favourable to thee. c I pour thee on the head of the earth, on the place of sacrifice, on the abode of the offering, rich in ghee; hail! d The Raksas is enclosed, the evil spirits are enclosed. Thus I cut the neck of the e Thus I cut the neck of him who hates us and whom we hate [1]. f With us be wealth, with thee be wealth, thine be wealth. g Gaze, O goddess, together with the goddess Urvaçi. h Let me attend on thee, with Tvastr's aid; rich in seed, bearing seed, may I find a hero in thy presence. i May I not be separated from abundance of wealth. a Let thy shoot be joined with shoot, joint with joint, let thy scent further desire, let savour which falls not cause rejoicing.

h This, god Savitr, is the Soma of you (gods); guard it; let it escape you not. i So, O Soma, god to the gods, hast thou gone, and I here man to man, with offspring, with increase of wealth. k Honour to the gods I Homage to the Pitrs! 1 Here (may) I (be free) from Varuna's noose; may I gaze on the heaven, on the light that is for all men, M Agni, lord of vows, thou art the vow-lord of vows. n May my body that bath been in thee be here in me; may thy body that hath been in me be there in thee. o Be aright the vows, O vow-lord, of both of us votaries. a I have passed by some, I have not approached others. b I have found thee nearer than the farther, farther than the near. c So I welcome thee, that art of Visnu, for the sacrifice to the gods. d Let the god Savitr anoint thee with honey. e O plant, guard it. f O axe, harm it not. g With thy top graze not the sky, with thy middle harm not the atmosphere, with earth be united. h O tree, grow with a hundred shoots; may we grow with a thousand shoots. i Thou, whom this sharp axe hath brought forward for great good fortune, uncut, with wealth of heroes, (give us) riches. a To I earth thee! To atmosphere thee! To sky thee! b Pure be the world where the Pitrs sit. c Thou art barley (yava); bar (yavaya) from us foes, bar evil spirits. d Thou art the seat of the Pitrs. e Thou art easy of approach, first among leaders; the tree will mount thee, be aware f Let the god Savitr anoint thee with honey. g For the plants with good berries thee! h Support the sky, fill the atmosphere, with thy base make firm the earth. i To these dwellings of thine are we fain to go, Where are the many-horned active kine; There is resplendent the highest step Of the wide-stepping Visnu, the mighty! k Behold the deeds of Visnu Wherein he displayed his laws, Indra's true friend. l That highest step of Visnu The singers ever gaze upon Like an eye stretched in the sky.

Being unwilling to accept one another's pre-eminence, they separated in five bodies, Agni with the Vasus, Soma with the Rudras, Indra with the Maruts, Varuna with the Adityas, Brhaspati with the All-gods. They reflected, 'Our foes, the Asuras, we are profiting in that we are falling out among ourselves; let us remove (from us) and deposit together those bodies which are dear to us; from these shall he depart who [1] first of us is hostile to another.' Therefore of those who perform the Tanunaptra rite he who first is hostile goes to destruction. In that he divides up the Tanunaptra, (it serves) for the overcoming of the foe; he himself prospers, his foe is defeated. He divides five times; for five times did they divide. Then again the Pankti has five syllables, the sacrifice is fivefold; verily he wins the sacrifice. 'For him who rusheth on I seize thee', he says; he who rushes on is the breath [2]; verily he delights the breath. 'For him who rusheth around', he says; he who rushes around is the mind; verily he delights the mind. 'For Tanunaptra', he says; for they divided up these bodies. 'For the mighty', he says; for they divided them up for strength. 'For the greatest in strength', he says; for they divided up the greatest part of themselves. 'Thou art unsurmounted, the unsurmountable', he says; for that is unsurmounted and unsurmountable. 'The force of the gods' [3], be says; for that is the force of the gods. 'Guarding from imprecations, impervious to imprecations', he says; for that guards from imprecations and is impervious to imprecations. 'May the lord of consecration approve my consecration', he says; that is according to the text. The gods making the ghee a weapon smote Soma; now they come near the Soma as it were, when they perform the Tanunaptra. 'May thy every shoot, O god Soma, swell', be says. Whatever [4] of it becomes spoiled' or is lost, that he purifies by it.

As men being freed from bonds cry aloud, so the sacrificers freed from the bonds of the gods cry aloud, placing food and strength in themselves. The lute has a hundred strings. Man is of a hundred (years) of age, and of a hundredfold strength; verily they find support in age and strength. They run a race, to win what has not yet been won. They beat drums; the voice of the drum is the highest (form of) speech; verily they win the highest (form of) speech. They beat the earth-drum; verily they win that speech which has entered this (earth); verily also they conquer the earth. All (forms of) speech they utter, to gain all (forms of speech). Two strive on a dry hide, to gain strength. One reviles, another extols. He who reviles purifies them, he who extols places food in them after they are purified. They win by the first months what is done by the Rsis and by the gods; in that the Bhutechad Samans are used, both are gained. Those who perform the year rite lose their virility. There are a pair united within the sacrificial ground; verily they lose not virility. vii. 5. 10. They pierce the hide; verily they remove the sin of the (sacrificers). 'Do not miss, do not pierce through', he says; verily they now remove their sin. Slave girls dance round the Marjaliya fire with water-pots on their heads, beating the ground with their feet, and singing 'This is honey.' Honey indeed is the chiefest food of the gods; verily they win the chiefest food. They beat the ground with their feet; verily they endow the (sacrificers) with might. The Horse Sacrifice (continued) vii. 5. 11. To earth hail! To the atmosphere hail! To the sky hail! To that which will stream together hail! To that which is streaming together hail! To that which hath streamed together hail! To that which will cloud hail! To that which cloudeth hail! To that which hath been clouded hail! To cloud hail! To mist hail! To storm hail! To freezing hail! To springing hail! To that which will lighten hail!