This hymn speaks of the ongms of the sacred word, speech or language {vac, f, a goddess), and of its ntual recreation through the verbal contests of the Vedic sacrifice. The soaal nature of speech is emphasiaed, the birth of speech m friendship and Its use by all of the assembly (v. lo) and by the four pnests with their individual functions (v. 1 1). The enemy of true speech is represented as the nval of the author of this 1 Bfhaspatil^ When they^ set in motion the first beginmng of speech, giving names, Aeir most pure_and perfectly gua.rdcd secret^was revealed through love.
2 When the wise ones " fashioned speech with their thought, siftmg It as gram is sifted through a sieve,® Aon friends recogniaed their friendships. A good sign was placed on thVir"spccch.
y Through the sacrifice they traced the path of speech and found It msidc the sages. They held it and portioned it out to many; together the seven singers® praised it.
4 One who looked did not see speech, and anothcr_who hstens does not hear it. It rcyeals itself to someone as ■5 loving wife, lieautlfully dressed,_rcvca]s her body m her husband.
/ Dne^erson, they said, has grown awkward and heavy in this friendship; they no longer urge him forward in the contests. He lives with falsehood like a milklcss COW’, for the speech that he has heard has no fruit no flow’cr.
6 A man that abandons a friend who has learned with him no longer lias a share in speech. What he docs hear he hears in vain, for he docs not know' the path of good action.
7 Friends have eyes and cars, but their flashes of insight arc not c^ak Some arc like porids ilm rcacli only to 61 THE RIG VEDA the mouth ot shoulder; others arc like ponds tliat one, could jb^hejn.
8 Wfien tlie intuitions of the mind are shaped in the heart, when Brahmins perform sacrifices togetlicr as friends, some are left behind for lack of knowledge, while others surpass tliem with the power to praise.
$ Tliose who move neither near nor far, who are not real Brahmins nor pressers of the Soma; using speech in a bad way, they weave on a weft of rags, without under- standing.
10 AU his ftiends rejoice in the friend who emerges with fame and victory in the contest. He saves them from error and gives them food. He is worthy to be pushed forward to win the prize.
11 One^ sits bringing to blossom the flower of the verses. Another sings a song in the ^akvari metre. One, the , Brahmin, proclaims the knowledge of the ancient ways. Another lays out the measure of the sacrifice.
NOTES 1. This epithet, that literally means ‘lord of sacred speech’, is particularly appropriate here as Brhaspati is the patron of speakers and inspired poets.
2. The first poets and seers.
3. The Soma juice is purified by being filtered through a sieve.
4. The Hotf priest sits motionless and invokes the gods; the Udgatf sings; the Brahmin must make sure that no mistakes are committed, and the Adhvaryu is responsible for ritual activities like pressing the Soma (as in v, 9) and measuring the sacrificial area.
Speech Speech A paean of self-praise to and by Speech, in a more personified form than in 10.71 but implicit in various forms of speech: sacrificial (w. 2-3, 5), agonistic (v. 6), and cosmic (v. 4), the latter enabling Speech to become identified with the creator 62 THE ELEMENTS OF SACRIFICE (v. 7) and the absolute godhead, encompassing all gods (w. I, 8). Speech is never menuoned by name m the hymn, never actually spoken herself.
1 I move^gith jhe Rudras, with the V^us, with the Adityas and all the gods. 1 carry _bPthJMitraIand Varuna. both India andA^, andJiotb-ofltbeJV^vms.
2 I carry the swelhng Soma, and Tva§tt, and PQ^an and Bhaga. I bestow wealth on the pious sacnficct who presses the Soma and offers the oblation.
^ I am the queen, the confluence of nches, the skilful one who IS first among those worthy of sacrifice. The gods divided me up mto various parts, for I dwell m many places and enter mto many forms.
4 The one who eats food, who truly sees, who breathes, who hears what is said, does so through me. Though they do not realize it, they dwell m me. Dsten, you whom they have heard ^ what I tell you should be heeded.
/ lam the one who says, by mysclf.,what.gives-joy to gods ahd'men. Whom T love J_make-a.wesnme; I make him a sage, a wise man, a Brahmin. _ 6 I~sfretcirtHc bow for Rudra so that his arrow will strike down the hater of prayer. I incite the contest* among the people. I have pervaded sky and earth.
7 I gave birth to the father on the head of this world. My womb Is in the ^vate^s, withm the ocean. From there I spread out over all creatures and touch the very sky with the crown of my head.
5 I am the one who blows like tlic wind, embraang all creatures. Beyond the sky, beyond this earth, so much have 1 become in my greatness.
1.0TES 1 Literally, one who is heard or who is famous; a triple pun on the toot 'hear* in ‘listen’, 'they have heard’, and ‘heeded’ Cf the Greek f-luein, nf.ltitin 1. Perhaps a verba! contest rather than an aetual battle, though 65 THE RIG VEDA the first part of the verse makes the second meaning possible also.
10.173 Royal Consecration This hymn establishes the king upon his throne and makes his future reign secure, playing upon the word dhriwam (‘firm’ or ‘steadfast’), which recurs like the refrain in a magic spell. The hymn, part of an elaborate royal consecration ritual {rajasuya), would be accompanied by an oblation of Soma and perhaps by certain magic rituals. The same verses in the Aiharva Veda are used as an imprecation against earthquakes.
1 I have brought you here; remain among us. Stay stead- fast and unwavering. Let all the people want you, and let the kingship never fall away from you.
2 Stay right here - do not slip away, but stay unwavering, like a mountain. Stand steadfast here, like Indra, and here uphold the kingdom.
y Indra has supported him firmly with a firm oblation. Let Soma - and Brahmanaspati also - speak up for him.
4 Firm is the sky and firm the earth, and firm are these mountains. Firm is all this world, and firm is this king of all the people, / Steadfast let King Varuna, steadfast the god Brhaspati, steadfast let Indra and Agni maintain your steadfast king- ship.
6 With a firm oblation we touch the firm Soma. Thus let Indra make all the people who bring tribute yours alone.
10.33 Rament of the Aged Priesf A bard has lost his patron. King Kuru^ravapa, whose son, Upama^tavas, has succeeded to the throne and no longer employs the old man. The bard invokes Indra (the quint- essential generous patron), tries to arouse the young king’s 64 THE ELEMENTS OF SACRIFICE pity, and even employs veiled threats to avenge the (perhaps untimely?) death of the old king (w. i, 8). Finally, he is resigned to his fete (v. 9).
1 The hamessers of the people’- have harnessed me; I carry Pu5an along the way.* All the gods protected me. Then a cry arose: ‘An evil taskmaster is coming!’
2 My ribs encircle me_ynth.pamJike_nval_wives;.poverty, Sakedness, weakne^ bind me. My mmd fluttersJiere.and. ffieimjike aiird.
} As rats gnaw at their tails, cares gnaw at me, your smgct of praises, O lord of a hundred powers * Have mercy on us once more, generous Indra, and be like a father to us.
^ Asa sage I chose as my kmg Kuru^ravana the descendant of Trasadasyu, most generous to those who offer prayer, / whose three bays carry me m this chariot toward better times.'* I wiU praise him who gave a thousand cows to the pnests,® 6 UpamaSravas’s father, whose words were sweet as a field IS a delight to the one who fives on it.
7 Upama^ravas, his son, and grandson of Mitradthi® — remember I am the one who sang the praises of your father.
# If I had power over the immortals or over mortals, my generous patron would be alive.
S No one fives beyond the decree of the gods, not even if he has a hundred souls.* So I am parted from my com- panion.
NOTrs 1. Perhaps the gods arc meant, as they arc said to have protected the singer 2. The singer, vho imagines himself ns the horse liamcsscd to the king’s chariot, further imagines PQsin, the charioteer of the gods, riding in it.
THE RIG VEDA 3. An epithet of India.
4. Now that the tables are turned (the old king being dead), the singer is himself in the chariot, pulled by the king’s horses that are all he has left of his patronage.
5. Perhaps a subtle hint to Upama§ravas to do the same.
6. Perhaps another name for Trasadasyu, ihe ancestor of Kuru5- ravana. The name, meaning ‘guest of a friend’, has significance for the poet.
7. A-tman is the soul or the breath of life, as we might say that a cat has nine lives.
lo.ioi The Sacrificial Triests This hymn is a Hnd of work-song for priests, likening their ritual work to the work of the farmers in the field, as well as to other occupations (such as weaving, v. 2, and chariot racing, V. 7) and pastimes (such as sexual play, w. ii-ia).
1 "Wake up with one mind, my friends, and kindle the fire, you many who share the same nest.^ I call Dadhikra and Agni and the goddess Dawn, aU joined with Indra^ to help you.
2 Make your thoughts harmonious; stretch them on the loom; make a ship^ whose oars will carry us across; make the weapons ready and set them in place;® drive the sacrifice forward,^ my fidends.
^ Harness the plough and stretch the yoke on it; sow the seed in the prepared womb. And if the hearing of our song is weighty enough,® then the ripe crop will come nearer to the scythes.
4 The inspired poets who know how harness the plough and stretch the yokes on either side to win favour among the gods.
/ Make the buckets ready and fasten the straps well. We want to draw water from the fountain that is easy to draw water from, flowing freely, inexhaustible.® 6 I draw water from the fountain whose buckets are in 66 THE ELEMENTS OF SACRIFICE place. With good straps, easy to draw water from, freely flowing and mexhaustible.
7 Keep the horses happy and you will wm the stake Make your chanot mto the vehicle of good fortune Dnnk at the fountam that has Soma-vats for buckets, a pressmg- stone for its wheel, a consecrated goblet for its casmg; this is the fountam where men dnnk.
8 Make an enclosure,'^ for this is a dnnk for men. Stitch the breast-plates thick and broad. Make iron forts that cannot be breached; make your goblet strong so that nothmg will flow out.
y I turn toward our cause here your sacnfiaal attcnuon, gods, your divine thought that is disposed toward sacrifice and worthy of sacrifice. Let the great cow® give us milk m thousands of streams of milk, as if she were walking m a meadow.
10 Pour the tawny one® mto the lap of wood, carve it with knives made of stone Embrace it all around with ten girths; yoke the draught animal to the two shafts.^® 11 The draught animal is pressed bght between the two shafts, hkc a man m bed with two women. Stand the tree up m the wood; sink the well deep without dig- 13 The perns, men, take the penis and move it and stick it m to win the pnze.^® Inspire Indra, Nijpgri’s son,*® to come here to help us, to come eagerly to dnnk Soma.
NOTES 1. This term denotes companions in general, but here may liter- ally indicate a group of priests vho live together. Cf to 5 i a. The ship that carries the worshipper 'to the other shore’ is a common metaphor; here there may be a pun betveen ship and shuttle Chttlc ship’, m Sanskrit), from the first part of the \crsc.
3 The weapons arc the instruments of the ritual, here the priest’s work is likened to that of a vrarrior, as in verse 8 4 The sacrifice as a chariot, ns in verse 7; cf. 1.164, 10 133, etc.
5. That is, if the patrons paj‘ well enough for it, tlic sacriGcc 67 THE RIG VEDA ■will yield a harvest as tich as a gtain harvest in ■which the plants bend to the scythe.
6. The fountain of inspiration and the well of Soma.
7. That iSj a walled fortress or a cow-pen, to protect Soma the bull. A series of martial metaphors follows in this -verse.
8. The cow as a symbol of the inspiration implicit in the thought of the gods.
9. Soma, here imagined as a sacrificial animal. The knives of stone are the pressing stones. Cf. 10.94.3.
10. The two shafts are the two hands that hold the Soma; the ten girths are the ten fingers.
11. A tt'iple entendre', the tree in the wood (forest) is the Soma plant in the wooden bowl and the penis in the womb, the latter simile extended in the last quarter of the verse, that further echoes the imagery of verses 3, 5, 6, and the final verse.
1 2. A sexual metaphor for Soma pressed in the mortar and pestle.
13. Indra is the son of Aditi, who may be called Ni§tigri (‘swal- lower of the rival wife’) as she overcomes her rival, Diti. Cf.
I I X 7 In Praise of Generosity This hymn, which seems constructed at least in part out of aphorisms, exhorts the worshipper to be generous, both to the gods (through sacrifice) and to the poet (through patron- age), as weU as to mankind in general. There is also a self- serving level to the advice: fortune is fickle, and the man to whom you give now may have given to you in the past, and may do so again.
1 The gods surely did not ordain hunger alone for slaughter various deaths reach the man who is well- fed. The riches of the man who gives fully do not run out, but the miser finds no one -with sympathy.
2 The man with food who hardens his heart against the poor man who comes to him suffering and searching for nourishment - though in the past he had made use of him^ — he surely finds no one ■with sympathy.
3 The man who is truly generous gives to the beggar who 68 THE ELEMENTS OF SACRIFICE approaches him thin and in search of food. He puts himself at the service of the man who calls to him &om the road, and makes him a friend for times to come.
4 That man is no fiiend who does not give of his own nourishment to his friend, the companion at his side. Let the fiaend turn away from him; this is not his dwelling-place. Let him find another man who gives freely, even if he be a stranger.
/ Let the stronger man give to the man whose need is greater; let him gaae upon the lengthenmg path.® For aches roll hke the wheels of a chariot, tummg from one to another, 6 The man without foresight gets food in vam; I speak the truth: It will be his death.'* He culavates neither a patron nor a friend. The man who eats alone bangs troubles upon himself alone.® 7 The plough that works the soil makes a man well-fed; the legs that walk put the road behind them. The priest who speaks is better than the one who docs not speak. The friend who gives freely surpasses the one who does not 8 One-foot surDasse3_Two-foot;-and -Two-foot leaves Three-foot— behind. Four-foot comes at-thc_,call_o£ Two-foot, watching over his herds and serving him.® 9 The two hands, though the same, do not do the same thing. Two cows from the same mother do not give the same amount of milk The powers of two twins arc not the same. Two kinsmen do not give with the same generosity.
MOTES I. The menning is that hunger docs not always hill, and that there arc other ways to die; that though the poor arc hungry, the rich man should not forget that he too will die, and so he should share his food with the poor and with the gods i The implication is that the man who is now poor was once powerful, and was flattered and used by the man now rich; the 69 THK rue vrnA v(:tf.c emphnsiyes the need to foresee future yh>ri.
'i'hc piith of life still to come, in which miny up-^cts nre pos- /. tniirii to iltc theme of the hret verse: by honrdtnp food f'rf,' fi'it only (lot f. no» nvoid death, hut brinps upon onescU the Jo of f;n'‘*fi fdtnic haj>pincss.
ffy f '^tnnniti inp, the sin of greed, he brings upon himscit evils t ■' h jt*. pov( ny hunger.
if) til' ( net k riildle t)f the sphinx, man walks first on four feet Ah' ' f,i''/li)ig baby), then on two feet (the mature man), and finally ''.ri thr'' ft'ci (till old man with a cane). In this Indian variant of fh' nddle, f int dooi is the sun (an enigmatic but widespread Vcdic ffC tfif ), '(V<* fool the human, Three-foot the old man with a cane iOfd f^oiir foot a dog. In Inter tradition, the four Ages of man arc cliftraMcri/ed by the fact that Dharma walks on four, three, two feet, an<l one foot, as time degenerates.
TO.jjt Fa/V/j j With faith the fire is kindled; witli faith the oblation in offered up. With speech I testify to faitli upon the head of ]ia]-)pincss.
;> Ikiilh, make this that I have said dear to tlic man who given, dear to the man who wishes to give, dear, O faith, among lavish sacrificers.
^ /kfi the gods established faith among the formidable /inn ran, ^ no establish what we have said among lavish nacrificern.
/f 7'be godn who sacrifice and are guarded by Vayu honour failh; wilh heartfelt intent they honour faith. And with failh fhey find wealth.
^ We cal) lo faith at morning, to faith near midday, to faith v/hen (he nun ninks down. Faith, establish faith in tis.2 NOTES 1. The Asutas are the enemies of the gods, the ancient gods, though perhaps not yet the demons they^'’"^,' later paja-c ^'' 70 THE ELEMENTS OF SACRIFICE the Vedas. For the tvay in which the gods establish faith (in the gods) in the demons, see lo 124.
2. An almost certainly intended ambiguity' make us have faith, and make others (the generous worshippers) have faith m us (m the pncBts), 1.164 The Tjddle of the Sacrifice (Asya Vamasja) This long and complex hymn has inspired many elaborate, detailed glosses and still remains largely obscure. The language, however, is not particularly diEBcult, and certain major themes emerge with suffiaent clanty to encourage the translator to present the hymn m a relatively raw state of exegesis,' rather than burden the reader with a critical apparatus out of proportion to the poem itself. Those who seek enhghtenment on the many points left unglossed are encouraged to pursue the books and arades hsted in the bibhography.
One reason for the great scholarly attention paid to this hymn is that it is traditionally regarded as a nddlc - a tradition that waves a red flag before the eyes of Vedic esegetes. And there are sohd grounds for this tradition, for many questions arc asked outright in the hymn, and others arc hidden in a symbohsm that seems deliberately labyrinthine. Yet it seems that the poet thought he knew the answers to some of his questions and posed others merely rhctoncally, as questions no one would dream of trymg to answer. The reader is thus encouraged to solve those that can be solved and to leave the others unanswered.
The hymn demonstrates a unity on two distinct but inter- secting levels, espliat and impliat. That is, certain tropes emerge repeatedly to express different ideas, and certain ideas emerge repeatedly to be expressed by different tropes For example, the hymn mentions cows and birds m several verses; the cow may stand for the Dawn (who is not ex- plicitly named) or the goddess of Speech (who is), and the birds for the sun or die monal (both cxphatly named), while 71 THH RIG VKDA next Terse emphnsjzcs the need to foresee future reversals of this Idnd.
3. The path of life still to come, in which many upsets arc pos- sible.
4- A return to the theme of the first verse: by hoarding food one not only docs not avoid death, but brings uj5on oneself the loss of one’s future happiness.
5. By committing the sin of greed, he brings upon himself evils such as poverty and hunger.
6. In the Greek riddle of the sphinx, man walks first on four feet (the crawling baby), then on two feet (the mature man), and finally +1? ^ with a cane). In this Indian variant of the riddle. One-foot is the sun (an enigmatic but widespread Vcdic theme). Two-foot the human. Three-foot the old man with a cane an our oot a dog. In later tradition, the four Ages of man arc characterized by the fact that Dharma walks on four, three, two teet, and one foot, as time degenerates.
Faif/j I With fai* the fire is kindled; with faitli the oblation herdofLppLirf ^ ^ ^ man who among lavish sacrificers.
^ estebUshed faith among die formidable ■when th midday, to faith the sun sinks down. Faith, estabHsh faith k ns.= notes though perhap? not ancient gods, P not yet the demons they are in later parts of 70 THE ELEMENTS OF SACKIFICE rence in a hymn about four-footed animals and four-footed verses. Sometimes several different numbers are apphed to the same things (spokes bemg five or six or twelve, horses being seven or ten, and so forth). This should warn us that it IS not possible to make a direct connection between a number and what it symbolizes, though a certain amount of specu- lation along these hnes is possible, as we will see when we consider unphat levels of symbolism m the hymn.
Most important of all the numbers are one and two. The One as the Absolute appears several times (6, lo, 15, 46), and both it, exphatly, (46) and other thmgs, imphady, are said to be many as well as one* the horse (2), the wheel (14, 48), and the foot of the cow (41). Twos form basic oppositions on the exphat level We have noted the contrast between the wise and the foohsh, another, related to this, is the contrast between the mortal and the immortal (30, 38), supported by recurrent references to one or the other side of the pair' that which is ageless or undying or unbreaking (2, lo-ii, 13-15) and that which ages and dies (29, 32). Further contrasts between that with bones and that without bones (4), the near and far sides of the sky (12, 17), up and down (17, 43), two bowls (33), male and female (16), and past and future (19) enneh the dialectic structure of the hymn The most explicit and developed contrast is bctv'ccn the two birds (20-22), who occur m other forms as well, as an individual bird (7, 46, 32) and a group of birds (21, 47). Related to the birds, as wc shall see, arc horses (2, 5, 34, 33), which arc m turn related to the chariot (2-3, 9, 12-14, 31,48); the ‘naves’ of the diariot pun on the ‘n.avcl’ of the universe (33-3, nabbi refernng to both terms) By far the most import- ant animal m the hymn is die cow (7, 9, 17, 26-9, 40-.t4) with her calf (3, 7, 17, 27-8) and bull (43). The cow is closely rcl.atcd to the images of human procreation, father (12, 18, 22), mother and father (8, 10, 33) (referred to as earth and sky cxpliatly m 35 and tmphatlv in others such as 51), mother and son (4, 9), father and son (16), brothers (i), sistcre (3), 73 THi: luo vnpA and twins (15, 56). Two Vcdic myths lie behind sevend vetscs: the mother bears her son and then almndons him (9> ^7> 5^) ^nd the father inccstnously procrCvitcs with hi^ own daughter (8).
A final explicit image is closely related to the problem of tlic inspired solution of the riddle; tins is the image of the sacrifice. The hymn begins with a priest (1) and poci.s who arc inspired priests (5, 6); it spcalts of the priest’s cow (9). There arc several references to the goddess of sacred speech (lo^ 37» 45> 49)> to hymns (23-5) and syllables (24, 39, 41-2)^ j"? (45) ^md the Order which underlies them (JJ, 57, 47)> and finally to tlic sacrifice itself (15,55,50).
How do these interwoven images express meaning in the ^mn On one level, it is clear tliat the hymn is about the i^s It IS tidldng about -■ about riddles and numbers and wisdom and immortality and birds and chariots and horses ^ speccli and the sacrifice, all of which arc ^ "Vividly naturalistic detail. But they are abso IpttpI r \ make no sense on a naturalistic , ^ could have a single wheel, or fire spokes spokes?), and it appears that tliese imaD-p«! ^ thirougli the identification of several of tlie SSpT particularly the chariot and birds soul anrl ^ ^ ^ yearly sacrifice or immortal Soeerh n motlier identified with Dawn or a^e appropriate to these ‘signified’ concepts ‘signifiers’ to stretch die SSSe TF T F imagination, supported bv m ^ ^ or fire is a conjecture Veda rd references to the sun-bird in the in this hymn" references to the sun the birth of tht’ ^ */ verses seem to refer to begotten as a calf thfSo/a^oJ Z mother, the earth (in So, too the verJel F ^ daughter the dawn cow.
to the death and ^e mortal and immortal may refer death and rebirth of the sun at the end of each day or THE ELEMENTS OE SACRIEICE year. The dead one who ‘wanders with the sacrificial' drink’ (30, 38, cf. 10.16.5) or ‘enters Destruction’ when he is within the womb (32) is the soul of the mortal (or of the mortal sun) whose wandering and rebirth are dependent on the endurmg quahties of his nature.
Smce the cow that represents the earth or Dawn also stands for the pnesf s fee (9) or for the goddess of Speech, she serves as a pivot for several symbohc layers, moreover, there is an extended pun throughout the hymn based on the ‘feet’ of the cow (7, 12, 17, 41) and of the sacred verses (23-4), as well as the ‘footprmts’ or sacnfiaal traces of the gods (5) - all designated by the term pada. Similarly, the word ak^ara which means both ‘syllable’ and ‘undymg’ serves as a link between the sacrifice and the immortal sun/ Workmg with these imphdt and exphat patterns, it is possible to explam more of the hymn. The sun is often identified with Agm, who is mentioned in the hymn at several pomts: he is exphatly identified with the One (46); he appears in three forms (i), and he has flames that are hke long hair (44). Agm lurks behind other images: he is, hke the sun, the first-born child of Order (ii, 37, 47) or Truth (cf 10 5.7) and IS born of the waters (32). The mteraction of the sun and the waters makes sense of a number of obscure references to a Vcdic theory of the ram cycle* the rays of the sun (cows) drink up earthly waters with the lowest point of the ray (the foot) and then give back ram (milk) from their top (head) after they carry the moisture back up to the sun (7> 47> 51 > 52) The sun is thus clothed m the waters (7, 31). The relationship between the sun and the sacrifice (through flic concept of the yearly solar renewal and yearly sacrifice) is present m the number syunbolism hnkmg the chariot (of the sun) with the sacrifice (as in the extended metaphor of 10.135, flic opemng verse of which is echoed m verse 22 of the present hymn) The seven horses or sons or embryos arc seten priests or offenngs, die three or slx or five naves or spokes arc seasons (variously enumerated m dificrcnt sacn- 75 THE RIG VEDA ficial reckonings), the twelve are the months, the 360 the days of the years (the 720 the days and nights in pairs), and so forth.
Many particular obscurities remain, of course, and many verses mean several things at once, but when viewed in this overarching framework the hymn reveals a number of consistent questions and answers expressed through a careful network of highly charged symbols.
1 This beloved grey priest has a middle brother whods hungry and a third brother with butter on his back.^ In him I saw the Lord of All Tribes with his seven sons.
2 Seven yoke the one-wheeled chariot drawn by one horse with seven names. All these creatures rest on the age- less and unstoppable wheel with three naves.^ y Seven horses draw the seven who ride on this seven- wheeled chariot. Seven sisters call out to the place where the seven names of the cows are hidden.
4 Who saw the newborn one, the one with bones who was brought forth by the boneless one?® Where was the breath and blood and soul of the earth? Who can go to ask this from someone who knows?
/ An ignorant fool, I ask in my mind about the hidden footprints^ of the gods. Over the young calf the poets stretched out seven threads to weave.
6 Unknowing, ignorant, I ask for knowledge about it from the poets who know: What is the One who in the form of the unborn propped apart these six realms of space? ' - 7 Let him who really knows proclaim here the hidden place of that beloved bird. The cows give milk from his head; wearing a cloak, they drank water with their feet.
<? The mother® gave the fether a share in accordance with the Order, for at the beginning she embraced him vrith nund and heart. Recoiling, she was pierced and flowed with the seed of the embryo. The reverent came to praise.
76 THE ELEMENTS OF SACRIFICE p The mother -was harnessed to the chanot pole of the priest’s cow; the embryo remained within the cow- pens. The calf lowed and looked for the many-coloured cow on the three stages of the journey.® 10 The One has nsen up, holding up three mothers’ and three fathers, who never wear him down. On the back of the distant sky they speak of Speech, who knows all but does not move all.