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The Upanishads, Part 1

By Max Müller

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V, 2

SECOND KHANDA.
1. Breath said: 'What shall be my food?' They answered: 'Whatever there is, even unto dogs and birds.' Therefore this is food for Ana (the breather). His name is clearly Ana 3. To him who knows this there is nothing that is not (proper) food.

2. He said: 'What shall be my dress?' They answered: 'Water.' Therefore wise people, when they are going to eat food, surround their food before and after with water 4.' He (prâna) thus gains a dress, and is no longer naked 5'.

3. Satyakâma Gâbâla, after he had communicated this to Gosruti Vaiyâghrapadya, said to him: 'If you were to tell this to a dry stick, branches would grow, and leaves spring from it.'

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4. If 1 a man wishes to reach greatness, let him perform the Dîkshâ 2 (preparatory rite) on the day of the new moon, and then, on the night of the full moon, let him stir a mash of all kinds of herbs with curds and honey, and let him pour ghee on the fire (âvasathya laukika), saying; 'Svâhâ to the oldest and the best.' After that let him throw all that remains (of the ghee) 3 into the mash.

5. In the same manner let him pour ghee on. the fire, saying, 'Svâhâ to the richest.' After that let him throw all that remains together into the mash.

In the same manner let him pour ghee on the fire, saying, 'Svâhâ to the firm rest.' After that let him throw all that remains together into the mash.

In the same manner let him pour ghee on the fire, saying, 'Svâhâ to success.' After that let him throw all that remains together into the mash.

6. Then going forward and placing the mash in his hands, he recites: 'Thou (Prâna) art Ama 1 by name, for all this together exists in thee. He is the oldest and best, the king, the sovereign May he make me the oldest, the best, the king, the sovereign. May I be all this.'

7. Then he eats with the following Rik verse at every foot: 'We choose that food'--here he swallows--'Of the divine Savitri (prâna)'--here he swallows--'The best and all-supporting food'--here he swallows--'We meditate on the speed of Bhaga (Savitri, prâna)'--here he drinks all.

8. Having cleansed the vessel, whether it be a kamsa or a kamasa, he sits down behind the fire on a skin or on the bare ground, without speaking or making any other effort. If in his dream he sees a woman, let him know this to be a sign that his sacrifice has succeeded.

9. On this there is a Sloka: 'If during sacrifices which are to fulfil certain wishes he sees in his dreams a woman, let him know success from this vision in a dream, yea, from this vision in a dream.'

Footnotes
74:1 Padvîsa, fetter, π?δη, pedica, a word now well known, but which Burnouf (Commentaire sur le Yaçna, Notes, CLXXIV) tried in vain to decipher.

74:2 Burnouf rightly preferred pratishthâsi to pratishtho 'si, though the commentary on the corresponding passage of the Brihadâranyaka seems to favour tatpratishtho 'si.

74:3 Ana, breather, more general than pra-ana = prâna, forth-breather, and the other more specified names of breath.

74:4 They rinse the mouth before and after every meal.

74:5 We expect, 'He who knows this' instead of prâna, but as p. 75 prâna may apply to every individual prâna, the usual finishing sentence was possibly dropt on purpose.

75:1 The oblation here described is called mantha, a mortar, or what is pounded in a mortar, i. e. barley stirred in some kind of gravy. See Gaim. N. M. V. P. 406.

75:2 Not the real dîkshâ, which is a preparatory rite for great sacrifices, but penance, truthfulness, abstinence, which take the place of dîkshâ with those who live in the forest and devote themselves to upâsana, meditative worship.

75:3 What is here called sampâtam avanayati is the same as samsravam avanayati in the Brih. Âr. VI, 3, 2. The commentator says: Sruvâvalepanam âgyam mantham samsrâvayati.

76:1 Cf. Brih. Âr. I, 1, 3, 22.