III-xvi-1: Man, truly, is the sacrifice. His (first) twenty-four years are the morning libation, for the metre Gayatri is made up of twenty-four syllables, and the morning libation is related to the Gayatri metre. With this the Vasus are connected. The Pranas indeed are the Vasus, for they make all this stable.
III-xvi-2: During this period of life if anything (e.g. illness) causes him pain, he should repeat: ‘O Pranas, Vasus, unite this morning libation of mind with the midday libation. May I who am a sacrifice not be lost in the midst of the Vasus who are the Pranas’. He surely recovers from that and becomes healthy.
III-xvi-3: Now, (his next) forty-four years are the mid-day libation, (for) the metre Tristubh is made up of forty-four syllables, and the mid-day libation is related to the Tristubh metre. With this, the Rudras are connected. The Pranas indeed are the Rudras, for they cause all this (universe) to weep.
III-xvi-4: During this period of life if anything (e.g. illness) causes him pain, he should repeat: ‘O Pranas, Rudras, unite this mid-day libation of mine with the third libation. May I, who am a sacrifice, not be lost in the midst of the Rudras who are the Pranas’. He surely recovers from that and becomes healthy.
III-xvi-5: Then (his next) forty-eight years are the third libation. The metre Jagati is made up of forty-eight syllables and the third libation is related to the Jagati metre. With this, the Adityas are connected. The Pranas indeed are the Adityas, for they accept all this.
III-xvi-6: During this period of life if anything (e.g. illness) causes him pain, he should repeat: ‘O Pranas, Adityas, extend this third libation of mine to a full length of life. May I, who am a sacrifice, not be lost in the midst of the Adityas who are the Pranas.’ He surely recovers from that and becomes healthy.
III-xvi-7: Knowing this well-known (doctrine of sacrifice) Aitareya Mahidasa said, ‘Why do you afflict me thus, me who cannot be so killed.’ He lived for one hundred and sixteen years. He, too, who knows thus, lives in vigour for one hundred and sixteen years.
III-xvii-1: That he (who performs the Purusha sacrifice) feels hunger, that he feels thirst, that he does not rejoice –all these are the initiatory rites of this sacrifice.
III-xvii-2: And, that he eats that he drinks, that he rejoices – all these approach Upasadas.
III-xvii-3: And, that he laughs, that he eats, that he behaves as one of a couple – all these approach Stotra and Sastra.
III-xvii-4: And his austerity, gifts, uprightness, non-violence, and truthfulness – all these are the largesses of this sacrifice.
III-xvii-5: Therefore people say ‘sosyati’ (will procreate), and ‘asosta’ (has procreated). Again, that is the procreation of this, and death is the Avabhrita bath.
III-xvii-6: Ghora Angirasa expounded this well-known doctrine to Devaki’s son Krishna and said, ‘Such a knower should, at the time of death, repeat this triad – “Thou art the imperishable, Thou art unchangeable, Thou art the subtle essence of Prana”. (On hearing the above) he became thirstless. There are these two Rik stanzas in regard to this.
III-xvii-7: (Those knowers of Brahman who have purified their mind through the withdrawal of the senses and other means like Brahmacharya) see everywhere (the day – like the supreme light) of the ancient One who is the seed of the universe, (the light that shines in the Effulgent Brahman). May we, too having perceived the highest light which dispels darkness, reach it. Having perceived the highest light in our own heart we have reached that highest light, which is the dispeller (of water, rays of light and the Pranas), shining in all gods – yea, we have reached that highest light.
III-xviii-1: The mind is Brahman, thus one should meditate – this is (the meditation) with regard to the body (including the mind). Next, the meditation with regard to the gods – the Akasa is Brahman, thus (one should meditate). Both the meditations, with regard to the body and with regard to the gods are being enjoined.
III-xviii-2: This same Brahman has four feet. The organ of speech is one foot. Prana (the organ of smell) is one foot, the eye is one foot and the ear is one foot. This is with reference to the body. Next, with reference to the gods. Agni is one foot, Vayu is one foot, Aditya is one foot and the quarters are one foot. Thus both the meditations, with reference to the body and with reference to the gods, are enjoined.
III-xviii-3: The organ of speech is one of the four feet of Brahman (called Mind). With the light of fire it shines and warms. He who knows thus, shines and warms with fame and celebrity and with the holy effulgence born of sacred wisdom.
III-xviii-4: The organ of smell is one of the four feet of Brahman. With the light of air it shines and warms. He who knows thus, shines and warms with fame and celebrity and with the holy effulgence born of sacred wisdom.
III-xviii-5: The eye is one of the four feet of Brahman. With the light of the sun it shines and warms. He who knows thus, shines and warms with fame and celebrity and with the holy effulgence born of sacred wisdom.
III-xviii-6: The ear is one of the four feet of Brahman. With the light of the quarters it shines and warms. He who knows thus, shines and warms with fame and celebrity and with the holy effulgence born of sacred wisdom – yea, he who knows thus.
III-xix-1: The Sun is Brahman – this is the teaching. The further explanation of this (is here given). Before creation, this universe was non-existent. Then it became existent. It grew; it turned into an egg; it lay for a period of one year; (and then) it burst open. Of the two halves of that egg-shell, one was of silver and the other of gold.
III-xix-2: Of these, that which was of silver is this earth. That which was of gold is heaven. That which was the outer membrane is the mountains. That which was the inner membrane is the mist together with the clouds. Those which were the veins are the rivers. That which was the water in the lower belly is the ocean.
III-xix-3: And that which was born is the yonder sun. After he was born, sounds of the form of loud shouts arose, as also all beings and all desired objects. Therefore at his rise and his every return (or his setting), sounds of the form of loud shouts arise, as also all beings and all desired objects.
III-xix-4: He who knows the Sun thus and meditates on it as Brahman, auspicious sounds will hasten to him and continue to delight him – yea, will continue to delight.
IV-i-1: Om. There lived Janasruti Pautrayana who made gifts with respect, who gave liberally, and who had much food cooked (for others). He built rest-houses all round, thinking, ‘Everywhere people will eat of my food’.
IV-i-2: Once at night, the swans flew along. Then one swan addressed another swan thus, ‘Ho, Ho, O Bhallaksa, Bhallaksa, the effulgence of Janasruti Pautrayana has spread like the heaven. Do not come in touch with it, lest it should scorch you.’
IV-i-3: Bhallaksa replied to him, ‘lo, how could you so describe him as if he were Raikva with the cart ?’ ‘Of what sort is this Raikva with the cart ?’
IV-i-4: ‘Just as all the lower casts of the dice go over to one who has won the Krita-cast, so does go over to Raikva whatsoever good the creatures do; so also to him who knows what Raikva knows. Such is he who has thus been spoken of by me.’
IV-i-5-6: Janasruti Pautrayana overheard those words. As soon as he arose, he said to the attendant, ‘Lo, did you praise me like Raikva with the cart ?’ ‘What sort of man is this Raikva with the cart ?’ (Janasruti repeated the words of the swan): ‘Just as all the lower casts of the dice go over to one who has won the Krita-cast, so does go over to Raikva whatsoever good the creatures do; and so also to him who knows what Raikva knows. Such is he who has thus been spoken of by me’.
IV-i-7: The attendant, having searched for him, came back thinking, ‘I could not find him’. Janasruti said to him, ‘Well, where the knower of Brahman should be searched for there search for him’.
IV-i-8: (After searching) he came to a man sitting under a cart and scratching eruptions on his skin and, sitting near him, asked him, ‘Revered sir, are you Raikva with the cart ?’ ‘Well fellow, yes, I am’, he admitted. Thinking ‘I have found him’, the attendant returned.
IV-ii-1-2: On hearing this, Janasruti Pautrayana took with him six hundred cows, a gold necklace, and a chariot drawn by mules and went to Raikva and addressed him thus: ‘O Raikva, (here are for you) these six hundred cows, this gold necklace, and this chariot drawn by mules. Now, revered sir, instruct me about the deity whom you worship.’
IV-ii-3: The other man answered him thus: ‘Ah, O Sudra, let this gold necklace together with the chariot and the cows remain with you.’ Thereupon Janasruti Pautrayana again took with him one thousand cows, a gold necklace, a chariot drawn by mules and his daughter and went over to Raikva.
IV-ii-4: Janasruti said to him: ‘O Raikva, (here are for you) these one thousand cows, this gold necklace, this chariot drawn by mules, this wife, and this village in which you reside. Now, revered sir, please instruct me’.
IV-ii-5: Taking that princess to be the portal for the conveying of knowledge, Raikva said, ‘O Sudra, you have brought all these ! Even by this means (i.e. the princess) you will make me talk.’ The king gave away to him all those villages in the Mahavrisa country known as Raikvaparna where Raikva lived. Raikva said to him:
IV-iii-1: Air indeed is the absorber. For when a fire goes out, it is in air that it merges; when the sun sets, it is in air that it merges; when the moon sets, it is in air that it merges.
IV-iii-2: When water dries up, it is in air that it merges; for air absorbs all these. This is (the doctrine of Samvarga) with reference to the gods.
IV-iii-3: Next is (the doctrine of Samvarga) with reference to the body: Prana indeed is the absorber. When one sleeps, speech merges in Prana, the eye merges in Prana, the ear merges in Prana, the mind merges in Prana: for Prana, indeed, absorbs all these.
IV-iii-4: These, indeed, are the two absorbers: Air among the gods and Prana among the sense-organs.
IV-iii-5: Once upon a time, while Kapeya Saunaka and Kaksaseni Abhipratarin were being served with food, a celibate student of sacred knowledge begged of them. They did not give him anything.
IV-iii-6: The Brahmacharin said, ‘Prajapati, the one god swallowed up the four great ones; he is the protector of the worlds. O Kapeya, O Abhipratarin, mortals do not see him who dwells variously. Even from him, for whom all this food is meant, you have withheld it.’
IV-iii-7: Kapeya Saunaka, reflecting on those words, approached him (and said): ‘He who is the self of all gods and the creator of all beings, who has undecaying teeth, who is the devourer, who is the wise one, who is himself never eaten (but) who devours even those who are not food; and hence (the knowers) describe his magnificence as immeasurable – such, indeed, is the Brahman, O Brahmacharin, whom we worship’. (Then he told the servants): ‘Give him food’.
IV-iii-8: They gave him food. Now, these five and the other five, together becoming ten, constitute the Krita (dice-cast). Therefore (i.e. because the number ten applies to both), these ten are the food or Virat dwelling in all the ten quarters, and these are (the enjoyer) Krita. This Virat, of the form of ten deities, again, is the eater of food (as Krita); by him all this is perceived. He who sees thus, by him also all this is perceived, and he becomes as eater of food.
