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By means of Agni as Hotr
the gods defeated the Asuras. Recite for Agni as he is kindled', he says, for
the overcoming of foes. He recites seventeen kindling-verses; Prajapati is
seventeenfold; (verily it serves) to win Prajapati. He recites seventeen; there
are twelve months and seven seasons, that is the year; offspring are born in
the course of the year; (verily it serves) for the propagation of offspring. The
gods, after reciting the kindling-verses, could not discern the sacrifice;
Prajapati silently performed [1] the libation of ghee; then did the gods
discern the sacrifice; in that silently he performs the libation of ghee, (it
serves) for the revelation of the sacrifice. The sacrifice was with the Asuras;
the gods took it by the silent offering; in that silently he performs the
libation of ghee, he takes away the sacrifice of his foe. He rubs the
enclosing-sticks; verily he purifies them. Thrice each he rubs them, for the
sacrifice is thrice repeated; also (it serves) to smite away the Raksases. They
make up twelve; the year has twelve [2] months; verily he delights the year,
verily also he endows him with the year, for the gaining of the world of
heaven. The libation of ghee is the head of the sacrifice, the fire is all the
gods; in that he performs the libation of ghee, verily the sacrificer at the
beginning of the sacrifice wins all the gods. The libation of ghee is the head
of the sacrifice, the beast is the body; having performed the libation of ghee
he anoints the beast; verily on the body of the sacrifice [3] he places the
head. 'Let thy breath be united with the wind', he says; the breath has the
wind for its deity; verily he offers its breath in the wind. 'Thy limbs with
the sacrificers, the lord of the sacrifice with his prayer', he says; verily he
causes the lord of the sacrifice to obtain its blessing. Viçvarupa, Tvastr's
son, vomited over the beast from above; therefore they do not cut off
(portions) from the beast above; in that he anoints the beast from above,
verily he makes it pure [4]. He chooses the priests, verily he chooses the metres,
he chooses seven; there are seven tame animals, seven wild; there are seven
metres, (and so it serves) to win both. He offers eleven fore-sacrifices; ten
are the vital airs of the beast, the body is the eleventh; verily his
fore-offerings are of the same size as the beast. One (of them) lies around the
omentum; verily the body lies around the body. The axe is a thunderbolt, the
splinter of the sacrificial post is a thunderbolt, the gods by making a
thunderbolt of the ghee smote Soma. 'Anointed with ghee, do ye guard the
beast', he says; verily, overpowering it by means of the thunderbolt, he offers
it.
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