vs. 5 (8. 17), in the parvan sacrifices, with transfer of the fires, and again, in the agniṣṭoma (15. 9), when the fire is brought to the uttaravedi; and the comm. regards vs. 3 as quoted at 27. 6, in the vājapeya rite.
Translated: Griffith, i. 149; Weber, xviii. 51 (elaborate comment).
1. Since the goat has been born from the heat of Agni (the fire), it saw [its] generator in the beginning; by it the gods in the beginnings attained (i) [their] godhead; by (with?) it the sacrificial ones (médhya) ascended the ascents (róha).
Found also in VS. (xiii. 51), MS. (ii. 7. 17; like VS. throughout), and TS. (iv. 2. 104). VS. and MS. have in c, d devátām ágram āyaṅs téna róham āyann úpa médh-. TS. has at the beginning ajā́, and, correspondingly, sā́ (with vāí added) in b, and táyā in c and d; it also reverses the order of c and d, agreeing otherwise with VS. MS. in d, but having ágre, like AV., in c; it also replaces çókāt by gárbhāt in a. We have a again below as ix. 5. 13 a; and c is nearly equivalent to iii. 22. 3 c: moreover the pada-mss., here as there, misinterpret āyaṅ before téna as āyam, which SPP. properly corrects to āyan in his pada-text; all our saṁhitā-mss. read āyaṅ. The comm. declares hí in a to be intended to intimate that the same statement was made in another text also; and he quotes TS. ii. 1. 14; róha he explains by svargādiloka; téna he takes both times as designating the means. The Anukr. takes no notice of the deficiency of a syllable in b. ⌊As to ajá, see Weber, Berliner Sb., 1895, p. 847 n.⌋
2. Stride ye with the fire to the firmament (nā́ka), bearing in your hands vessel-[fires] (úkhya); having gone to the back of the sky, to the heaven (svàr), sit ye mingled with the gods.
The other texts (VS. xvii. 65; TS. iv. 6. 51; MS. ii. 10. 6) differ but slightly from ours: all have the sing. úkhyam at beginning of b, and TS.MS. combine diváḥ p- in c. Ppp. reads agníbhis in a, and ekṣāṁ for úkhyān in b; for the latter, the comm. (with one of SPP's mss.) gives akṣān, which he defines as akṣavat prakāçakān anuṣṭhitān yajñān. As usual, the mss. vary at the end between the equivalent ādhvam and āddhvam; our text reads the latter, SPP's the former.
3. From the back of earth I have ascended to the atmosphere; from the atmosphere I have ascended to the sky; from the back of the sky, of the firmament (nā́ka), I have gone to heaven (svàr), to light.
The other three texts (VS. xvii. 67; TS. and MS. as above) agree in omitting pṛṣṭhā́t in a and adding úd after ahám before antárikṣam. In this verse, the comm. takes svàr as the sun (in vs. 2, as the svarga loka). It is too irregular (14 + 9: 7 + 8 = 38) to be so simply defined as it is by the Anukr. ⌊If we omit the first ahám, and combine dívā́ruham in b and resolve -aāt suar in cd, we get an orderly purastādbṛhatī.⌋
4. Going to heaven (svàr) they look not away; they ascend to the sky, the two firmaments (ródasī)—they who, well-knowing, have extended the everywhere-streaming sacrifice.
The other texts (VS. xvii. 68; TS. and MS. as above) have no variants; but Ppp. ends b with rohantu rādhasaḥ. The comm. again takes svar as svarga; and viçvatodhāram as either sarvato dhārakam or else sarvato ‘vicchinnaphalaprāptyupāyā yasmin.
