BRIHADÂRANYAKA-UPANISHAD.
FIRST ADHYÂYA[1].
First Brâhmana.
1. Verily[2] the dawn is the head of the horse which is fit for sacrifice, the sun its eye, the wind its breath, the mouth the Vaisvânara[3] fire, the year the body of the sacrificial horse. Heaven is the back, the sky the belly, the earth the chest[4], the quarters the two sides, the intermediate quarters the ribs, the members the seasons, the joints the months and half-months, the feet days and nights, the bones the stars, the
- ↑ It is the third Adhyâya of the Âranyaka, but the first of the Upanishad.
- ↑ This Brâhmana is found in the Mâdhyandina text of the Satapatha, ed. Weber, X, 6, 4. Its object is there explained by the commentary to be the meditative worship of Virâg, as represented metaphorically in the members of the horse. Sâyana dispenses with its explanation, because, as part of the Brihadâranyaka-upanishad, according to the Kânva-sâkhâ, it had been enlarged on by the Vârttikakâra and explained.
- ↑ Agni or fire, as pervading everything, as universally present in nature.
- ↑ Pâgasya is doubtful. The commentator suggests pâd-asya, the place of the feet, i. e. the hoof. The Greek Pēgasos, or ἵπποι πηγοί, throws no light on the word. The meaning of hoof would hardly be appropriate here, and I prefer chest on account of uras in 1, 2, 3. Deussen (Vedânta, p. 8) translates, die Erde seiner Füsse Schemel; but we want some part of the horse.
