{"collection":"Hinduism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/hin/sbe46/sbe46081.htm","path":"hin/sbe46/sbe46081.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/hin/sbe46/sbe46081.htm","text":"Vedic Hymns, Part II (SBE46), by Hermann Oldenberg [1897]\n1. Take this our sacrifice to the immortals; accept graciously these offerings, O G\u00e2tavedas. O Agni, partake of the drops of fat and ghee, O Hotri, having sat down as the first.\n2. To thee, O purifier, the drops of fat mixed with ghee drip down. O (god) who followest thy own ordinances, give us the best boon for this feast to which the gods come eagerly.\n3. To thee, the priest, O Agni, (belong) the drops dripping with ghee, O good one! Thou art kindled as the best Rishi. Be a furtherer of our sacrifice!\n4. For thee, O liberal one 1, full of power, the drops of fat and ghee drip down, O Agni! Praised by the sages thou hast come hither with mighty light. Accept graciously the offerings, O wise one!\n5. For thee the richest fat 1 has been taken out from the midst. We give it to thee. On thy skin, O Vasu, the drops drip down. Accept them eagerly for each of the gods.\nThe same Rishi. Verses 1 and 4 are Trishtubh, verses 2 and 3 Anushtubh, verse 5 Vir\u00e2dr\u00fbp\u00e2 Satobrihat\u00ee.\nThe hymn belongs to the ritual of the animal sacrifice. It has to be recited, according to the prescription of the later Vedic texts, while the vap\u00e2 (omentum) of the sacrificial animal is roasted and the drops of fat drip down from it. See Schwab, Das Altindische Thieropfer, p. 114\nseq., and the S\u00fbtra texts quoted by him (for instance, \u00c2sval\u00e2yana Srautas\u00fbtra III, 4, 1). Bergaigne (Recherches sur l\u2019Histoire de la Liturgie V\u00e9dique, 18) seems to be right in observing: 'Bien qu\u2019il (l\u2019hymne III, 21) soit r\u00e9cit\u00e9 tout d\u2019une pi\u00e8ce dans le pasubandha, pendant la cuisson de la vap\u00e2, pour les gouttes de graisse qui tombent dans le feu sa complexit\u00e9 m\u00e9trique \u2026 le trahit et nous y fait voir une simple collection de vers liturgiques.' It may be observed, however, that the two last verses seem to form a distich of an irregular Prag\u00e2tha type; comp. H. O., Die Hymnen des Rigveda, vol. i, p. 118.\u2014Verses 1\u20135 = TB. III, 6, 7, 1. 2; MS. IV, 13, 5.\nNote 1. On the word \u00e1dhrigu, cf. Bloomfield, American Or. Soc. Proceedings, March, 1894, p. cxxiii.\nNote 1. Vap\u00e2khyam havih, S\u00e2yana. This explanation is evidently correct. After the sacrificial animal has been killed, the omentum, which is very rich in fat, is first drawn out of its body and offered. See H. O., Die Religion des Veda, 360 seq.","title":"Vedic Hymns, Part II (SBE46): III, 21","type":"page"}