Prajapati's relations with Brahman, Brhaspati and Brahma - DWC

VII
Prajapati and the Brahmán priest
In a comparatively large number of passages the brahmán priest is in some
way or other associated with Prajäpati, or this functionary occurs in the
same context as that god. The following section is devoted to the most interesting
cases of this association.
At the end of a chapter on the upahavya soma rite which requires 17
(Prajäpati's number) stanzas and was beheld by Prajäpati who performed
it aniruktam , i.e. without express and distinct pronunciation of the name
of the deity (PB. 18, 1, 1 ff.; see also §§ 4; 9; 19; SB. 5, 1, 3, 7), PB.
18, 1, 20 f. states that the dak?ir;tä to be given is a dark-brown or darkcoloured
horse (asva~ syäva~), "for this (anima!) is anirukta~, i.e. beyond
verbal expression , belonging to the realm of silence ,,1 and, generally
speaking "characterized by an indefinite existence". The adjective syäva
does not oCÇ!ur in SB. and syäma of the same meaning is not found in PB.
The former is used to denote the night (~V. 6, 48, 6), the latter is a name
of that period (JB. 1,6). Yellowish dark-brown (haritasyäva, comm.) or
syäva is also the colour of a pregnant woman (comm.): "Prajäpati wished
to propagate himself. He performed tapas. He became pregnant. He became
yellowish dark-brown (harita~ syäva~). That is why a pregnant woman
being yellowish becomes dark-brown (syävä)" (TB. 2, 3, 8, 1): the usual
reversal of the order of facts, a first occurrence in the mythical past which
actually has been deduced from phenomenal reality, being regarded as
exemplary and as the ultimate cause of a well-known phenomenon. This
mythical narrative explains also why dark-brown (syäma) animals should
be offered to Prajäpati: TB. 1,3,4,3 f.; SB. 5, 1, 3, 7 (17 in number).
See however also SB. 9: the dark-brown has two forms, the light and the
dark, and two, a coupie, means a productive pair, and Prajäpati rep resents
productiveness (prajananam); "that is Prajäpati's characteristic form
or feature" (rüpa, 6, 2, 2, 2). Hence also the statement that a syäma bull
should be given as a dak?ir;tä after an offering presented to Pü!?an, who
likewise represents productiveness (5, 2, 5, 8; 5, 3, 1, 9; TB. 1, 7, 2, 5;
1,7,3,6; cf. SB. 13, 2, 2, 6 and PB. 18, 1, 16)2. Now the dark-brown
horse mentioned in PB. 18, 1, 20 f. is to be given to the brahmán priest,
who among the officiants is anirukta~ (22 f . ); so that, it is added, "one
makes him prosper through his own characteristic feature". According to
1 For anirukta see n. VI, 39 above.
2 There is a1so a säman called syäväsva by means of which rain can be produced
(PB. 5, 8, 2; 8, 5, 8 ff.; 15, 11, 7). - See a1so Gonda, Pül?an and Sarasvatï, p.
116f.
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