हिन्दी
Prāṇa then asked, ‘What will be my food?’ The other organs said: ‘Anything that even dogs, birds, and other animals can eat in this world is your food.’ All that is food for ana. Ana is a name of prāṇa. For one who knows this nothing is uneatable. (That is, he can eat any food that an animal can eat.)
Prāṇa asked, ‘What will be my covering?’ The organs replied, ‘Water.’ This is why, before and after eating their meals, people cover him with water (i.e., they sip water). He then becomes covered with a cloth and is no longer naked.
Having told this to Vyāghrapada’s son Gośruti, Satyakāma Jābāla said, ‘If a person tells this even to a dry stump (of a tree), branches and leaves will grow off it’.
Then if anyone wishes to attain greatness, he should first become initiated on a new moon day, and after that, on the night of a full moon, he should prepare a paste of various herbs and mix them together with curd and honey. He should then offer this oblation to the fire saying, ‘Jyeṣṭhāya śreṣṭhāya svāhā,’ (i.e., Svāhā to the oldest and to the best). Whatever is left over in the offering spoon he should put into the homa pot.
Saying, ‘Vasiṣṭhāya svāhā’ (i.e., svāhā to high standing), one should offer the oblation to the fire and then put whatever is left over in the offering spoon into the homa pot. Saying, ‘Pratiṣṭhāyai svāhā’ (i.e., svāhā to the support), one should offer the oblation to the fire and then put whatever is left over in the offering spoon into the homa pot. Saying, ‘Sampade svāhā’ (i.e., svāhā to affluence), one should offer the oblation to the fire and then put whatever is left over in the offering spoon into the homa pot. Saying, ‘Āyatanāya svāhā’ (i.e., svāhā to the abode), one should offer the oblation to the fire and then put whatever is left over in the offering spoon into the homa pot.
Then, moving some distance from the fire and holding the homa pot in his hands, he keeps repeating the mantra: ‘You are named ama, because all this rests on you. You are the first, the best, outstanding, and supreme. May I also be the first, the best, outstanding, and supreme. May I be all all this.’
Then, while saying this Ṛk mantra foot by foot, he eats some of what is in the homa pot. He says, ‘We pray for that food of the shining deity,’ and then eats a little of what is in the homa pot. Saying, ‘We eat the food of that deity,’ he eats a little of what is in the homa pot. Saying, ‘It is the best and the support of all,’ he eats a little of what is in the homa pot. Saying, ‘We quickly meditate on Bhaga,’ he eats the rest and washes the vessel or spoon. Then, with his speech and mind under control, he lies down behind the fire, either on the skin of an animal or directly on the sacrificial ground. If he sees a woman in his dream, he knows that the rite has been successful (and that he will succeed in whatever he does).
Here is a verse in this connection: When one sees a woman in a dream while performing a rite for the fulfillment of a desire, that means it is successful. One can know this from the dream.
