The Śatapatha-Brāhmaṇa — 1900
The Sacred Books of the East · Vol. IX
Translated by Julius Eggeling
Charles Scribner's Sons · New York · 1900 · First American Edition
EGGELING’S TRANSLATION — Book I, Eighth Adhyāya, First Brāhmaṇa, §§1–4
“In the morning they brought to Manu water for washing, just as now also they (are wont to) bring (water) for washing the hands. When he was washing himself, a fish came into his hands.
It spake to him the word, ‘Rear me, I will save thee!’ ‘Wherefrom wilt thou save me?’ ‘A flood will carry away all these creatures: from that I will save thee!’ ‘How am I to rear thee?’
It said, ‘As long as we are small, there is great destruction for us: fish devours fish. Thou wilt first keep me in a jar. When I outgrow that, thou wilt dig a pit and keep me in it. When I outgrow that, thou wilt take me down to the sea, for then I shall be beyond destruction.’
It soon became a ghasha (a large fish); for that grows largest (of all fish). Thereupon it said, ‘In such and such a year that flood will come.’”
The Warning — A Flood Will Carry Away All Creatures
Manu is introduced — the ancestral figure through whom humanity will survive after the Flood. He encounters a fish who warns him of the impending destruction: “a flood will carry away all these creatures.” The fish promises to save him in return for protection.
The text itself says “all these creatures.” Its limitation to Bharatavarsha appears only in the later commentary.
EGGELING’S TRANSLATION — Book I, Eighth Adhyāya, First Brāhmaṇa, §§4–6
“…thou shalt then attend to me (i.e. to my advice) by preparing a ship; and when the flood has risen thou shalt enter into the ship, and I will save thee from it.”
“After he had reared it in this way, he took it down to the sea. And in the same year which the fish had indicated to him, he attended to (the advice of the fish) by preparing a ship; and when the flood had risen, he entered into the ship.
The fish then swam up to him, and to its horn he tied the rope of the ship, and by that means he passed swiftly up to yonder northern mountain.”
“It then said, ‘I have saved thee. Fasten the ship to a tree; but let not the water cut thee off, whilst thou art on the mountain.’”
The Flood — Manu Is Carried to Safety
As the Flood rises, Manu enters the ship and ties it to the fish’s horn. The fish leads him to a northern mountain and declares, “I have saved thee.”
Eggeling’s footnote preserves an alternate reading of the instruction: “Build a ship then, and worship me.”
EGGELING’S TRANSLATION — Book I, Eighth Adhyāya, First Brāhmaṇa, §§6–9
“…as the water subsides, thou mayest gradually descend!’ Accordingly he gradually descended, and hence that (slope) of the northern mountain is called ‘Manu’s descent.’ The flood then swept away all these creatures, and Manu alone remained here.
“Being desirous of offspring, he engaged in worshipping and austerities. During this time he also performed a pâka-sacrifice: he offered up in the waters clarified butter, sour milk, whey, and curds. Thence a woman was produced in a year…
“Mitra and Varuna met her.
They said to her, ‘Who art thou?’ ‘Manu’s daughter,’ she replied.”
After the Flood — Manu Remains Alone
The Flood destroys the other creatures, leaving Manu alone. “Desirous for offspring,” he makes offerings in the water where a woman is born who calls herself his daughter.
EGGELING’S TRANSLATION — Book I, Eighth Adhyāya, First Brāhmaṇa, §§9–11
“‘Those offerings (of) clarified butter, sour milk, whey, and curds, which thou madest in the waters, with them thou hast begotten me. I am the blessing (benediction): make use of me at the sacrifice! If thou wilt make use of me at the sacrifice, thou wilt become rich in offspring and cattle.’”
“With her he went on worshipping and performing austerities, wishing for offspring. Through her he generated this race, which is this race of Manu; and whatever blessing he invoked through her, all that was granted to him.”
“Now this (daughter of Manu) is essentially the same as the Idâ; and whosoever, knowing this, performs with (the) Idâ, he propagates this race which Manu generated…”
A New Beginning — The Race of Manu
Manu and the woman born from his offerings create a new lineage after the destruction: “Through her he generated this race, which is this race of Manu.”
The Śatapatha-Brāhmaṇa contains the earliest surviving Indian account of Manu’s Flood. Later texts; Mahābhārata and Matsya Purāṇa, expand the story considerably and eventually identify the rescuing fish with Viṣṇu.
SIXTH ADHYĀYA — SECOND BRĀHMAṆA
EGGELING’S TRANSLATION — Book I, 6th Adhyāya, 2nd Brāhmaṇa, §§1–3
“Verily, by means of the sacrifice the gods made that conquest (of the world of heaven). When they had conquered, they said, ‘How may this (celestial region) be made unattainable by men?’”
“They then sipped the sap of the sacrifice… and having drained the sacrifice and effaced the traces of it… they concealed themselves.”
The Ṛṣis then search for what the gods concealed: “Come, let us go to the place whence the gods obtained possession of the world of heaven!”
Celestial Realm — Concealed from Humantiy
The gods gain possession of the world of heaven. They deliberately conceal the means of reaching it so that the celestial region will be “unattainable by men.” The Ṛṣis later search for the path the gods had hidden.
EGGELING’S TRANSLATION — Book I, 6th Adhyāya, 2nd Brāhmaṇa, §§2–3
“…they concealed themselves.”
“They (the Rishis) thereupon set about searching for it.”
“They went on praising and toiling; for by (religious) toil, the gods indeed gained what they wished to gain, and (so did) the Rishis.”
“‘Come, let us go to the place whence the gods obtained possession of the world of heaven!’”
The Rishis — Searching for the Way to Heaven
After the gods hide themselves, the Rishis seek the path by which the gods achieved the world of heaven. The text says that through their efforts, the Rishis also “gained what they wished to gain.”
