3long Soma sacrifice they should be joined, for firmness. The oblation-holder is the head of the sacrifice [3], the sounding-holes are the vital airs, the pressing- boards the jaws, the skin the tongue, the pressing-stones the teeth the Ahavaniya the mouth, the high altar the nose, the Sadas the stomach. When he eats with his tongue on his teeth, (the food) goes to the mouth; when it goes to the mouth, then it goes to the stomach, therefore they press (the juice) with the pressing-stones on the oblation-holder over the skin, sacrifice in the Ahavaniya, retire towards the west, and consume (the Soma) in the Sadas. He who knows the milking of the Viraj in the mouth of the sacrifice milks her; the Viraj is this (cow), the skin is its hide, the pressing-boards its udder, the sounding-holes its teats, the pressing-stones its calves, the priests the milkers, Soma the milk. He, who knows thus, milks her.

4PRAPATHAKA III The Exposition of the Soma Sacrifice (continued)