सोऽकामयत मेध्यं म इदँ स्यादात्मन्व्यनेन स्यामिति ।ततोऽश्वः समभवद् यदश्वत् तन्मेध्यमभूदिति ।तदेवाश्वमेधस्याश्वमेधत्वं एष ह वा अश्वमेधं वेद य एनमेवं वेद ।तमनवरुध्यैवामन्यत ।तँ संवत्सरस्य परस्तादात्मन आलभत ।पशून्देवताभ्यः प्रत्यौहत् तस्मात्सर्वदेवत्यं प्रोक्षितं प्राजापत्यमालभन्त एष ह वा अश्वमेधो य एष तपति तस्य संवत्सर आत्माऽयमग्निरर्कस्तस्येमे लोका आत्मानस्तावेतावर्काश्वमेधौ ।सो पुनरेकैव देवता भवति मृत्युरेवाप पुनर्मृत्युं जयति नैनं मृत्युराप्नोति मृत्युरस्याऽऽत्मा भवत्येतासां देवतानामेको भवति
so'kāmayata medhyaṃ ma idam̐ syādātmanvyanena syāmiti | tato'śvaḥ samabhavad yadaśvat tanmedhyamabhūditi | tadevāśvamedhasyāśvamedhatvaṃ eṣa ha vā aśvamedhaṃ veda ya enamevaṃ veda | tamanavarudhyaivāmanyata | tam̐ saṃvatsarasya parastādātmana ālabhata | paśūndevatābhyaḥ pratyauhat tasmātsarvadevatyaṃ prokṣitaṃ prājāpatyamālabhanta eṣa ha vā aśvamedho ya eṣa tapati tasya saṃvatsara ātmā'yamagnirarkastasyeme lokā ātmānastāvetāvarkāśvamedhau | so punarekaiva devatā bhavati mṛtyurevāpa punarmṛtyuṃ jayati nainaṃ mṛtyurāpnoti mṛtyurasyā''tmā bhavatyetāsāṃ devatānāmeko bhavati
अर्थMeaning
He desired that this body should be fit for sacrifice (medhya), and that he should be embodied by it. Then he became a horse (asva), because it swelled (asvat), and was fit for sacrifice (medhya); and this is why the horse-sacrifice is called Asva-medha. Verily he who knows him thus, knows the Asvamedha. Then, letting the horse free, he thought , and at the end of a year he offered it up for himself, while he gave up the (other) animals to the deities. Therefore the sacrificers offered up the purified horse belonging to Pragâpati, (as dedicated) to all the deities. Verily the shining sun is the Asvamedha-sacrifice, and his body is the year; Agni is the sacrificial fire (arka), and these worlds are his bodies. These two are the sacrificial fire and the Asvamedha-sacrifice, and they are again one deity, viz. Death. He (who knows this) overcomes another death, death does not reach him, death is his Self, he becomes one of those deities.
Direct literal rendering preserving Sanskrit philosophical terminology.
व्याख्याVyakhya
उसने कामना की, 'यह (शरीर) मेरे लिए मेध्य (यज्ञ के योग्य) हो और इसके द्वारा मैं शरीरवान् होऊँ।' तब वह अश्व बना; क्योंकि वह फूल गया था (अश्वत्) और मेध्य हुआ, यही अश्वमेध का अश्वमेधत्व है। जो इसे इस प्रकार जानता है, वही अश्वमेध को जानता है। उसने उस (अश्व) को बिना रोके (मुक्त) रखकर विचार किया, और संवत्सर के बीतने पर उसे अपने लिए आलभन किया तथा अन्य पशुओं को देवताओं के लिए सौंप दिया। इसीलिए (याज्ञिक) प्रोक्षित, सब देवताओं के लिए अर्पित प्रजापति के अश्व का आलभन करते हैं। जो यह तपता है (सूर्य), वही अश्वमेध है; संवत्सर उसका शरीर है। यह अग्नि अर्क है और ये लोक उसके शरीर हैं। ये दोनों, अर्क और अश्वमेध, फिर एक ही देवता हैं, अर्थात् मृत्यु। (जो ऐसा जानता है) वह पुनर्मृत्यु को जीत लेता है; मृत्यु उसे नहीं पकड़ती, मृत्यु उसका आत्मा हो जाती है और वह इन देवताओं में से एक हो जाता है।
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- 2026-10-23
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