'Eternal holiness' is won by him that offers the sacrifice of the
seasons. Characteristic is the explanation, 'for such an one wins the
year, and a year is a complete whole, and a complete whole is
indestructible (eternal); hence his holiness is indestructible, and he
thereby becomes a part of a year and goes to the gods; but as there is
no destruction in the gods, his holiness is therefore indestructible'
(_ib._ ii. 6. 3. 1).

Not only a man's self but also his Manes are benefited by means of
sacrifice.[21] He gives the Manes pleasure with his offering, but he
also raises their estate, and sends them up to live in a higher
world.[22] The cosmological position of the Manes are the
_av[=a]ntaradicas_, that is, between the four quarters; though,
according to some, there are three kinds of them, _soma_-Manes,
sacrifice-Manes (Manes of the sacrificial straw), and the burnt,
_i.e_., the spirits of those that have been consumed in fire. They
are, again, identified with the seasons, and are expressly mentioned
as the guardians of houses, so that the Brahmanic Manes are at once
Penates, Lares, and Manes.[23]

The sacrifice is by no means meant as an aid to the acquirement of
heavenly bliss alone. Many of the great sacrifices are for the gaining
of good things on earth. In one passage there is described a ceremony,
the result of which is to be that the warrior, who is the sacrificer,
may say to a man of the people "fetch out and give me your store"
(_ib._ i. 3. 2. 15; iv. 3. 3. 10). Everybody sacrifices, even the
beasts erect altars and fires![24] That one should sacrifice without
the ulterior motive of gain is unknown. Brahmanic India knows no
thank-offering. Ordinarily the gain is represented as a compensating
gift from the divinity, whom the sacrificer pleases with his
sacrifice. Very plainly is this expressed. "He offers the sacrifice to
the god with this text: 'Do thou give to me (and) I (will) give to
thee; do thou bestow on me (and) I (will) bestow on thee'" (_V[=a]j.
S._ iii. 50; _Cat. Br_. ii. 5. 3. 19). But other ends are
accomplished. By the sacrifice he may injure his enemy, but in
offering it, if he leaves too much over, that part accrues to the good
of his foe (_Cat. Br_. i. 2. 1.7; 9. 1. 18).

The sacrifice is throughout symbolical. The sacrificial straw
represents the world; the metre used represents all living creatures,
etc.,--a symbolism frequently suggested by a mere pun, but often as
ridiculously expoun