27. Then he hands the boy to his mother and gives him her breast, saying: 'O Sarasvati, that breast of thine which is inexhaustible, delightful, abundant, wealthy, generous, by which thou cherishest all blessings, make that to flow here .'

28 . Then he addresses the mother of the boy:

'Thou art Ila Maitravaruni: thou strong woman hast born a strong boy. Be thou blessed with strong children thou who hast blessed me with a strong child.'

And they say of such a boy: 'Ah, thou art better than thy father; ah, thou art better than thy grandfather. Truly he has reached the highest point in happiness, praise, and Vedic glory who is born as the son of a Brahmana that knows this.'

Footnotes

^215:1 According to the rules laid down in the proper Grihya-sutras.

^215:2 This Brahmana is inserted here because there is supposed to be some similarity between the preparation of the Srimantha and the Putramantha, or because a person who has performed the Srimantha is fit to perform the Putramantha. Thus Sankara says: Pranadarsinah srimantham karma kritavatah putramanthe 'dhikarah. Yada putramantham kikirshati tada srimantham kritva ritukalam patnyah (brahmakaryena) pratikshata iti.

^215:3 I have given those portions of the text which did not admit of translation into English, in Sanskrit. It was not easy, however, to determine always the text of the Kanva-sakha. Poley's text is not always correct, and Roer seems simply to repeat it. Sankara's commentary, which is meant for the Kanva text, becomes very short towards the end of the Upanishad. It is quite sufficient for the purpose of a translation, but by no means always for restoring a correct text. MS. Wilson 369, which has been assigned to the Kanva-sakha, and which our Catalogue attributes to the same school, gives the Madhyandina text, and so does MS. Mill 108. I have therefore collated two MSS. of the India Office, which Dr. Rost had the kindness to select for me, MS. 375 and MS. 1973, which I call A. and B.

^216:1 Roer reads samidho, but Sankara and Dvivedaganga clearly presuppose samiddho, which is in A. and B.

^216:2 Roer has asam sa strinam, Poley, A. and B. have asam strinam. Sankara. (MS. Mill 64) read a sa strinam, and later on asya striyah, though both Roer and Poley leave out the a here too (a asyeti khedah).

^216:3 Brahmanayanah, the same as brahmabandhavah, i.e. Brahmans by descent only, not by knowledge.

^216:4 Narakam gakkhantityarthah. Dvivedaganga.

^216:5 Bahu va svalpam va.

^216:6 The Madhyandina text has agnayo, and Dvivedaganga explains it by dhishnya agnayah sarirasthitah. Poley and Roer have punar agnir dhishnya, and so have A. and B.

^216:7 Nirmrigyat, A.; nimringyat, B.

^216:8 Dvivedaganga adds, retoyonav udake retahsikas tatra svakkhayadarsane prayaskittam aha.

^217:1 Triratravratam kritva katurtha 'hni snatam.