Satapatha Brahmana Part III (SBE41), Julius Eggeling tr. [1894], at sacred-texts.com
6:6:3:11. He then puts on a vikaṅkata (flacourtia sapida) one. When Pragâpati performed the first offering, a vikaṅkata tree sprang forth from that place where, after offering, he cleansed (his hands). That vikaṅkata, then, is that first offering; it is that he now offers on this (fire), and he therewith gratifies him (Agni). [Vâg. S. XI, 71; Rik S. VIII, 75, 15] 'From the far region come thou over to the near one: do thou protect that wherein I am!' as the text, so its meaning.
6:6:3:22. He then puts on an udumbara (ficus glomerata) one. The gods and the Asuras, both of them sprung from Pragâpati, strove together. Now all the trees sided with the Asuras, but the udumbara tree alone did not forsake the gods. The gods, having conquered the Asuras, took possession of their trees.
6:6:3:33. They said, 'Come, let us lay into the udumbara tree whatever pith, whatever vital sap there is in these trees: were they then to desert us, they would
desert us worn out, like a milked-out cow, or like an ox that has been (tired out by) drawing (the cart).' Accordingly they laid into the udumbara tree what pith and essence there was in those trees; and on account of that pith it matures (fruit) equal to all the (other) trees 1: hence that (tree) is always moist, always full of milky sap,--that udumbara tree, indeed, (being) all the trees, is all food: he thus gratifies him (Agni) by every kind of food, and kindles him by all trees (kinds of wood).
6:6:3:44. [Vâg. S. XI, 72] 'From the farthest distance,'--that is, '(from) what farthest distance there is;'--'O red-steeded, come hither!' for red, indeed, is Agni's horse;--'Purîshya, much-loved,'--that is, 'favourable to cattle, dear to many;'--'O Agni, overcome thou the scorners!' that is, 'O Agni, overcome all evil-doers!'
6:6:3:55. He then puts on one not cut by an axe,--that (Agni) is born when he is built up: it is for all (kinds of) food that he is born. Now that (wood) not cut by an axe is one kind of food (for the fire): it is thereby that he now gratifies him. [Vâg. S. XI, 73; Rik S. VIII, 102, 20] 'Whatsoever wood we lay upon thee, O Agni, let all that be ghee unto thee, do thou relish that, O youngest!' as the text, so its meaning: whatever (wood there is) not cut by the axe, that he makes palatable to him; and having made it food for him, he sets it before him.
6:6:3:66. He then puts on one that has lain on the ground,--he (Agni) is born when he is built up: it is for all (kinds of) food that he is born. Now that
[paragraph continues] (wood) which has lain on the ground is one kind of food (for the fire): it is thereby he now gratifies him. [Vâg. S. XI, 74; Rik S. VIII, 102, 21] 'What the red ant eats, what the white ant crawls over,'--for either the red ant eats it, or the white ant crawls over it;--'let all that be ghee for thee, do thou relish that, O youngest!' as the text, so its meaning: whatever (wood) has lain on the ground, that he makes palatable for him; and having made it food for him, he sets it before him.
6:6:3:77. The remaining (kindling-sticks) are of palâsa wood (butea frondosa);--the Palâsa tree is the Brahman, it is by the Brahman he thus kindles him (Agni). And, again, why they are palâsa ones--;the Palâsa tree is Soma, and he, Soma, doubtless is the supreme offering: it is that he now offers on this (fire), and by that he gratifies him (Agni).
6:6:3:88. [He puts them on, with Vâg. S. XI, 75-82] 'Day by day bearing unremittingly,'--that is, 'Day by day bringing not unmindful;'--'food to him like unto a standing horse,'--that is, 'food as to a standing (resting) horse;'--'we, rejoicing in wealth-thrift and sap,'--that is, 'rejoicing in wealth, and thrift, and sap;'--'O Agni, let not us, thy associates, suffer injury!' this he says with a view that his (Agni's) associate (the Sacrificer) may not suffer injury.
6:6:3:99. 'While Agni is kindling on the earth's navel,'--that (place) where he is now being kindled is indeed the navel of the earth;--'we call for great wealth-thrift,'--that is, 'we call for wealth and great thrift;'--'Unto him, the draught-delighted,'--for he is indeed delighted (or, inebriated)
by the draught,--'of high praise,'--for he is indeed highly praised;--'the adorable'--that is, 'worthy of adoration;'--'Agni, the conqueror, overpowering in battles;'--for Agni is indeed a conqueror, and overpowering in battles.
6:6:3:1010. 'Whatever aggressive armies there are, onrushing with drawn-up lines; whatever thieves and robbers, those I cast into thy mouth, O Agni.'--'Devour thou in a lump the waylayers with thy two tusks, the thieves with thy teeth, and the robbers with thy jaws, O holy one!'--'What waylayers there are among men, what thieves and robbers in the wood, what miscreants in the lurking-places, I throw them into thy jaws.'--'Whatever man may plot against us, and whosoever may hate us, or abuse and seek to hurt us, every one of them burn thou to ashes!'
6:6:3:1111. For the gods then made food of whosoever hated them, and of whomsoever they hated, and gave them up to him (Agni), and thereby gratified him; and this, then, became his food, and he burnt up the evil of the gods: and in like manner does the Sacrificer now make food of whosoever hates him, and of whomsoever he hates, and give them up to him (Agni), and thereby gratify him; and this, then, becomes his food, and he burns up the Sacrificer's evil.
6:6:3:1212. These eleven (kindling-sticks) he puts on for one who is not either a noble, or a domestic chaplain (purohita); for incomplete are those eleven, and incomplete is he who is not either a noble, or a domestic priest.
6:6:3:1313. Twelve (he puts on) for a noble or a domestic
chaplain; for those twelve are a complete whole (or everything), and he who is either a noble or a domestic chaplain is everything.
6:6:3:1414. In the case of a Purohita, he puts it on, with (Vâg. S. XI, 80, 'Perfected is my sanctity (brahman), perfected the vigour, the strength, perfected the victorious power (kshatra) whose Purohita I am!'--he thus perfects both his sanctity and power 1.
6:6:3:1515. And in the case of a nobleman, with (Vâg. S. XI, 82),'I have raised their arms, their lustre and strength: by the spiritual power I destroy the enemies, and elevate mine own (relatives)!' this he says with the view that he may destroy his enemies, and elevate his own relatives. Let him put on both these (kindling-sticks); for both the Brahman and the Kshatra are this Agni; and it is this Agni he thus kindles by those two, by the Brahman and the Kshatra.
6:6:3:1616. These (kindling-sticks) amount to thirteen;--thirteen months are a year, and Agni is the year: as great as Agni is, as great as is his measure, by so much food he thus gratifies him.
6:6:3:1717. They are a span long, for Vishnu, as an embryo, was a span long; and this is (Agni's or Vishnu's) food: he thus gratifies him with food proportionate to his own body. But the food which is proportionate to one's body satisfies, and does no injury; but what is too much that does injury, and what is too little that does not satisfy. Standing he puts them on--the significance of this (will be explained)
further on;--and with the Svâhâ ('hail!'); for seed is infused here (in the sacrifice,--to wit,) this Agni; and were he to put on the logs unconsecrated by Svâhâ, he would injure him (Agni). Now inasmuch as they are kindling-sticks, they are not oblations; but inasmuch as (they are put on) with the Svâhâ, they are food, for the Svâhâ is food; and thus he does not injure him (Agni).
257:1 According to Ait. Br. V, 24, its fruits ripen three times a year.
260:1 Or, his spiritual and political power, his priesthood and nobility.