YV 6.5j

h 'Father Matariçvan, bestow flawless abodes; the flawless abodes the Uçijs have made; let Soma, all knowing, the leader, be leader; let Brhaspati recite hymns and rejoicing,' he says; that is Agni's hymn, and with it he recites after him. a That fire which is kept in the pan is consecrated of fires; if he were to put it down their embryos would be liable to abortion, and that would be like descending after consecration. He sets it on a throne, to support and prevent the falling of embryos, and he makes thus a consecration. b (The fire) in the pan is an embryo, the sling is the womb; if he were to remove the pan from the sling, he would strike the embryo from the womb; the sling has six ropes; man is sixfold [1], the body, the head, four limbs; verily in himself he bears it. c The fire is Prajapati, his breasts are the pan and the mortar; his offspring live on them; in that he puts down the pan and the mortar, with them the sacrificer milks the fire in yonder world. d The fire is the year, its bricks are arranged threefold, those of Prajapati, of Visnu [2], of Viçvakarman; the Prajapati (bricks) are the days and nights; in that he keeps (the fire) in the pan, he puts down the Prajapati (bricks); in that he takes up the kindling-sticks, and the trees are Visnu's, verily he puts down the Visnu (bricks); in that he piles the fire with bricks, and Viçvakarman is this (earth), verily he puts down the Viçvakarman (bricks). Therefore they say, 'Threefold is Agni.' e This thus should the sacrificer himself pile; if another pile his fire, if he should not prosper him with sacrificial gifts, he would appropriate his fire; him who piles his fire he should prosper with sacrificial gifts; verily thus he preserves his fire. Prajapati piled the fire as the year by the seasons; by the spring he piled its front half, by the summer its right wing, by the rains its tail, by the autumn its left wing, by the winter its middle.