ब्रह्मस्थापनम्Seating the Brahmā of the rite
Verse 33
गोपाय यज्ञं यज्ञेश यज्ञं पाहि बृहस्पते । माञ्च यज्ञपतिं पाहि कर्मसाक्षिन्नमोऽस्तु ते ॥ ३३ ॥
gōpāya yajñaṁ yajñēśa yajñaṁ pāhi bṛhaspatē | māñca yajñapatiṁ pāhi karmasākṣinnamō’stu tē || 33 ||
Translation
"Guard the sacrifice, lord of the sacrifice; protect the sacrifice, Bṛhaspati; and protect me, the lord of the sacrifice. Witness of the rite, salutation to you."
Word by word
- gōpāya
- guard
- yajñaṁ
- the sacrifice
- yajñēśa
- O lord of the sacrifice
- pāhi
- protect
- bṛhaspatē
- O Bṛhaspati
- mām
- (mām) me
- ca
- and
- yajñapatiṁ
- the lord of the sacrifice
- karma
- of the rite
- sākṣin
- O witness
- namaḥ
- (namaḥ) salutation
- astu
- be
- tē
- to you
Meaning
The prayer to the Brahmā. He is addressed as Yajñeśa, lord of the sacrifice, and as Bṛhaspati, the guru of the gods, the master of right procedure; and as karmasākṣin, witness of the rite. The performer, here called yajñapati, the patron of the sacrifice, asks him to watch over the whole rite so that it is done correctly.
Commentary
Hariharānanda Bhāratī’s Sanskrit commentary, translated
What should he pray? To that question he says "gopāya yajñam" and the rest. Gopāya: protect.