7. One-wheeled it rolls, one-rimmed, thousand-syllabled, forth in front, down behind; with a half it has generated all existence; what its [other] half is—what has become of that?
This agrees nearly with xi. 4. 22 below, and Ppp. has it there, though not here. The sun is evidently meant, with half his course lost to view.
8. One carrying five carries the summit (ágra) of them; side-horses, harnessed, carry also along; what is not gone of it was seen, not what is gone; the higher thing [is] closer, the lower more distant.
⌊Or (c) 'of him' (asya).⌋ The sense is wholly obscure, and the version a mechanical one. Pañcavāhī́ may be either fem. (of -vāhá: so çatavāhī́ v. 17. 12) or masc. (of -vāhín); Pet. Lexx. say 'mit Fünfen bespannt.' Some of the mss. read pṛ́ṣṭhayas in b, as often in such cases. Ppp. has asya instead of eṣām at end of a.
9. A bowl (camasá) with orifice sideways, bottom-side up—in it is deposited glory of all forms; there sit together the seven seers, who have become the keepers of it, the great one.
The verse has a correspondent in ÇB. xiv. 5. 24 (BAU. ii. 2. 4). This reads at the beginning arvā́gbilas; in c, tásya...tī́re for tát...sākám; and, for d, vā́g aṣṭamī́ brā́hmaṇā saṁvidānā́. The Brāhmaṇa itself explains the head as intended, the seven seers being the seven prāṇas or senses (the seven orifices of the head); this is extremely implausible. Ppp. reads at beginning of c atrā ”sata.
10. The one which is applied (yuj) in front and which behind, which is applied in all cases and which in every case, by which the sacrifice is extended forward—that I ask of thee: which one of the verses is it?
The verse is quoted by pratīka in GB. i. 1. 22. All our saṁhitā-mss. save one (R.) ⌊and the great majority of SPP's⌋ read at the end sá rcā́m (Ppp. the same), and the words are quoted under Prāt. iii. 49 as example of that combination ⌊p. sā́ ṛcā́m⌋. The Anukr. does not heed that b is a jagatī pāda. Ppp. reads twice yo ’ta for yā ca.
11. What stirs, flies, and what stands, and what is breathing, not breathing, winking—that, all-formed, sustains the earth; that, combining, becomes one only.
One may conjecture apānát for áprāṇat in b. The Anukr. does not heed that two of the pādas are triṣṭubh. Ppp. reads at end of b ca tiṣṭhat, and, in c, dyām utā ’muṁ ⌊at 7. 35 it was fem.⌋ for viçvarūpam.
12. What is endless, stretched out on many sides; what is endless, and what has an end, ending together—these (two) the lord of the firmament keeps (car) separating (vi-ci), knowing what is and what shall be of it.
Ppp. reads samakte at end of b, prajānan at end of c, yadi for uta in d. Probably earth and heaven are intended. The metrical definition of the Anukr. fits the verse (9 + 10: 11 + 10 = 40) fairly.
13. Prajāpati goes about (car) within the womb; not being seen, he is manifoldly born (vi-jā); with a half he has generated all existence; what his [other] half is—which sign is that?
