इदं वै तन्मधु दध्यङ्ङाथर्वणोऽश्विभ्यामुवाच ।तदेतदृषिः पश्यन्नवोचत् आथर्वणायाश्विनौ दधीचेऽश्व्यं शिरः प्रत्यैरयतम् ।स वां मधु प्र वोचदृतायन् त्वाष्ट्रं यद्दस्रावपिकक्ष्यं वामिति ॥बृह. २,५.१७ ॥
In plain words
This is the honey that Dadhyañc Ātharvaṇa taught to the Aśvins. Seeing this, the seer said: "O Aśvins, ye set a horse's head upon Dadhyañc Ātharvaṇa. Keeping his word, he spoke to you the honey of Tvaṣṭṛ, which was your secret, O wondrous ones."
The commentators
Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣadbhāṣyam· Leaf 8.357· bhāṣya
तत्र इयं स्तुत्यर्था आख्यायिकेत्यवोचाम; का पुनः सा आख्यायिकेति उच्यते- इदमित्यनन्तरनिर्दिष्टं व्यपदिशति, बुद्धौ संनिहितत्वात् ; वै-शब्दः स्मरणार्थः ; तदित्याख्यायिकानिर्वृत्तं प्रकरणान्तरमभिहितं परोक्षं वै-शब्देन स्मारयन् इह व्यपदिशति ; यत् प्रवर्ग्यप्रकरणे सूचितम्, न आविष्कृतं मधु, तदिदं मधु इह अनन्तरं निर्दिष्टम्- 'इयं पृथिवी' इत्यादिना ; कथं तत्र प्रकरणान्तरे सूचितम्-दध्यङ् ह वा आभ्यामाथर्वणो मधु नाम ब्राह्मणमुवाच ; तदेनयोः प्रियं धाम तद्देवैनयोरेतेनोपगच्छति ; स होवाचेन्द्रेण वा उक्तोऽस्म्येतच्चेदन्यस्मा अनुब्रूयास्त एव ते शिरश्छिन्द्यामिति ; तस्माद्वै बिभेमि यद्वै मे स शिरो न च्छिन्द्यात्तद्वामुपनेष्य इति ; तौ होचतुरावां त्वा तस्मात्त्रास्यावह इति ; कथं मा त्रास्येथे इति ; यदा नावुपनेष्यसे ; अथ ते शिरश्छित्त्वान्यत्राहृत्योपनिधास्यावः ; अथाश्वस्य शिर आहृत्य तत्ते प्रतिधास्यावः ; तेन नावनुवक्ष्यसि ; स यदा नावनुवक्ष्यसि ; अथ ते तदिन्द्रः शिरश्छेत्स्यति ; अथ ते स्वं शिर आहृत्य तत्ते प्रतिधास्याव इति ; तथेति तौ होपनिन्ये ; तौ यदोपनिन्ये ; अथाश्व शिरश्छित्त्वा अन्यत्रोपनिदधतुः ; अथाश्वस्य शिर आहृत्य तद्वास्य प्रतिदधतुः ; तेन हाभ्यामनूवाच ; स यदाभ्यामनूवाच अथास्य तदिन्द्रः शिरश्चिच्छेद ; अथास्य मीयत इति-न चान्यत्किंचिद्धीयत एवेति-स्तुतावेतौ भवतः; निन्दां प्रशंसां हि लौकिकाः स्मरन्ति; तथा प्रशंसारूपा च निन्दा लोके प्रसिद्धा । दध्यङ्नाम आथर्वणः; हेत्यनर्थको निपातः; यन्मधु कक्ष्यम् आत्मज्ञानलक्षणम् आथर्वणः वां युवाभ्याम् अश्वस्य शीष्णा शिरसा, प्र यत् ईम् उवाच-यत्प्रोवाच मधु; ईमित्यनर्थको निपातः ॥
In plain words
We said earlier that this is a story told for the sake of praise. What story is that? Here is the answer. 'This' points to what was just mentioned, because that is what's present to the mind. The word 'indeed' here simply recalls something already known. 'That' recalls, by means of this same word, a matter stated far off in another section, in the form of a story, and points to it now. The teaching that was only hinted at in the section on the Pravargya rite, never fully disclosed there, is disclosed right here, in what follows, beginning with the words 'this is the earth.' How was it hinted at there? Like this: Dadhyañc, son of Atharvan, once taught the two Aśvins a treatise called the honey-teaching. It was a treasure dear to them both, and the gods draw near to them because of it. He told them, 'Indra has warned me — if you teach this to anyone else, he will cut off your head.' 'That is why I am afraid. So that he can't cut off my own head, let me give the teaching to you two instead.' The Aśvins answered, 'We will protect you from that.' 'How will you protect me?' 'When you're ready to teach us,' they said, 'we'll cut off your head and hide it somewhere else. Then we'll bring a horse's head and fit it in place of yours. Teach us through that. Once you've taught us that way, Indra will cut off that horse's head — and then we'll bring back your own head and set it right back in place.' 'Agreed,' he said, and he let the two of them in on the plan. Once he had told them what to do, they cut off his head and hid it elsewhere, then brought a horse's head and fitted it onto him. Through that head he taught them both. And once he had taught them, Indra cut off that head. Now, 'his head is gone' sounds like a loss — but 'nothing else at all was truly lost.' Put those two statements together and you get praise, not complaint — ordinary people know this trick well: blame that is really praise, and, just as commonly, praise dressed up as blame. 'Dadhyañc' is simply the name of Atharvan's son; 'indeed' here is just a filler word carrying no meaning of its own. And the secret teaching, the one about knowing the self — that is what Atharvan's son taught you two, the Aśvins, through the horse's head. 'Which he proclaimed' means exactly that: he declared it, this honey-teaching. And 'īm' too is just a filler word, carrying no meaning of its own.
Close to the Sanskrit
There [we] said this is a story whose purpose is praise; what, then, is that story? It is answered: 'idam' ('this') refers to what was indicated immediately after, since that is present to the mind. The word 'vai' has the sense of recollection. 'Tat' ('that'), recalling by the word 'vai' a remote matter stated in a different section, produced by way of a story, here refers to it. The madhu that was hinted at in the section on the Pravargya, but not there disclosed — that very madhu is here, immediately following, indicated by the phrase beginning 'this is the earth.' How was it hinted at there, in that other section? [Thus:] 'Dadhyañc, the descendant of Atharvan, indeed taught the two of them the treatise called madhu. That is a dear treasure of these two; by that the gods approach these two.' He said: 'I have been told by Indra: if you tell this to anyone else, then indeed I will surely cut off your head.' 'Therefore indeed I am afraid; so that he may not cut off my head, that I will impart to you two,' he said. The two said: 'We two will protect you from that.' 'How will you two protect me?' 'When you shall teach us two — then, having cut off your head, having taken it elsewhere, we two will hide it; then, having brought a horse's head, we two will fix that in place of yours; with that you shall teach us two. When you have taught us two thus, then Indra will cut off that head of yours; then, having brought your own head, we two will fix that back in place,' they said. 'So be it,' he said, and he then took the two into his confidence. When he had instructed the two, then, having cut off [his] head, they hid it elsewhere; then, having brought the horse's head, they fixed that in place of his. With that he then taught the two of them. When he had taught the two of them, then Indra cut off that head of his. Then, 'his head wanes' — and yet 'nothing else at all is truly lost' — these two statements are both praise; for ordinary people recognize blame that is really praise; likewise, blame in the form of praise is well known in the world. 'Dadhyañc' is the name of the descendant of Atharvan; 'ha' is a meaningless particle. The madhu which is secret, characterized by knowledge of the self — the descendant of Atharvan taught to you two, by means of the horse's head; 'which he proclaimed' — that is the madhu. 'Īm' is a meaningless particle.
Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣadbhāṣyam· Leaf 8.360· bhāṣya
इदं वै तन्मध्वित्यादि पूर्ववत् मन्त्रान्तरप्रदर्शनार्थम् । तथा अन्यो मन्त्रः तामेव आख्यायिकामनुसरति स्म । आथर्वणो दध्यङ्नाम- आथर्वणोऽन्यो विद्यत इत्यतो विशिनष्टि- दध्यङ्नाम आथर्वणः, तस्मै दधीचे आथर्वणाय, हे अश्विनाविति मन्त्रदृशो वचनम्; अश्व्यम् अश्वस्य स्वभूतम्, शिरः, ब्राह्मणस्य शिरसि च्छिन्ने अश्वस्य शिरश्छित्त्वा ईदृशमतिक्रूरं कर्म कृत्वा अश्व्यं शिरः ब्राह्मणं प्रति ऐरयतं गमितवन्तौ, युवाम् ; स च आथर्वणः वां युवाभ्याम् तन्मधु प्रवोचत्, यत्पूर्वं प्रतिज्ञातम्- वक्ष्यामीति । स किमर्थमेवं जीवितसंदेहमारुह्य प्रवोचदित्युच्यते- ऋतायन् यत्पूर्वं प्रतिज्ञातं सत्यं तत्परिपालयितुमिच्छन् ; जीवितादपि हि सत्यधर्मपरिपालना गुरुतरेत्येतस्य लिङ्गमेतत् । किं तन्मधु प्रवोचदित्युच्यते- त्वाष्ट्रम्, त्वष्टा आदित्यः, तस्य संबन्धि- यज्ञस्य शिरश्छिन्नं त्वष्ट्रा अभवत्, तत्प्रतिसंधानार्थं प्रवर्ग्य कर्म, तत्र प्रवर्ग्यकर्माङ्गभूतं यद्विज्ञानं तन् त्वाष्ट्रं मधु- यज्ञस्य शिरश्छेदनप्रतिसंधानादिविषयं दर्शनं तत्त्वाष्ट्रं यन्मधु; हे दस्त्रौ दस्त्राविति परबलानामुपक्षपयितारौ शत्रूणां हिंसितारौ ; अपि च न केवलं त्वाष्ट्रमेव मधु कर्मसंबन्धि युवाभ्यामवोचत्; अपि च कक्ष्यं गोप्यं रहस्यं परमात्मसंबन्धि यद्विज्ञानं मधु मधुब्राह्मणेनोक्तं अध्यायद्वयप्रकाशितम्, तच्च वां युवाभ्यां प्रवोचदित्यनुवर्तते ॥
In plain words
'This is the honeyed teaching' — that whole line, as before, brings forward a second mantra following the very same story. 'Āthavaṇa named Dadhyañc' — since some other Āthavaṇa might exist, the text narrows it down: this is specifically the one named Dadhyañc. 'To Dadhīca, son of Atharvan' — 'O Aśvins' — these are the seer's own words. 'Equine' means belonging to the horse; and the 'head' — once the brāhmaṇa's own head had been cut off, you two cut off a horse's head instead, and after that terribly cruel act, carried it to the brāhmaṇa. That is what happened, and it was you two who did it. Dadhyañc, son of Atharvan, then told you both the teaching he had promised long before, when he said, 'I will tell it.' Why take such a risk with his own life to keep that promise? Because 'ṛtāyan' means wanting to honor a truth he had already given his word on — keeping faith with truth matters more than life itself, and this very word is the proof of it. And what teaching did he give you? The one that belongs to Tvaṣṭṛ, the sun — because it was Tvaṣṭṛ who once cut off the sacrifice's head, and the Pravargya rite exists to set it right again. The knowledge that forms part of that rite is Tvaṣṭṛ's teaching — the vision concerned with cutting off and restoring the sacrifice's head. 'O Dasras' — destroyers of enemy strength, slayers of foes. But he gave you more than just that ritual teaching. He also gave you the secret one, the hidden, esoteric knowledge of the supreme self — the very teaching the Madhu section reveals across two whole chapters. That too is covered when it says he told it to you both.
Close to the Sanskrit
'This indeed is that madhu' and so on, as before, is for showing another mantra. Thus another mantra follows that same story. 'Āthavaṇa named Dadhyañc' — since another Āthavaṇa might exist, he specifies: 'Āthavaṇa named Dadhyañc'; 'to him, Dadhīca, the descendant of Atharvan' — 'O Aśvins' — this is the seer's own utterance. 'Equine' means belonging to the horse, its own; 'head' — when the brāhmaṇa's head had been cut off, having cut off the horse's head, having done so cruel a deed, you two caused the horse's head to go toward the brāhmaṇa — that is, you two. And that descendant of Atharvan proclaimed to you two that madhu which he had earlier promised, saying 'I shall tell it.' For what reason did he, having mounted such a risk to his life, proclaim it? It is answered: 'ṛtāyan' means desiring to keep faithfully the truth earlier promised; for the keeping of the duty of truth is indeed weightier than even life — this word is the mark of that. What madhu did he proclaim? It is answered: the tvāṣṭra madhu — Tvaṣṭṛ is the sun; belonging to him. The sacrifice's head was cut off by Tvaṣṭṛ; the Pravargya rite exists for restoring it; the knowledge that is a subordinate part of that rite is the tvāṣṭra madhu — the vision concerned with the cutting off and restoring of the sacrifice's head is that tvāṣṭra madhu. 'O Dasrau' means the two destroyers of enemy strength, the slayers of foes. And moreover, he did not tell you two only the tvāṣṭra madhu, connected with ritual action; he also told the secret, hidden, esoteric madhu-knowledge relating to the supreme self — taught by the Madhu-brāhmaṇa and made manifest across two chapters — and to that too the phrase 'he proclaimed to you two' continues to apply.