Using the Man for their oblation, the Gods performed the sacrifice. But more powerful still than this oblation was the offering they made with the Hymn’s invocation.
Atharva Veda VII, 5, 4
Brahman is the priest, Brahman the sacrifice; by Brahman the posts are erected. From Brahman the officiating priest was born, in Brahman is concealed the oblation.
Atharva Veda XIX, 42, 1
If the sacrifice is injured with regard to the Saman-verses, one should then offer a libation in the Ahavaniya Fire, saying: Svah Svaha! Thus is healed the injury with regard to the Saman-verses by means of the essence and the power of the Saman-verses themselves.
Sama Veda, Chandogya Upanishad IV, XVII – Penances for Mistakes in the Sacrifice, 6
As one binds gold by means of borax and silver by means of gold and tin by means of silver and lead by means of tin and iron by means of lead and wood by means of iron or leather, Likewise one heals any injury done to the sacrifice with the power of these worlds, these gods and these three Vedas. That sacrifice is well healed in which there is a Brahma priest who knows this.
Sama Veda, Chandogya Upanishad IV, XVII – Penances for Mistakes in the Sacrifice, 7-8
That sacrifice is inclined to the north in which there is a Brahma priest who knows this. And with regard to such a Brahma priest, there is the following gatha: Wherever it is injured, thither he (the Brahma priest) goes. The silent Brahma alone, as one or the priests, protects the sacrificer, as a mare protects a warrior. Because the Brahma priest who knows this protects the sacrifice, the sacrificer and all the priests, one should therefore make a person who knows this the Brahma priest and not one who knows it not, yea, not one who knows it not.
Sama Veda, Chandogya Upanishad IV, XVII – Penances for Mistakes in the Sacrifice, 9-10
