Agniveshyagrihyasutra 2.7.2

The fire that begins with the grasping of the hand [in marriage], that they call the domestic fire.

In it the domestic rites are performed.

His state of being an Agnihotrin is by means of the domestic fire, just as the sacrificer of New- and Full-Moon sacrifices is [such] by means of the boiled oblation of the joint days.

Therefore it must be kept continuously; if gone out, it must be churned, or brought from the house of a learned Brahmin.

And when it has gone out, there is a fast for the wife or for the husband.

And he should offer these oblations: "To Mitra svāhā! To Varuṇa svāhā! To Soma svāhā! To Sūrya svāhā! To Agni svāhā! To Agni possessing austerity, possessing offspring, possessing purification, svāhā! To Agni the pure svāhā! To Agni the luminous svāhā! To Agni the lord of vows svāhā!" [and] with the mystic utterances, separately and together.

Now if it has been interrupted for two or three days, evening and morning, he should offer to Agni Tantumat.

If there is an omission of the cooked oblation, he should offer to Agni Pathikṛt or to Agni Vaiśvānara.

For this too, the first-fruits sacrifice and the Piṇḍapitṛyajña have been explained.

If interrupted for twelve days, it must be re-established, or he should offer the oblations by counting [the missed ones].

We shall explain the re-establishment.

In an enclosed place, having raised [the ground] and sprinkled [it], sand having been scattered, having covered [it] with udumbara branches, plakṣa branches, or palāśa branches, having churned the fire from sacrificial wood or brought [it] from the house of a learned Brahmin, having placed [it] in a vessel, having kindled [it], having cast aside the branch, he sets [it] down and lays [it] on, saying: "Oṃ bhūrbhuvaḥsvaḥ oṃ, be established!"

Having performed [the rites] up to the mystic utterances, he offers three Tantumatī oblations with: "Stretching the thread...", "Awake, O Agni...", and "The thirty-three threads...".

Then he offers four Abhyāvartanī oblations with: "O Agni, returning...", "O Agni, Aṅgiras...", "Again with vigour...", [and] "Together with wealth...".

Having offered these, the one addressed to Prajāpati, the one with the mind, and the Sāptapatī, he offers two Mindā oblations: "Whatever defect has been mine...", and "Agni has given back sight...".

He offers the expiatory oblation: "Thou art the uncursed of Agni, and truly thou art uncursed;

held by an untiring mind, with untiringness thou hast borne the oblation; bestow medicine on us, svāhā!"

Having silently recited the Daśahotṛ formula, having offered the Sagṛha oblation, and [having offered with]: "This of mine, O Varuṇa...", "That of thine I ask...", "Do thou to us, O Agni...", "So thou to us, O Agni...", "Thou, O Agni, art uncursed...", [and] "O Prajāpati, whatever in this rite has been redundant...".

Here some offer the Jaya, Abhyātāna, and Rāṣṭrabhṛt offerings as supplementary oblations.

As before, having served the Brahmins with food, having caused them to proclaim an auspicious day, safety, and prosperity, the cooked oblation to Agni is established.

Here he gives a choice gift to the teacher: two garments, a milch-cow, or a draft-ox.

If he is to go on a journey, having stood before [the fire] with "Oṃ bhūrbhuvaḥsvaḥ", he should go on the journey.

If he should set forth, the placing [of the fire] into oneself and into the two kindling sticks, and the bringing down [of it], has been explained.

Or the placing [of the fire] into a fire-stick and the bringing down [of it].

Or he may place it into a fire-stick according to the rule for the kindling sticks.

Where his dwelling is, having brought fire from the house of a learned Brahmin there, having deposited [it] with the two [verses]: "Being invoked..." and "Awake...", having strewn [grass] around, he places that [fire-stick] on which [the fire] was mounted.

The procedure of the oblation has been explained.

2. Now, if a householder has two wives:

Having laid the fire, having strewn [darbha grass] around, having melted clarified butter, having purified it by straining, having heated the two ladles over the fire, having wiped them, having taken four ladlings of clarified butter in the sruc, the wife having taken hold from behind, the sacrificer offers: "Homage, O Harṣagada!

To thee for non-separation! To thee for svadhā!

May Indra not harm us; having seen [thee], uninjured,

so, O Brahman, let it be thine, svāhā!"

Then he mounts this fire [into the sticks] with: "This is thy seasonal womb...".

Having mounted [it], having laid a fire-stick in the former fire, with the two [verses]: "Being invoked..." and "Awake...", having strewn [darbha grass] around, having melted clarified butter, having purified it by straining, having heated the two ladles over the fire, having wiped them, having taken four ladlings in the sruc, the two wives having taken hold from behind, the sacrificer offers with this hymn: "The Brahman priest who lifted up the Brahman...", having taken four ladlings one by one.

Having performed [the rites] up to the Praṇītā waters, having cooked four plates of boiled rice, having basted [it] with clarified butter, having removed it towards the north, he bastes it after it has been set down.

Having performed [the rites] from the enclosing sticks up to the mouth of the fire, he offers from the cooked food.

Having recited the invitatory verse: "Come together, be of one accord...", he offers with the offering verse: "O Agni Purīṣya, become the guardian, thou to us...".

Then he offers supplementary oblations of clarified butter with "Thou, O Agni, art Purīṣya..." up to the end of the section.

From the Sviṣṭakṛt onwards, it is established up to the giving of a milch-cow as a choice gift.

The procedure of the domestic fire concludes; the procedure of the domestic fire concludes. || 3