India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c11.s2.25

c11.s2.25

The duties of the various priests were indicated by the addition of suffixes to their names, those of the Udgātā being called *audgātra* (V.¹.129) and of the Adhvaryu, *ādhvaryava* (IV.3.123). Adhvaryu's assistant Neshṭā (VI.4.11) belonged to the Soma ritual whose duty it was to lead forward the wife of the sacrificer. The importance of the Adhvaryu increased with the growth of the complicated ritual in which differences of opinion also arose in course of time. It appears that the followers of each special recension of the *Yajurveda* adopted the ritualistic peculiarities of their own School. The insistence on the two-fold variations of ritual according to locality and *śākhā* (*āmnāya*) resulted in the growth of special Adhvaryus who were designated by particular names. This is reflected in *sūtra* VI.2.10, *Adhyaryu-kashāyayor-jātau*, e.g. Prāchyādhvaryu, priests belonging to east India who were affiliated to the *Śukla Yajurveda*. The followers of the special schools of the *Kṛishṇa Yajurveda* were distinguished by the names of their *śākhās*, as Kaṭhādhvaryu, Kalāpādhvaryu, etc.