The Arctic Home in the Vedas c11.41

c11.41

The chief characteristic of the Soma sacrifice, as distinguished from other sacrifices, is, as the name indicates, the extraction of the Soma juice and the offering thereof to gods before drinking it. There are three libations of Soma in a day, one in the morning, one at mid-day, and the last in the evening, and all these are accompanied by the chanting of hymns during the sacrifice. These Soma sacrifices, if classed according to their duration, fall under three heads; (1) those that are performed in a single day, called Ekâhas, (2) those that are performed in more than one and less than thirteen days, called Ahînas, and (3) those that take thirteen or more than 13 days and may last even for one thousand years, called Sattras. Under the first head we have the Agniṣṭoma, fully described in the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa (III, 39-44), as the key or the type of all the sacrifices that fall under this class. There are six modifications of Agniṣṭoma, viz., Ati-agniṣṭoma, Ukthya, Ṣoḍashî, Vâjapeya, Atirâtra and Aptoryâma, which together with Agniṣṭoma, form the seven parts, kinds or modifications of the Jyotiṣṭoma sacrifice, (Ashv. S. S. VI, 11, 1). The modication chiefly consists in the number of hymns to be recited at the libations, or the manner of recitation, or the number of the Grahas or Soma-cups used on the occasion. But with these we are not at present concerned. Of the second class of Soma sacrifices, the Dvâdashâha or twelve days' sacrifice is celebrated both as Ahîna and Sattra and is considered to be very important. It is made up of three tryahas (or three days' performances, called respectively Jyotis, Go, and Ayus), the tenth day and the two Atirâtras (Ait. Br. IV, 23-4). The nine days' performance (three *tryahas*) is called the *Nava-râtra*. Side by side with this, there are, under this head, a number of Soma sacrifices extending over two nights, three nights, four nights upto twelve nights, called *dvi-râtra*, *tri-râtra* and so on (Tait. Sam. VII, I, 4,—VII, 3, 2; Ashv. Shr. Sut. X and XI; Tâṇ. Brâ. 20, 11,—24, 19). In the third class we have the annual *Sattras* and of these the *Gavâm-ayanam* is the type. Some *Sattras* which come under this class are described as extending over, 1,000 years, and a discussion is found in sacrificial works as to whether the phrase one thousand years signifies 1,000 real years, or whether it stands for 1,000 days. But we may pass it over as unnecessary for our purpose. The annual *Sattras* are the only important *Sattras* of this class, and to understand their nature we must see what a *shaḷaha* means. The word literally denotes a group of six days (*shaṭ + ahan*) and is used to denote six days' performance in the sacrificial literature. It is employed as a unit to measure a month in the same way as we now use a week, a month being made up of five *shaḷahas*. The *shaḷaha*, in its turn, consists of the daily sacrifices called, *Jyotis*, *Go*, *Ayus*, and the same three taken in the reverse order as, *Ayus*, *Go* and *Jyotis*. Every *shaḷaha*, therefore, begins and ends with a *Jyotiṣṭoma* (Ait. Br. IV, 15). The *shaḷaha* is further distinguished into *Abhiplava* and *Pṛiṣṭhya*, according to the arrangement of the *stomas* or songs sung at the Soma libations. An annual *Sattra* is, in the main, made up of a number of *shaḷahas* joined with certain special rites at the beginning, the middle and the close of the *Sattra*. The central day of the *Sattra* is called *Viṣuvân*, and stands by itself, dividing the *Sattra* into two equal halves like the wings of a house (Tait. Br. I, 2, 3, 1) ; and the rites in the latter half of the session or after the *Viṣuvân* day are performed in an order which is the reverse of that followed in performing the ceremonies in the first half of the sacrifice. The model annual *Sattra* (the *Gavâm-ayanam*) thus consists of the following parts :—