History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c26.244.3

v2.c26.244.3

This mode is employed by the *adhvaryu* when he chooses the Hotṛ priest.¹¹³⁸ The Tai. S. II. 5. 11. 9 appears to refer to one (i. e. 2nd) mode. The Kauṣītaki brāhmaṇa explains the purpose of taking the names of ancestors 'as the gods do not partake of the offering of him who has no list of (illustrious) ancestors, therefore he pronounces the ārṣeya of the sacrificer.' The Ait. Br. (34. 7) has an interesting passage on pravara. When a brāhmaṇa is initiated for a sacrifice, that fact is announced in these words 'a brāhmaṇa has been initiated for a sacrifice.' How is the initiation of the kṣatriya to be announced? The reply of the Ait. Br. is 'even in the case of the kṣatriya the announcement is to be in the same form (viz. a brāhmaṇa has been initiated); but with the pravara of the family priest. Therefore they should proclaim the kṣatriya's initiation as a sacrificer with the ārṣeya of his family priest and should invoke Agni with the pravara of his family priest.'¹¹³⁹ The Aśv. Śr. (Uttara ṣaṭka VI. 15. 4-5) and Baud. Śr. (pravarapraśna 54) say that in the case of kṣatriyas and vaiśyas the pravara of their purohita was to be employed or the pravara 'Mānava-Aila-Paurūravasa' or simply 'Manuvat.' The origin of that rule is to be found in the above passage of the Ait. Br. There is another similar passage in the Ait. Br. (35. 5). The Śat. Br.