History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c34.223

v2.c34.223

The sages to whom water is offered are divided into two groups. The first group contains twelve sages and when offering water to these the sacred thread is worn in the nivīta form. The twelve sages are those of the hundred ṛks, the middle ṛṣis (i. e. of maṇḍalas 2 to 9 of the Ṛgveda), Gṛtsamada, Viśvāmitra, Vāmadeva, Atri, Bharadvāja, Vasiṣṭha, Pragāthas, the Pāvamānī hymns, sages of the short hymns and those of the long hymns (the tarpaṇa formula will be 'śatarcinas-tṛpyantu, mādhyamās-tṛpyantu, Gṛtsamadas-tṛpyantu &c.). It will be noticed that the sages from Gṛtsamada to Vasiṣṭha are the seers of maṇḍalas 2 to 7 of the Ṛgveda. The Pragāthas stand for the eighth maṇḍala of which the first hymn is ascribed in the Anukramaṇī to Pragātha of the Kaṇva gotra and the rest of the eighth maṇḍala is ascribed to various scions of the Kaṇva gotra. The verses of the ninth maṇḍala are called Pāvamānyaḥ; but as it is a tarpaṇa of sages, we rather expect the form pāvamānāḥ as in the Śāṅkhyāyana gṛhya IV. 10. 'Śatarcinaḥ' refers to the sages of the first maṇḍala, and 'kṣudrasūktāḥ' and 'mahāsūktāḥ' to sages of the tenth maṇḍala. Water is offered to these sages by the *daiva tīrtha*. Then there is a second group of sages to whom water is offered by a person who wears his sacred thread in the prācīnāvīta form (i. e. it is suspended over the right shoulder and under the left arm). There are two sub-groups here. In the first the verbal forms ‘tṛpyantu’ or ‘tṛpyatu’ are used with the nominative of the words for the sage; i. e. ‘Sumantu-Jaimini-Vaiśampāyana-Paila-sūtra-bhāṣya-Bhārata-Mahābhārata-Dharmācāryās tṛpyantu’;¹⁶⁵⁵ ‘Jānanti-Bāhavi-Gārgya-Gautama-Śākalya-Bābhravya-Māṇḍavya-Māṇḍūkeyās tṛpyantu’; ‘Gārgī-Vācaknavī tṛpyatu, Vaḍavā-Prātitheyī tṛpyatu, Sulabhā-Maitreyī tṛpyatu’. These together are five sentences. It is remarkable that in this list three women are mentioned as sages (Gārgī, Vaḍavā and Sulabhā). Among the other sages the first four are frequently mentioned in the Mahābhārata as the pupils of Vyāsa who taught them the Vedas (vide Sabhāparva 4. 11 and Śānti 328. 26-27 where all four are named). For chronological purposes it is important to note that the Āśv. gṛ. knew teachers of sūtras, bhāṣyas, of the Bhārata and also the Mahābhārata and of Dharma. In the second sub-group there are 17 single sages and the 18th is a miscellaneous offering to all other ācāryas. The names of the 17 sages occur in the accusative and after each the word ‘tarpayāmi’ is to be uttered (i. e. Kahoḷam tarpayāmi, Kauṣītakaṁ tarpayāmi……Āśvalāyanaṁ tarpayāmi). These 17 sages are: Kahoḷa, Kauṣītaka, Mahākauṣītaka, Paiṅgya, Mahāpaiṅgya, Suyajña, Sāṅkhyāyana, Aitareya, Mahaitareya, Śākala, Bāṣkala, Sujātavaktra, Audavāhi, Mahaudavāhi, Saujāmi, Śaunaka, Āśvalāyana. The 18th is ‘may all the other ācāryas be satiated’ (ye cānye ācāryās-te sarve tṛpyantu). All these sages are connected with the Ṛgveda, its Brāhmaṇas, its Āraṇyakas and other related works like the Prātiśākhya sūtra (of which Śaunaka is said to be the author). It is interesting to note that Āśvalāyana himself is named as the last teacher in tarpaṇa. Śaunaka is said to be the teacher of Āśvalāyana.¹⁶⁵⁶ In modern times in the Deccan water is offered twice to each sage or group of sages.