History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c35.6

v2.c35.6

The Āśv. gṛ. (III 1. 1-4) speaks of the five mahāyajñas and defines them in practically the same words as the Tai. Ār. II. 10 and enjoins that those yajñas must be performed everyday. Nārāyaṇa on Āśv. gṛ. III. 1. 2 expressly asserts that the basis of the five yajñas is the Tai. Ār.¹⁰⁶⁶ The Āp. Dh. S. (I. 4. 12. 13-15 and I 4. 13. 1) names and explains them similarly and states that they are called (in the Tai. Ār. II. 10) 'great yajñas' and 'great sacrificial sessions' by way of laudation. The word 'yajña' applied to these five daily duties is figurative and the adjective 'great' is applied only for belauding¹⁰⁶⁷ them. Gaut. V. 8 and VIII. 17, Baud. Dh. S. II. 6. 1-8, Gobhilasmṛti II. 26 and numerous smṛti texts speak of the same five yajñas. Gaut. VIII. 17 includes them among *saṁskāras* as stated above (p. 193).