History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c46.90.1

v3.c46.90.1

The Baud. Dh. S. II. 10. 11-30, the Baud. gṛ. śeṣasūtra IV. 16, the Vaik. IX. 6-8 contain the procedure of becoming a sannyāsin. That of the Baud. Dh. S. being probably the most ancient among extant works is briefly set out below:²¹⁸² After having cut the hair on the head, the beard, the hair on the body, the nails, he makes ready three sticks, a loop of strings, (a piece of cloth as) a water strainer, a jar and a bowl. Having taken these he should go to the end of his village, or to the extremity of the boundary of his village, or the fire-hall; he should partake of clarified butter, milk and curds (mixed together) and should fast or drink water. Then he should recite the vyāhṛtis separately preceded by 'oṃ' and followed by the words 'I enter the Sāvitrī' and by one *pāda* of the sacred Gāyatrī and then all together.²¹⁸³ Before sunset, he heaps fuel on the gārhapatya fire (if he has maintained Vedic fires), brings the anvāhāryapacana (dakṣiṇāgni) to the spot, takes the flaming āhavanīya fire out of the gārhapatya, melts clarified butter on the gārhapatya, cleanses it (with blades of kuśa), takes four portions of the butter in the spoon called '*sruc*' and offers in the āhavanīya fire on which fuel-sticks have been heaped a full oblation (i. e. whole spoonful) four times saying 'oṃ svāhā'. This is called Brahmānvādhāna (putting fuel-sticks on fire for securing knowledge of *brahman*).