History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c47.21

v3.c47.21

Some of the general rules applicable in all śrauta rites may be stated once for all. Vide Āśv. śr. I. 1. 8-22. Unless otherwise expressly stated, the sacrificer should always face the north, should sit down cross-legged, and the sacrificial materials (like kuśa grass &c.) should have their ends pointed towards the east. The sacred thread should be worn in all rites in the *upavīta* form, except where the *nivīta* or *prācīnāvīta* form is expressly ordained; wherever a limb (aṅga) is mentioned or no particular limb is mentioned, it is the right limb (hand, foot, finger) that is meant; wherever the word 'dadāti' (he gives) is used the yajamāna (the sacrificer) is the agent of the action. Kāt. Śr. I. 10. 12 states that the yajamāna is the actual performer in the case of gifts or repeating texts where the word 'vācayati' occurs in the sūtras or in anvā-rambhaṇa, or in choosing a boon, in the case of observances (such as truthfulness), and in the case of measures (i. e. when it is said that a thing should be of the height of a man, it is the sacrificer's height that is meant). When any rite is prescribed without expressly stating the performer, it is the hotṛ who does it and in the case of prāyaścittas wherever the words 'juhoti' and 'japati' occur the brahmā priest is the agent to do those latter acts. When the first *pāda* of a ṛk is mentioned for being employed in any rite the whole verse is intended to be recited; when the first words of a hymn are mentioned for being employed in a rite, but the words quoted in the sūtra do not amount to a *pāda*, the whole hymn is to be repeated in that rite; wherever more than the first pāda of a verse is mentioned, it is intended that three verses are to be recited (that verse and the two following). Japa, āmantraṇa, abhimantraṇa, āpyāyana, upasthāna and mantras that indicate the rite that is being performed are to be recited in a low voice (upāṁśu). A special rule (apavāda or viśeṣavidhi) is stronger than a general rule (prasaṅga).