History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c47.27

v3.c47.27

All saṁskāras (like adhiśrayaṇa, paryagnikaraṇa, heating a sacrificial utensil) are to be done (except when expressly stated to the contrary) by the gārhapatya fire, but the cooking of a *havis* may be done on either gārhapatya or āhavanīya according to one's sūtra. When the material is not specified, *homa* is performed with clarified butter and all homas are done in the āhavanīya when there is no express text and the juhū ladle is to be employed in offering homa (Kāt I. 8. 44-45). Those parts that are to be done with Ṛg. mantras are to be done by the hotṛ priest (unless there be a special direction or reason to the contrary), the adhvaryu does what is to be done with Yajurveda, the udgātṛ with Sāmaveda and the brahmā priests with all the three Vedas²²³⁴ (vide Ait. Br. 25. 8). Brāhmaṇas alone are to be priests (Jai. XII. 4. 42-47). The sacrificer's wife is seated south-west of the gārhapatya fire and her face is turned towards the north-east (Kāt. II. 7. 1). At the beginning of an iṣṭi or other rite five operations (called bhūsaṁskāra) are to be performed on the mound (khara) of the āhavanīya and also on that of the dakṣiṇā fire viz. parisamūhana (sweeping round with wet hand) thrice from the east to the north, smearing thrice with cowdung (gomaya-upalepana), drawing with the wooden sword (sphya) three lines from south to north but towards the east (i. e. the last is to be in the east) or from east to west but towards the north, to remove the dust from those lines with the thumb and the ring finger, and sprinkling thrice with water (abhyukṣaṇa).