Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c47.s2: Agnihotra

History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c47.s2

Language
English

Contents

Agnihotra

v3.c47.s2.1.1

According to Gau. VIII. 20 there are seven forms of haviryajñas of which agnihotra is the second. From the evening of the day of agnyādheya the house-holder has to perform agnihotra²²⁵⁷ (burnt offering of cow's milk &c.) twice daily in the evening and morning to the end of his life or till he becomes a saṁnyāsin, or as the Śat. Br. (XII. 4. 1. 1) says 'Those who offer agnihotra indeed enter upon a long sacrificial session; agnihotra indeed is a sattra that ends with old age or death, since he becomes free from it only by old age or death.' Satyāṣāḍha prescribes (III. 1) that from the time of setting up the three śrauta fires, agnihotra and darśapūrṇamāsa are obligatory on all members of the twice-born classes and he holds that the niṣāda and rathakāra also are bound to perform them, though other sūtrakāras are opposed to this. Vide pp. 45-47 above. Jai. (VI. 3. 1-7 and 8-10) holds that agnihotra being obligatory, it may be undertaken even by him who is not able to perform every detail of it in its entirety, but that a kāmya rite should be undertaken only by him who is able to carry out every detail. Vide also Jai. II. 4. 1-7 where 'yāvaj-jīvam-agnihotraṁ juhoti' is explained as laying down a characteristic required of the performer. The several sūtras present differing details and mantras.²²⁵⁸ According to one view all the three fires are permanently maintained by the house-holder²²⁵⁹ (Kāt. IV. 13. 5); according to others only the gārhapatya is permanently kept (Āp. VI. 2.

v3.c47.s2.1.2

13) and the dakṣiṇāgni is permanently kept only if it was set up by attrition at the time when the house-holder performed agnyādheya. The house-holder calls upon the adhvaryu to bring the āhavanīya from the gārhapatya in the evening and also in the morning; this is so only if the yajamāna engages an adhvaryu in the daily agnihotra, but if the yajamāna does the daily agnihotra himself this call is unnecessary. As to the dakṣiṇāgni in the daily agnihotra, Āśv. (II. 2. 1) mentions several alternatives viz., it may be brought from the house of a vaiśya or from the house of any rich man or it may be produced by attrition or it may be kindled into flames if it is kept permanently. He should take burning coals from the kindled gārhapatya in a vessel and carry them to the place of the āhavanīya with the mantra ‘devam tvā devebhyaḥ śriyā uddharāmi’ and should repeat when carrying the burning coals towards the east the mantra ‘raise me up from sin that I knowingly or unknowingly may have committed; save me from all the sin that I may have committed in the day’ (this in the evening agnihotra, in the morning agnihotra it being said ‘sin that I committed at night’). Vide Āśv. II. 2. 3 and 6, Āp. VI. 1. 7, Baud. III. 4. He should face the sun and place the burning coals in the āhavanīya mound with the mantra (amṛtāhutim &c., in Āśv. II. 2. 4, Āp. VI. 1. 8, Baud. III. 4). In the morning agnihotra also he should face the sun and do other things stated above. According to Kāt. (IV. 13.

v3.c47.s2.1.3

2) the evening agnihotra is to be commenced before the sun sets and the morning one before the sun rises. Āśv. says that the homa is performed after the sun sets. There have been two views on this point from very ancient times viz. whether agnihotra is to be performed before sunrise or after sunrise. Vide Ait. Br. 24. 4-6 and Kauṣītaki Br. II. 9. Āp. (VI. 4. 7-9) mentions four views as to both evening or morning time for agnihotra viz. it should be the *saṁdhi* of day and night for both or it may be when the first star is seen or in the first watch of the night or in the 2nd (for evening agnihotra) and at dawn, or when a part of the disc of the sun just appears on the horizon or after the sun comes up. The householder performs agnihotra after finishing his *saṁdhyā* adoration. There is a difference of opinion, some holding that the homa in the gṛhya fire should precede the agnihotra in the Vedic fires, while others hold that it should come after the Vedic agnihotra.²²⁶⁰ The house-holder after performing saṁdhyā follows either of two modes (Kāt. IV. 13. 12 and IV 15. 2, Āp. VI. 5. 3, according to his *śākhā*), goes towards the āhavanīya through the space between the places of the gārhapatya and dakṣiṇāgni or by a route to the south of these two fire places and having gone round the āhavanīya sits down to the south in his usual place (or crosses from the western side of the āhavanīya and sits down to its south) and the wife also sits in her place (Kāt. IV. 13. 13, Āp. VI. 5.

v3.c47.s2.1.4

1-2). The householder then sips water (*performs ācamana*) with the words 'vidyudasi vidya me pāpmānam-ṛtāt satyam-upaimi mayi śraddhā' (Āp. VI. 5. 3). The wife also sips water.²²⁶¹ Then both husband and wife should observe silence till the agnihotra (morning or evening) is gone through. A man who has no wife can perform the daily agnihotra (vide Ait. Br. 32. 8). The adhvaryu performs *parisaṁūhana* (wiping with the wet hand from the north-east to the north) thrice for the three fires. He strews round the āhavanīya fire darbha grass (performs paristaraṇa) in such a way that the darbhas to the east and west have their ends turned to the north and of those to the north and south turned to the east and the strewing proceeds from the east, then to the south, then to the west and then to the north. In the same way he strews darbha grass round the gārhapatya and then round the dakṣiṇāgni. Taking water in his right hand, he sprinkles it round the āhavanīya first, beginning from the northeast and ending in the north. Then he walks towards the west pouring a continuous stream of water from the āhavanīya up to the gārhapatya. He then sprinkles (performs *paryukṣaṇa*) the gārhapatya from left to right and then the dakṣiṇāgni. Or one may sprinkle water (and this is the usual order now in the Deccan) round the gārhapatya first and then round dakṣiṇāgni and then pour a stream of water from the gārhapatya to the east up to the āhavanīya (Āśv. II. 2. 14). Āśv. (II. 2.

v3.c47.s2.1.5

11-13) says that the mantra in paryukṣaṇa is 'ṛtasatyābhyāṁ tvā paryukṣāmi' and each fire is sprinkled thrice, water being taken freshly at each time and the mantra being repeated each time and that sprinkling may first be done round the dakṣiṇāgni, then round gārhapatya and then āhavanīya. Vide Kāt. IV. 13. 16-18, Āp. VI. 5. 4.

v3.c47.s2.2

²²⁵⁷ The word agnihotra is derived in the Tai. Br. II. 1. 2 as the rite in which *homa* is offered to Agni and Sāyaṇa says अग्नये होत्रं होमोऽस्मिन्कर्मणि इति बहुव्रीहिव्युत्पत्त्याऽग्निहोत्रमिति कर्मनाम । अग्नये होत्रमिति तत्पुरुषव्युत्पत्त्या हविर्नाम. Vide Jai. I. 4. 4 (which establishes that in अग्निहोत्रं जुहोति स्वर्गकामः the word 'agnihotra' is the name of a rite). The Śat. Br. XII. 4. 1. 1 says 'दीर्घसत्त्रं ह वा एत उपयन्ति येऽग्निहोत्रं जुह्वत्येतद्वै जरामर्यं सत्त्रं यदग्निहोत्रं जरया वाव ह्येवास्मान्मुच्यते मृत्युना वा'. सत्याषाढ (III. 1) says 'आधानादग्निहोत्रं दर्शपूर्णमासौ च नियतौ । निषादरथकारयोराधानादग्निहोत्रं दर्शपूर्णमासौ च नियम्येते ।'.

v3.c47.s2.3

²²⁵⁸ Vide Śat Br. II. 2. 4 ff, Tai. Br. II. 1. 1–11, Ait. Br. 25. 1–7, Āp. 6, Kāt. 4. 12–15, Āśv. II. 2–5, Baud. III. 4–9, Sat. III. 7.

v3.c47.s2.4

²²⁵⁹ Those called *gataśrī* perpetually maintain the three fires (Kāt. IV. 13. 5 and Āp. VI. 2. 12). They are a thoroughly learned brāhmaṇa, a victorious kṣatriya king and a vaiśya who is the leading man of his village. ‘गतश्रियस्तु सर्वेऽग्नयः सदा धार्यन्ते । त्रयो ह वै गतश्रियः शुश्रुवान् ब्राह्मणः क्षत्रियो विजयी राजा वैश्यो ग्रामणीरिति’ पद्धति in com. on Kāt. IV. 13. The word ‘gataśrī’ occurs in Tai. S. II. 5. 4. 4 and Śat. Br. I. 3. 5. 12. ‘त्रयो वै गतश्रियः शुश्रुवान् ग्रामणी राजन्यस्तेषां महेन्द्रो देवता’ तै. सं. II. 5. 4. 4. गतश्री is to be explained as ‘गता प्राप्ता श्रीर्येनासौ, गता श्रीर्यमिति वा’ com. on कात्या. IV. 13. 5.

v3.c47.s2.5

²²⁶⁰ संध्याषन्द्यनानन्तरं पूर्वमग्निहोत्रहोमस्ततः स्मार्तौग्नौ। तदुक्तम् । होमं वैतानिके कृत्वा स्मार्ते कुर्याद्विचक्षणः। स्मृतीनां वेदमूलत्वात्स्मार्तं केचित्पुरा विदुः॥ इति। com. on कात्या. श्रौ. IV. 13. 12 and cited as भरद्वाज's in the चन्द्रोदय quoted in आचाररत्न p. 52.

v3.c47.s2.6

²²⁶¹ The paddhati in the com. on Kāt. IV. 13 remarks उपवेशनव्यतिरिक्तं पत्नी किमपि न करोतीति संप्रदायः। तच्च साधुतरम्. This shows how gradually the wife lost all importance in Vedic rites and came to be a mere silent spectator of all the weary details that had to be gone through by the sacrificer and the priest. Jaimini VI. 1. 17-21 stated generally that the husband and wife co-operated in performing yajña, but in VI. 1. 24 he qualifies the general statement by saying that the wife cannot do all the actions which are to be done by the sacrificer, but only those which she is expressly asked to do in the texts.

v3.c47.s2.7.1

The homa is performed with cow's milk for him who performs agnihotra as a sacred duty and not for any particular reward in view, but one who desires to secure a village or plenty of food, or strength or brilliance may employ respectively yavāgū (gruel), cooked rice, curds or clarified butter (Āśv. II. 3. 1-2). Then an order is issued to the person engaged to milk the agnihotra cow²²⁶² that stands to the south of the sacrificial ground with her face to the east or north and that has a male calf. At the time of milking the calf is to the south of the cow, and first sucks milk and then the calf is removed and the milking is done. The person to milk the cow should not be a śūdra (Kāt. IV. 14. 1), but Āp. (VI. 3. 11-14) allows even a śūdra to milk the cow, while Baud. (III. 4) says that he must be a brāhmaṇa. Rules are laid down about the udders from which milk is to be drawn and about persons for whom it is to be drawn (Śat. III. 7 based on Tai. Br. II. 1. 8). The milking is not to be begun by pressing the udders, but by making the calf suck them first ('na stanān sammṛśati' Āp. VI. 4. 2 based on Tai. Br. II. 1. 8). Milking is to be begun the moment the sun sets (Āp. VI. 4. 5). The vessel in which the milk is to be held is of earthenware manufactured by an ārya (i. e. one who belongs to the three regenerate classes), but without using a wheel and the vessel must have a wide mouth and straight sides and not slanting ones (Kāt. IV. 14. 1, Āp. VI. 3. 7).

v3.c47.s2.7.2

It is called agnihotrasthālī (Āp. VI. 3. 15). The adhvaryu takes from the gārhapatya fire some burning coals for boiling the milk and keeps them to the north of the gārhapatya in a separate spot. Then he goes near the cow, holds the vessel in which the cow has been milked, brings it towards the east of the āhavanīya, sits to the west of the gārhapatya and heats the vessel on the burning coals mentioned above. He takes a darbha blade (other than one of those that are strewn round the gārhapatya), kindles it and holding it over the milk illuminates the milk with its light. He then takes water in a sruva and sprinkles one drop or some drops into the boiling milk (Āśv. II. 3. 3 and 5). He should then again hold a burning blade (the same blade used before) over the hot milk and light it up. He does this thrice and then casts away the blade to the north.²²⁶³ There was a difference of view whether the milk to be offered should be brought to the boiling point or should only be simply hot (vide Śat. Br. II. 3. 1. 14-16 and com. on Kāt. IV. 14. 5). Then the pot of milk is slowly lifted with three mantras and drawn down to the north from the burning coals (Āśv. II. 3. 8, Tai. Br. II. 1. 3 'vartma karoti'). Then the burning coals on which the milk was boiled or heated are thrown back in the gārhapatya fire. Then a sruva and sruc both made of vikaṅkaṭa wood are cleaned with the hand (to remove dust) and are heated on the gārhapatya (or āhavanīya according to Āp. VI. 7. 1).

v3.c47.s2.7.3

He then again heats the sruc and sruva on the gārhapatya, asks the yajamāna 'shall I take out milk from the pot²²⁶⁴ with the sruva)' and the yajamāna replies standing ‘Yes, do take out’. Then the adhvaryu holds in his right hand the sruva ladle and in his left hand the agnihotra-havaṇī with its mouth turned upwards, pours out into the agnihotra-havaṇī milk from the milk pot (already heated) with the sruva four times ²²⁶⁵ and keeps the sruva in the milk pot. In Āp. VI. 7. 7-8 and Āśv. II. 3. 13-14 it is said that the adhvaryu knowing the mind of the householder should draw the fullest ladle for the most favourite son of the sacrificer or if the latter desires that the eldest son should be most prosperous and the later ones less and less, then the first ladle is filled to the fullest; on the other hand if he wishes the youngest to be prosperous then the last ladle drawing is the fullest. Then the adhvaryu carrying a samidh of palāśa wood a span in length over the rod of the sruc (inserting his finger between the two), holds the two together over the gārhapatya very near its flames, carries the sruc towards the āhavanīya holding it as high as his nose; when in the midst of the distance between the gārhapatya and the āhavanīya, he brings the sruc down (to the level of his navel) and then again raising it up as high as his mouth, he reaches the āhavanīya and places the sruc and samidh on darbha blades (on the *kūrca*, says Baud. III. 5) to the west of the āhavanīya.

v3.c47.s2.7.4

He himself sits to the northwest of the āhavanīya facing the east, bends his knees, holds the sruc in his left hand and with the right hand offers the samidh ²²⁶⁶ in the midst of the āhavanīya fire with the mantra ‘rajatām tvāgnijyotiṣam’ (according to Āśv. II. 3. 15). Then he sips water with the mantra ‘vidyud-asi vidya me pāpmānam-ṛtāt-satyam-upaimi’ (Āp. VI. 9. 3, Āśv. II. 7. 16). When the samidh has caught fire and is burning brightly, he offers the first oblation (of milk) on the samidh about two finger-breadths from its root with the mantra ‘om bhūr-bhuvaḥ-svarom, agnirjyotir jyotiragniḥ svāhā’ (Vāj. S. III. 9). According to Kāt. he may optionally repeat the mantra 'sajūr devena' (Vāj. S. III. 10). According to Āp. (VI. 10. 8)²²⁶⁷ in the evening agnihotra the mantra is 'agnirjyotir' &c; while in the morning agnihotra it is 'sūryo jyotir-jyotiḥ sūryaḥ svāhā' (Vāj. S. III. 9). Then he places the sruc on the kuśa blades and looks at the gārhapatya with the thought 'bestow on me cattle'. Then he again takes up the sruc, makes a second offering (of milk) which is larger in measure than the first one, but this is offered silently, while he contemplates upon Prajāpati in his mind²²⁶⁸. This second offering is made to the east or north of the first in such a way that the two will not come in contact. He keeps more milk in the sruc than what is taken up in making the second offering. He then raises the sruc twice (thrice according to Āp. VI. 11.

v3.c47.s2.7.5

3) in such a way that the flames of the fire turn north-wards and places the sruc on the kūrca. He scours with his hand turned downwards the spout of the ladle and then rubs his hand to which some drops of the milk stick on the north side of the kūrca (the points of the kuśas that are towards the north) with the words 'salutation to the gods' (Kāt. IV. 14. 20) or 'to you for securing cattle'. Āp. (VI. 10. 10) says that he scours in the evening the sruc (in order to remove what sticks to it) from the end of the handle down to the bowl with the mantra 'iṣe tvā' (Tai. S. I. 1. 1. 1.) and in the morning from the bowl to the end of the ladle with the mantra 'ūrje tvā' (Tai. S. I. 1. 1. 1). Then while the palm is turned upwards, and while he wears his sacred thread in the prācīnāvīta mode he places his fingers to the south of the roots of the kuśa blades on the ground silently or with the mantra 'svadhā pitṛbhyaḥ' (Kāt. IV. 14. 21 and Āśv. II. 3. 21) or 'svadhā pitṛbhyaḥ pitṝn jinva (Āp. VI. 11. 4). Then he sips water (but with the sacred thread in the upavīta form) with his face turned to the east. Then he walks to the place of the gārhapatya, takes a fuel-stick (samidh) in his hand while standing. He then sits down to the northwest of the gārhapatya with his face turned towards the east, bends his knee, offers the *samidh* in the gārhapatya fire, then drawing out in the sruva milk from the pot offers it into the fire with a mantra (‘tā asya sūdadohasaḥ’ Ṛg. VIII. 69.

v3.c47.s2.7.6

3, according to Āśv. II. 3. 26, or ‘iha puṣṭim puṣṭipatir……puṣṭipataye svāhā’, according to Kāt. IV. 14. 23). He offers a second oblation of milk by the sruva silently according to Kāt. (IV. 14. 24) or with the words ‘bhūrbhuvaḥ svaḥ suprajāḥ prajābhiḥ syām suviro vīraiḥ supoṣaḥ poṣaiḥ’ and with at least any three verses addressed to Agni and with the verses ‘agna āyūṁṣi pavase’ Ṛg. IX. 66. 19-21 (according to Āśv. II. 3. 27-29). Then he offers one oblation of milk with the sruva ladle into the dakṣiṇāgni with the words ‘annādāyānna-pataye svāhā’ and a second one silently. He then touches water, turns northwards and with one of his fingers (with the ring finger ‘anāmikā’ according to Kāt. IV. 14. 26) he takes out what remains in the sruc and licks it noiselessly without allowing it to come in contact with his teeth. He then sips water and licks it a second time and then sips water. He then takes into another vessel or on his own palm all remnants (of milk &c.) in the sruc and licks the contents of the vessel or his palm once with his tongue. According to Āp. (VI. 11. 5 and VI. 12. 2) and Baud. III. 6 he holds the sruc in such a way that its rod is turned east or north, and licks ²²⁶⁹ the sruc itself twice, fills it with water, pours down to the west the water (from the ladle) with the mantra ‘propitiate those who partake of leavings’, sips water, and wipes the agnihotrahavaṇī with darbha blades.

v3.c47.s2.7.7

Then he washes his hand, performs ācamana twice, goes near the āhavanīya, sits down, fills the sruc with water and spills the water from the ladle to the north of the āhavanīya with the words ‘devān jinva;’ he repeats the same process again and wearing the sacred thread in the prācīnāvīta form and turning to the south he pours water to the south of the āhavanīya for the pitṛs with the words ‘pitṝn jinva’. He then repeats the same process as for gods and sprinkles water upwards in the north-east a third time with the words ‘sapta-ṛṣīn jinva’. He fills the sruc a fourth time, removes the darbhas from the place (kūrcasthāna) where they were placed to the west of the āhavanīya, pours down water on that place thrice, so as to end the stream in the east or north. He then heats the sruc and sruva on the āhavanīya fire together and keeps them on the antarvedi or hands them over to an attendant. He then offers three samidhs to each of the three fires in the order in which he performed paryukṣaṇa (i. e. in the order āhavanīya, gārhapatya, dakṣiṇāgni, or gārhapatya, dakṣiṇāgni, āhavanīya). After this the house-holder engages in waiting upon agni with *vātsapra* prayers or in a brief worship by repeating only 'bhūrbhuvaḥ svaḥ &c.' (Vāj. III. 37); then he pays silent homage to the āhavanīya and sits near it for a moment; then he sleeps or sits near the gārhapatya;

v3.c47.s2.7.8

then he performs paryukṣaṇa for all the fires, then the householder breaks silence and performs ācamana and then when he goes out he contemplates in mind the dakṣiṇāgni. The wife also performs ācamana (at the end) silently.

v3.c47.s2.8

²²⁶² Tai. Br. II. 1. 6 identifies the cow with agnihotra and II. 1. 7 states that the cow's milk in its various stages belongs to various deities since the time it is in the udder (when it is Raudra) till after it is offered (when it is dear to Indra).

v3.c47.s2.9

²²⁶³ The Tai. Br. II. 1. 3 says उदीचोऽङ्गारान् निरूह्याधिश्रयति । व्यन्तान् करोति । ... अभिद्योतयति । ... त्रिः पर्यग्निकरोति । ... उदीचीनमुद्वासयति ।. The sprinkling of water from the sruva on the milk is called pratiṣeka (Āp. VI. 6. 3-4). This is referred to in Tai. Br. II. 1. 3. The sruc with which agnihotra is offered is called agnihotra-havaṇī, which is made of vikaṅkaṭa wood, is as long as one's arm or aratni (Āp. VI. 3. 6 and com. thereon).

v3.c47.s2.10

²²⁶⁴ Āp. VI. 7. 1 states that words addressed by the adhvaryu differ according to the time 'हिरण्यपष्टिरस्यमृतपलाशा स्रोतो यज्ञानामित्यग्निहोत्रहवणीमभिमन्त्रयोन्ने ष्यामि हव्यं देवेभ्यः पाप्मनो यजमानमिति सायमाह । ओमुन्नयेति प्रातः ।'

v3.c47.s2.11

²²⁶⁵ Milk is poured five times for those who are called pañcāvattins such as householders whose gotra is Jamadagni (Āp. VI. 8. 2). According to Baudhāyana (pravarādhyāya 5) Vatsas, Bidas and Ārṣṭiṣeṇas are pañcāvattins. Āp. sets out the five mantras repeated at each of the five times when milk is poured with the sruva.

v3.c47.s2.12

²²⁶⁶ The mantras differ according to the sūtra. According to Āp. VI. 9. 3 one samidh or two or three may be offered and he prescribes different mantras for the three. The Tai. Br. II. 1. 3 upholds the offering of only one samidh.

v3.c47.s2.13

²²⁶⁷ The Tai. Br. II. 1. 2. says तस्मादग्नये सायं हूयते सूर्याय प्रातः। According to the Tai. Br. II. 1. 9 the mantras are 'अग्निर्ज्योतिर्ज्योतिरग्निः स्वाहेति सायं जुहोति ... सूर्यो ज्योतिर्ज्योतिः सूर्यः स्वाहेति प्रातः।'. Āp. VI. 10. 8 has the same words. Āp. VI. 10. 9 (alternatively) and Śat. III. 7. prescribe a joint mantra for a joint deity 'अग्निर्ज्योतिर्ज्योतिः सूर्यः स्वाहेति सायं सूर्यो ज्योतिर्ज्योतिरग्निः स्वाहेति प्रातः'.

v3.c47.s2.14

²²⁶⁸ Vide तै. सं. II. 5. 11. 5 'तस्मान्मनसा प्रजापतये जुह्वति', Śat. Br. I. 3. 5. 10, Tai. Br. II. 1. 2. आश्व. II. 3. 19 says प्रजापतिं मनसा ध्यायात् तूष्णीं होमेषु सर्वत्र.

v3.c47.s2.15

²²⁶⁹ The licking of the agnihotrahavaṇī is one of the actions forbidden in the Kali age ‘अग्निहोत्रहवण्याश्च लेहो लीढापरिग्रहः’ quoted in Sm. C. I. p. 12;’ vide com. on Śat. III. 7 ‘प्राग्दण्डयोदग्दण्डया वा स्रुचा द्विराचामति द्विञ्च निर्लेढि’ where it is said ‘अत्र स्रुतादग्निहोत्रहवण्याः कलौ लेहनप्रतिषेधात्तयाचमनमपि प्रतिषिद्धमतो हस्तेनेत्याह भाष्यकृत्।’

v3.c47.s2.16

According to Kāt. (IV. 12. 1-2) the upasthāna (worship or homage) of the fires in the evening after oblations are offered in agnihotra with the Vātsapra mantras (Vāj. S. III. 11. 36 and Śat. Br. II. 3. 4. 9-41) is optional and the householder may simply repeat one verse (Vāj. S. III. 37 and Śat. Br. II. 4. 1. 1-2). Āp. (VI. 16. 4 and 6) prescribes as upasthāna the six verses 'upaprayanto' (Tai. S. I. 5. 5) and several others, which are passed over for want of space. There were several views about upasthāna, some holding that upasthāna was to be performed only in the evening and not in the morning, others holding that it was to be performed at both times but only with the Vātsapra mantras (Ṛg. X. 45) or with the Gosūkta (Ṛg. VI. 28) or Aśvasūkta (Ṛg. I. 163). Vide Āp. VI. 19. 4-9 to VI. 23.

v3.c47.s2.17

Āp. (VI. 15. 10-13) has certain interesting rules about agnihotra in the case of kṣatriyas. At first he says a kṣatriya should permanently maintain the āhavanīya fire, but he does not perform the daily agnihotra. He should however send food from his house to a brāhmaṇa at the time when the agnihotra homa is ordinarily performed, whereby he secures the performance of agnihotra, but the adhvaryu should make the rājanya recite the mantras of the worship of fire (agnyupasthāna noted above). A rājanya however who has performed somayāga and always speaks the truth may perform agnihotra daily. Āśv. (II. 1. 3-5) says that a kṣatriya (and a vaiśya) may perform agnihotra on the New Moon and Full Moon days, that on other days he should send cooked food to a brāhmaṇa who is devoted to his duties and that a kṣatriya or vaiśya who always abides by truth (in thought and word) and has offered a soma sacrifice may engage in daily agnihotra. It is probable that these rules were made to allow more time to kṣatriyas and vaiśyas for their chief occupations. According to Āp. VI. 15. 14-16, Āśv. II. 4. 2-4 and others the householder should every day personally perform the agnihotra, but if he cannot do that, he must do it personally at least on parva days and on other days a priest, a pupil or a son may perform his agnihotra for him.

v3.c47.s2.18

The procedure in the morning agnihotra is the same as the evening agnihotra except in a few details e. g. the paryukṣaṇa mantra in the morning is different in Āśv. II. 4. 25 'satyartābhyāṁ tvā paryukṣāmi', while in the evening it is 'ṛtasatyābhyāṁ tvā &c.' (Āśv. II. 2. 11), the samidh is offered into fire in the morning with the mantra 'hariṇīm tvā sūryajyotiṣamahariṣṭakām-upadadhe svāhā' (while in the evening the mantra is 'rajatāṁ tvāgnijyotiṣam rātrim-iṣṭakām-upadadhe svāhā' Āśv. II. 4. 25 and II. 3. 15); the mantra in offering an oblation of milk in the fire in the morning is 'bhūrbhuvaḥsvarom, sūryo jyotir jyotiḥ sūryaḥ svāhā', while in the evening the word 'agniḥ' is substituted for 'sūryaḥ' (Āśv. II. 4. 25 and II. 3. 16). Vide Kāt. IV. 15 for further details.

v3.c47.s2.19

The sūtras set out rules about what the householder is to do when he leaves his homa for one night or for a longer period. Vide Śat. Br. II. 4. 1. 3-14, Āśv. II. 5, Āp. VI. 24-27, Kāt. IV. 12. 13-24. According to Āśv. the important rules are: he kindles the fires into flames, sips water (ācamana) and performs the worship of the āhavanīya, gārhapatya and dakṣiṇāgni by going near them and repeating respectively the three mantras 'śaṁsya paśūn me pāhi', 'narya prajāṁ me pāhi' and 'atharva pitum me pāhi' (all three in Vāj. S. III. 37). Then while standing near the dakṣiṇāgni he should look at the other two with the mantra 'imān me mitrāvaruṇāu gṛhān gopāyatam ...... punarāyanāt' (Kāṭhaka S. VII. 3., Mai. S. I. 5. 14, with variations). He then traces the same way back and comes to the āhavanīya and offers worship to it with the mantra 'mama nāma' (Tai. S. I. 5. 10. 1, quoted in note 553 above). He should then start on his journey without looking back at his fires and should mutter the hymn 'mā praṇama.' When he reaches a place from which the roof of his fire-house is not visible he may break silence. On reaching the road leading from his house to his destination he should recite 'sadā sugah' (Rg. III. 54. 21). When he returns from his journey to his village, he should repeat 'api panthām' (Rg. VI. 51. 16). He should then observe silence, take fuel-sticks in his hand and on learning that his fires have been kindled into flames (by his son or pupil) he should look at the āhavanīya with two verses (set out in Āśv. II. 5. 9). Then placing the samidhs he does homage to the āhavanīya with the verse 'mama nāma tava ca' (Tai. S. I. 5. 10. 1) and then he places samidhs on the āhavanīya, gārhapatya and dakṣiṇāgni with one mantra each (which are Vāj. S. III. 28-30).

v3.c47.s2.20

These rules apply when the house-holder alone goes on a journey leaving the wife at home. When the house-holder is away alone it is his duty to perform all actions at the time of agnihotra and darśapūrṇamāsa (such as sipping water) which he can perform without his fires and to go mentally²²⁷⁰ through the whole procedure and to observe all vratas (such as subsisting on roots and fruits when required). Vide Āp. IV. 16. 18, Kāt. IV. 12. 16 and com. thereon. When he goes on a journey alone he should entrust his fires to his wife and should appoint a priest to perform the necessary rites (vide note 1634 above). When the house-holder starts on a journey accompanied by his wife he should take his fires with him. If both husband and wife go on a journey without taking their fires with them, then a priest cannot offer the agnihotra homa in their absence and on return the house-holder has to again set up the fires (has to perform *punarādhāna*).²²⁷¹

v3.c47.s2.21

²²⁷⁰ 'मनसा नैत्यकं कर्म प्रवसन्जप्यतन्त्रितः । उपावेक्ष्य शुचिः सर्वं यथाकालमन्द्रन्द्रजेत् । गोभिलस्मृति II. 157; प्रवसन् विहारमभिमुखो याजमानं जपति । आप. IV. 16. 18.

v3.c47.s2.22

²²⁷¹ असमक्षं तु दम्पत्यो ... भवेद्धुतमसार्थकम् ॥ विहायाग्निं सभार्यश्चेत्सीमामुल्लङ्घ्य गच्छति । होमकालात्यये तस्य पुनराधानमिष्यते ॥ गोभिलस्मृति III. 1-2, quoted by गृहस्थरत्नाकर p. 101 and रुद्रदत्त on आप. श्रौ. VI. 27. 5. For the first verse, see n. 1635 above.

v3.c47.s2.24

PLAN SHOWING “DARŚAPŪRṆAMĀSA-VIHĀRA” (*as seen at the Mīmāṁsā Vidyālaya, Poona*)

v3.c47.s2.26

A B C D E indicates यजमान सञ्चार A B C D F „ अध्वर्यु „ A B H T „ ब्रह्मा „ A B C K L „ होतृ „ A B M „ आग्नीध्र „ प्र = प्रणीता

Linked texts (17)