History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c47.s2.7
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c47.s2.7
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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).
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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).
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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;
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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.