History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c48.129
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c48.129
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v3.c48.129.1
Having thus invoked the deities (i. e. the whole of the invocation up to this is done standing), the hotṛ sits down with knees raised up, removes the kuśa (on the vedi) to its north and measures the space of a span on the vedi with 'Aditi is his mother, do not cut him off from the air,......with yajña, with vaṣaṭkāra as the thunderbolt I kill him who hates us and whom we hate' (Āśv. I. 3. 22). The yajamāna repeats a verse 'fire in whom offerings have been thrown is kindled &c.' (Kāṭhaka Saṁ. IV. 14), when the fire flames up with the fuel-sticks that are offered and another mantra 'Gods and pitṛs, whatever I may be I sacrifice &c.' (Tai. Br. III. 7. 5) is repeated. He fans after the deities are summoned as above the āhavanīya fire thrice with the veda bunch. He while sitting takes clarified butter from the dhruvā ladle with the sruva, holds it on the veda, passing the sruva over the north-west corner (of the āhavanīya) where the two paridhis meet he pours,²³⁶⁰ while revolving in his mind the mantra 'to Prajāpati Manu, svāhā', a continuous, long and straight stream of clarified butter on the fire bursting into flames in the āhavanīya place towards the south-east and makes all the fuel-sticks (already thrown over the fire) come in contact with (the butter so poured).
v3.c48.129.2
The yajamāna says 'this is for Prajāpati' and invokes the butter poured as āghāra with 'thou art the mind of Prajāpati, enter into me with mind.' Taking ājya from the ājyasthālī in the sruva he strengthens (or increases or adds to) the dhruvā with 'let the dhruvā be strengthened with ghee &c.' (Tai. S. I. 6. 5. 1). He then issues a direction to the āgnīdhra 'O Āgnīdhra, clean thrice each of the paridhis and the fire.' The āgnīdhra holds the tying cords of the idhma on the sphya and silently cleans (or wipes) the paridhis with them in the order in which they were placed (round the fire) from their roots to the tips i. e. he cleans the middle one first, moving with his right towards the paridhi from the north with his face towards the east; then he cleans the southern one by going to the south in front of the āhavanīya; then he cleans the northern paridhi by going from behind (the west of) the āhavanīya towards the north; then he returns by the way he went to his usual place and wipes the fire thrice, once with the mantra, 'O fire, that securest strength (or food)! I wipe thee......that eatest food for the sake of food' (Tai. Br. III. 7. 6) and twice silently. When about to make the āghāra he folds his hands in adoration to the gods with his fingers to the east in front (i. e. to the east of) the juhū and upabhṛt with²³⁶¹ 'O fire! thou art the world, spread in all directions; O sacrificer (Agni), adoration to thee' (Tai. S. I. 1. 12. 1).
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He folds his hands towards the south in adoration with 'to the pitṛs, svadhā.' He then touches water and takes up the juhū in the right hand with 'O juhū! come, Agni summons thee for the worship of the gods' and takes the upabhṛt in the left hand with 'O upabhṛt! come, god Savitṛ calls thee for the worship of gods' (Tai. S. I. 1. 12. 1). He places the upabhṛt on juhū with 'O well-controlling ones, may you two abound in ghee to-day for me, may you be well covered and well surrounded' (compare Vāj. S. II. 7). He takes the juhū from under the upabhṛt to the east completely and holds it on the upabhṛt in such a way that their bowls are placed on each other and when he is about to throw the ājya into fire he merely holds the upabhṛt in his left and holding the juhū in his right makes the offering with it.²³⁶² He crosses over to the south of the āhavanīya with the right foot but without treading upon the prastara and after repeating the mantra ‘O Agni and Viṣṇu ! May I not step down on you ! May you become apart from me! May you not cause trouble (or heat) to me; may you, who are the makers of worlds, make a place (or world) for me’ (Tai. S. I. 1. 12 and Tai. Br. III. 3. 7). He stands to the south of the āhavanīya with ‘thou art the seat of Viṣṇu; from here Indra performed his exploits’ (Tai. S. I. 1. 12). He places his right foot inside the vedi and makes the toes of the left foot touch the heel of the right.
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Then inserting the juhū by the point where the southern paridhi joins the middle one (i. e. from the south-west) he, while standing, pours from it towards the north-east (as in the first) a continuous stream of ājya with ‘having well begun, the sacrifice of the sacrificer, which is to rise (i. e. to bring prosperity), which is uninjured and which is offered to Indra, touches heaven; svāhā’ (Tai. S. I. 1. 12) and makes the ghee come in contact with all the fuel-sticks (idhma) thrown into the fire. The yajamāna says ‘this is for Indra.’ The adhvaryu, after making this offering (the 2nd āghāra), lets out his breath which he had held up at the time of making the offering. After pouring ājya over the fire he raises up the juhū over the āhavanīya with ‘(fire) is kindled pre-eminently.’ He crosses over to the north separating the juhū and upabhṛt with ‘save me, O fire, from evil (or sin) and establish me in good deeds’ (Tai. S. I. 1. 12). With the ājya in the juhū he smears the dhruvā thrice, once with ‘ghee is anointed by fire, sacrificial offering is anointed by sacrificial offering, the aerial regions are anointed by fire-flame’ and twice silently. He takes ājya from the dhruvā ladle with the sruva and sprinkles it over²³⁶³ the (ājya in the) juhū with ‘suvīrāya svāhā’ and sprinkles ājya from the juhū over that in the dhruvā with ‘sacrifice is spread continuously by sacrifice’.