History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c48.151

v3.c48.151

The adhvaryu having gone across (towards the puroḍāśas that are made ready) sprinkles clarified butter on the sruc (juhū) with 'āpyāyatāṁ dhruvā &c.' (vide p. 1059 above), touches the several sacrificial offerings with 'do not be afraid, do not tremble, may I not injure thee; may not thy lustre leave thee; carry across this sacrificer who brings offerings, rain on the earth, in order I shall offer the cut portions; I make an adoration to you, do not injure me' (Tai. Br. III. 7. 5).²³⁷³ With his thumb and two fingers (viz. the middle and anāmikā, but using only the fleshy parts and not the nails) he cuts off a portion from the middle of the puroḍāśa (cake) meant for Agni and from its front half. Sat. II. 2. p. 191 and Āp. II. 18. 9 say that the avadāna (portion cut or severed) is as much as the front joint of the thumb (as a general rule) but that the sviṣṭakṛt offering is larger than the ordinary offering for other deities²³⁷⁴ &c. For the Jāmadagnyas a third portion is cut off from the hind part of the puroḍāśa. Portions from ājya and sānnāyya are taken out with the sruva and of cooked food (caru) with the mekṣaṇa. The portion cut from the middle is placed in the eastern part of the bowl of the sruc and the second portion in the western part of the bowl. He sprinkles clarified butter with the sruva (in which ājya is taken from the ājyasthālī) on the cut portions and on the puroḍāśa from which they were cut²³⁷⁵ with 'when cutting portions from thee I acted against thee, I anoint that again with ājya, may that grow again in thee' (Tai. Br. III. 7. 5). Everytime he offers a fourfold (*caturavatta*) portion he smears a drop of ājya on the blades of the prastara.