History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c48.166

v3.c48.166

The iḍopahvānam or iḷopa—(invocation of the iḍā) is described at length by Āśv. I. 7. 7.²³⁸⁴ By this invocation it is supposed that the deity Iḍā becomes favourable to the sacrificer. It is a *nigada*, but a large part of it is said inaudibly (up to ‘vṛṣṭir hvayatām’) and the rest loudly. The sentences run in pairs e. g. ‘Iḍā has been invoked with the Heaven, with the great Āditya; may iḍā together with Heaven and the great Āditya call us near’. In the portion that is loudly uttered, there are three pauses, viz. after ‘iḍopahūtā,’ after ‘manuṣyāḥ’ and after ‘devī devaputre’. The adhvaryu, the āgnīdhra and the sacrificer touch the iḍāpātra with their hands²³⁸⁵ and remain so till the end of the invocation. When the invocation goes on inaudibly the yajamāna mutters (*japati*) ‘O Iḍā! come ...... (Āp. IV. 10. 4)’ and when it is loudly uttered he mutters ‘thou art *cit* &c.’ (Āp. IV. 10. 4, where they are called Manuṣyagavī mantras) and utters loudly ‘May you breathe into all beings, may all beings breathe on account of you &c.’ and several other mantras (Āp. IV. 10. 4 and 7). He looks at the hotṛ and thinks of Vāyu in his mind ‘O Vāyu! Iḍā is thy mother’ (Āp. IV. 10. 5); when the words ‘this yajamāna has been called’ are uttered, he mutters ‘May I, so invited, be endowed with cattle’. When the invocation of iḍā is finished, he repeats ‘may Indra put in us vigour &c.’. When the words ‘the divine adhvaryus’ are uttered, the adhvaryu mutters ‘May I be endowed with cattle.’