History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c48.61
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c48.61
- Language
- English
v3.c48.61.1
The adhvaryu sits to the west of the gārhapatya, takes hold of the black antelope skin lying on the altar with 'thou art the whirl of the wind' and shakes it thrice on the utkara holding it in such a way that the neck portion is up and the hairy portion inside (towards himself) with 'destroyed is the evil spirit, destroyed are the enemies'. To the west of the utkara he spreads the antelope²³⁰⁸ skin with its neck portion westwards (Śat. Br. I. 1. 4. 5) and its hairy portion upwards with "thou art the skin of Aditi'. The portion²³⁰⁹ of the skin near the anus (of the animal) is twisted below the hairless part and both parts are held together with 'may the earth know thee'. While still touching the skin he places the mortar on it with 'thou art the adhiṣavaṇa (the utensil for pressing or beating the grains) made of a tree, may the skin of Aditi know thee'. Holding the mortar (ulūkhala) by the left hand he pours into its mouth the sacrificial materials (unhusked grains of rice or barley) thrice with 'thou art the body of Fire,²³¹⁰ thou art a prompter of speech, I take thee for the enjoyment of the gods' and a fourth time silently. He takes the pestle with 'thou art a stone (hard like a stone), though produced from a tree; mayst thou so strike this sacrificial material for the gods that it will be enjoyable to them!' and beats the grains in the mortar thrice with 'may I strike the evil spirit, the enemy of heaven, away!' (the mantra is recited only once according to Jai. XI. 4.
v3.c48.61.2
42). After striking thrice the adhvaryu utters a summons to haviṣkṛt, with 'come, O Haviṣkṛt' (repeated thrice)²³¹¹. When the grains begin to be husked the adhvaryu utters a call to Āgnīdhra 'strike loudly'. The āgnīdhra takes *kuṭaru* (aśman, a stone) with 'thou art a stone, thou art one that makest a hymn of praise (or glory)' and he strikes therewith the large mill-stone (dṛṣad) that is placed on the altar (twice, once with mantra and once silently) and the smaller one (upalā) once with 'proclaim food (to the gods), proclaim strength; may you (all sacrificial utensils) proclaim that (the food) is full of excellent flavour; may we conquer the hordes (of enemies) by this noise'. The āgnīdhra may strike silently with the yoke-pin (śamyā) instead of using a stone (Āp. I. 20. 4). He repeats this thrice (i. e. striking with a stone or yoke-pin is done nine times in all). After this the sacrificer's wife or some one else (such as the āgnīdhra) threshes the grains in the mortar (Kāt. II. 4. 14). Jai. (XI. 1. 27) states that the beating has a seen purpose (viz. removal of husk) and so it is to be continued as long as required for effecting that purpose. Jai. (IV. 2. 26) further lays down that the Vedic sentence 'vrīhīn-avahanti' is a restrictive injunction (niyamavidhi) in that, when unhusking can be effected either by using the mortar and pestle or by some other method (such by using the nails) it restricts one to the former method.
v3.c48.61.3
The adhvaryu then holds the winnowing basket near the mouth of the mortar to its east or north with the words 'thou art grown by rain'²³¹² (as it is made of bamboo) and touches the beaten grains (to be used for puroḍāśa) with 'you are grown by rain'. He then puts with his hand the beaten grains into the winnowing basket with 'may (the śūrpa) know thee' (the grains as its own). Holding the śūrpa over the *utkara* he thrice winnows the grains and frees them from the husk (which falls on the *utkara*) with 'thrown away is the evil spirit, thrown away are the enemies' (i. e. the husks are meant to be the portion of evil spirits). He makes the husks sticking to the śūrpa fall on the utkara with 'blown away are the enemies'. He puts the husks from the place of the utkara over the (middle) potsherd (on which the cake is to be baked) and places them (the husks) underneath the black antelope skin in its north-west corner with 'thou art the portion of evil spirits'. He does not look at these husks. He presses down with his hand the spot where the husks are kept with 'pressed down is the evil spirit'. He touches water, sprinkles the potsherd (on which the husks were) with water and keeps the potsherd in its place. He separates the husked and unhusked grains with 'may the wind separate you.' He then pours out the grains of rice from the śūrpa in the pot with the words 'may the god Savitṛ with his golden hands (rays) accept you'.
v3.c48.61.4
He then takes them and pours them in the mortar and issues a direction (praiṣa) to the sacrificer's wife to make the rice free from the thin coating of husk.²³¹³ The wife or some one else or a *dāsī* (a maid-servant) does the threshing several times, then she hands over the pestle to the āgnīdhra who beats with the pestle the grains and then the wife does the final beating with 'may you become pure for the gods, shine for the gods, purify for the gods'. The adhvaryu puts the kaṇas (little particles of rice grains) separated from the polished grains of rice in a vessel, cleanses the polished grains that are in the śūrpa with water. That portion which remains after the grains are beaten thrice is made to flow towards the utkara with the water (collected in another vessel) that is used in washing the polished grains with 'this is the portion of evil spirits. May the waters carry it forward from this place, svāhā', the water being also poured inside the vedi. Then he repeats the whole procedure about the black antelope skin from its being taken up to its being spread already described. Then the adhvaryu places the yoke-pin (śamyā) with its head (kumba, thick part) to the north on the antelope skin with 'thou art the support of the heavenly world'; he establishes²³¹⁴ the larger mill-stone (dṛṣad) with its face to the east on the śamyā in such a way as to cover the śamyā with its western half with 'thou art intelligence (though) made of a stone;
v3.c48.61.5
may the support of heaven know thee'; then he places the smaller mill-stone on the larger one with 'thou art intelligence (though) a child of the mountain; may the dṛṣad know thee'. The adhvaryu then bends and looks at the polished grains that are in the śūrpa with 'you are honeyed rays'. He spreads the polished grains on the larger mill-stone thrice with 'at the command of god Savitṛ......hands of Pūṣan' (vide p. 1024 for the omitted words). I spread you, you are corn, satiate the gods' and once silently. He draws the smaller mill-stone over the grains to the east with 'to thee for prāṇa'²³¹⁵, to the west with 'to thee for apāna', and holds it firmly in the middle of the lower mill-stone with 'to thee for vyāna'. Ultimately he grinds towards the east with 'I hold this (smaller mill-stone) for the life (of the sacrificer) in a long and continuous series²³¹⁶ of actions (here grinding)'. Thereafter he continuously grinds the grains at his pleasure. He throws the ground grains from the larger mill-stone with the smaller mill-stone on to the antelope skin with 'May God Savitṛ with his golden hands (rays) accept you' and bends down to look at the ground grains with 'I look at you with an unimpaired eye.' He then issues a direction to the wife 'grind (or pound) without scattering (the grains away from the larger mill-stone or from the antelope skin) and make them into fine flour.' Either the wife grinds or a maid-servant (dāsī) may do so (Āp. I. 21. 8-9);
v3.c48.61.6
and then keeps aside the well-ground flour in a well-known place. The adhvaryu heats on the gārhapatya water called *madantī*²³¹⁷ brought from the praṇītā water. The offerings (of cooked vegetable food) are cooked either on the gārhapatya or on the āhavanīya fire.