History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c48.86
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c48.86
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v3.c48.86.1
To the west of the āhavanīya he constructs a vedi, which is in length as much as the height of the sacrificer or which is as long as required for one's purpose and which has curved sides.²³²⁷ The sacrificer repeats a verse 'I make a mansion for him &c.' (Tai. Br. III. 7. 6) and touches the spot where the vedi is to be made. The adhvaryu sweeps the spot of the vedi with the veda bunch once with the mantra 'they knew the vedi by means of the veda bunch &c.' (Tai. Br. III. 3. 9) and twice silently before the dust and weeds are removed.²³²⁸ The yajamāna invokes the vedi when it is being swept by repeating certain verses viz. 'you, a young lady, with four tufts of hair &c.' (Tai. Br. III. 7. 6). The adhvaryu takes the sphya (wooden sword) along with two darbhas with 'I take you at the impulse of Savitṛ ...... with the hands of Pūṣan', invokes it with 'thou art the arm of Indra', cleanses upwards the tip of the sphya with a darbha with 'thou art wind with a thousand tips (or edges) and a hundred sharp brilliances' and places a darbha with its tip to the north or east on the eastern portion of the vedi at a spot which is 32 aṅgulas from the eastern side of the vedi (i. e. ⅓ of the length of the vedi) with 'thou art armour for the earth.'²³²⁹ He strikes the darbha with the *sphya* saying 'O Earth, meant as the place for worshipping gods, may I not injure the root of thy herb'.
v3.c48.86.2
He moves aside with the sphya the dust together with the cut blade of darbha with 'struck aside is the demon Araru from the earth'. He removes the dust and the blade with the sphya outside the vedi towards the utkara²³³⁰ with 'go to the cowpen, the place of the cows.' While this is being done the sacrificer recites by way of invocation 'O gods! I cut off with the bolt of Indra the head of him who hates me &c.' (Tai. Br. III. 7. 6). The adhvaryu looks at the vedi with 'may Heaven rain on thee' and at the sacrificer with 'may rain shower on thee'. The āgnīdhra sits down with the palms of his hands turned upwards to the north of the vedi and outside it on a spot at the distance of two *padas* (footsteps) from the north side of the vedi with 'salutation to heaven and to the earth.' The adhvaryu spreads near the āgnīdhra the dust together with the cut blade of grass at the distance of one *prakrama* to the north of the vedi from a spot which is 32 aṅgulas (or ⅓ of the vedi) from the eastern side of the vedi²³³¹ with 'O God Savitṛ! bind with a hundred fetters in the most distant region him who hates us and him whom we hate; do not free them from the fetters'. The āgnīdhra covers with both his hands²³³² joined together the place of the utkara with 'the restless one is held down' and remains so.
v3.c48.86.3
The adhvaryu strikes the vedi with the sphya a second time and a third time and the same procedure is followed by him and by the āgnīdhra as at the first striking except that one *mantra* is different for each priest at each of the two strikings. The adhvaryu strikes with the sphya a fourth time but silently and all actions of the first striking are repeated but without mantras. The adhvaryu removes all the remnants of the darbhas from the vedi, the yajamāna recites the invocatory verse 'I cut off the head' &c. and the āgnīdhra covers a fourth time with his hands with 'may Araru not spring upwards to thy heaven'. The adhvaryu then draws with the sphya on the vedi a line from the south corner of the west side of the vedi towards the east up to the southern shoulder (on the east side of the vedi) with²³³³ 'may the Vasus enfold you with the Gāyatrī metre'. He draws a line on the western side of the vedi towards the north with 'may the Rudras enfold thee with the Triṣṭubh metre' and draws a line from the northern corner of the west side towards the east with 'may the Ādityas enfold thee with the Jagatī metre'. While this is being done the yajamāna mutters a verse 'O Bṛhaspati, envelope the vedi &c.'. He makes the shoulders of the vedi raised up and envelope the āhavanīya mound and the two corners on the western side turned towards the gārhapatya and the vedi is contracted in the middle.
v3.c48.86.4
The adhvaryu issues a direction²³³⁴ (to himself or to the āgnīdhra or to the attendants if any) 'O men! make this vedi and make it occupied by the Vasus, Rudras, Ādityas &c.' (Kāṭhaka Saṁ. I. 9). The āgnīdhra digs up with the sphya the upper layer of dust with 'Araru has been struck off from the earth, bring here him who worships the gods' and carries the dust so dug towards the utkara. When this is being done the sacrificer recites two texts. The āgnīdhra digs the ground from west to east for making the vedi with 'at the prompting of God Savitṛ, the worshippers do their work'. Whatever roots remain in the ground he removes with the sphya, and all dust that remains he removes to the utkara. The adhvaryu addresses the brahmā priest 'O brahman! shall I undertake the further enfolding of the vedi'. The brahmā priest mutters a mantra 'O Bṛhaspati, enfold the vedi &c.' and loudly replies, 'Yes (om), do enfold'. He enfolds the vedi from the south, west, and north respectively²³³⁵ with 'thou art ṛta (right), thou art the abode of ṛta, thou art the glory of ṛta'. The yajamāna mutters while this is being done a verse 'O Bṛhaspati! enfold the vedi' (same as the one recited by the brahmā above). The adhvaryu says 'thou art dhā (support of the *havis*), thou art svadhā (the source of piṇḍas offered to Manes), thou art the wide earth, thou art rich' and makes the surface of the vedi level by means of the sphya from east to west.
v3.c48.86.5
The yajamāna invokes the vedi with a mantra 'Having become the earth, it nourished greatness &c.' (Tai. Br. III. 7. 6). The adhvaryu addresses a mantra²³³⁶ (Tai. S. I. 1. 9) to the vedi 'O virapśin! Before the cruel (Araru) creeps out &c.', holds the sphya in a slanting position in a spot which is beyond ⅓ of the length of the vedi from its western side and issues a direction²³³⁷ 'obtain or set down the water for sprinkling, put down the idhma (fuel-sticks) and barhis (kuśa grass), clean the sruva and the sruc ladles, gird up the wife (of the sacrificer), and come out with clarified butter.' Then the āgnīdhra (or adhvaryu) places two pavitras inside the agnihotrahavaṇī (sruc), pours water into it, draws the sphya in a slanting position (from the spot where it had been held fixed) a short distance to the north thereby causing a furrowed line on the vedi, holds the sphya in the left hand inside the vedi and the agnihotrahavaṇī in the right hand, drops a little water from the agnihotrahavaṇī on to the furrowed line made by the sphya and places the agnihotrahavaṇī (containing the water) on the spot where the sphya had been originally held fixed slantingly with 'O abode of ṛta.' The adhvaryu brings to his mind him whom the yajamāna hates. When the prokṣaṇī waters are being placed the yajamāna mutters a mantra.
v3.c48.86.6
The adhvaryu throws the sphya in such a way that it falls on the utkara with 'thou art produced from a tree, thou hast a hundred points, thou art the death of the enemy.' Then seizing the sphya with his fist by the bulging part thereof he draws it towards the east from the utkara. He washes his hands on the utkara and also the sphya with water but does not touch with his bare hand the point of the sphya (i. e. he cleans the other parts of the sphya with his hand by pouring the water thereon and cleans the point by only pouring water thereon). To the north of the āhavanīya he places with both hands the *idhma* and *barhis*, the latter to the north of the former. The sphya is placed near the praṇītā waters to their west (Kāt. II. 6. 43).