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History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c49.s2: Sākamedha

History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c49.s2

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Sākamedha

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²⁴⁶³ Vide Tai. S. I. 8. 4-6, Tai. Br. I. 6. 10, Śat. Br. II. 5. 3-II. 6. 1-2, Āśv. II. 18-19, Āp. VIII. 9-19, Kāt. V. 6-10, Baud. V. 10-17.

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This third parvan of the cāturmāsyas is described at great length in Baud., Āp. and Kāt. Only a few salient features are brought out below. 'Sākamedha' is used in the plural, since there are many rites therein and many and various offerings (com. on Kāt. V. 6. 1). It literally means 'kindling along with or at the same time as' (sākam edha). The name is probably given because the first offering in it is a cake on eight potsherds offered to Agni Anīkavat with the rising sun.²⁴⁶⁴ It is performed four months after the Varuṇapraghāsas on the Full Moon day of Kārtika or Mārgaśīrṣa (according as the Vaiśvadeva-parvan was performed on the full moon of Phālguna or Caitra). The whole of this parvan requires two days. On the day previous to the full moon there are three iṣṭis offered at the three savanas (morning, midday and evening) to the three deities respectively, viz. to Agni Anīkavat a cake on eight potsherds in the morning, to Sāntapana Maruts *caru* (oblation of cooked rice) at midday, to Gṛhamedhin Maruts in the evening a *caru* boiled in the milk of all the cows belonging to the sacrificer (Āp. VIII. 9. 8). As regards this last caru it is stated (Āp. VIII. 10. 8 and VIII. 11. 8-10, Kāt. V. 6. 29-30) that if plenty of rice is cooked the priests and the sons and grandsons of the sacrificer (who have had the upanayana performed) eat the food to satiety and go to sleep that night in the same hall without indulging in any talk about poverty or hunger. Jaimini (V. 1. 19-22) refers to the text 'agnaye anīkavate prātar-aṣṭakapālaḥ &c.' and states as the conclusion that all the three rites are performed on one day and no part of the three is to be performed the next day. On that night the milch cows are let loose to mix up among their calves (which can then drink the milk of their mothers without let or hindrance). He, however, binds down that calf which is required for milking the cow that has lost its own calf (and which is to be milked the next morning for the offerings to the Manes). That night and in the next morning agnihotra is performed with rice gruel (and not with milk). On the next day (the principal day of Sākamedha) the sacrificer either before or after the daily agnihotra performs a homa with a *darvi* taking a portion of the boiled rice sticking to the bottom of the sthālī (pot) that had been cooked for the offering to Gṛhamedhin Maruts the previous evening. He fills the darvi²⁴⁶⁵ (ladle) with a mantra (Vāj. S. III. 49, Tai. S. I. 8. 4. 1). Then the adhvaryu directs the yajamāna to fetch a bull and make it bellow. When the bull bellows, he offers the rice in the darvi into fire with a mantra (Vāj. S. III. 50, Tai. S. I. 8. 4. 1). If the bull does not bellow, then the oblation is offered after the brahmā priest directs 'offer'. Aśv. (II. 18. 11-12) states that the homa may be offered (if the bull does not bellow) at the thunder of a cloud or some make the āgnīdhra roar calling him 'brahmaputra' ('the son of the brahmā priest', whose assistant he is). The bull is given as fee to the adhvaryu. Then an iṣṭi is offered to Krīḍin Maruts with a cake cooked on seven potsherds and a *caru* to Aditi. This is followed by a *mahāhavis* (a great offering), which consists of eight offerings to eight deities. They are five offerings common to all cāturmāsyas, the 6th offering is a cake on twelve potsherds to Indra and Agni, the 7th is *caru* to Mahendra (or according to Aśv. II. 18. 18 to Indra, or Vṛtrahan Indra or Mahendra), the 8th is a cake on one potsherd to Viśvakarman²⁴⁶⁶ (inaudibly). According to Āp. he offers the 8th offering of a cake after taking the names of the four months Sahas, Sahasya, Tapas and Tapasya (i. e. Mārgaśīrṣa to Phālguna). A bull is the fee of this *Mahāhavis* (or a cow according to Āp.).

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²⁴⁶⁴ अथ पौर्णमास्या उपवसथ्येऽग्नयेऽनीकवते पुरोडाशमष्टाकपालं निर्वपति साकं सूर्येणोद्यता । बौ. V. 9; Āp. VIII. 9. 2 and तै. सं. I. 8. 4. 6 have the words अग्नये ... ... जोद्यता.

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²⁴⁶⁵ According to the com. on Kāt. V. 6. 40 this darvi-homa is offered in the āhavanīya, while according to Āp. VIII. 11. 19 it is offered in Gārhapatya. The oblation is meant for Indra.

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²⁴⁶⁶ According to Aśv. II. 18. 18, Ṛg. IV. 32. 1 and VI. 25. 8 are the anuvākyā and yājyā respectively for Indra or Mahendra and Ṛg. X. 81. 6 and X. 81. 5 respectively for Viśvakarman.

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After the mahāhavis comes the pitṛyajña which is called mahāpitṛyajña. To the south of the dakṣiṇa fire a new vedi having four corners in the four principal directions²⁴⁶⁷ is prepared and has the same length and breadth as the height of the sacrificer (Āp. VIII. 13. 2). He brings fire from the dakṣiṇa fire and lays it on the new vedi in the centre and all offerings that are to be offered in the āhavanīya are offered in this fire. In this mahāpitṛyajña the wife does nothing. In this yajña a cake on six kapālas is offered to Somavat Pitṛs or to Pitṛmat Soma, *dhānās* (fried barley) to Barhiṣad Pitṛs, *mantha*²⁴⁶⁸ to Agniṣvātta Pitṛs. Āśv. II. 19. 21 adds another deity viz. Yama and according to some (vide Āp. VIII. 13. 16) the devatās and offerings are ājya to Pitṛmat Soma, a cake on six potsherds to Barhiṣad Pitṛs, fried barley to Agniṣvātta Pitṛs and mantha to Yama or Agni Kavyavāhana or Yama Aṅgirasvat Pitṛmat. The beating of grains (with a pestle) and grinding is done by the adhvaryu or āgnīdhra to the east of the gārhapatya fire with his face to the south. The cake is cooked on burning coals taken with a shovel from the gārhapatya to its south and the *dhānā* is fried on the dakṣiṇāgni. There are only four prayājas (omitting *barhis* out of the five at the darśapūrṇamāsa) and so also anuyājas. Instead of the usual direction (called āśruta) of the adhvaryu to the āgnīdhra ‘O śrāvaya’, in this rite he utters ‘Om svadhā’;

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similarly the āgnīdhra responds (pratyāśruta) with ‘astu svadhā’ instead of the usual ‘astu srauṣaṭ’ and instead of the syllable ‘vauṣaṭ’ uttered at the end the words ‘svadhā namaḥ’ are employed. Instead of the concluding offering usually made to Agni Sviṣṭakṛt, in this rite it is made to Agni Kavyavāhana. In this rite two anuvākyās and one yājyā are repeated at each offering i. e. Ṛg. X. 15. 1, IX. 96. 11 are the two anuvākyās and Ṛg. X. 15. 5 the yājyā for Somavat Pitṛs, Ṛg. I. 91. 1 and I. 91. 20 are the anuvākyās and VIII. 48. 13 the yājyā for Pitṛmat Soma, Ṛg. X. 15. 4 and X. 15. 3 the anuvākyās and Ṛg. X. 15. 2 the yājyā for Barhiṣad Pitṛs, Ṛg. X. 15. 11 and 13 the anuvākyās and X. 15. 14 the yājyā for Agniṣvātta Pitṛs, Ṛg. X. 14. 4–5 the anuvākyās and X. 14. 1 the yājyā for Yama, Ṛg. X. 15. 9 and IV. 11. 3 the anuvākyās and I. 96. 1 the yājyā for Agni Kavyavāhana (vide Āśv. II. 19. 22, 24). The adhvaryu or sacrificer sprinkles water from a water vessel thrice round the vedi from right to left. He offers water for washing the feet to the three ancestors (of the sacrificer) in the north-west, south-west and south-east corners of the vedi respectively. He mixes portions of the cake, the fried barley and the *mantha* and prepares three balls therefrom and offers them facing the south on the three corners referred to above for the three ancestors with the appropriate mantras (etat te tata²⁴⁶⁹ ye ca tvāmanu, etat te pitāmaha &c.). According to Āp. (VIII. 16.

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7) he prepares three more piṇḍas for the three ancestors beyond the paternal great-grand-father and invokes them on the piṇḍas in the reverse order i. e. the sixth ancestor on the first (out of these other three piṇḍas), the fifth on the 2nd piṇḍa and the fourth on the 3rd. He then wipes off the remnants of the piṇḍas (piṇḍalepa) sticking to the hand on the north-eastern corner of the vedi with ‘atra pitaro’ (Vāj. S. II. 31 first half). The priests and the sacrificer with faces to the north leave that place, wear the sacred thread in the upavīta form and wait upon the āhavanīya with Vāj. S. III. 51–52 (=Tai. S. I. 8. 5. 1–2), and on the gārhapatya with Vāj. S. III. 53–55 (=Tai. S. I. 8. 5. 2–3). Then entering the vedi the sacrificer, wearing the sacred thread in the prācīnāvīta form, mutters the mantra ‘amīmadanta’ (Vāj. S. II. 31 latter half). They sprinkle the vedi from left to right and do all the rest as in piṇḍapitṛyajña. The sacrificer then folds his hands with ‘namo vaḥ’ (Vāj. S. II. 32) or makes six namaskāras (salutations) and invokes the blessing ‘give us house’ (Vāj. S. II. 32). This rite ends with Śaṁyu (Āśv. II. 19. 2, Kāt. V. 9, 32) i. e. ‘tacchamyorā ...... śaṁ catuṣpade’ (Tai. Br. III. 5. 11) and there is no patnīsaṁyāja homa in dakṣiṇa fire and so on. The remaining portion of the material for offerings is thrown into the fire or into water or may be eaten by the priests.

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²⁴⁶⁷ According to Kāt. V. 8. 21 the four corners face the intermediate quarters and he relies on Śat. Br. II. 6. I. 10. Vide S. B. E. vol. 12 p. 422 n. 3. for this special vedi.

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²⁴⁶⁸ The cow that has no calf of its own but yields milk on having the calf of another is called निवान्या. Its milk is put in a vessel in which half ground barley grains are laid and then stirred once or thrice, according to Āp. VIII. 14. 14, with a piece of sugar-cane to which is tied a string. He does not directly touch the piece of sugar-cane when stirring, but stirs it by moving the string and the stirring is done from right to left. This preparation so stirred is called *mantha*.

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²⁴⁶⁹ Vide Tai. S. I. 8. 5 for ‘etat te &c.’.

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The last rite in the Sākamedhas is the Traiyambaka homa. Vide Tai. S. I. 8. 6, Śat Br. II. 6. 2. 1–17, Āśv. II. 19. 37–40, Āp. VIII. 17–19, Baud. V. 16–17, Kāt. V. 10. This homa is offered to Rudra. Some of its peculiarities may be noted. In this the adhvaryu takes out material to prepare cakes cooked on one potsherd exceeding by one the children (the sons and grandsons together with their wives and unmarried daughters) of the sacrificer or at least four (if he is childless or has no more than a few children). Every thing is done facing the north and all places where offerings are to be made must be to the north. He cooks the cakes on the northern side of the gārhapatya and may anoint the cake with clarified butter,²⁴⁷⁰ he carries a single smoking firebrand kindled at the dakṣiṇa fire with the mantra ‘eka eva rudro’ (Tai. S. I. 8. 6). All (priests and relatives) go to a spot near by in the north-east and lay down one cake on earth dug out by rats from a hole with the words ‘O Rudra! the rat is thy beast’ (Tai. S. I. 8. 6. 1.) or if one has an enemy and one hates him one may think of him and offer that cake with the words ‘that is thy beast’. He places the single firebrand in a spot where four roads meet and which has the usual five purifying rites performed on it and offers thereon with the middle leaflet of a palāśa leaf (used as the *juhū* ladle) portions cut off once each from all the cakes prepared for Rudra with the mantra ‘O Rudra! this is your portion, may you partake of it together with Ambikā, your sister, svāhā’ (Tai. S. I. 8. 6 = Vāj. S. III. 57). The remainder he places on the earth heap dug up by rats and covers it with earth. After coming back from the heap, the sacrificer and the priests mutter a mantra (Vāj. S. III. 58) or only the yajamāna mutters the same mantra (Tai. S. I. 8. 6). The yajamāna, his children and his wife and other ladies go round the fire thrice from right to left (as in pitṛyajña) with the famous mantra ‘Tryambakam yajāmahe’ (Tai S. I. 8. 6 and Vāj. S. III. 60) striking their left thigh with their right hand and again thrice striking their right thigh with their right hand. The unmarried daughter of the yajamāna desirous of a husband should go round the fire from right to left and again from left to right (thrice in each mode), with the above mantra altered to suit her case (Vāj. S. III. 60).²⁴⁷¹ The portions of the cakes that remain are thrown up in the air by the yajamāna so high that a cow (or bull) with upturned mouth cannot reach them and he catches them in his hand one after another.²⁴⁷² If he cannot catch them he touches them when they fall on the ground. They are then placed in two woven baskets (half and half), which are then hung from the two ends of a bamboo pole or the beam of a scale or a pole made of a sacrificial tree and he fastens them on two sides on a tree trunk, or a tree or a bamboo or ant-hill, in such a way that a cow or bull cannot reach them, with the mantra (Vāj. S. III. 61 first part, Tai. S. I. 8. 6 ‘eṣa te rudra bhāgaḥ). They mutter the mantra ‘avatatadhanvā &c.’ (Vāj. S. III. 61 latter half and Tai. S. I. 8. 6) repeatedly without taking breath and do so thrice (according to Āp. VIII. 18. 9). They (priests and yajamāna) return to the place where the other rites were performed and touch water. According to Āp. (VIII. 19. 1–3) a white horse is the dakṣiṇā or a white bull or a bull that has a white spot of hair.

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²⁴⁷⁰ This anointing with ājya is called ‘prāṇadāna’ (bestowal of life or soul). Kāt. V. 10. 10–13 and Āp. VIII. 17. 9–12 differ in the order of offerings to Rudra and on the rubbish dug out by rats.

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²⁴⁷¹ Āp. VIII. 18. 2 says (against Kāt. V. 10. 15) that they go round from left to right. Her mantra becomes ‘त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे सुगन्धिं पतिवेदनम्। उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनादितो मुक्षीय मामुतः॥ (वाज. सं.) or मुक्षीय मा पतेः (as quoted in आप. VIII. 18. 3.)

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²⁴⁷² According to Āp. VIII. 18. 4 the portions of cakes are thrown up by the several persons and seized by them and then placed in the joined hands of the yajamāna and this is done thrice.

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