History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c49.s2.2

v3.c49.s2.2

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.).