History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c49.s2.6
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c49.s2.6
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v3.c49.s2.6.1
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.