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History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c49.s3: Śunāsīrīya

History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c49.s3

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Śunāsīrīya

v3.c49.s3.1

²⁴⁷³ Vide Tai. S. I. 8. 7, Tai. Br. I. 7. 1, Śat. Br. II. 6. 3, Āśv. II. 20, Āp. VIII. 20, Kāt. V. 11, Baud. V. 18.

v3.c49.s3.2

Besides the five offerings common to all cāturmāsyas, the special offerings in this iṣṭi are a cake on twelve potsherds to Śunāsīrau (Vāyu and Āditya, according to com. on Kāt. V. 11. 5 and to Indra Śunāsīra, according to Āp. VIII. 20. 5 and com.), an oblation of fresh warm milk (not heated) direct from the cow to Vāyu, a cake on one potsherd to Sūrya. There is no uttaravedi in this rite, and no fire is produced by attrition. There are five prayājas, three anuyājas and one samiṣṭayajus, but according to Āp. VIII. 20. 6 there are nine prayājas and anuyājas. The dakṣiṇā for the rite is a plough with six bulls or two big bulls and for the cake to Sūrya a white horse or a white bull (Kāt. V. 11. 12–14), while according to Tai. S. I. 8. 7 it is a plough to which twelve oxen are yoked and according to Āp. (VIII. 20. 9–10) a plough with twelve or six oxen.

v3.c49.s3.3

‘Śunāsīrau’ occurs in the Ṛgveda IV. 57. 5 and 8. In Ṛg. IV. 57. 4 and 8 the word ‘śunam’ occurs several times. The meaning is doubtful. According to Yāska’s Nirukta IX. 40 Śuna and Sīra mean Vāyu and Āditya respectively; while the Śat. Br. II. 6. 3. 2 appears to hold that *śuna* means prosperity and *sīra* means ‘essence or sap’ (*sāra*) and this iṣṭi is so called because the sacrificer thereby secures both prosperity and sap.

v3.c49.s3.4

European scholars see in this name a reference to the plough and ploughshare.²⁴⁷⁴ Vide Vedic Index vol. II. p. 386.

v3.c49.s3.5

²⁴⁷⁴ According to Āśv. II. 20. 3 the devatās of the 6th, 7th, and 8th offerings are Vāyu Niyutvat or Vāyu (simply), Śunāsīrau or Indra Śunāsīra or Indra Śuna and Sūrya. The anuvākyā and Yājyā verses of these are respectively Ṛg. VII. 92. 1 and 3 (Vāyu Niyutvat), VIII. 26. 25 and VII. 90. 2 (for Vāyu simply), IV. 57. 5 and 8 (for Śunāsīrau), Indra vayaṁ Śunāsīram-asmin pakṣe havāmahe sa vājeṣu pra ṇo viśat and X. 160. 5 (for Indra Śunāsīra), III. 30. 22 and X. 160. 5 (for Indra Śuna), I. 50. 4 and I. 115. 1 (for Sūrya).

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