History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c50.16
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c50.16
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v3.c50.16.1
He takes a spade with a mantra (e. g. Vāj. S. VI. 1), draws to the east of the new āhavanīya an outline of the hole to be dug for inserting the yūpa. He digs a pit so deep that when the yūpa is erected therein its *upara* (the lower unchiselled portion) will not be exposed to view and he throws out to the east of the pit the earth dug out. The pit is so dug that it is partly within the vedi (prepared for paśubandha) and partly outside²⁴⁹¹ (i. e. it is on the border). The yūpa is laid down in front of the pit, with its top to the east, is washed with water and sprinkled over with water in which barley grains have been mixed, a separate mantra (pṛthivyai tvā &c. as in Vāj. S. V. 26) being recited when sprinkling the bottom, middle and top of the yūpa. He places a handful of kuśas and the first chip (that was cut off with the axe from the tree) on the yūpa which are both subsequently thrown into the hole, the ends of the kuśas being towards the north and east; and then places to the north of the top of the yūpa the caṣāla. The rest of the water taken for sprinkling is poured into the hole for the yūpa with 'Śundhantāṁ lokāḥ pitṛṣadanāḥ' (Vāj. S. VI. 1, Tai. S. I. 3. 1. 1) in which there is a reference to the world of the pitṛs. He silently makes an offering of clarified butter in the hole with the sruva ladle.
v3.c50.16.2
Then the adhvaryu or yajamāna sits to the south of the yūpa and anoints it with ordinary ājya (over which no saṁskāra has been performed) by means of a chip from its top to its bottom including all its angles (but excluding the upara). While the adhvaryu is doing this he issues a direction to the hotṛ priest to repeat a verse for the yūpa that is being anointed²⁴⁹² and the hotṛ repeats 'añjanti tvām' (Ṛg. III. 8. 1) and stops when he has repeated half of it (Āśv. III. 1. 8). Then the caṣāla is anointed both inside and outside and placed on top of the yūpa with a mantra (Vāj. S. VI. 2, Tai. S. I. 2. 2. 3). Then that angular part of the yūpa which is to face the fire together with the corresponding part of the upara is anointed in a continuous stream and the adhvaryu touches all round and holds with his hand that part of the yūpa over which a girdle would be placed later on. At the direction of the adhvaryu the hotṛ priest repeats the verses Ṛg. III. 8. 2-3, I. 36. 13-14 and III. 8. 5 (half), while the yūpa is being raised up. It is laid in the hole with a mantra (Vāj. S. VI. 3, Tai. S. I. 3. 6. 1 'yā te dhāmāni) in such a way that its top will slant towards the āhavanīya and its corner (which is more prominent than the rest) will face the āhavanīya fire. If there are eleven yūpas in an animal sacrifice, then those prominent corners of all eleven yūpas should face the āhavanīya. He fills from left to right the hole for the yūpa with earth with ‘brahmavanim tvā’ (Vāj. VI.
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3, Tai. S. I. 3. 6. 2). The adhvaryu then strokes the earth thrice with the staff of the maitrāvaruṇa so as to make the ground round about the yūpa level with the rest of the ground with ‘brahma dṛṁha kṣatram dṛṁha’ (ibid) and sprinkles it with (ordinary) water all round. Two girdles of darbha are prepared one with two strands and two vyāmas²⁴⁹³ in length (for the victim) and the other with three strands and three vyāmas in length (for the yūpa). The yajamāna touches the yūpa and the adhvaryu makes him recite ‘observe the exploits of Viṣṇu’ (Ṛg. I. 22. 19, Vāj. S. VI. 4, Tai. S. I. 3. 6. 2) and look at the head-piece with ‘that is the highest step of Viṣṇu’ (Ṛg. I. 22. 20, Vāj. S. VI. 5). Āp. (VII. 11. 3) says that he takes in his hand the girdle for the yūpa with ‘devasya tvā savituḥ’ and rubs up the yūpa with the hand having the girdle therein with Ṛg. I. 22. 19. Then he begins to encircle the yūpa with the middle of the girdle at a spot which is of the same height as the navel of the sacrificer or in the middle of the yūpa. He calls upon the hotṛ to repeat Ṛg. III. 8. 4 (yuvā suvāsāḥ) when the yūpa is being encircled with the girdle. The girdle is passed round the yūpa in three coils from left to right. When he has finished doing it he repeats ‘parivīr-asi’ (Vāj. S. VI. 6, Tai. S. I. 3. 6. 2). The two ends of the girdle are intertwined into one another and he inserts the tip of the girdle inside the loop at the other end. Āp. (VII. 11.
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6-10) says that the girdle may be pushed down or higher up from the place indicated above or the ends may be dealt with differently according as the yajamāna desires rain or not or according as female or male progeny is desired for the yajamāna. To the north of the corner of the yūpa facing the āhavanīya he inserts in the middle or last coil of the girdle or in all coils of the girdle the *svaru*.²⁴⁹⁴ Jai. (XI. 3. 5-7) concludes that the saṁskāras of prokṣaṇa (sprinkling), anointing (añjana), raising up (ucchrayaṇa)