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History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c50.49

History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c50.49

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7. 11 adds that kloman and the next three may be cut off or not. The medas (fat on the abdomen) is, according to Kāt., thrown on the guda (entrails) if the victim be thin. The tail is to be employed as an offering in the Patnīsaṁyāja, according to Kāt. and the largest part of the intestines (3rd of the whole) was to be employed as offering in upayaj homa. The undigested grass (inside the belly of the victim) is put in a pit dug up to the west of the śāmitra fire and to the north of the utkara and on it the blood of the victim is poured with the words 'thou art the portion of evil spirits' (Vāj. S. VI. 16). The victim's heart is held pierced on a pike (śūla) made of varaṇa wood one *aratni* long and is roasted on the śāmitra fire and all other parts of the victim except the heart are cooked in an ukhā (pot for boiling or cooking). According to com. on Āp. VII. 22. 9 this cooking is done by the śamitṛ. Jai. XII. 1. 12 prescribes that the cooking is done on the śālāmukhīya fire and not on śāmitra fire. The adhvaryu performs the operation of sprinkling butter on the juhū and upabhṛt, cuts two portions from the middle and front parts of the cooked material into the juhū, pours butter over it and offers it into fire for Indra and Agni, then cuts one portion (for Sviṣṭakṛt) into the upabhṛt, makes two pourings of butter over it and makes an offering to Agni Sviṣṭakṛt.²⁵¹⁹ Jai. (XII. 1.

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10-11) concludes that the offering of the paśupuroḍāśa is made with the ladles used in darśapūrṇamāsa and not with the soma vessels (viz. the cups and camasas). Then a portion is cut off out of the remainder of the material from which puroḍāśa was offered and placed in a vessel called prāśitraharaṇa (which portion of the sacrificial food is eaten by the brahmā priest) and some portion is cut off as the iḍā, which is invoked with mantras and eaten by all the priests. He then thrice asks the śamitṛ whether the *havis* (the heart roasted on a pike) is ready cooked and the latter simply replies 'it is cooked'. Kāt. VI. 8. 1 prescribes that the śamitṛ should in his reply utter only the word '*śṛtam*' and should not add any word like 'revered sir' (bhagavaḥ) or '*hi*'. The śamitṛ then takes off the heart from the pike (śūla) on which it was roasted, and keeps it in a pot (kumbhī) and pours over it pṛṣadājya (clarified butter in which sour milk is mixed) with 'saṃ te' (Vāj. S. VI. 18, Tai. S. I. 3. 10. 1) and ājya over the other portions of the paśu. The śamitṛ gives the hṛdaya-śūla (the pike on which the heart was roasted) to the adhvaryu who does not keep it on the bare ground nor throw it in water, nor does he touch with it himself or others (but holds it tied by a cord). He takes these (viz. the roasted heart and the cooked organs) between the yūpa and the āhavanīya fire and places them on the southern part of the altar (viz.

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its southern corner of the western side) over which kuśa grass is already spread. Then ājya is sprinkled over four utensils viz. juhū, upabhṛt, *vasāhomahavaṇī* (a *sruc* ladle with which the offering of *vasā* i. e. of the gravy is to be made) and the vessel in which iḍā is to be cut. Then a golden piece is placed in the juhū and the upabhṛt, which are then kept on twigs of plakṣa tree and then in the juhū and upabhṛt are cut by the pratiprasthātṛ (with the anointed edge of the knife) portions of the heart, then of the tongue and then of the chest (this order is stated in the Tai. S. VI. 3. 10) and then of the other limbs in any order (the whole of the entrails being at this stage cut in three parts). Two portions of the size of the fore-part of the thumb are cut both in the juhū (of the daivata limbs) and upabhṛt (of the limbs meant for Sviṣṭakṛt). While this is being done the adhvaryu directs the maitrāvaruṇa to repeat texts for the *havis* that is to be offered to Manotā and the maitrāvaruṇa repeats the whole hymn Ṛg. VI. 1 (in the first of which only the word Manotā occurs as an epithet of Agni, probably meaning 'thinker'). He takes the gravy in the *vasāhomahavaṇī*²⁵²⁰ with 'red-asi' (Vāj. S. VI. 18), pours ājya over it twice and mixes the two together with the knife.

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The rest of the vasā he pours in the iḍāpātra to which are added the chest and other boneless parts.²⁵²¹ When the yājyā for Indra-Agni is half repeated, a part of the vasā is offered by the pratiprasthātṛ sitting to the north into fire with 'ghṛtam ghṛtapāvānaḥ' (Vāj. S. VI. 19, Tai. S. I. 3. 10. 2) and with the remainder of the vasā he makes offerings in each direction with 'diśaḥ pradiśaḥ' (Vāj. S. VI. 19, Tai. S. I. 3. 10. 2). No vasā is kept for being partaken of by the priests (com. on Kāt. VI. 8. 22). Then the adhvaryu takes in the juhū a part of pṛṣadājya (mottled butter) from the pot of pṛṣadājya and offers to Vanaspati and after taking the contents of the upabhṛt into the juhū makes the offering to Sviṣṭakṛt (Āp. VII. 25. 14 and Kāt. VI. 8. 18-22 state that the order of these last offerings may be different). Then he touches the remaining organs and limbs of the paśu and keeps the juhū and upabhṛt in their places. Then the iḍā (to be eaten by the priests) is brought between the yūpa and the āhavanīya fire. After the iḍā is invoked the six priests and the sacrificer partake of it, but there are special portions assigned to each viz. the vaniṣṭhu is given to the āgnīdhra, the adhyūdhnī to the hotṛ and the chest to brahmā. Then they all purify themselves by mārjana. The adhvaryu then directs the āgnīdhra 'bring burning coals for upayaj offerings', directs the pratiprasthātṛ (called upayaṣṭṛ ²⁵²² here) to attend to the coals;

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to the brahmā priest he says 'shall I start' and also directs the āgnīdhra to place a *samidh* on the fire. The āgnīdhra brings red-hot coals from the śāmitra fire, and puts them down on the northern corner of the west side of the altar after removing the *kuśas* strewn thereon (in soma the coals may be optionally brought from the āgnīdhrīya fire-place and placed on hotṛ dhiṣṇya). The third and thickest part of the entrails (that has been kept aside) is cut obliquely into eleven parts, which are offered into the red-hot coals placed as above by the pratiprasthātṛ with his right hand, each with a mantra (for eleven mantras vide Vāj. S. VI. 21, Tai. S. I. 3. 11. 1), when the cry vauṣaṭ is uttered for each of the eleven anuyājas²⁵²³ that are offered with pṛṣadājya here (Āp. VII. 26. 12). These eleven offerings of the entrails are called upayājas (additional offerings), vide Jai. XII. 4. 8. At the end of the 11th offering, the pratiprasthātṛ touches his mouth and the portion sticking to his hand is wiped on the *barhis* with the words 'adbhyastvauṣadhībhyaḥ' (Tai. S. I. 3. 11). At the end of the anuyājas, the svaru is placed in the juhū ladle and offered into fire with 'may thy smoke reach the sky, may thy flame reach heaven, fill the earth with thy ashes, svāhā!' (Vāj. S. VI. 21, Āp. VII. 27. 4). Āp. (VII. 27. 6-7) and others say the direction (praiṣa) for repeating the sūktavāka is uttered by the maitrāvaruṇa²⁵²⁴ (and not by the adhvaryu).

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The hotṛ repeats it and the maitrāvaruṇa throws his staff into the āhavanīya fire (Āśv. III. 6. 21) and Āp. (VII. 27. 8) says that the three paridhis also are thrown into fire by means of the srucs except the dhruvā. The patnīsaṁyāja is performed with the tail of the animal, which is taken to the south of the sacrificial ground. There was a difference of opinion whether portions of the tail were offered to all the four deities of patnīsaṁyāja²⁵²⁵ or to some only (vide Kāt. VI. 9. 14-20). According to Āp. (VII. 27. 10) and Kāt. (VI. 9. 15-19) only ājya offerings are made to Soma and Tvaṣṭṛ, the inside part of the tail (on which no hair grow) is cut up for the wives of the gods and the hairy part is cut up for Agni Gṛhapati. Whether the sacrificer is *caturavattin* or *pañcāvattin*, all four or five portions are cut off from the tail and there is no under layer (*upastaraṇa*) and upper layer (*abhighāraṇa*) of ājya in this case. According to Kāt. VI. 9. 20 portions of the tail are offered to all devatās of patnīsaṁyāja. Vide Jai. XII. 4. 10-16 and III. 3. 20-23 on this. Iḍā is cut from the hairless portion of the tail for hotṛ and from the hairy portion for the āgnīdhra and the rest of the tail is handed over to the sacrificer's wife who passes it on to the adhvaryu or some brāhmaṇa. The śamitṛ had so far partaken of nothing, but he is now given the shoulder of the victim, but if he be not a brāhmaṇa he gives it to a brāhmaṇa.

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They offer three saṁiṣṭayajus,²⁵²⁶ throw the barhis into fire, approach a pond (or reservoir of water) taking with them the spit (śūla) on which the heart was roasted. Āp. VII. 27. 15 says that they carry²⁵²⁷ the śūla in such a way as not to touch it. The adhvaryu enters in the midst of the water and conceals the spit into the bottom underneath with its tip downwards with the mantra 'thou art sorrow; give him sorrow who hateth us and whom we hate' (Tai. S. I. 3. 11. 1-2 and also with Vāj. S. VI. 22 according to Kāt. VI. 10. 3), at the same time thinking of his enemy (without taking his name). If he does not enter water, then he may pour some water to the east of the yūpa and should conceal the spit at the place where the dry space and wet space meet. Āśv. (III. 6. 25-26) prescribes that all the priests, the sacrificer and the wife do not touch the śūla after it is thrust into the earth, do not look at it, and return, each taking one after another three fuel-sticks with a mantra for each and put them on fire with a mantra for each stick one after another, after doing homage to the āhavanīya with Ṛg. I. 23. 23. Then they all perform mārjana near the concealed śūla or the cātvāla with 'sumitriyā na āpa oṣadhayaḥ' (Tai. S. I. 4. 45. 2) or according to Kāt. VI. 10. 5 they touch water with 'dhāmno ...... sumitriyā na āpaḥ' (Vāj. S. VI. 22). Then they pray Varuṇa to free them from sin in the words 'dhāmno dhāmno rājan' (Tai. S. I. 3. 11. 2), and 'ud-uttamam' (Tai. S. I. 5. 11. 3).

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They lay *samidhs* on the āhavanīya as in Varuṇapraghāsa. The animal sacrifice ends with the saṁsthājapa as in darśapūrṇamāsa.