History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c51.11.5

v3.c51.11.5

Some priest (like the pratiprasthātṛ) other than the adhvaryu inaudibly declares (to the gods) thrice and loudly proclaims to the world thrice 'this brāhmaṇa has undergone the consecration, son of so and so, grandson of so and so, great-grandson of so and so, the son of such and such a woman, grandson of such and such a woman and great-grandson of such and such a woman'. Even when the sacrificer was a kṣatriya or vaiśya, the announcement was still to be 'this brāhmaṇa²⁵⁴¹ &c.,' since after dīkṣā a person was supposed to be reborn and to be a child of holy prayer and to have become pure enough for receiving spiritual influences. The Śat. Br. III. 3. 3. 12 states 'he who is consecrated becomes an embryo'. Dīkṣā takes place in the afternoon (Āp. X. 12. 1) and the sacrificer observes silence till the appearance of stars in the evening. The adhvaryu directs the milking of two cows to supply milk for the sacrificer and his wife who are to subsist on the milk of the two cows during the period of the sacrifice. This vrata (observance) of subsisting on milk is declared by Jai. (IV. 3. 8-9) to be *kratvartha* (an obligatory rule) and not puruṣārtha (recommendatory). Vide also Jai. VI. 8. 28. Some allowed rice or barley to be cooked in that milk. The two cows were milked in two separate vessels, one of which (meant for the sacrificer) was heated on the gārhapatya and the other (for the wife) was heated on the dakṣiṇa fire.