History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c51.28

v3.c51.28

²⁵⁵⁰ The formula is : ' सुब्रह्मण्यो३म्। सुब्रह्मण्यो३म्। सुब्रह्मण्यो३म्। इन्द्रागच्छ हरिव आगच्छ मेधातिथेर्मेष वृषणश्वस्य मेने गौरावस्कन्दिन्नहल्यायै जार कौशिक ब्राह्मण गौतम-ब्रुवाण एतावदहे सुत्यां यावदहे स्यात् । देवा ब्रह्माण आगच्छतागच्छतागच्छत । ' लाट्यायन I. 3. 1 ff. and द्राक्षायण I. 3. 3-5. Vide Sat. Br. III. 4. 17-20 for the formula and explanation, Ait. Br. 26. 3 (explains why this nigada is called subrahmaṇyā in the feminine gender ), Tai. Br. I. 12. 3-4. This litany is required on the 2nd and following days of the Agniṣṭoma and almost on all days of other Soma sacrifices. On the 2nd day, after the word गौतमब्रुवाण, the subrahmaṇya says ' द्व्यहे सुत्याम् ', on the 3rd day त्र्यहे सुत्याम्, on the 4th day श्वः सुत्याम् and on the last day ( soma-pressing day ) अद्य सुत्याम्. Vide Jai. XI. 4. 27-29 about the indication of the day of soma in the Subrahmaṇyā in Dvādaśāha. As to the last sentence ' devā brāhmaṇa ' there were divergent views. Some employed only आगच्छ मघवन्, others employed the word 'आगच्छ' before देवा ब्राह्मण. Śabara on Jaimini XI. 4. 27 shows that he accepted ' सुत्यामागच्छ मघवन् ' as the text of the call. Vide Drāhyāyaṇa I. 3. 10-12 for the views. Pāṇini ( I. 2. 37-38 ) gives rules about the accents of the Subrahmaṇyā. According to Lāṭ. and Drāhyāyaṇa I. 3. 17 the subrahmaṇyā litanies after the upasads are finished are recited near the utkara outside the altar. The priest takes breath at each of the first two words (सुब्रह्मप्यो३म्), then again after मेने and after ब्रुवाण. This invocation is repeated thrice (Āp. X. 28. 6, Lāṭ. I. 3. 10). On the Agnīṣomīya day (day before pressing) before the reference to sutyā, the words 'asau yajate' (this, so and so, offers sacrifice) occur and the names (nākṣatra, gotra and vyāvahārika names) of the sacrificer are mentioned with the names of his ancestors (son of so and so, grandson of so and so, great-grandson of so and so) and then the names of his living descendants according to seniority by birth, both males and females, in the words 'father of such and such a son &c.'. Manu IX. 126 refers to this last. In Ṛg. I. 51. 1 and I. 52. 1 Indra has the appellation 'meṣa' and there is a legend that Indra became a ram and drank the soma of Medhātithi Kāṇva. In Ṛg. VIII. 2. 40 it is said that Indra in the form of a ram carried off Medhyātithi Kāṇva. In Ṛg. I. 51. 13 Indra is spoken of as born of the Menā of Vṛṣaṇaśva (menābhavo vṛṣaṇaśvasya) and Sāyaṇa quotes the Tāṇḍya that Menā was the daughter of Vṛṣaṇaśva. Indra is addressed as Kauśika in Ṛg. I. 10. 11. The legend of Indra's love for Ahalyā, the wife of Gautama, is well-known. Vide Rāmāyaṇa I. 48 and Viṣṇupurāṇa I. 9. 21. Jaimini (in IX. 1. 42-44) states that when the Subrahmaṇyā litany is uttered in Agniṣṭut and other rites and when for Indra the word Agni is substituted, there is no substitution of other adjectives in place of Harivat and others. Śabara, however, notes that yājñikas do substitute other words viz. they says 'अग्न आगच्छ रोहिताश्व बृहद्भानो धूमकेतो जातवेदो विचर्षण इति।'. Kumārilabhaṭṭa in his Tantravārtika (p. 208 on Jai. I 3. 7) explains, like a modern comparative mythologist, that Indra in this legend means the Sun and Ahalyā means the night एवं समस्ततेजाः परमैश्वर्यनिमित्तेनेन्द्रशब्द्वाच्यः सवितैवाहनि लीयमानतया रात्रेहरल्याशब्द्वाच्यायाः क्षयात्मकजरणहेतुत्वाज्जार इत्युस्माद्देनैवोदितेनेत्यादित्य एवाहल्याजार उच्यते।. Vide Haug's tr. of Ait. Br. pp. 383-84, S. B. E. vol. 26, p. 81-82.