History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c51.55.5

v3.c51.55.5

In the second watch of the night the adhvaryu carries the jar of vasatīvarī waters on his shoulder and takes it round the altar and fires in several ways (minutely described in Āp. XI. 21. 3-5, Sat. VII. 8. p. 759 and Kāt. VIII. 9. 18-23). At that time only the sacrificer and his wife are allowed to stay inside and all others have to go out. Ultimately the vasatīvarī jar is placed in the āgnīdhra shed (Āp. XI. 21. 5, Kāt. VIII. 9. 23) and the soma plant also is placed in the same hut but on the āsandī (a large stool or couch). The sacrificer2574a keeps awake or is kept awake that night in the āgnīdhra shed or in the havirdhāna shed and guards the soma stalks, while the wife keeps awake in the prāgvaṁśa (the usual sacrificial hall). All the priests stay that night in the āgnīdhra shed and no one is to stay in the sadas. That night the pratiprasthātṛ draws milk in the evening for the payasyā (āmikṣā) to be offered to Mitra and Varuṇa the next day and the adhvaryu issues orders to milk the cows that yielded the fast milk for the sacrificer and his wife for making respectively from their milk *āśir* (i. e.