History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c51.65

v3.c51.65

The last day (generally the 5th day) is called ‘sutyā’ (on which soma is pressed). The priests are awakened sometime after midnight long before dawn in order to be able to finish all actions up to *upāṁśu* (i. e. the extracting of Soma with upāṁśu stone before sunrise, com. on Āp. XII. 1. 1). Then the adhvaryu sips water and invokes the āgnīdhra shed, the havirdhāna shed, the sadas shed, the sruc ladles and vessels called vāyavya (that are contracted in the middle like a mortar, are one span in length and have a bowl on the upper part, Āp. XII. 1. 4). The adhvaryu makes 33 offerings of ājya called yajñatanū in the āgnīdhrīya fire with mantras (from Tai. S. IV. 4. 9. 1). The various²⁵⁷⁶ pātras are placed on the khara (mound), the upāṁ- śupātra on the south corner of the eastern side of the great vedi and the antaryāmapātra on the north corner and between the two the grāvan (stone) called upāṁśusavana (employed in extracting soma). Āp. (XII. 1. 6-XII. 2. 13), Śat. (VIII. 1, pp. 770-777), and Kāt. IX. 2 describe at great length how and where the numerous pātras required on this day are placed. According to Kāt. IX. 2. 1 the unnetṛ priest arranges the pātras. Then preparations are made for the savanīya paśu (the animal to be killed and offered on the day of the pressing of soma) on the lines of the agnīṣomīya paśu offered the previous day. Then so early before dawn that birds have not begun to chirp or men to speak the adhvaryu issues directions, to the hotṛ to recite the prātaranuvāka (morning prayer) in honour of the gods that come early in the morning (viz. Agni, Uṣas and the Aśvins), to the brahmā priest to observe silence, to the pratiprasthātṛ to take out the materials (nirvāpa) for the savanīya cake and to the subrahmaṇya to recite the subrahmaṇyā litany (he will use the words 'adya sutyām' in the formula) and promises the hotṛ that he (the adhvaryu) will follow the hotṛ mentally in the latter's recitation. The hotṛ sits down between the yokes of the two havirdhāna carts and recites the prātaranuvāka in three parts (called *kratu*), the first for Agni, the second for Uṣas, and the third for the Aśvins.²⁵⁷⁷ In each part he has to repeat at least one hymn in each of the seven metres viz. Gāyatrī, Anuṣṭubh, Triṣṭubh, Bṛhatī, Uṣṇih, Jagatī and Paṅkti. Āśv. (IV. 13. 6—IV. 15. 3) states the hymns to be recited, the minimum being at least one hundred ṛks. If all the hymns and verses specified by Āśv. are recited the total of the Āgneya section will be over 1324 (out of which verses in Gāyatrī are 320, in Triṣṭubh 591 and only one hymn, Ṛg. V. 6 of 10 verses, is in Paṅkti metre).