History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c52.10.5

v3.c52.10.5

After the adhvaryu offers the soma cups, the wine cups are shaken and given to the sixteen persons who took part in the race and they quaff them on the southern śroṇi of the vedi. According to Kāt. (XIV. 3. 20 and XIV. 4. 16) the kṣatriya or vaiśya who sat in one of the chariots receives all the wine cups. When preparations are made to chant the Mahendra stotra, the neṣṭṛ requests the wife to put on a short undergarment of darbha and the yajamāna wears a silken garment (tārpyam)²⁶⁴⁰ inside the garment which he wears as a dīkṣita. A ladder is raised against the yūpa to its north or south (Kāt. XIV. 5. 5) and when the sacrificer climbs to the top of the yūpa a dialogue ensues between the sacrificer and his wife (Kāt. XIV. 5. 6-11, Āp. XVIII. 5. 9-11). The sacrificer addresses ‘wife, come, let us ascend to heaven’. The wife responds ‘let us ascend’. They engage in this dialogue thrice. According to Kāt. XIV. 5. 8 both husband and wife climb to the top of the yūpa, while according to Āp. (XVIII. 4. 12) only the husband does so who finally says ‘out of us both I shall ascend to heaven’. On reaching the top he touches the caṣāla of wheat flour and mutters ‘we reached the heaven, the gods’ (Tai. S. I. 7. 9. 2, Vāj. S. IX. 21). Thence he looks at his house with ‘May I live long with my children’