History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c53.s3.12.4

v3.c53.s3.12.4

Seven pieces of gold are placed on the golden image, the first on the mouth, then two each on the two nostrils, the two eyes and two ears. In the forepart of the ukhā, the heads of the five animals (on which curds and honey are poured and on which 7 gold pieces are thrust) are placed in a certain order. The human head is in the middle, to the north the heads of the horse and ram and to the south the heads of the bull and goat (Kāt. XVII. 5. 13-18, Āp. XVI. 27. 5-19). According to Āp. and Sat. the head of a serpent also may be placed (Āp. XVI. 27. 22, Sat. XI. 7. 63) or only the mantras 'namo astu sarpebhyaḥ' (Vāj. S. XIII. 6-8, Tai. S. IV. 2. 8. 3) may be recited. The various kinds of bricks are heaped in various directions on thick mud spread on the above stated things so as to form the first layer. According to Sat. (XI. 5. 22) each layer consists of only 200 bricks (1000 for all five), when the sacrificer performs the cayana for the first time; he employs 2000 for all layers when he performs it a second time and this number goes on increasing each time he repeats agnicayana.²⁶⁹³ According to the Śat. Br. (S.B.E. vol. 43 p. 22 n. 1), Kāt. XVII. 7. 21-23 the bricks required for all the five layers are 10800. The time required for piling also varies. Some held that the piling took one year (8 months for the first four layers and 4 months for the last) or all the layers may be laid in a few days. Sat (XII. 1. 1 ff) and Āp. (XVII. 1. 1-11, XVII. 2. 8, XVII. 3.