History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c89.25

v7.c89.25

An interesting text in connection with the root 'śam' is the *adhrigu praiṣa*, to be recited by the Hotṛ priest before the *paśu* is killed in a sacrifice Vide H. of Dh. vol II p. 1121 note 2504 for the formula which is rather long. The important¹¹⁴⁵ words for the present purpose are at the beginning and at the end 'O divine slayers and human slayers! begin (the process of killing the paśu) ...O Adhrigu! you should slay (the *paśu*) in such a way that it would be properly carried out'. Here the root (śam) certainly means to slay, this meaning is, however, apparently quite different from the one so far considered (viz to appease, to remove evil effects). But it may be that there is a secondary meaning, viz appease the gods by offering parts of the animal killed in the sacrifice