History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c93.529

v7.c93.529

An example where both śruti and liṅga come in conflict is 'with the Aindrī verse (verse addressed to Indra) he should worship the Gārhapatya fire'. The verse addressed to Indra²¹⁵¹ is ‘niveśanaḥ saṅgamano vasūnām...Indro na tasthau samare pathīnām’ (Tai. S. IV. 2. 5. 4). Here the doubt arises whether one should worship Indra as the word ‘Aindryā’ indicates or whether one should worship Gārhapatya (as the passage directly asserts) with a verse addressed to Indra, or whether one should worship both or whether one should worship either Indra or Gārhapatya as one likes. The conclusion is that śruti (direct Vedic assertion) is more powerful than liṅga. On hearing the words ‘Gārhapatyam upatiṣṭhate’ we are directly told by the Veda about the worship of Gārhapatya. The word ‘Aindryā’ being in the instrumental (as in ‘dadhnā juhoti’-he performs homa with curds) merely supplies a detail (guṇa) viz. that the mantra to be repeated is one addressed to Indra and there is no word that directly asserts that Indra is to be worshipped.²¹⁵² Śabara on PMS III. 2. 4 explains that even Gārhapatya has some of the qualities of Indra and so metaphorically he may be called Indra (as a brave man is called a lion), since Gārhapatya is a means of accomplishing yajña like Indra or Gārhapatya may be called Indra from the root ‘ind’, and may be taken to mean ‘a master or lord’.