History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c93.545

v7.c93.545

The 5th adhyāya of P. M. S. deals with *krama* (the order in which the several component parts or acts that go to make up a sacrifice are to come one after another). Vidhis speak of the performance of many acts in a sacrifice and do not always lay down the order in which those acts (principal and auxiliary) are to be performed. It would not do to perform them in any order that the performer likes. For determining the order of sequence of several acts in a sacrifice one has to depend upon six means²¹⁶⁰ viz. śruti (direct assertion as to order), artha (purpose, suitability), pāṭha (verbal texts), pravṛtti (commencement), kāṇḍa (place in the texts), mukhya (principal).