Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.633

v2.c4.633

Pra-śāstṛ is the name of one of the priests (Ṛtvij) at the Vedic sacrifice. In the lesser sacrifices he plays no part at all, but he appears in the animal (paśu) and Soma sacrifices, in the former as the only, in the latter as the main, assistant of the Hotṛ priest in the singing of the litanies. He is mentioned by name in the Rigveda,¹ and often later.² He is also in the Rigveda³ called Upavaktṛ, this name, like Praśāstṛ, being derived from the fact that one of his chief functions was to issue directions (praiṣa) to the other priests. Another name for him was Maitrāvaruṇa, because his litanies were mainly addressed to Mitra and Varuṇa, a connexion already visible in the Rigveda.⁴ The ‘two divine Hotṛs’ of the Āprī litanies denote, according to Oldenberg,⁵ the heavenly counterparts of the Hotṛ and the Praśāstṛ.