Purva-Mimamsa in its Sources c33.2

c33.2

The *Prima Facie View* has been thus set forth in the *Bhāṣya* (Trs., p. 1429). "The Deity should be taken as prompting the Details of the Sacrifice, because the Feeding is for the sake of the Deity, as in the case of the Guest—(Sū. 9.1.6.) All Deities should be regarded as prompters of Details; because what is called 'Sacrifice' is only the 'Feeding of the Deity'; what is done at the Sacrifice is that an eatable substance is offered to the Deity; and the act is that of *giving or offering*, of which the Deity is the recipient; in this way the Deity cannot be regarded as a subordinate factor; on the contrary, the Substance offered and the act of offering are both subordinate to the Deity. Then again, the Sacrifice is a form of worship of the Deity, and the act of worship must be subordinate to the object worshipped. The case of the Deity should be analogical to the case of the Guest; whatever service is rendered to the Guest is regarded as prompted by the Guest; similarly, whatever is done in the course of the Sacrificial Offering to the Deities, should be regarded as prompted by these Deities. It has to be admitted, in this connection, that the Deity has a physical body and actually eats what is offered. That this is so is clearly indicated (*a*) by *Smṛti-texts*, (*b*) by *Custom* and (*c*) by *Indicative Vedic Texts*. (*A*) There are *Smṛti-texts* clearly declaring that Deities have material bodies, and *Smṛti-texts* are authoritative; (*b*) it is customary with people to treat the Deity as having a material body; for instance, they paint the Deity *Varuṇa* with a noose in his hand, and so forth; (*c*) lastly, there is a Vedic text where the Deity *Indra* is accosted with the words—'O, Indra, I take hold of your right hand'.—That the Deity actually eats the offerings is laso indicated by—(*a*) *Smṛti-texts*, (*b*) *Custom* and (*c*) *Indicative Vedic texts*. (*a*) There are *Smṛti-texts* actually asserting that the Deities eat the things offered; (*b*) People treat Deities as if they actually ate the offerings; and (*c*) There are such Vedic texts as clearly indicate such eating and drinking by Deities; *e.g.*, the Mantra addressed to *Indra* says:—'O, Indra please eat and drink what has been offered.' That the substances offered are still visible is due to the fact that it is only the Essence of the Substances that is eaten or drunk by the Deities. From the same sources again, we learn that Deities own property also; for instance, (*a*) there are *Smṛti-texts* declaring that the Deity owns property; (*b*) the *Custom* is current of dedicating landed property to Deities; (*c*) *Vedic texts* speak of Indra as the ‘master of Heaven’, which also indicates that Deities own property. (Sū. 9.1.7.)”