The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c26.16

v1.c26.16

The nature of the sacrifice appears clearly from the number of priests mentioned: it was as dealt with in the Rigveda an elaborate procedure destined for the advantage of some rich patron, prince, or noble, or wealthy commoner: the term Vivasvant here and there seems given in honour to the mortal sacrificer, as the priests liken themselves to the gods in their activity. The Vedic ritual and the Rigveda alike know no temple service or abiding places of worship: the altar, Vedi, is made in the house of the offerer: before it is placed the fire which is said to sit upon it: the pressing stones are there, and there the bunch of grass, which is gathered in the early morning in the east, and to which the gods are invited to come and sit down. The two altars² of the later ritual are here reduced to one only: this is in accord with the obvious fact that in the later rite the duplication of altars is artificial. The fire was carefully kindled by friction, and then placed in three separate places within the altar ground: one only, the Gārhapatya, appears by name in the Rigveda, but Hillebrandt ³ has attempted to prove that the later Āhavanīya and Dakṣiṇa are to be found in the Vaiçvānara and Narāçaṅsa or Kravyavāhana, though not with convincing evidence. The taking of the fire from one fire altar to another as later on is referred to. Thrice a day was honour paid to the fire with sacrifice, wood, and hymns. Mention is made of the ladle, Sruc, and two Darvis used in making the offerings to the gods, around which fire was borne, doubtless as a magic purificatory spell. Among the offerings appear milk, butter, grain, and cakes, and animal offerings of the goat, bull, cow, sheep, and the horse. The last offering must already have been performed with stately ceremony: the hymns devoted to it mention the hewing and ornamenting of the post, the goat slain to precede the steed on the way to its last abode, the golden coverlet put on the horse, the cooking of its flesh, and the division of the pieces to the eager priests.