The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c27.s7.48

v1.c27.s7.48

In the Soma sacrifice lie the functions of the Potṛ and the Neṣṭṛ, who are included in the Rigveda list. The Potṛ is in the actual ritual a mere shadow, of no consequence or importance, whose former importance may be judged from his name and his obvious connexion with Soma Pavamāna. The Neṣṭṛ is also in the later ritual a priest with but one function of any interest or importance. It occurs in the course of the Soma rite, when an offering is made to Agni with the wives of the gods. The Agnīdh, who in this case has to partake of the Soma, sits in the lap of the Neṣṭṛ, and thereafter the Neṣṭṛ summons the wife of the householder, who then performs with the Udgātṛ a rite which is a mimicry of cohabitation and whose nature as a fertility spell was as clearly recognized by the ritual texts as by us.⁴ The suggestion⁵ that the rite is a barbarous one, and that the Neṣṭṛ is an intrusion into the Vedic ritual from a non-Vedic source, is clearly an error, and ignores the fact that fertility magic is looked upon by primitive peoples with very different eyes from those of the present day.