The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c27.s7.61

v1.c27.s7.61

The later ritual requires only the Adhvaryu for the Agnihotra offering performed daily; for the piling or establishing of the fire, Agnyādheya, four priests, Hotṛ, Adhvaryu, Āgnīdhra, and Brahman; for the four-month offerings also the Pratiprasthātṛ; and for the animal sacrifice the Maitrāvaruṇa and Çamitṛs as aiders of the Adhvaryu. For the Soma sacrifice it prescribes sixteen, who are arranged as Hotṛ, Maitrāvaruṇa, Achāvāka, and Grāvastut; Adhvaryu, Pratiprasthātṛ, Neṣṭṛ, and Unnetṛ; Udgātṛ, Prastotṛ, Pratihartṛ, and Subrahmaṇya; and Brahman, Brāhmaṇācchaṅsin, Potṛ, and Āgnīdhra. The whole arrangement¹ is, however, artificial and worthless: the three assistants of the Brahman and the Neṣṭṛ in practice are reckoned rather with the Hotṛ, and the aim at sets of four has spoiled the natural order. The Kauṣītakins curiously enough had seventeen priests, a view not approved by the other schools, which naturally saw no need for a priest who was merely to sit in the Sadas at the sacrifice,² a function clearly sufficiently provided for by the Brahman who had nothing else to do.