The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c30.s18.16

v2.c30.s18.16

Of other Sattras an interesting one is that performed on the Dṛṣadvatī,³ a specially sacred river, and still more that on the Sarasvatī, which is marked by many special rites. The sacrifice is performed as the sacrificer moves along the bank from the place where the Sarasvatī disappears in the desert, across the confluence with the Dṛṣadvatī, at the crossing of which an offering is made to Apāṁ Napāt, to the place where the stream arises, the Plakṣa Prāsravaṇa,⁴ where an offering is made to Agni as Kāma, ‘desire’. The sacrifice is accompanied by the driving of a hundred young calves along with a bull into the wood, and is terminated when these have reached the number of a thousand, or the sacrificer dies, or the cows disappear. At the end of the whole sacrifice, a mare and a woman are given as a present to the worthiest of those who have taken part in the performance. The final bath is taken at Kāravapacava on the Yamunā. This and the Dṛṣadvatī offering are important for the fact that they mention several places of the Kuru land, such as Parīṇaḥ,⁵ and indicate the boundaries of that country, the chief home of Brahmanism.