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The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c30.s2: § 2. The Establishment and Re-establishment of the Fires

The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c30.s2

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§ 2. The Establishment and Re-establishment of the Fires

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The ritual texts lay down various periods as appropriate for the setting up of the sacred fires,³ the spring is the season for a Brahman, the summer for a Kṣatriya, the rainy season for a Rathakāra, and the autumn for a Vaiçya, or the cool season is suited for all castes. They also suggest that the proper time is the new moon, especially in conjunction with certain asterisms, but the full moon is also permissible. The essential part of the rite which takes two days is the setting up of the fires: on the first day are set up two sheds, the one for the Gārhapatya, the other for the Āhavanīya fire: the actual altar of the first is round, that of the second square: the Dakṣiṇa fire is south of the Gārhapatya and is shaped like a half moon. The fire is obtained for the Gārhapatya either by friction, or by being borrowed from the house of a wealthy man or distinguished sacrificer. The night of the first day is spent by the sacrificer and his wife in wakefulness to the noise of lutes and flutes. Early in the morning the new fire for the hearths is produced by friction, and a horse is brought to watch and further the process by its presence, doubtless as a symbol of the fire or the sun. Moreover, while the fire is being produced by friction from the wood,⁴ Sāmans may be sung. As soon as the fire appears the sacrificer breathes upon it and inhales it. It is placed on the Gārhapatya and wood placed upon the fire: it is addressed with words which recall the ancestors of the offerer: thus an Āṅgirasa refers to Aṅgiras, a Bhārgava to the Bhṛgus, a Rājanya to Indra, a Kṣatriya to Varuṇa, a Vaiçya to Manu Grāmaṇī, the typical village headman, and a Rathakṛt to the Ṛbhus, the famous chariot makers among the gods. At the same time Sāmans may be sung, not by the Sāman singers, but, as in the Vājapeya and the Sautrāmaṇī rites, by the Brahman or alternatively by the Adhvaryu himself. Then a brand is taken from the Gārhapatya and borne to the Āhavanīya, the horse preceding it, and the sacrificer following it so that the smoke reaches him: it is carried at first knee high, then navel high, and then the height of the face. The Dakṣiṇa fire is then in one version lighted in the same way; according to others it precedes the setting up of the Āhavanīya: it may also be made from the fire which on the preceding day was placed on the Gārhapatya for cooking the porridge for the priest: at any rate it afterwards can be used for cooking any offerings save meat offerings.

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³ ĀpÇS. v. 1 ff.; BÇS. ii; MÇS. i. 5; 6. 5; KÇS. iv. 7-10; ĀÇS. ii. 1. 9 ff.; ÇÇS. ii. 1; LÇS. iv. 9. 10 ff.; 12. 6 ff.

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⁴ Roth, *ZDMG.* xliii. 590-5; Schwab, *Altind. Thieropfer*, pp. 77 ff.

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After the Āhavanīya is set up follows, in the case of a Kṣatriya only it seems, the setting up of a Sabhya fire, one doubtless in the Sabhā, the meeting hall of the community. The ceremony for that is accompanied by the dicing for a cow as a prize by the priests perhaps or by Kṣatriyas: the game is as usual unintelligible: it seems to have amounted to a test of the power to produce even numbers.¹ In the normal case this ceremony is not performed, and the establishment of the fires ends with a full offering of butter to Agni, after which the Agnihotra can be duly performed with the fires. Twelve days afterwards, the fires being carefully maintained in the interval, may be performed the Tanūhavis offerings which are offerings to Agni in three forms, Pavamāna, Pavāka, and Çuci. As soon as the performance of the establishment is over, the sacrificer is bound to observe chastity for 3 to 12 days, maintain the fire, offer the Agnihotra, and sleep on the ground near the fire. After that he must for all his days avoid untruth, place no bad wood on the fire, eat nothing cooked by a covered fire, drink no water from a ship, and so on. If he is prosperous he must keep up the fires all his life.

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¹ Macdonell and Keith, *Vedic Index*, i. 2 ff.; Lüders, *Das Würfelspiel im alten Indien* (1907).

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The ceremony of re-establishment² is prescribed in cases where the fires bring the sacrificer no luck. The old fires are allowed to go out, and, after a break of three days to a year, new fires are established in much the same way as before, but the fire is nourished when produced with Kuça grass, not with wood. In the fore- and after-offerings which are part of the rite the use of different forms, Vibhakti, of the word Agni is expressly enjoined, doubtless to secure the special attention of the god to the new fires. The fees for the priest contain references to the character of the rite; so for instance a mended garment and repaired chariot are given. Traces of a periodic re-establishment of outworn fires cannot be proved: the mere fact that the re-establishment, if necessary, is placed at the period of the rains as well as at other times is inadequate evidence on which to found any theory.¹

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² ĀpÇS. v. 26; BÇS. iii. 1–3; KÇS. iv. 11; ĀÇS. ii. 8. 6 ff.; ÇÇS. ii. 5. 1; Vait. viii. 3.

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¹ Hillebrandt, *Ved. Myth.* ii. 77 ff.

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