The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c30.s20.1

v2.c30.s20.1

The piling of the fire altar² is a rite which is regarded as being always available for performance along with the Soma sacrifice, but which is declared to be obligatory only in certain cases, including the Mahāvrata, and even that view is far from being universally prescribed. There can be no doubt that it was by no means a normal or frequent rite: its elaboration is such that no ordinary sacrificer would trouble himself with it, and it must have been only occasionally used. The main authority for it in the Çatapatha Brāhmaṇa is a different authority from the chief source of rules on the rest of the sacrificial ritual including the Soma sacrifice, Yājñavalkya: it is attributed to Çāṇḍilya, and others mentioned in connexion with it are Tura Kāvaṣeya,³ who performed it on the Kārotī, and Nagnajit Gāndhāra, names which have been held with some force to point to the North-West, where in conjunction with the fire cult there may have been special activity, perhaps in consequence of contact with Iran.