The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c30.s7.5.1

v2.c30.s7.5.1

An essential feature of the rite is the use of a post, to which the victim is tied : in the greater rites as many as eleven are used : the tree is solemnly cut down with protestations that it is not being injured, and, when a splinter is struck out of it in the cutting, that is kept and placed ultimately in the pit in which the post is inserted. The stump is treated with respect, and receives a libation, accompanied by a prayer that it shall spring up with a hundred shoots. The post is placed in a hole which is half within, half without the altar. Round the post a band is placed at the height of the navel; if the sacrificer wishes little or much rain he places it lower or higher. For the sacrifice the altar is placed west of the fire, and in the east third of it another altar, Uttaravedi, is provided as at the Varuṇapraghāsas, and a fire placed there, which takes the place of the normal Āhavanīya, while that serves as the Gārhapatya. There are required also special implements, the spit for the heart, and the utensils by which the omentum is cooked.