The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c31.s2.17

v2.c31.s2.17

The new and full moon offerings⁷ of the domestic ritual agree closely in the deity and other details with those of the Çrauta, but for cakes are substituted paps as offerings, and the offerings to Indra or Mahendra entirely disappear. Other deities are, however, sometimes substituted. At the end the wife of the sacrificer makes an offering to the man, the woman, the age—or the bird, the white, the black toothed, the lord of bad women and others, who are difficult fully to explain. The sacrificer and his wife should spend the night before the offering in telling each other stories, and the sacrificer should follow some at least of the other rules applicable to the sacrificer with the Çrauta ritual. A spring festival in the month Caitra⁸ is recorded by one Sūtra only, figures of pairs of beasts are made from meal, which suggest a vegetation magic as at the Varuṇapraghāsas of the Çrauta ritual.