The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c32.s8.31

v2.c32.s8.31

A question of some difficulty presents itself as to the performers of these magic rites. Many of them are of such simplicity that it would appear obvious that they could be carried out by each householder for himself, for example, the rites to secure the safety of the cattle against wild beasts while grazing and their safe return at evening.² Nor can we reasonably doubt that in the first instance the householder was his own magician as well as sacrificer.³ But in the Kauçika Sūtra, as is natural, we find it assumed throughout that the performer of the rite is essentially the Brahman priest, whose Veda the Atharvaveda essentially is, and that no rite has any value without his presence. We may, therefore, assume that by the time of the Sūtra, and even earlier, the control of magic had largely fallen into the hands of these priests, and this fact accords well with their clearly increasing importance in the history of the sacrifice proper,⁴ in which the services of the Brahman in making good by his presence and his skill defects in the ritual win for him the credit of the performance of half the sacrifice.