Samnyasa Upanishads: Hindu Scriptures on Asceticism and Renunciation c6.s2.4

c6.s2.4

¹ I follow the division of this Upaniṣad into sections A–G given by Sprockhoff 1976, 37–38. The three sacred fires are the east fire (*āhavanīya*), the west or householder's fire (*gārhapatya*), and the south fire (*dakṣiṇāgni*). They are used for Vedic sacrifices. A person who maintains all these fires constantly in his house is called *āhitāgni*. He is distinguished from those who maintain just one fire (*ekāgni*), i.e. the domestic fire established at marriage, and from those who do not maintain any sacred fire (*anagni*). The *āhitāgni* is the model Brahmin, and the standard rite of renunciation is addressed to him. Medieval handbooks prescribe modified versions of the rites for the others. Cf. Ypra 7.30f; 10.5; 11.6; 12.6–7.