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SANKHAYANA GRIHYA SUTRA ADHYAYA 2
1 1. In the eighth year after the conception let him initiate a Brâhmana,
2. With an antelope-skin,
3. Or in the tenth year after the conception.
4. In the eleventh year after the conception a Kshatriya with the skin of a spotted deer,
5. In the twelfth year after the conception a Vaisya with a cow-hide.
6. Until the sixteenth year the time has not passed for a Brâhmana,
7. Until the twenty-second for a Kshatriya,
8. Until the twenty-fourth for a Vaisya.
9 9. After that (time has passed), they become patitasâvitrîka (men who have lost their right of learning the Sâvitrî).
10. Let them not initiate such men,
11. Nor teach them,
12. Nor perform sacrifices for them,
13. Nor have intercourse with them.
14 14. Or (let them initiate students of) all (castes) wearing a (new) garment that has not yet been washed.
And wearing a girdle.
15. The girdle of a Brâhmana (shall be) made of Muñga grass,
16. That of a Kshatriya (shall be) a bowstring,
17. That of a Vaisya a woollen thread.
18. The staff of a Brâhmana (shall be) made of Palâsa or of Bilva wood,
19. That of a Kshatriya of Nyagrodha wood,
20. That of a Vaisya of Udumbara wood.
21 21. That of the Brâhmana shall reach the tip of the nose,
22. That of the Kshatriya the forehead,
23. That of the Vaisya the hair.
24. Or all (sorts of staffs are to be used) by (men of) all (castes).
25. Whatsoever (the student) wears at his initiation, is at the disposal of the teacher.
26 26. Having had him shaved all round (his head) he should initiate him.
27. After (the student) has washed and adorned himself,
28 28. (And) after (the teacher) has sacrificed, both station themselves behind the fire, the teacher with his face turned to the east, the other with his face to the west.
29. Let him initiate him standing while (the other also) stands.
30 30. [‘The firm, powerful eye of Mitra, glorious splendour, strong and prosperous, a chaste, flowing vesture, this skin I put on, a valiant (man).’]
Footnotes
58:1 1, 1. With regard to the standing terminology of the Upanayana, or the initiation of the student, we may observe that upa-nî does not mean, as, for instance, Professor Stenzler seems to understand it, ‘to introduce a student to his teacher.’ Thus Pâraskara’s Sûtra II, 2, 1, ashtâvarsham brâhmanam upanayet, &c., is translated by that distinguished scholar, ‘Den achtjährigen Brâhmana soll er (beim Lehrer) einführen,’ &c. (comp. also Âsvalâyana-Grihya I, 19, 1). The texts clearly point to another translation of upa-nî, for they show that the person that introduces the student (upanayati or upanayate; the middle is used very frequently, for instance, Satapatha Brâhmana XI, 5, 4, 1; Sâṅkh. II, I, 25) is not the father or a relation of the youth who could be supposed to lead him to the teacher, but the teacher himself; he introduces (upanayati) him to the brahmakarya, or introduces him with himself, and the student enters upon (upaiti) the brahmakarya, or enters with (upaiti) the teacher; he who has thus entered upon studentship, is consequently designated as upeta (Sâṅkh. IV, 8, 1; Pâraskara III, 10, 10), and for the initiation, which is usually called up an ay an a, occasionally also the word upâyana is used (see the Mânava-Grihya I, 22, quoted by Professor Jolly in his article, Das Dharma-sûtra des Vishnu, p. 79). The following passages may be quoted here as supporting our opinion on this terminology. At Satapatha Brâhmana XI, 5, 3, 13 Saukeya says to Uddâlaka Âruni, ‘I will enter (as a student) with the reverend One’ (upâyâni bhagavantam); and Âruni replies, ‘Come, enter (with me)!’ (ehy upehi), ‘and he initiated him’ (tam hopaninye). Ibid. XI, 5, 4, 16 it is stated that according to some a teacher who has initiated a Brâhmana as a student (brâhmanam brahmakaryam upanîya) should abstain from sexual intercourse, for a student who enters upon studentship (yo brahmakaryam upaiti) becomes, as it were, a garbha, &c. Finally we may add that the Buddhist terminology regarding the entering into the order or upon a life of righteousness is clearly connected with that followed, for instance, in the dialogue between p. 59 Saukeya and Âruni. As Saukeya there says, upâyâni bhagavantam, we frequently read in the Pâli books expressions like this, upemi Buddham saranam dhammañ kâpi anuttaram, &c. (Dhammap. Atthakathâ, p. 97, ed. Fausböll), and as Âruni replies, ehy upehi, Buddha says to those who wish to be ordained, ehi bhikkhu, svâkkhâto dhammo, kara brahmakariyam, &c. (Mahâvagga I, 6, 32, &c.; S.B.E., vol. xiii, p. 74, note).
The counting of the years not from the birth but from the conception occurs both in the Brahmanical and in the Buddhist ordinances, comp. H. O., Buddha, sein Leben, seine Lehre, seine Gemeinde, p. 354, note 1. Several Grihya texts (for instance, Âsv. I, 19, 1. 2) admit both ways of counting the years. The number of years given for the Upanayana of persons of the three castes (Brâhmanas 8-16, Kshatriyas 11-22, Vaisyas 12-24) is evidently derived from the number of syllables of the three metres which are so very frequently stated to correspond to the three castes, to the three gods or categories of gods (Agni, Indra, Visve devâs) &c., viz. the Gâyatrî, the Trishtubh, and the Gagatî. This is a very curious example, showing how in India phantastical speculations like those regarding the mystical qualities of the metres, were strong enough to influence the customs and institutions of real life.
59:9 9 seq. All these are standing expressions recurring nearly identically in most of the Grihya and Dharma-sûtras. In the rule contained in Sûtra 13 a number of the parallel texts have vivaheyuh or vivâhayeyuh, others have vyavahareyuh. Comp. Vasishtha XI, 75; Indische Studien, vol. x, p. 21.
60:14 This Sûtra should rather be divided into two, as indicated in the translation. As to the mekhalâ (girdle) comp. below, chap. 2, 1.
60:21 There is no doubt that prânasammito (which Nârâyana explains thus, ‘prâna is the wind [or breath]; [the staff should] reach to the place where the wind leaves the body, i.e. to the tip of the nose’) should either be corrected into, or explained as, ghrânasammito; the Sâmbavya MS. has ghrânântiko brâhmanasya. Comp. Gautama I, 26, &c. The parallel texts agree in assigning the longer staff to the higher, not as Sâṅkhâyana does, to the lower caste.
61:26 After the introductory remarks given in the preceding Sûtras the ritual itself of the Upanayana is now described.
61:28 Nârâyana: hutvâ’nâdesaparibhâshâtah (see above, I, 12, 13) purastâtsamgñakam hutvâ agnim sthâpitâgnim (see above, I, 5, 2) gaghanena . . . tishthatah.
61:30 This Sûtra is wanting in most of the MSS. (see the note, p. 48 of the German edition). It contains the Mantra with which the Agina (the hide mentioned in Sûtras 2, 4, 5 of this chapter) is put on. Nârâyana gives the Mantra which he says is taken from the Mâdhyandina-Grihya (in the Pâraskara-Grihya it is not found), after chap. 2, 3, and he states that the corresponding act to which it belongs has its place after the rites concerning the girdle (chap. 2, 1) and the sacrificial cord (2, 3).
KHANDA 2.
1. ‘Here has come to us, protecting (us) from evil words, purifying our kin as a purifier, clothing herself, by (the power of) inhalation and exhalation, with strength, this friendly goddess, this blessed girdle’—with these words, three times repeated, he ties the girdle from left to right thrice round.
2 2. (There should be) one knot, or also three, or also five.
3 3. He adjusts the sacrificial cord with (the words), ‘The sacrificial cord art thou. With the cord of the sacrifice I invest thee.’
4 4. He fills the two hollows of (his own and the student’s) joined hands (with water), and then says to him: ‘What is thy name?’
5. ‘I am N.N., sir,’ says the other.
6 6-7. ‘Descending from the same Rishis?’ says the teacher.
7. ‘Descending from the same Rishis, sir,’ says the other.
8. ‘Declare (that thou art) a student, sir.’
9. ‘I am a student, sir,’ says the other.
10. With the words, ‘Bhûr bhuvah svah’ (the teacher) sprinkles thrice with his joined hands (water) on the joined hands (of the student),
11 11. And seizing (the student’s) hands with (his own) hands, holding the right uppermost, he murmurs,
12. ‘By the impulse of the god Savitar, with the arms of the two Asvins, with Pûshan’s hands I initiate thee, N.N.’
13. Those who are desirous of a host (of adherents, he should initiate) with (the verse), ‘Thee, (the lord) of hosts’ (Rig-veda II, 23, 1).
14. Warriors with (the verse), ‘Come here, do not come to harm’ (Rig-veda VIII, 20, 1).
15. Sick persons with the Mahâvyâhritis.
Footnotes
62:2 2, 2. Râmakandra: ‘Let him make one, or three, or five knots, according to (the student’s) Ârsheya,’ i.e. accordingly as he belongs to a family that invokes, in the Pravara ceremony, one, or three, or five Rishis as their ancestors. Comp. Weber, Indische Studien, vol. x, p. 79.
62:3 On the sacrificial cord (upavita) comp. the Grihya-samgraha-parisishta II, 48 seq.
62:4 Nârâyana: Âkârya âtmano mânavakasya kâñgalî udakena pûrayitvâ, &c.
62:6-7 6, 7. A similar dialogue between the teacher and the student at the Upanayana is given in the Kausika-sûtra (ap. Weber, Indische Studien, X, 71). The student there says, ‘Make me an Ârsheya (a descendant of the Rishis) and one who has relations, and initiate me.’ And the teacher replies, ‘I make thee an Ârsheya and one who has relations, and I initiate thee.’ As in this passage of the Kausika-sûtra the teacher is represented as having the power of making, by the Upanayana ceremony, an Ârsheya of the student, thus, according to the view expressed by Professor Weber (loc. cit., p. 72 seq.), Sâṅkhâyana would even give it into the teacher’s power to make the student his samânârsheya, i.e. to extend his own Ârsheya on as many pupils as he likes. Professor Weber understands the sixth Sûtra so that the teacher would have to say, samânârsheyo bhavân brûhi (Nârâyana: bhavân brûhîti brahmakârî bhavân brûhîty atah [Sûtra 8] simhâvalokananyâyenâtrânushagyate. According to Râmakandra’s Paddhati he is p. 63 only to say samânârsheyah). The student answers, samânârsheyo ’ham bho; Professor Weber, who supplies the imperative asâni, translates this, ‘May I have the same Ârsheya, sir!’
I think it more natural to simply translate the teacher’s question, ‘Art thou samânârsheya?’ (or, supplying bhavân brûhi from Sûtra 8, ‘Declare that thou art samânârsheya’), and the student’s reply, I am samânârsheya, sir!’ Thus we ought possibly to consider these formulas, which state a fictitious, ideal samânârsheyatva of the teacher and the students as a trace, and as far as I can see as the only trace, of an ancient rule requiring a real samânârsheyatva of teacher and student. As long as the ritual differences between the different Gotras, of which, as is well known, only a few traces have survived in the Vedic tradition, had retained their full importance, it can indeed scarcely have been considered as admissible that a young Brâhmana should be confided to the guidance of a teacher who sacrificed and invoked the gods in another way than the customs of the pupil’s own family required.
63:11 Nârâyana: dakshinottarâbhyâm dakshina uttara upari yayos tau dakshinottarau, &c.
KHANDA 3.
1 1. ‘Bhaga has seized thy hand, Savitar has seized thy hand, Pûshan has seized thy hand, Aryaman has seized thy hand. Mitra art thou by right, Agni is thy teacher, and I, N.N., both of us. Agni, I give this student in charge to thee. Indra, I give this student in charge to thee. Sun, I give this student in charge to thee. Visve devâs, I give this student in charge to you, for the sake of long life, of blessed offspring and strength, of increase of wealth, of mastership of all Vedas, of renown, of bliss.’
2 2. ‘In Indra’s course I move; in the sun’s course I move after him’—with these words he turns round from left to right,
3. And grasping down with the span of his right hand over (the student’s) right shoulder he touches the place of his heart with the words, ‘May I be dear to thy inviolate heart.’
4. Having silently turned round from right to left,
5 5. And then laying his hand with the fingers upwards on his (i.e. the student’s) heart, he murmurs:
Footnotes
64:1 3. 1. T. Nârâyana: ‘Instead of asau (N.N.) he puts the name of the student in the vocative case.’ I think rather that the teacher here pronounced his own name. Comp. asâv aham bho, chap. 2, 5, &c., and the Mantra in Pâraskara II, 2, 20.
The text of the Mantra shows that the Âkârya here seizes the hand of the Brahmakârin; comp. Âsvalâyana I, 20, 4-6, where it is stated that he seizes the student’s hand together with the thumb, quite in the way prescribed for the wedding at Sâṅkh. I, 13, 2. Comp. also Pâraskara II, 2, 1 7. Nârâyana: mânavakasya grihîtasamputa evâkâryo Bhagas ta imam mantram gapan, &c.
64:2 Literally, ‘he turns round, following his right arm.’ Nârâyana here has the following note, ‘Âkâryo bator dakshinam bâhum hastam aindrîm âvritam iti mantrenânvâvartayet. ayam arthah, âkârya imam mantram gaptvâ tam batum ka vâkayitvâ pradakshinâvartam kârayet.’ I believe that the commentator here, as he frequently does, instead of interpreting the text of Sâṅkhâyana, fathers p. 65 on him statements belonging to other Sûtras, in this case probably to Âsvalâyana I, 20, 9. As our text has not anvâvartya but anvâvritya; and in the Mantra not âvartasva but âvarte, we must conclude that he turned round himself, and, as far as the statements of the text go, did not cause the pupil to do so.
65:5 The gesture is the same as that prescribed in the Pâraskara-Grihya I, 8, 8 to the bridegroom at the wedding; the Mantra there is identical with Sâṅkh. II, 4, 1, the only difference consisting in the name of the god who is invoked to unite the two: at the wedding this is Pragâpati, of course, because he is ‘lord of offspring,’ at the Upanayana, Brihaspati, the Brahman κατ᾽ εξοχήν among the gods. It is very natural that at the Upanayana and at the Vivâha, which both are destined to establish an intimate union between two persons hitherto strangers to each other, a number of identical rites should occur, for instance, the seizing of the hand; see the note on Sûtra 1.
KHANDA 4.
1 1. ‘Under my will I take thy heart; my mind shall thy mind follow; in my word thou shalt rejoice with all thy heart; may Brihaspati join thee to me.’
2 2. ‘Thou art the Brahmakârin of Kâma, N.N.!’
3 3. With the same text (see chap. 3, 2) he turns round as before,
4. And touching with the span of his right hand (the student’s) right shoulder, he murmurs:
5 5. ‘A student art thou. Put on fuel. Eat water. Do the service. Do not sleep in the day-time. Keep silence till the putting on of fuel.’
6. With (the words), ‘Thine, Agni, is this piece of wood,’ he puts the fuel on (the fire), or silently.
Footnotes
65:1 4, 1. Comp. Pârask. I, 8, 8, and the note on chap. 3, 3. See also Atharva-veda VI, 94, 2.
65:2 As to Kâmasya brahmakâry asi, see my remarks in the Introduction, p. 9.
65:3 He turns round as described, chap. 3, 2. Nârâyana here also explains paryâvritya paryâvartanam kârayitvâ. See our note above, loc. cit.
66:5 According to Nârâyana the student correspondingly answers, to the teacher’s word, ‘A student art thou,’ ‘I will’ (asâni), to ‘Put on fuel,’ ‘I will put it on,’ &c. Eating water means sipping water after having eased oneself. On the putting on of fuel, comp. Sûtra 6 and chap. 10. The whole formula given in this Sûtra is already found in the Satapatha Brâhmana XI, 5, 4, 5.
KHANDA 5.
1 1. After one year (the teacher) recites the Sâvitrî (to the student),
2. (Or) after three nights,
3. Or immediately.
4 4-6. Let him recite a Gâyatrî to a Brâhmana,
5. A Trishtubh to a Kshatriya,
6. A Gagatî to a Vaisya.
7. But let it be anyhow a verse sacred to Savitar.
8. They seat themselves to the north of the fire,
9 9. The teacher with his face turned eastward, the other westward.
10 10-11. After (the student) has said, ‘Recite, sir!’—
11. The teacher, having pronounced the word OM, then causes the other one to say, ‘Recite the Sâvitrî, sir!’
12. He then recites the Sâvitrî to him, the verse ‘That glorious (splendour) of Savitar’ (Rig-Veda III, 62, 10); (firstly) pâda by pâda, (then) hemistich by hemistich, (and finally) without a stop.
Footnotes
66:1 5, 1. The study of the Veda is opened by the Sâvitrî. Comp. Satapatha Brâhmana, loc. cit., §§ 6 seq.
66:4-6 The Gâyatrî which the teacher shall recite to a Brâhmana is the same verse of which it is said below, chap. q, II, that it belongs to Visvâmitra (Rig-veda III, 62, to); the Trishtubh which is taught to the Kshatriya is a verse ascribed to Hiranyastûpa, Rig-veda I, 35, 2; the Gagatî which is to be repeated to a Vaisya is Rig-veda IV, 40, 5, belonging to Vâmadeva, or Rig-veda I, 35, 9, belonging to Hiranyastûpa. See the note on chap. 7, 10.
66:9 The same position is prescribed, in the same words, for the study of the main part of the Veda, below, chap. 7, 3; during p. 67 the study of the Âranyaka the position is slightly different (VI, 3, 2). According to Nârâyana this Sûtra would contain a nishedha of the Sûtras 828 and 829 of the Rig-veda-Prâtisâkhya (p. ccxcii of Professor Max Müller’s edition).
67:10-11 10, 11. The Indian tradition divides these Sûtras after âkâryah, so that the words adhîhi bho would have to be pronounced by the teacher. Thus also Nârâyana explains, âkârya adhîhi bho 3 iti mânavakam uktvâ, &c. In my opinion it is the student or the students who say adhîhi bho. Thus the Prâtisâkhya (Sûtra 831, ed. Max Müller) says, ‘They invite him with the words adhîhi bho 3, all the students the teacher, having embraced his feet.’ Comp. also below, IV, 8, 12, the greater part of which Sûtra is word for word identical with these rules; VI, 3, 6; Gautama I, 46; Gobhila II, 10, 38.
KHANDA 6.
1 1-2. ‘Waters are ye by name; happy ones are ye by name; sappy ones are ye by name; undecaying ones are ye by name; fearless ones are ye by name; immortal ones are ye by name. Of you, being such, may I partake; receive me into your favour’—with these words (the teacher) makes the student sip water three times,
2 2. And hands over to him the staff with the five
verses, ‘Blessing may give us’ (Rig-veda V, 51, 11-15).
3 3. An optional gift is the fee for the sacrifice.
4 4. After (the teacher) has led him round the fire, turning his right side towards it, (the student) goes through the village to beg food.
5. (Let him beg,) however, of his mother first,
6. Or of a woman who will not refuse.
7 7. Having announced the alms to his teacher, he may eat (the food himself) with the master’s permission.
8. The daily putting on of fuel, the going for alms, the sleeping on the ground, and obedience to the teacher: these are the standing duties of a student.
Footnotes
67:1-2 6, 1, 2. Râmakandra: ‘. . . with this Mantra which the teacher tells him, and which he (the student) pronounces, he sips water p. 68 three times . . . He (the teacher) then gives him again the staff, which he had given him before silently.’ I do not think that this double handing over of the staff agrees with the real meaning of the text; Gobhila also (II, 10) and Âsvalâyana (I, 22, 1) prescribe the dandapradâna after the repetition of the Sâvitrî, without mentioning that the same had been already done before; Pâraskara II, 2, II speaks of the handing over of the staff before the recital of the Sâvitrî, and does not state that it should be repeated afterwards.
All these ceremonies, the teaching of the Sâvitrî as well as the dandapradâna, were considered as forming part of the Upanayana, even though a longer or shorter space of time (chap. 5, 1-3) might elapse between the first arrival of the student at the teacher’s house and the performing of these rites. This follows from chap. 11, Sûtras 2-4.
67:2 These five verses have already occurred above at I, 15, 12.
68:4 4 seq. On the student’s begging of alms compare the more detailed rules in Pâraskara II, 5; Âpastamba I, 3, &c.
68:7 Comp. the passages quoted by Professor Bühler on Âpastamba I, 3, 31 (S.B.E., vol. ii, p. 22).
KHANDA 7.
1 1. Now (follows the exposition) of the study of the Veda.
2 2. Both sit down to the north of the fire,
3. The teacher with his face to the east, the other one to the west.
4 4. After (the student) has reverentially saluted the teacher’s feet and has sprinkled his (own) hands (with water),
5. And has kneeled down with his right knee on young Kusa shoots at their roots,
6 6. And has grasped round (those Kusa shoots) in ‘heir middle with his hands, holding the right uppermost,
7. The teacher, having seized them at their tops
with his left hand, and with his right hand sprinkling them with water, then makes the other say:
8 8. ‘Recite the Sâvitrî, sir!’ says the other.
9. ‘I recite the Sâvitrî to thee!’ says the teacher.
10 10. ‘Recite the Gâyatrî, sir!’ says the other.
‘I recite the Gâyatrî to thee!’ says the teacher.
11. ‘Recite the verse of Visvâmitra, sir!’ says the other.
‘I recite the verse of Visvâmitra to thee!’ says the teacher.
12. ‘Recite the Rishis, sir!’ says the other.
I recite the Rishis to thee!’ says the teacher.
13. ‘Recite the deities, sir!’ says the other.
‘I recite the deities to thee!’ says the teacher.
14. ‘Recite the metres, sir!’ says the other.
‘I recite the metres to thee!’ says the teacher.
15. ‘Recite the Sruti, sir!’ says the other.
‘I recite the Sruti to thee!’ says the teacher.
16. ‘Recite the Smriti, sir!’ says the other.
‘I recite the Smriti to thee!’ says the teacher.
17 17. ‘Recite faith and insight, sir!’ says the other.
‘I recite faith and insight to thee!’ says the teacher.
18 18-20. In that way, according to what Rishi each hymn belongs to and what its deity and its metre is, thus (with the corresponding indications of Rishi, &c.) let him recite each hymn;
19 19. Or also, if he does not know the Rishis, deities, and metres, the teacher recites this verse, ‘That glorious (splendour) of Savitar’ (Rig-veda III, 62, 10), pâda by pâda, hemistich by hemistich, (and finally) without a stop, and says, when he has finished, ‘This (verse belongs to Savitar; it is a Gâyatrî; Visvâmitra is its Rishi).’
20. Let him thus recite (the hymns belonging to) each Rishi, or (each) Anuvâka;
21 21. Of the short hymns (in the tenth Mandala) an Anuvâka,
22. Or as much as the master may think fit.
23. Or optionally he may recite the first and last hymn of (each) Rishi,
25. (Or) one (verse) of the beginning of each hymn.
26. The teacher may optionally say at the beginning of the hymn, ‘This is the commencement.’
27 27. This has been (further) explained in (the treatise about) the Rishisvâdhyâya.
28 28. When (the lesson) is finished, he takes the young Kusa shoots, makes of cow-dung a pit at their roots, and sprinkles water on the Kusa (shoots) for each hymn.
29 29. For the rest of the day standing and fasting.
Footnotes
69:1 7, 1. Nârâyana: ‘Now (atha), i.e. after the observance of the Sukriya vrata,’ &c. On the Sukriya vrata which has to be undergone before the Anuvakana treated of in this chapter can be performed, see the note on chap. 4, 1, and below, chap. II, 9. One would have expected that in the arrangement of Sâṅkhâyana the rites belonging to the Sukriya vrata would precede the exposition of the Anuvakana. Perhaps it was in consequence of the exact analogy of the Sukriya with the Sâkvara, Vrâtika, Aupanishada vratas, that the description of the former has been postponed till the latter had to be treated of.
Râmakandra’s Paddhati has the following remark here, ‘Now the way of studying the Veda, called Anuvakana, is set forth. This can be done only after the Sukriya vrata has been enjoined on the student; before that nothing but the Sâvitrî can be taught to him.’
69:2 2 seq. Comp. above, chap. 2, 8 seq.
69:4 The way in which this reverential salutation should be performed is described below, IV, 12, 1 seq.
69:6 On dakshinottarâbhyâm, see chap. 2, 11 and Nârâyana’s note there.
70:8 8 seq. Comp. Weber’s Indische Studien, vol. x, p. 131 seq.
70:10 Comp. the note on chap. 5, 4-6. Nârâyana states, in accordance with these Sûtras of the fifth chapter, that in case the student belongs to the second or third caste, an Ûha (i.e. a corresponding alteration of the formulas; from the Srauta-sûtra, VI, 1, 3 the definition is quoted here sabdavikâram ûham bruvate) takes place. If he is a Kshatriya, he has to say, ‘Recite the Trishtubh, sir!’—’Recite the verse of Hiranyastûpa (Rig-veda I, 35, 2), sir!’ A Vaisya has to say, ‘Recite the Gagatî, sir!’—’Recite the verse of Hiranyastûpa (or, of Vâmadeva, Rig-veda I, 35, 9 or IV, 40, 5), sir!’
70:17 Comp. Indische Studien, X, 132, note 1.
71:18-20 I do not think that Professor Weber (Indische Studien, X, 132) has quite exactly rendered the meaning of these Sûtras when he says, ‘The teacher then (i.e. after the formula of Sûtra 17 has been pronounced) teaches him first the Rishi, the deity, and the metre of each Mantra. In case he does not know them himself for a Mantra, he recites the holy Sâvitrî (tat Savitur varenyam). After this he teaches him in due order either (1) the single Rishis, i.e. the hymns belonging to each Rishi, or (2) the single Anuvâkas,’ &C.—It does not seem quite probable to me that the student should have had to learn first the Rishis, deities, and metres of the whole Veda, before the text of the hymns was taught him; I rather believe that hymn by hymn the indication of the Rishis, &c. preceded the anuvakana of the text itself, and with this opinion the statement of Nârâyana agrees, ‘Evam pûrvoktena prakârena rishidevatâkhandahpûrvakam tam tam Agnim îla ityâdikam mantram mânavakâyâkâryoऽnubrûyât.’
71:19 According to Nârâyana by esheti (literally, ‘This [is the Rik]’) it is meant that the teacher, after having recited the Sâvitrî in the three ways mentioned, should say to the student, ‘This Rik is in the Gâyatrî metre. If recited pâda by pâda, it has three pâdas. Thus also this Rik, if recited hemistich by hemistich, has two Avasânas (pauses), the first at the end of the hemistich, the second at the end of the third karma (or pâda). Thus also this Rik is recited without stopping; at the end of the three karanas, or of the twenty-four syllables, the pause (avasâna) should be made. Thus I recite to thee the Sâvitrî; I recite to thee the Gâyatrî; I recite to thee the verse of Visvâmitra.’ ‘For,’ adds Nârâyana, ‘if the Gâyatrî has been recited, the whole complex of the Veda being of that very p. 72 substance, a complete knowledge thereof has been produced.’ The commentator then indicates a shorter form for the teacher’s words which our Sûtra prescribes by esheti, ‘This verse belongs to Savitar; it is a Gâyatrî; its Rishi is Visvâmitra.’
72:21 The Kshudrasûktas are the hymns Rig-veda X, 129-191.
72:24 24 seq. This seems to be an abridged method by which students who had not the intention of becoming Vedic scholars, and probably chiefly students of the Kshatriya and Vaisya caste, could fulfil their duty of learning the Veda; a student who knew the first and last hymn of a Rishi, or of an Anuvâka, was, as would seem from these Sûtras, by a sort of fiction considered as though he had known the whole portion belonging to that Rishi, or the whole Anuvâka.
72:27 Nârâyana explains Rishisvâdhyâya by mantrasamhitâ. He says, The Anuvâkana which has been declared here, is to be understood also with regard to the svâdhyâya, i.e. to the Samhitâ of the Mantras.’ I think there is a blunder in the MS., and instead of tad api svâdhyâye . . . gñeyam we ought to read tad rishisvâdhyâye . . . gñeyam. In this case we should have to translate the quoted passage, ‘. . . is to be understood with regard to the Rishisvâdhyâya, i.e. to, &c.’—I think, however, that the true meaning of the Sûtra is different from what Nârâyana believes it to be. The expression vyâkhyâtam apparently conveys a reference to another treatise in which the rules regarding the Rishisvâdhyâya would seem to have been fully set forth. The Srauta-sûtra contains p. 73 no passage which could be the one here referred to; we may suppose, therefore, that either a chapter of a Prâtisâkhya is quoted here, or a separate treatise on the special subject of the Rishisvâdhyâya. References to such treatises are found in the Sûtra texts in several instances, of which the most important is that in the Gobhila-Grihya I, 5, 13, ‘On what day the moon becomes full, the knowledge thereof is contained in a special text; that one either should study or ascertain when the Parvan is from those who have studied it.’
73:28 Nârâyana: ‘First stand the Mantras, then the Brâhmana, because it contains the viniyoga (the ritual use of the Mantras), then the Smriti texts such as Manu, &c. When he has repeated these texts to the student, after the end of the Anuvâkana, the teacher should take from the student the Kusa blades which had been taken up before for the sake of the Anuvâkana (see Sûtras 5 seq.),’ &c.—The teacher is made the subject of this rule also by Râmakandra. On yathâsûktam Nârâyana observes that according to some teachers these water oblations were directed to the Rishis of the different hymns (rishîn uddisyeti kekit). This statement seems to be countenanced by IV, 6, 6. Comp. the note below on IV, 9, 1.
73:29 ‘This rule concerns the Brahmakârin.’ Nârâyana. See also Âsvalâyana I, 22, 11.
KHANDA 8.
1 1. In the afternoon, having obtained by begging fried barley grains, he shall sacrifice them with his hand on the fire according to the rites of the Âgya oblations with the text, ‘The lord of the seat, the
wonderful’ (Rig-veda I, 18, 6 seq.), verse by verse, down to the end of the hymn,
2 8_2. Causing the teacher by (the gift of) food to pronounce auspicious wishes.
Footnotes
73:1 8, 1. This is the Anupravakanîyahoma treated of by Âsvalâyana at I, 22, 12 seq. There it is stated that this sacrifice should be performed as well after the recitation of the Sâvitrî as after the other p. 74 portions of the Veda, for instance, as the commentary there has it, after the Mahânâmnîs, the Mahâvrata, and the Upanishad have been recited. Nârâyana indicates the time of this sacrifice in the words, ‘On that same fast-day (chap. 7, 29) in the afternoon.’
74:8_2 ‘He shall, by pronouncing such words as svasti bhavanto bruvantu, dispose the teacher favourably so that he may say svasti!’ Nârâyana.
KHANDA 9.
1 9_1. In the forest, with a piece of wood in his hand, seated, he performs the Sandhyâ (or twilight devotion) constantly, observing silence, turning his face north-west, to the region between the chief (west) point and the intermediate (north-western) point (of the horizon), until the stars appear,
2 9_2. Murmuring, when (the twilight) has passed, the Mahâvyâhritis, the Sâvitrî, and the auspicious hymns.
3. In the same way in the morning, turning his face to the east, standing, until the disk of the sun appears.
10, 1 10_1. When (the sun) has risen, the study (of the Veda) goes on.
Footnotes
74:9_1 9, 1, On the Sandhyâ ceremony comp chiefly Baudhâyana II, 7. Samitpâni of course is not samyatapâni, as Nârâyana explains it. On anvashtamadesa comp. Professor Stenzler’s note on Âsvalâyana III, 7, 4.
74:9_2 The Svastyayanas are texts such as Rig-veda I, 89; IV, 31.
74:10_1 10, 1. This Sûtra evidently should be placed at the end of the ninth chapter; comp. IV, 6, 9. The fact that, as the commentary observes, the words nityam vâgyatah (chap. 9, Sûtra 1) are to be p. 75 supplied here also points in the same direction. That this Sûtra has nothing to do with the Agniparikaryâ, of which the tenth chapter treats, becomes evident also from Râmakandra’s Paddhati.
KHANDA 10.
2. Every day in the evening and in the morning,
3. He establishes the fire (in its proper place), wipes (with his hand the ground) round (it), sprinkles (water) round (it), bends his right knee,
4 4. (And puts fuel on the fire with the texts,) ‘To Agni I have brought a piece of wood, to the great Gâtavedas; may he, Gâtavedas, give faith and insight to me. Svâhâ!
‘Firewood art thou; may we prosper. Fuel art thou; splendour art thou; put splendour into me. Svâhâ!
‘Being inflamed make me prosperous in offspring and wealth. Svâhâ!
Thine is this fuel, Agni; thereby thou shalt grow and gain vigour. And may we grow and gain vigour. Svâhâ!’
5. Having then sprinkled (water) round (the fire),
6. He approaches the fire with the verse, ‘May Agni (vouchsafe) to me faith and insight, not-forgetting (what I have learned) and memory; may this praiseful Gâtavedas give blessing to us.’
[7 7. He makes with ashes the tripundhra sign (the sign of three strokes) which is set forth in the (treatise on the) Sauparnavrata, which is revealed, which agrees with the tradition handed down by the ancients, with the five formulas ‘The threefold age’ (see above, I, 28, 9), one by one, on five (places), viz. the forehead, the heart, the right shoulder and the left, and then on the back.]8. He who approaches the fire after having sacrificed thus, studies of these Vedas, one, two, three, or all.
Footnotes
75:4 Nârâyana: samidham iti mantraliṅgât samidhâm homah, mantraprithaktvât karmaprithaktvam iti nyâyât.
In the Atharva-veda XIX, 64, 1 the MSS. have Agne samidham âhârsham. Professors Roth and Whitney have conjectured in this passage agre instead of Agne. It is shown by our passage and the corresponding ones in the other Sûtras that the true reading is Agnaye. Instead of ahârsham we should read âhârsham, as all the parallel texts have. In the passage ‘Firewood art thou; might we prosper,’ there is a play upon words untranslatable in English, ‘edhoऽsy edhishîmahi.’ Perhaps instead of samiddho mâm samardhaya we should read samriddho mâm samardhaya. As the Mantra referred to the Samidh-offering, samriddha could very easily be supplanted by the participle of sam-idh. In the parallel texts indicated p. 139 of the German edition it should be, Vâg. Samh. II, 14 a.
76:7 This Sûtra is wanting in one of the Haug MSS. and in the Sâmbavya MS.; Râmakandra’s Paddhati takes no notice of it. I take it for a later addition. It should be noticed that the words dakshinaskandhe . . . ka pañkasu form a half Sloka.
KHANDA 11.
1 1. Now (follows) the directing to the (special) observances.
2 2-4. The rules for it have been explained by the initiation.
3. He does not recite the Sâvitrî.
4 4. Some say that the handing over of the staff forms the end (of this ceremony).
5. During the northern course of the sun, in the time of the increasing moon—
6 6. The teacher having abstained through one day and one night, from sexual intercourse and from eating flesh—
7 7. With the exclusion of the fourteenth day and of the eighth (of the half-month),
8. And of the first and last, according to some (teachers),
9 9. Or on what day else the constellation seems lucky to him, on that day he shall direct (the student) to the duties of holiness according to the Sukriya rite.
10 10. Let him observe (those) duties through three days, or twelve days, or one year, or as long as the master may think fit.
11. The Sâkvara (observance), however, (is to be kept) one year.
12. (So also) the Vrâtika and Aupanishada (observances).
13 13. When the time has elapsed, when the duties
have been observed, when the Veda has been studied down to the Samyu-Bârhaspatya-(hymn), let (the teacher then), should he intend to instruct (the student) in the secret (part of the Veda), ascertain the time (through which the student has to observe the special rites) and the rules to be observed, from the (special) directions (that are handed down on this subject).
Footnotes
76:1 11, 1. On the four Vratas, of which the Sukriya precedes the study of the main part of the Veda, the Sâkvara, Vrâtika, and Aupanishada that of the different sections of the Âranyaka, see the note on chap. 7, I and the Introduction, p. 8. On the name of the Sukriya Râmakandra says, sukriyasabdo vedavâki, tatsambandhâd vratam api sukriyam.
76:2-4 2, 4. See the note on chap. 6, 1. 2.
77:4 On the dandapradâna, see chap. 6, 2.
77:6 The pleonasm brahmakaryam upetya . . . brahmakârî should be removed by expunging brahmakârî, which is omitted in the Sâmbavya text. Comp. chap. 12, Sûtra 8; VI, 1, 2.
77:9 In the Sâmbavya text this Sûtra has a fuller form. It runs there thus, ‘. . . he shall direct (the student) to the duties of holiness according to the Sukriya rite, the teacher saying, “Be a Sukriya-brahmakârin;” the other one replying, “I will be a Sukriya-brahmakârin.” Thus also at the other observances he shall pronounce each time the name of the observance to which he directs him.’
77:13 The Samyu Bârhaspatya, i.e. the verse beginning with the p. 78 words tak kham yor â vrinîmahe, is the last verse of the Rig-veda in the Bâshkala redaction. See below, the note on IV, 5, 9.
On kâlaniyamam, see Nârâyana’s note, pp. 140 seq. of the German edition.
KHANDA 12.
1 1. After (the student) has eaten something in the morning, in the afternoon, to the north-east—
2. Having sacrificed, the teacher then asks him with regard to those deities to whom he has been given in charge (see above, chap. 3, 1), ‘Hast thou fulfilled the duties of holiness before Agni, Indra, the Sun, and the Visve devâs?’
3. If he answers, ‘I have fulfilled them, sir!’—
4. The teacher three times envelops, from the left to the right, with a fresh garment the face (of the student) who is standing behind the fire, in front of the teacher, with his face to the east.
5 5. He turns the skirt (of that garment) upwards so that it cannot slip down,
6 6. (And says) ‘Leaving off for three days the putting on of fuel, the going for alms, the sleeping on the ground, and the obedience to the teacher, fast in the forest, in a god’s house or in a place where Agnihotra is performed, keeping silence, with earnest care.’
7. Here some (teachers) prescribe the same observances only for one night, during which he is to stand.
8 8. The teacher refrains from eating flesh and from sexual intercourse.
9. When those three days or that night has elapsed, going out from the village he shall avoid to look at the following (persons or things) that form impediments for the study (of the Veda):
10 10. Raw flesh, a Kandâla, a woman that has lately been confined, or that has her courses, blood, persons whose hands have been cut off, cemeteries, and all sorts of corpse-like (animals?) which enter (their dens?) with the mouth first (?), keeping them away from the place where he dwells.
11. Going out (from the village) in a north-eastern direction the teacher sits down on a clean spot. turning his face to the east.
12 12. When the sun has risen, he recites, in the way prescribed for the Veda-study, (the Âranyaka texts to the student) who is to keep silence and who wears a turban.
13 13. This rule is to be observed only for the Mahânâmnî verses.
14. At the sections however that follow (after the Mahânâmnîs) the other one hears while the teacher recites them for himself.
15. He gives (to the teacher) the turban, a vessel, a good cow.
16. (The teacher accepts the gifts) with the verses,
‘Thou him’ (Rig-veda I, 18, 5), and, ‘High in the sky’ (Rig-veda X, 107, 2), or (he accepts them) all with the Pranava (i.e. the syllable Om).
17. Here some prepare a mess of rice for the Visve devâs at all sections (of the Âranyaka);
18 18. For the gods to whom he has been given in charge, according to Mândûkeya.
Footnotes
78:1 12, 1 seq. The Indian tradition (with the exception only, as far as is known to me, of the Sâmbavya commentary) refers the ceremonies described in this chapter, like those treated of in chap. 11, as well to the Sukriya as to the Sâkvara and the other Vratas. This is not correct. The eleventh chapter gives the rites common to the four Vratas; the Sukriya vrata is connected with no special ceremonies beside those, so that the exposition of this Vrata is brought to an end in that chapter. The last Sûtra of chap. 11 marks the transition to the special rites which are peculiar to the three other Vratas, and are connected with the character of mystical secrecy attributed to the Âranyaka, and thus it is with the exclusion of the Sukriya that the twelfth chapter refers only to those Vratas. The difference which we have pointed out between the two chapters finds its characteristic expression in Sûtras 9 and 11 of chap. 11, compared with chap. 12, 13. 14; in the former Sûtras the statements there given are expressly extended to the Sukriya, the Sâkvara, the Vrâtika, and the Aupanishada, while in the latter passage mention is made first of the Mahânâmnîs, i.e. the text corresponding to the Sâkvara vrata, and then the uttarâni prakaranâni (the following sections) are referred to, i.e. the Mahâvrata and the Upanishad, so that the Sukriya vrata or the texts, the study of which is entered upon by that Vrata, are left out here.
There is a good deal of confusion in the several commentaries p. 79 with regard to the succession of the different ceremonies taught in this chapter. They all agree in stating that after the lapse of the year through which the Vrata is kept, a ceremony is performed called Uddîkshanikâ, i.e. the giving up of the Dîkshâ, or preparatory observance. This Uddîkshanikâ consists chiefly in the teacher’s ascertaining whether the student has fulfilled the duties involved by the Vrata (see Sûtras 2 and 3). Besides that, there is no doubt that a repetition of the Upanayana (chap. 11, 2) also formed part of the preparatory rites for the study of the Âranyaka. As to the way in which these different ceremonies and the other rites described in this chapter would have to be arranged according to our text, it is perhaps best to follow the statements given in an epitome from the bâlâvabodhanârtham Rishidaivatakhandopaddhati (MS. Berol. Chambers, 199 a, fols. 13-16); the slight confusion therein is not difficult to get rid of. There we read, ‘The Sâkvara, however, is to be kept one year (chap. 11, 11). When the Uddîkshanikâ has been performed, and three nights (chap. 12, 6) or one day and one night (ibid. 7) have elapsed, the Upanayana should be performed as above (chap. 11, 2), with this difference that at the end of the formula mama vrate, &c. (chap. 4, 1) one should say, “May Brihaspati join thee to me for the holy observance of the Sâkvara through one year, O Devadatta!” (On this formula, resting on a misunderstanding of chap. 4, Sûtra 2, see the Introduction, p. 8.) The rest is the same as at the Sukriya. Then, when the year (chap. 11, 11) has elapsed, and the Uddîkshanikâ has been performed, and the three days or the night have passed (chap. 12, 6. 7), he should go out of the village . . . and in the north-eastern direction,’ &c. (here follows the description of how the secret doctrines should be taught to the student, according to Sâṅkh. VI). The confusion showing itself in the double mention of the Uddîkshanikâ, before and after the Upanayana, should no doubt be put to the account of the excerptor or perhaps even of the MS.; what the meaning of the original Paddhati was is sufficiently shown in the remarks on the following Vratas, for instance, on the Vrâtika (fol. 16), ‘Now follows the Vrâtika vrata. It lasts one year (chap. p. 80 11, 12). When the Sâkvara has reached its end [here we find added at the margin of the MS.,” After the Uddîkshanikâ has been performed.” These words ought not to be received into the text; in the corresponding passage on the Aupanishada vrata they are not found] he performs the whole ceremony, beginning from the smearing (of the Sthandila with cow-dung), the drawing of the lines, &c., as at the Upanayana . . . and then, when one year has elapsed, he performs the Uddîkshanikâ, and the rules [given in chap. 12, 9 seq.] are observed as above.’ I think that here the meaning of the text is correctly represented; first comes the Upanayana, then follows the Vrata lasting one year, then the Uddîkshanikâ. After this ceremony the teacher gives to the student the directions mentioned in chap. 12, 16; then follow the three days, or the one night (chap. 12, 6. 7), and finally they both go out of the village to the north-east, and in the forest they recite the Rahasya.
On the whole ceremonies connected with the study of the Âranyaka the sixth book should be compared.
80:5 Nârâyana: Vastrasya dasâh prântabhâga[m] uparishtât kritvâ tathâ badhnîyâd yathâ na sambhrasyeta adhastân na patati tathâ vidheyam.
80:6 The things which the student here is ordered to leave off for three days are the same that are mentioned above, chap. 6, 8, as his standing duties. According to Nârâyana this would be the Âdesa mentioned in chap. II, 13.
81:10 With Sûtikâ is meant a woman during the first ten days after her confinement, for which period the asauka lasts.—Apahasta is rendered by Nârâyana by khinnahasta; the comment on the Sâmbavya-Grihya mentions âyudhâṅkitahastâms ka. The translation of the last words of this Sûtra (sarvâni ka savarûpâni yâny âsye na [or âsyena?] praviseyuh svasya vâsân nirasan) is absolutely uncertain. Nârâyana says that such animals as lions, serpents, &c. are designated in common use as savarûpâni. (This literally means, ‘having the form of a corpse.’ Immediately afterwards Nârâyana gives a nearly identical explanation of savarûpa as different from the one stated first. So perhaps we may conjecture that his first explanation rests on a reading sarparûpâni; comp. the reading sarvarûpa of Pâraskara.) Of these the animals entering their dwelling-places with the mouth first (âsyena) are to be understood here as forming, when looked at, an impediment for the study. Nârâyana then says that other authorities understand sava in the sense of a dead human body; then savarûpâni are beings having the form thereof (tadrûpâni), such as dogs, jackals, &c. The words yâny âsyena praviseyuh signify that the study is impeded also on the sight of lions, tigers, &c.; for these enter their dwelling-places with their faces first (? anumukhaih kritvâ). The words svasya vâsân nirasan mean, p. 82 according to Nâr., ‘when he—i.e. the teacher—goes out of his dwelling-place.’ Râmakandra says that savarûpa either means lions, snakes, and other dangerous animals, or nails, horns, and other such things that fall off or are severed from the body. The text of the Sâmbavya MS. is sarvâni ka syâmarûpâni yâvânyâ (?) praviseyuh, which the commentary explains, sarvâms ka bhakshyavargâms ka. I think there can be little doubt that the text of Sâṅkhâyana is correct (except that some doubt will remain as to âsyena or âsye na), the more so as the passage reoccurs, nearly identically, below at VI, 1, 4. 5. As to the translation we can only go so far as to venture the opinion that the Sâṅkhâyana text does not admit the interpretation given by Gayarâma, and accepted by Professor Stenzler (who compares Âpastamba I, 11, 27; Gautama XVI, 41) in Pâraskara II, 11, 3 for sarvarûpa, which consequently should, in our opinion, be rejected also in that passage of Pâraskara. For ascertaining the true meaning of savarûpa we shall have to wait until new parallel passages have been discovered.
82:12 The rules for the Anuvâkana have been given above in chap. 7.
82:13 The Mahânâmnî verses are given in the fourth Âranyaka of the Aitareyinas. See Sacred Books of the East, I, p. xliii.
83:18 Comp. the second Sûtra of this chapter.
KHANDA 13.
1. Now (follow) the rules regarding the staff.
2. Let him not leave a passage between himself and the staff.
3 3. Now should any one of these things, viz. staff, girdle, or sacrificial cord, break or rend, the same penance (takes place) therefore which (has been prescribed) at the wedding with regard to the chariot.
4. If the girdle cannot be repaired, he makes another and speaks over it (the following verses):
5. ‘Thou who knowest the distinction of pure and impure, divine protectress Sarasvatî, O girdle, prolong my vow unimpaired, unbroken.
‘Thou, Agni, art the pure bearer of vows. Agni, carry hither the gods to our sacrifice and our oblation.
‘Bearing the vows, the infallible protector of vows, be our messenger, undecaying and mighty. Giving treasures, merciful, Agni, protect us, that we may live, Gâtavedas!
6. And he ties the sacrificial cord to the staff.
7. Here it is said also:
8 8. ‘Let him sacrifice the sacrificial cord and the staff, the girdle and also the skin in water after the completion of his vow with a Varuna-verse or with the essence (of the Vedas, i.e. the syllable Om).
Footnotes
83:3 13, 3. ‘See above, I, 15, 9 seq.
84:8 Nârâyana here quotes Rig-veda I, 24, 6, which is the first verse in the Rig-veda addressed to Varuna (i.e. to Varuna alone, not to Mitra and Varuna, &c.).
KHANDA 14.
1 1. Now (follows) the Vaisvadeva (sacrifice).
2 2. The rite of the sacrifice has been explained.
3. Let him pour oblations of prepared Vaisvadeva food in the evening and in the morning into the (sacred) domestic fire.
4. ‘To Agni svâhâ! To Soma svâhâ! To Indra and Agni svâhâ! To Vishnu svâhâ! To Bharadvâga Dhanvantari svâhâ! To the Visve devâs svâhâ! To Pragâpati svâhâ! To Aditi svâhâ! To Anumati svâhâ! To Agni Svishtakrit
svâhâ!’—having thus offered the oblations belonging to those deities,
5. He then shall offer Balis (i.e. portions of food) in the centre of the floor to the same deities; (then another Bali with the words,) ‘Adoration to Brahman and to the Brâhmanas!’ and (with the verse), ‘Vâstoshpati, accept us’ (Rig-veda VII, 54, 1) in the centre of the floor to Vâstoshpati.
6 6-7. He then distributes Balis, from the left to the right, through the different quarters (of the horizon, to the presiding deities) in due order (with the words),
7. ‘Adoration to Indra and to those belonging to Indra! Adoration to Yama and to those belonging to Yama! Adoration to Varuna and to those belonging to Varuna! Adoration to Soma and to those belonging to Soma! Adoration to Brihaspati and to those belonging to Brihaspati!’
8 8. Then (turned) towards the disk of the sun, ‘Adoration to Aditi and to the Âdityas! Adoration
5. ‘He shall offer a Bali to those deities, i.e. to those ten deities to whom he has sacrificed, to Agni, &c. (see Sûtra 4), addressing them with the word, “Adoration (to such and such a deity”)—because in the other cases the word “adoration” (namah) has been prescribed for the Bali.’ Nârâyana.
to the Nakshatras, to seasons, to months, to half-months, to days and nights, to years!’
9. ‘To Pûshan, the path-maker; to Dhâtar, to Vidhâtar, and to the Maruts’—(thus) on the thresholds.
10. To Vishnu on the grindstone.
11. ‘To the tree’—(thus) in the mortar.
12. ‘To the herbs’—(thus) where the herbs are kept.
13. ‘To Parganya, to the waters’—(thus) near the water-pot.
14. ‘Adoration to Srî’—(thus) in the bed at the head, ‘to Bhadrakâlî at the foot.
15. In the privy, ‘Adoration to Sarvânnabhûti!’
16. Then (he throws a Bali) into the air, in the evening with the words, ‘To the night-walkers,’ in the morning with the words, ‘To the day-walkers,’ and with the Verse,’ Which gods’ (Rig-veda I, 139, 11).
17. To the unknown deities to the north, and to Dhanapati (i.e. the Lord of treasures).
I8. With the sacrificial cord suspended over the right shoulder he pours out the remnant to the south with the verse, ‘They whom the fire has burnt’ (Rig-veda X, 15, 14).
19. When he has made his offerings to gods, fathers (i.e. Manes), and men, let him give food to a Srotriya (i.e. to a learned Brâhmana).
20. Or let him give alms (of food) to a student.
21 21. Let him immediately afterwards offer food to a female under his protection, to a pregnant woman, to boys, and to old people.
22 22-23. Let him throw (some food) on the ground for the dogs, for the dog-butchers, and for the birds.
23 23. Let him eat nothing without having cut off (and offered as a Bali) a portion thereof.
24. (Let him) not (eat) alone,
25. Nor before (the others).
26. With regard thereto it has been said also in the Rik,’ In vain the fool gains food’ (Rig-veda X, 117, 6).
Footnotes
84:1 14, 1. The rules regarding the Vaisvadeva sacrifice stand here, as I have already pointed out in the German edition, p. 142, in a very strange position amid the matter that concerns the student, and before the description of the ceremony that concludes studentship (the Samâvartana; III, 1). On the first word of the chapter, atha, Nârâyana observes that thereby the householder is marked as the subject of the following rules. It seems rather forced to explain the position of this chapter, as Nârâyana does, by pointing out that in some cases, for instance when the teacher is away on a journey, a student also can eventually be called upon to perform the Vaisvadeva sacrifice (comp. below, chap. 17, 3).
84:2 This Sûtra shows, according to Nârâyana, that the Vaisvadeva offering does not follow the ordinary type of sacrifice (the Pratisrute homakalpa, as it is termed above, I, 9, 19), but the form described in the Agnikâryaprakarana, above, chap. 10, 3 seq.
85:6-7 6, 7. The distribution of Balis begins in the east, which is the part of the horizon sacred to Indra; it then proceeds to the south, the west, the north, which are sacred respectively to Yama, Varuna, and Soma. Finally the Bali belonging to Brihaspati and the Bârhaspatyas is offered, according to Nârâyana, to the north-east.
85:8 The commentators (see p. 142 of the German edition) differ as to whether âdityamandala means the disk of the sun towards which this Bali should be offered, or a place or an apartment of circular form (âdityamandalarûpe mandalâgâre, as in my opinion we ought to correct the reading in Nârâyana’s note).
86:21 Comp. Böhtlingk-Roth s. v. suvâsinî, and Professor Bühler’s note on Gautama V, 25.
87:22-23 22, 23. Probably these Sûtras should be divided after iti.
87:23 ‘Pûrvam means, he should not eat before his relations (bandhubhyah pûrvam prathamatah).’ Nârâyana.
KHANDA 15.
1 1. Should any one of the six persons (mentioned in the Srauta-sûtra and in the Sûtras 4-9) to whom the Arghya reception is due, visit (him), let him make (ready) a cow, a goat, or what (sort of food) he thinks most like (thereto).
2 2-3. Let the Argha not be without flesh.
3. On the occasion of a sacrifice and of a wedding let (the guest) say, ‘Make it (ready).’
4. The animal (offered) to the teacher is sacred to Agni;
5. If offered to an officiating priest, to Brihaspati;
6 6. If to the father-in-law, to Pragâpati;
7. If to a king, to Indra;
8 8. If to a friend, to Mitra;
9. If to a Snâtaka, to Indra and Agni;
10. Even if he performs more than one Soma sacrifice during a year, let only priests who have received (from him) the Arghya reception officiate for him, not such who have not received it.
Footnotes
87:1 15, 1. This Sûtra presupposes the Srauta-sûtra IV, 21, 1: ‘To six persons the Argha reception is due, viz. to the teacher, to an officiating priest, to the father-in-law, to a king, to a Snâtaka, to a friend.’ Here the fourth person mentioned is the svasura, while in the Grihya text the expression vaivâhya is used. It is difficult not to believe that both words are used in the same sense, and accordingly Nârâyana says vivâhyah svasurah. Comp. Professor Stenzler’s note on Pâraskara I, 3, 1; Âpastamba II, 8, 7; Gautama V, 27.
Sâmânyatamam sadrisatamam mâshâdikam (mâkhâdikam the MS.) annam. Nârâyana.
87:2-3 2, 3. These Sûtras are identical with Pâraskara I, 3, 29. 30. The following Sûtra of Pâraskara stands in the Sâṅkhâyana text as p. 88 Sûtra 10. Probably Pâraskara here represents the text which both Sûtrakâras follow, more exactly, and the enumeration given by Sâṅkhâyana in Sûtras 4-9 of the different categories of Arghyas with the corresponding deities, is an addition to that original stock of rules.
Apparently the two Sûtras 2 and 3 stand in contradiction to each other, as Sûtra 2 seems to prescribe that at the Argha meal in every case flesh should be given to the guest, and Sûtra 3 specifies only two occasions on which the killing of the Argha cow cannot be dispensed with. Perhaps the meaning is this, that it is not necessary, except in the cases of a sacrifice and of a wedding, to kill a cow expressly for that purpose, but that in any case, even if the cow offered to the guest be declined by him, the host should take care that some flesh be served at that meal. So says Nârâyana in his note on Âsvalâyana-Grihya I, 24, 33, ‘Pasukaranapakshe tanmâmsena bhoganam, utsarganapakshe mâmsantarena.’ Similarly the Buddhists distinguish between eating flesh and eating the flesh of an animal expressly killed in order to entertain that very guest.
88:6 The literal translation of vaivâhya would be ‘a person related by marriage.’ But comp. the note on Sûtra 1.
88:8 Priya of course does not mean gâmâtar, as is stated in a number of commentaries. Gobhila says, priyoऽtithih.
88:11 Other persons, for instance a king, can claim the Argha reception not more than once a year. Comp. Âpastamba II, 8, 7; Gautama V, 28, 29, &c.
KHANDA 16.
1. ‘At the Madhuparka and at the Soma sacrifice, at the sacred rites for fathers (Manes) and gods only animals may be killed, not elsewhere: thus has Manu said.
2. ‘Both his teacher and his father, and also a friend who does not stay in his house as a guest: whatever these dispose, that let him do; such is the established custom.
3 3. ‘Let him not consider as a guest a person living in the same village, or one that comes in returning from a journey; (but let him consider as a guest only) one who has arrived at his house where the wife or the fires (of the host) are.
4 4. ‘(The fire of) the Agnihotra, bulls, and a guest that has come in at the right time, children and persons of noble families: these burn up him who neglects them.
5. ‘A bull, the Agnihotra, and a student, these three prosper only if they eat; there is no prosperity for them, if they do not eat.
6. ‘Day by day the domestic deities approach the man who performs the domestic rites, in order to receive their share; (that) let him pour out to them.
Footnotes
89:3 16, 3. Comp. Gautama V, 40, &c.
89:4 On the right time for the arrival of a guest, see Gautama, loc. cit.
KHANDA 17.
1. ‘Even if a man constantly gather grass and perform the Agnihotra, a Brâhmana who stays (in his
house) without receiving honour takes away all his good works.
2. ‘One should give (even) if it were only a water-pot; one should sacrifice (even) if it were a piece of wood; (even) down to one hymn or to one Anuvâka the Brahmayagña is enjoined.
3. ‘When on a journey let him not fast; (during that time) the wife keeps the vow. Let his son, his brother, or his wife, or his pupil offer the Bali oblation.
4. ‘Those who perform this Vaisvadeva sacrifice in the evening and in the morning, they will prosper in wealth and (long) life, in fame and offspring.’
KHANDA 18.
1. A student who is going to set out on a journey, speaks thus to his teacher:
2 2. ‘Of inhalation and exhalation’—(this he says) in a low voice; ‘Om, I will dwell’—this aloud.
3. (The teacher) in a low voice (replies), ‘To inhalation and exhalation I, the wide-extended one, resort with thee. To the protecting god I give thee in charge. God Savitar; this student belongs to thee; I give him in charge to thee; protect him; do not forsake him.’
4. ‘Om, hail!’ the teacher aloud. ‘Hail!’ the teacher aloud.
Here ends the Second Adhyâya.
Footnotes
90:2 18, 2. Perhaps vatsyâmi (I will dwell) is a sort of euphemism for pravatsyâmi (I will go away).
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