apastamba's yajna paribhasha 3.pdf

7/30/2019 apastamba's yajna paribhasha 3.pdf

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barbarians, is botanically described in an yur-vedic extract,quoted in the Dhrtasvmi-bhshyatk (MS. E.I.H. 531, p. 3b), as

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symlml ka nishpatr kshrin tvaki mmsal, sleshmal vamanvall somkhy khgabhoganam. 'The creeper called Soma is dark,

sour, without leaves, milky, fleshy on the surface, producingphlegm and vomiting, food for goats.'

This passage, quoted from some yur-vedic text, is still the onlyone which gives an approximative description of the Soma-plant.Dr. Hooker says that the predicates 'sour and milky' point toSarcostemma, but the question is not decided yet. For furtherinformation see George Watt, The Soma Plant, an extract from thethird volume of the Dictionary of Economic Products of India, andHillebrandt, Vedische Mythologie, pp. 14 seq.

STRA LIII.If one has performed an offering to Rudra, to the Rkshasas, toNirriti, or to the Pitris, if one has cut or broken or thrown awayanything, or rubbed oneself, &c., one should touch water.

Commentary.

The touching of water is for the sake of purification. Nirasana isleft out in some MSS. The ka, inserted after abhimarsanni, isexplained, as usual, as including other acts also, corresponding to

our etc.STRA LIV.

All priestly performances take place on the northern side of theVihra.

Commentary.

Uttarata-upakrah has to be taken as a compound. Vihra isexplained as vihriyantegnayah ptrni ka yasmin dese, i.e. thesacrificial ground. Upakra is explained as adhvaryvdnmsamkarah, and this samkara, according to Ktyyana I, 3, 42, is thepath between the Ktvla and Utkara, the Utkara being on the west,the prants on the east of the Vihra. Ktyyana I, 8, 26, expressesthe same rule by uttarata-upakro yagah, the vihra being theplace where the yaga takes place.

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STRA LV.

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Page 2 Grihya Sutras, Part 2 (SBE30): pastamba's Yaga-Paribhsh-Stras: Stras 51...

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The priest should never turn away from the fire, i.e. should neverturn his back on the altar.

STRA LVI.

Nor from the Vihra.

STRA LVII.

Sacrificial utensils should be turned inside, the performers beingoutside.

Commentary.

The meaning is that the priest should carry such things is spoons,vessels, &c., holding them towards the altar. The sacrificer and hiswife should likewise be on the inside of the priest, and the priestsshould take precedence sideways according to their rank.

STRA LVIII.

After a sacrificial object has been hallowed by a Mantra, the priestshould not toss it about.

STRA LIX.

Sacrificial acts intended for the gods, should be performed by thepriest towards the east or towards the north, after he has placed theBrahmanic cord over the left and under the right arm(yagopavtin), and turning towards the right.

STRA LX.

Sacrificial acts intended for the Fathers should be performed by thepriest towards the south, after he has placed the Brahmanic cordover the right and

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under the left arm (prknvtin), and turning towards the left.

STRA LXI.

Ropes which have to be joined, should be joined by the priest fromleft to right, after having tied them from right to left.

STRA LXII.

Ropes which are not joined (single ropes), should be tied by the

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priest from left to right.

Commentary.

The exact process here intended is not quite clear. The ropes seemto have been made of vegetable fibres. See Katy. I, 3,15-17.

STRA LXIII.

Let a man sacrifice with the Amvsy sacrifice at the time of theAmvsy, new moon.

Commentary.

Am-vsy is the dwelling together, i.e. the conjunction, of sunand moon, an astronomical expression which was adopted in thecommon language of the people at a very early time. It does notoccur, however, in theRig-veda. In our Stra amvsy is used in

the sense both of new moon and new-moon sacrifice.

STRA LXIV.

And let a man sacrifice with the Paurnamsy sacrifice at the timeof the Paurnams, full moon, thus it is said.

Commentary.

Here the full moon is called paurnams, the sacrificepaurnamsy. Satyavrata joins the two Stras in one, and leaves

out yageteti, which may have belonged to the commentary.

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STRA LXV.

Let a man observe that full-moon day as a day of abstinence onwhich the moon comes out full before.

Commentary.

The full moon (paurnams) is really the very moment on whichthe moon is full and therefore begins to decrease. That moment onwhich sun and moon are, as the Hindus said, at the greatestdistance from each other, is called the parva-sandhi, the juncture ofthe two phases of the moon. Thus the name of paurnams belongsto the last day of the one and to the first day (pratipad) of the otherphase, and both days might be called paurnams. If therefore themoon is full on the afternoon, the evening, or the twilight of oneday, that day should be observed as a fast-day, and the next dayshould be the day of sacrifice.

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The meaning of purastd, which I have translated by before, isdoubtful. One commentator says it has no object, and should bedropped, purastd ity etat padam asmin stra idnm anvayam nalabhate prayoganbhvt. Purastd, before, may, however, meanbefore the second day, on which the real sacrifice takes place, andthe commentator mentions purastt-paurnams as a name of thekaturdas-yukt, i.e. the full moon beginning on the fourteenth day.

The same kind of full moon is also called Anumati, Prv-paurnams, and Sandhy-paurnams, while that which takesplace on the pratipad, the first day of the lunar phase, is calledRk, Uttar-paurnams, Astamitodit, and Svahprit.

Corresponding to these two kinds of Paurnams there are also twokinds of Amvsy. That which falls on the fourteenth day iscalled Prv-amvsy, or Sinvl, the ; that whichfalls on the pratipad, the first day of the new phase, is called Kuh,Uttar-amvsy. Svoyukt. See also Ait.-Brhm. II, 4; Nir. XI,31-32.

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STRA LXVI.

Or the day when one says, To-morrow it will be full.

Commentary.

In that case the day before should be observed as a day ofabstinence. The real full moon would then take place in the fore-noon, prvhne, of the next day. Abstinence, upavsa, consists inabstaining from meat and from maithuna, in shaving beard andhead, cutting the nails, and, what seems a curious provision, inspeaking the truth. See Kty.-Srauta-stras II, I, 8-12.

STRA LXVII.

The Vgasaneyins mention a third, the Kharvik full moon.

Commentary.

Kharva means small. If one di

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apastamba's yajna paribhasha 3.pdf