Chapter XXXII. Pashubandha or Nirūdhapaśubandha (immolation of an animal sacrifice)

Volume II: Part II pp. 1109–1132

Chapter XXXII. Pashubandha or Nirūdhapaśubandha (immolation of an animal sacrifice)

PAŚUBANDHA OR NIRŪḌHAPĀŚUBANDHA¹ (immolation of an animal in sacrifice).

The animal sacrifice is an independent sacrifice and it is also performed in soma sacrifices as a constituent part (aṅga). The independent animal sacrifice is called nirūḍhapaśubandha (offering of an eviscerated animal) and the subordinate ones are called saumika (Āśv. IIL 8. 3-4). The nirūḍhapaśu is really a modification of an animal sacrifice in somayāga (called agniṣomiya paśu) as Jai. VIII. 1. 13 declares, but in many sūtras the full procedure of both is set out in the nirūḍhapaśu section (vide Kāt. VI. 10. 32 and coṃ on Kāt. VI. 31). The nirūḍhapaśubandha itself becomes the prakṛti (archetype or model) of all other animal sacrifices, except savaniya paśu and anūbandhyapaśu. The independent animal sacrifice is to be performed every six months or every year by the āhitāgni throughout his life.² If done once a year it was to be performed in the rainy season (i. e. in Śrāvaṇa or Bhādrapada ) on New moon or Full moon day or if done six monthly then at the beginning of the southward and northward passages of the Sun (dakṣiṇāyana and uttarāyaṇa). Then it may have to be performed on any day and not necessarily on amāvāsyā or paurṇamāsī. According to Āśv. (III. 1. 2-6) optionally an iṣṭi before and after the independent paśubandha rite may be performed and if performed it is offered either to Agni or to Agni-Viṣṇu or to Agni and Agni-Viṣṇu. In this sacrifice there is a sixth priest called Maitrāvaruṇa (or Praśāstṛ) in addition to the five required in the cāturmāsyaṣ An udumbara staff is given to the sacrificer when he is initiated for a sacrifice like Agniṣṭoma. In the paśubandha when the Maitrāvaruṇa enters the sacrificial ground after the priests are chosen the adhvaryu (or yajamāna in some śākhās) ³ hands over that staff (which in length would reach the mouth of the sacrificer) to the maitrāvaruṇa with a mantra and the maitrāvaruṇa accepts it with a corresponding mantra. The maitrāvaruṇa stands slightly bent to the south of the seat of the hotṛ resting his staff on the vedi and utters directions to the hotṛ to repeat yājyāṣ Till he utters the first praiṣa he is not to touch himself or any one else with the staff. The maitrāvaruṇa is to utter in a standing posture while holding the staff the praiṣas and the anuvākyās wherever a praiṣa is employed and do a few other acts standing; but the rest of his duties in soma sacrifices he does sitting. Jaimini (IV. 2. 16–18) has a discussion (arising out of Tai. S. VI. 1. 4. 2 ‘kṛte some maitrāvaruṇāya daṇḍam prayacchati’) on the question whether the handing over of the staff to maitrāvaruṇa is a pratipattikarma or an arthakarma (the conclusion is that it is the latter). The adhvaryu makes an offering of clarified butter in the āhavaniya, which is called yūpahuti, with the sruva or with a sruc in which four ladlings of ājya have been poured, with the mantra ‘uru viṣṇo’ (Vāj. S. V. 41, Tai. S. I. 3. 4. 1). The adhvaryu, taking the rest of the ājya and the sruva, goes to a place where trees grow, accompanied by a carpenter (takṣaṇ) holding an axe (Āp. VII. 1. 13 and Kāt. VI. 1. 5). The sacrificial post (yūpa)⁴ is to be made of the palāśa, khadira, bilva or rauhītaka tree according as one desires various rewards (Āp. VII. 1. 16), but in Soma sacrifices the yūpa must be of khadira, if possible. Jai. (VI. 3. 28–30) states that, if by accident the sacrificial post made of one kind of tree is destroyed during the continuance of the rite, another yūpa of the same tree or of a tree very similar to it is to be substituteḍ The tree to be cut must be full of leaves, must not have its top dried up, must be straight and growing on a level spot, and its branches must be turned upwards and it should be bent in some direction other than the south. Adhvaryu, brahmā, the sacrificer and carpenter touch the tree after selecting it with the mantra ‘atyanyan’ (Vāj. S. V. 42, Tai. S. I. 3. 5). The adhvaryu touches the trunk of the tree all round (where it is to be cut) with the sruva anointed with ājya with the mantra ' May God Savitṛ anoint thee with madhu ' (Tai. S. I. 3. 5) or with ' Viṣṇave tvā ' (Vāj. S. V. 42). He keeps obliquely a darbha blade on the trunk with the words 'oṣadhe trāyasvainam' (Tai. S. I. 3. 5 or Vāj. S. V. 42) and strikes the tree with the axe with the mantra 'O axe! do not injure it' (svadhite mainam himsiḥ,' Vāj. S. V. 42 and Tai. S. I. 3. 5). The first chip of the tree that is cut off, he keeps in a well-known place and the tree is cut at such a low height from the ground that the stump left in the ground would not strike against the axle of a cart going that way. The tree should be so cut that it should not fall to the south; it should fall to the east or north or north-east (Āp. VII. 2. 7); when it is falling he repeats the mantra ‘do not scratch the heaven with your top &c.’ (Vāj. S. V. 43 or Tai. S. I. 3. 5). He offers ājya with the juhū on the stump of the tree with the mantra ‘O tree, grow again with a hundred shoots’ (Vāj. S. V. 43, Tai. S. I. 3. 5) and having touched one's body with ‘may we grow into a thousand branches’ ( ibiḍ ) he cuts off from the bottom upwards the twigs and knots of the felleḍ tree. There were several views about the length of the yūpa (Āp. VII. 2. 11-17, Kāț. VI. 1. 24-26). According to some the yūpa may be of any length from one aratni to 33 aratnis, but Kāț. gives the usual length at 3 or 4 aratnis and Āp. (VII. 2. 17) also quotes the Śat. Br. (XI. 7. 4. 1) that the yūpa in nirūdha- paśubandha is three or four aratnis in length, while in Soma sacrifices the other measures may apply. Kāț. (VI. 1. 31) states that in somayāga the yūpa may be from five to fifteen aratnis in length except 7, 10 or 14 aratnis and in the Vājapeya sacrifice the yūpa is 17 aratnis in length and in the Aśvamedha it is 21 aratniṣ According to Āp. it must be in length at least as much as the height of the yajamāna or as much as the yajamāna with hands upraiseḍ The girth of the yūpa is not fixeḍ That part of the yūpa which is to be planted in the pit is called upara, which is not to be chiselled and which is about a 5th of the whole log but the rest of it is to be chiselled from the bottom towards the top so as to make the yūpa have eight angles and it should be somewhat tapering towards the top. One corner or angle (out of the eight) should be more prominent than the rest and should face the fire. Out of the top portion of the⁵ tree that remains after making the yūpa the carpenter prepares a wooden head-piece, eight-cornered and of the length of the hand from the wrist to the tips of the fingers and contracted in the middle like a mortar. This piece is called caṣāla and is made hollow so as to fit in exactly on to the top of the yūpa like a turban and the peg-like top of the yūpa on which the caṣāla is fixed should protrude two or three angulas beyond the caṣāla ( Kat. VI. 1. 30 ).

The nirūḍhapaśubandha occupies two days, though it may be performed in one day. On the first of the two days called upavasatha⁶ preliminary matters such as preparing the vedi, bringing the yūpa are performeḍ

The vedi (a single one) in the nirūḍhapaśubandha is prepared like the one in Varuṇa-praghāsas to the east of the usual āhavaniya fire-place (and not to the west as in darśa-pūrṇamāsa ). The dimensions of the vedi are variously giveṇ According to Āp. VII. 3. 7–9 the vedi is three or four aratnis on its western side, six aratnis in length from west to east and three aratnis on the eastern side and it is less in breadth 'towards the east or it is as wide as the axle on the west, of the length of the shafts of a cart and to the east as wide as that portion of a yoke which is between the outer holes thereof. On this vedi an uttaravedi (a high altar) is measured with the śamyā ⁷ (yoke-pin) on the eastern one-third of the vedi. From the northern corner of the eastern side (the shoulder) of the vedi, a pit called cātvāla is measured one śamyā square about one prakrama to its north; it is dug with a spade taken with the mantra ‘devasya tvā ...... ādade ' ( Vāj. S. VI. 1 ) and it is silently dug as deep as the knee or three vitastis (36 angu-las). The Tai. Br. I. 5. 10 gives the latter measure. The cātvāla is in front of the utkara and a passage is left between the utkara and the cātvāla which is contiguous to the north side of the mahāvedi (vide Śat. Br. III. 5. 1. 24–30). The earth dug up is heaped on the uttaravedi thrice ⁸ with the mantra 'a lioness art thou' (Tai. S. I. 2. 12. 2) and a fourth time silently and then is spread over the uttaravedi with 'uru pra-thasva ...... prathatām' (Tai. S. I. 2. 12. 2); he breaks up the clods with the śamyā, invokes the earth dug up, sprinkles it, spreads gravel on the earth so dug up and spread, pours down the remainder of the water contained in the prokṣaṇi vessel to the north of the uttaravedi by means of a channel made with one stroke of the sphya and cements together the borders of the uttaravedi (with water and earth). On the uttaravedi he makes a square hole (called uttaranābhi) a span in measure or measuring as much as a bull's or horse's hoof, invokes it and sprinkles it with water and the rest of the water is drained off to the south (as water was drained off to the north above). Then he covers the uttaravedi with twigs of udumbara or plakṣa tree and waits, if the paśubandha is so performed as to extend over two dayṣ In the morning next day he pours clarified butter in a stream on the uttaravedi from the south-east corner to the north-west corner and from the south-west to the north-east carrying a golden piece in such a way that the butter will fall on the golḍ Then he places three (pine) paridhis (enclosing sticks) which are of kārśmarya wood (according to Āp. VII. 7. 7) round the nābhi in the west, south and north and puts down on the uttaravedi certain materials viz. bdellium, fragrant and appetising grass, bunch of white wool from between the horns of a ram (petva). Having kindled idhma (a bunch of samidhs) at the āhavanīya fire, he carries forward the kindled sticks (in a vessel) ⁹ which is supported on a vessel containing gravel (to prevent the scorching of the hands) to the uttaravedi and places them down on the nābhi over the bdellium and other thingṣ This becomes the āhavanīya for all actions in the paśubandha and the original āhavanīya becomes the gārhapatya.¹⁰

He takes a spade with a mantra (e. g. Vāj. S. VI. 1), draws to the east of the new āhavanīya an outline of the hole to be dug for inserting the yūpa. He digs a pit so deep that when the yūpa is erected therein its upara (the lower unchisel-led portion) will not be exposed to view and he throws out to the east of the pit the earth dug out. The pit is so dug that it is partly within the vedi (prepared for paśubandha) and partly outside¹¹ (i. e. it is on the border). The yūpa is laid down in front of the pit, with its top to the east, is washed with water and sprinkled over with water in which barley grains have been mixed, a separate mantra ( pṛthivyai tvā &c. as in Vāj. S. V. 26 ) being recited when sprinkling the bottom, middle and top of the yūpa. He places a handful of kuśas and the first chip ( that was cut off with the axe from the tree) on the yūpa which are both subsequently thrown into the hole, the ends of the kuśas being towards the north and east; and then places to the north of the top of the yūpa the caṣāla. The rest of the water taken for sprinkling is poured into the hole for the yūpa with ‘Sundhantām lokāḥ pitṛṣadanāḥ’ (Vāj. S. VI. 1, Tai. S. I. 3. 1. 1 ) in which there is a reference to the world of the pitṛṣ He silently makes an offering of clarified butter in the hole with the sruvā ladle. Then the adhvaryu or yajamāna sits to the south of the yūpa and anoints it with ordinary ājya (over which no saṁskāra has been performed ) by means of a chip from its top to its bottom including all its angles ( but excluding the upara). While the adhvaryu is doing this he issues a direction to the hotṛ priest to repeat a verse for the yūpa that is being anointed¹² and the hotṛ repeats ‘añjanti tvām’ (Rg. III. 8. 1) and stops when he has repeated half of it (Āśv. III. 1. 8). Then the caṣāla is anointed both inside and outside and placed on top of the yūpa with a mantra (Vāj. S. VI. 2, Tai. S. I. 2. 2. 3). Then that angular part of the yūpa which is to face the fire together with the corresponding part of the upara is anointed in a continuous stream and the adhvaryu touches all round and holds with his hand that part of the yūpa over which a girdle would be placed later oṇ At the direction of the adhvaryu the hotṛ priest repeats the verses Rg. III. 8. 2-3, I. 36. 13-14 and III. 8. 5 (half), while the yūpa is being raised up. It is laid in the hole with a mantra ( Vāj. S. VI. 3, Tai. S. I. 3. 6. 1 ‘yā te dhāmāni) in such a way that its top will slant towards the śhavanīya and its corner (which is more prominent than the rest) will face the āhavaniya fire. If there are eleven yūpas in an animal sacrifice, then those prominent corners of all eleven yūpas should face the āhavaniya. He fills from left to right the hole for the yūpa with earth with ‘brahmavanim tvā’ (Vāj. VI. 3, Tai. S. I. 3. 6. 2). The adhvaryu then strokes the earth thrice with the staff of the maitrāvaruņa so as to make the ground round about the yūpa level with the rest of the ground with ‘brahma dṛmha kṣatram dṛmha’ (ibid) and sprinkles it with (ordinary) water all rounḍ Two girdles of darbha are prepared one with two strands and two vyāmas¹³ in length (for the victim) and the other with three strands and three vyāmas in length (for the yūpa). The yajamāna touches the yūpa and the adhvaryu makes him recite ‘observe the exploits of Viṣṇu’ (Ṛg. I. 22. 19, Vāj. S. VI. 4, Tai. S. I. 3. 6. 2) and look at the head-piece with ‘that is the highest step of Viṣṇu’ ( Ṛg. I. 22. 20, Vāj. S. VI. 5 ). Āp. (VII. 11. 3) says that he takes in his hand the girdle for the yūpa with ‘devasya tvā savituḥ’ and rubs up the yūpa with the hand having the girdle therein with Ṛg. I. 22. 19. Then he begins to encircle the yūpa with the middle of the girdle at a spot which is of the same height as the navel of the sacrificer or in the middle of the yūpa. He calls upon the hotṛ to repeat Ṛg. III. 8. 4 (yuvā suvāsāḥ) when the yūpa is being encircled with the girdle. The girdle is passed round the yūpa in three coils from left to right. When he has finished doing it he repeats ‘parivir-asi’ (Vāj. S. VI. 6, Tai. S. I. 3. 6. 2). The two ends of the girdle are intertwined into one another and he inserts the tip of the girdle inside the loop at the other enḍ Āp. (VII. 11–10) says that the girdle may be pushed down or higher up from the place indicated above or the ends may be dealt with differently according as the yajamāna desires rain or not or according as female or male progeny is desired for the yajamāna. To the north of the corner of the yūpa facing the āhavaniya he inserts in the middle or last coil of the girdle or in all coils of the girdle the svaru.¹⁴ Jai. (XI. 3. 5–7) concludes that the saṁskāras of prokṣaṇa (sprinkling), anointing (añjana), raising up (ucchrayapa) and surrounding with a girdle (parivyāṇa or parivyayana) are performed on the yūpa only once and are not repeated at each time an animal is sacrificeḍ The girdle is an aṅga of the yūpa and not of the paśu, as otherwise as many girdles will be required for the yūpa as the number of victims to be sacrificed in a yāga (vide Jai. IV. 4. 22-24). The svaru is connected as an aṅga with the victim (for anointing the victim with it) and not with the yūpa (Jai. IV. 4. 25-28). Vide Jai. IV. 2. 1-6 also.

The animal to be sacrificed is bathed with scented water, is led between the cātvāla and utkāra and brought in front of the yūpa to the east with the animal's face to the west. The animal is a he-goat (chāga) which must not have a broken horn and must not be devoid of an ear or eye or tooth or tail, must not be lame nor have only seven hoofs (instead of eight, as each of the feet has two hoofs). If the animal is defective in any one of these ways an expiatory offering of ājya has to be made to Viṣṇu or Agni-Viṣṇu or Sarasvati or Bṛhaspati (Ap. VII. 12. 3). Then follows Paśūpakaraṇa¹⁵ which may be done in two dayṣ He takes a darbha blade other than from those spread on the vedi with 'upāvīr-asi' (Vāj. S. VI. 7) and touches the animal (that stands facing the west) therewith with the verse 'near the gods' (upa devān, Vāj. S. VI. 7). Another way (according to Ap. VII. 12. 5-8) is: he takes two blades of kuśa reciting 'iṣe tvā' (Tai. S. I. 1. 1. 1) and takes a branch of plakṣa tree that has many leaves and twigs, that is not dry at the end and is not hollow and touches the victim with the blades and the branch and repeats the two mantras 'upo devān-daivir-viśaḥ' and 'prajāpater-jāyamānā' (Tai. S. I. 3. 7. 1 and III. 1. 1. 4) and the words 'I assign thee, who are dear to Indra and Agni.'¹⁶ Then he produces fire by churning from the araṇis and offers homa in accordance with the procedure of the Vaiśvadeva-parva (vide above pp. 1093-94). Ap. (VII. 12. 11) says that upakaraṇa may be done after the production of fire. He makes a loop of the girdle which has two strands and which is two vyāmas in length; he twines the loop round the right fore-leg of the animal and then fastens tightly the girdle on the right horn with the mantra ‘ṛtasya tvā’ (Vāj. S. VI. 8, Tai. S. I. 3. 8); and ties the raśanā (girdle) round the yūpa towards its north with ‘devasya tvā’ (Vāj. S. VI. 9 or Tai. S. I. 3. 8. 1). He sprinkles water over it with ‘adbhyas-tvauṣadhībhyo’ (Vāj. S. VI. 9). Then he makes the victim drink water (by holding below its mouth the agnihotra-havaṇī filled with water) for the last time with ‘apām perurasi’ (Vāj S. VI. 10, Tai. S. I. 3. 8. 1). Then he sprinkles water over the upper limbs and lower limbs (such as its heart and belly) and over the whole of its body. Then he performs all the procedure of the darśa-pūrṇamāsa beginning from the direction to the hotṛ to repeat a verse when the fire is being kindled up to the prayājas (i. e. the sāmidhe nis, pravara-varaṇa by the hotṛ, devatāhvāna, āghāras and pravarāvaraṇa by the adhvaryu ).

The paśu is meant either for Indra-Agni or Sūrya or Prajāpati and one has to dedicate the victim throughout one’s life in every paśubandha to that deity which one chooses at the first animal sacrifice (Kāt. VI. 3. 29–30 ). He anoints the victim with ājya from the juhū ladle on its forehead, its shoulders and its hind parts after the last āghāra is offered (as in darśa-pūrṇamāsa) and before dhruvā-samañjana (ladling ājya in the dhruvā ladle with the juhū thrice, once with a mantra and twice silently ). While the animal stands¹⁷ he offers the prayājas, that are eleven in the paśubandha (while in darśapūrṇamāsa they are only five and in cāturmāsyas they are nine). The method of offering these in paśubandha is as follows: the adhvaryu directs the maitrāvaruṇa to request the hotṛ to repeat the yājyā verses from the Apri hymns of the prayāja offerings in successioṇ The praiṣas (directions to the hotṛ) that the maitrāvaruṇa utters are rather lengthy and hence the text of only one is given below.¹⁸ There are ten Apri hymns in the Ṛgveda ascribed to ten different sageṣ They are: I. 13 (of Medhātithi Kāṇva), I. 142 (of Dīrghatamas Auchathya, an Aṅgirasa), I. 188 (of Agastya), II. 3 (of Gṛtsamada, a Śaunaka), III. 4 (of Viśvāmitra), V. 4 (of Atri), VII. 2 (of Vasiṣṭha), IX. 5 (of Kāśyapa), X. 70 (of Vadhryaśva), X. 110 (of Jamadagni). Out of these in Ṛg. I. 13 and I. 142 there are verses for both Tanūnapāt (2nd prayāja deity) and Narāśaṁsa; while Ṛg. I. 188, III. 4, IX. 5 and X. 110 have only Tanūnapāt (and no Narāśaṁsa) and the rest have only Narāśaṁsa (and no Tanūnapāt). According to Āśv. III. 2. 5-7, persons of Śunaka and Vasiṣṭha gotras should repeat their own Āpri hymn (viz. II. 3 and VII. 2 respectively ), persons of gotras other than these two should employ the Āpri hymn beginning with ‘Samiddho adya’ (according to the coṃ Ṛg. X. 110 and not I. 188) or persons of any one of the ten gotras may employ an Āpri hymn¹⁹ ascribed to the founder of his gotra if he is from among these ten sageṣ The words of Āśv. I. 5. 21–22 create some difficulty. Āśv. there prescribes that when uttering the yājyā at the time of offering the 2nd prayāja, the formula should contain an address to Tanūnapāt for all except for persons of Vasiṣṭha, Śunaka, Atri, Vādhryaśva and Rājanya gotraṣ These latter should utter a formula addressed to Narāśaṁsa. Here if ‘rājanya’ refers to Viśvāmitra, then the difficulty is that in the Āprī hymn (III. 4) ascribed to him, the 2nd deity is Tanūnapāt and not Narāśaṁsa; but it is possible that the word ‘rājanya’ stands for a kṣatriya sacrificer in general and does not refer to Viśvāmitra gotra at all. After ten prayājas are offered, the adhvaryu says to the slaughterer of the victim ‘bring your two-edged knife.’ The adhvaryu takes the svaru (chip of wood) and anoints the svaru and one edge of the knife with the clari- fied butter from the bill-like (or spout-like ) part of the juhū ladle (according to Āp. VII. 14. 10 the svaru is anointed thrice) and holding the svaru below the knife touches with both the head of the victim (forehead, according to Kāt. VI.5.12 ) with a mantra (Vāj. S. VI. 11, Tai. S. I. 3. 8. 1). After placing back the svaru whence it was taken the adhvaryu gives the knife back to the slaughterer (śamitṛ) with the words ‘let this edge be marked by you’ (Śat. Br. III. 8. 1. 5). The animal when killed is cut up by the slaughterer with the un-anointed edge and the flesh when roasted is cut up with the edge that is anointeḍ The adhvaryu directs the maitrāvaruṇa to recite a mantra for indicating that fire (a fire-brand) is being carried round the victim and the maitrāvaruṇa recites ‘agnirhotā no’ (Rg. IV. 15. 1 ) or the verses Rg. IV. 15. 1–3 (according to Āśv. III. 2. 9). To the north of the cātvāla pit, he digs up a spot for establishing the Śāmitra fire.²¹ The Agnīdhra, lighting a fire-brand at the śāvanīya, carries it thrice round the victim, the yūpa, the āhavanīya fire, the place where the śāmitra fire is to be kindled, the cātvāla pit and the clarified ²² butter, from left to right with the mantra ‘pari vājapatiḥ kaviḥ’ (Rg. IV. 15. 3, Tai. S. IV. 1. 2. 5). In modern times the priest perambulates all these together and not separately. The Agnīdhra throws the firebrand on to the āhavanīya fire and again goes round the above objects thrice from right to left. According to Āp. VII. 15. 4–6, the adhvaryu makes one, two, three or four offer-ings of ājya, with mantras called apāvya, when fire is carried round the victim, when it is set free from the yūpa and led on (Tai. S. III. 1. 1–2). The Agnīdhra, again taking up the same fire-brand, starts to go with his face to the north and the victim is led after the Agnīdhra by the śāmitṛ (who takes away the cord of girdle from the victim's head and ties it round its neck). The pratiprasthātṛ (an assistant of adhvaryu ) touches the animal ( that is being led northward ) from behind with two utensils ( spits ) made of kārśmarya wood ( used for roasting vapā, omentum), the adhvaryu touches the pratipra-sthātṛ and the sacrificer touches the adhvaryu.²³ A pit is got dug ( by a servant ) for covering in it the undigested food and the fæces of the victim when killeḍ They (the priests and yajamāna) should not pass beyond the place for the śāmitra fire. The adhvaryu takes two kuśa blades from those with which the vedi is strewn and says to Agnīdhra ‘O3śrā3vaya’ and the latter replies 'astu śrauṣaṭ' and then the adhvaryu issues an upapraiṣa (a supplementary direction) to the mai- trāvaruṇa to prompt (the hotṛ) to recite for the offerings to Godṣ²⁴ The hotṛ then recites the famous (but long) adhrigu- praiṣa,²⁵ which is an invocation to divine and human slaugh- ter. This occurs in Tai. Br. III. 6. 6 and Ait. Br. VI. 6-7, where some expressions are also explaineḍ Aśv. (III. 2. 11-30) explains how changes (ūha) are to be effected in this formula in relation to the limbs concerned, the deities and the number of victimṣ Aśv. (III. 3. 2 and 4) provides that the words 'ऋग्रेमो ... अपाप' are repeated thrice. This whole formula is called adhrigu and adhrigu was also supposed to be a deity presiding over the slaughtering of a victim in sacrifice. Vide coṃ on Aśv. III. 2. 11. There were as remarked by Sāyaṇa. Sr. nine pauses to take breath at the end of each of the first nine sentenceṣ The Nirukta (V. 11) explains 'adhrigu' as meaning a mantra and also states that the word is applied to Agni in Rg. III. 21. 4 and to Indra in Rg. I. 61. 1. The Nirukta quotes the words 'अग्निगो शमधि' .... 'अग्निगे.' Jaimini considers questions arising from some of the words used in this formula; in IX. 3. 27-28 (when there are many victims in a sacrifice, the singular 'oakṣur' is still to be used), IX. 3. 29-31 (the word 'ekadhu' is explained), IX. 3. 32-40 (some sākhās read 'medhapataye' and some 'medhapatibhyam' and the word means 'devatī'), IX. 4. 1-16 (about '26 ribs' when there are two or more victims), IX. 4. 22 ('urūkā' means 'vapā'), IX. 4. 23-24 ('praśāst' means 'pra- śāstau'), IX. 4. 25-27 (the words śyena, śālā, kaśyapa, kavaṣa and śrekaparṇa only mean that the limbs are to be taken out entire and when so taken out they resemble the hawk and other objects mentioneḍ Jai. (IX. 1. 45-49) says that in the Atiratra sacrifice of the ewe to Sarasvatī the adhrigupraişa does not occur. Different views were enter- tained as to who the samitṛ was, the usual opinion being that he was a ( Continued on next page ) terers calling upon them to bring the animal to the holy doors of the sacrificial place, wishing that the parents, relatives and friends of the victim will consent to its death and expres-sing the hope that its several organs and limbs, such as the eyes and ears, will be merged in divinities like the sun and of. On reciting this solemn formula the hotṛ, while still occupying his seat, turns to the right (i. e. he comes to face the west) and has the sacrificial place behind his back and the maitrāvaruņa does the same. The adhvaryu throws one of the two blades taken up by him to the west of the śāmitra fire, the victim is held over that blade with its head to the west (or to the east, according to Kāt. VI. 5. 17) and feet to the north. Then its mouth is firmly held so as to stop its breathing and choke it to death or it is strangled to death without allowing it to give out a cry, by using a halter round its throat. The adhvaryu says ‘kill it without ²⁷ allowing it to utter a cry’ and then he along with the pratiprasthātṛ, āgnīdhra and the sacrificer come back to the āhavanīya which they face, turn from left to right and remain with their backs to the animal that is being killed (i. e. they do not see the actual slaying of the animal). According to Āp. VII. 16. 7 the sacrificer repeats at this time several verses such as Tai. S. III. 3. 1. 2, Tai. Br. III.7.7, the purport of which is that the victim may go to heaven, the sacrificer himself also may go to heaven after securing welfare in this worlḍ When the śāmitṛ declares that the victim is killed the adhvaryu says ‘let it lie down for a moment.’ If the paśu bleats while being strangled the adhvaryu then offers ājya in fire (as an expiation). The sacrificer and adhvaryu with vapāśrapanis (spits) approach the dead victim with the words ‘O slaughterers, may you approach’ (Tai. S. III. 1. 4. 3). He then removes the cord (by which the victim was tied) with ‘may Aditi remove this cord’ (Tai. S. III. 1, 4. 2). He winds round the raśanā (girdle of the victim) into a loop, keeps it on the arteries of the victim leading to the ears, attaches it to a peg and throws it into the cātvāla pit (Āp. VII. 17. 4-6). According to Kāt. VI. 5. 26 he throws the tying cord into the cātvāla by means of the two vapāśrapaniṣ Then the adhvaryu directs the pratiprasthātṛ to lead forward the sacrificer’s wife from her seat to the vedi. When leading her who has a jar of water in her hands for washing the feet and other limbs of the paśu, the priest²⁸ makes her recite a verse in honour of the sun ‘namaste ātāna’ (Vāj. S. VI. 12, Tai. S. I. 3. 8. 2). Āp. adds that the wife, priests and the sacrificer touch water on the cātvāla pit (VII. 18. 4) with a mantra (Tai. S. I. 3. 8. 2 ‘āpo devīḥ’). The wife sitting down near the dead paśu washes with water the several parts of the victim’s body viz. its mouth, nose, eyes, navel, penis, anus, feet (all together) with appropriate formulae in each case (viz. ‘vācam te śundhāmi’ &c. Vāj. S. VI. 14). With the water remaining in the jar the adhvaryu and sacrificer sprinkle the other parts, such as the head, with Vāj. VI. 15 (Tai. S. I. 3. 9. 1). The adhvaryu turns the animal on its back and places on the victim’s body a blade of kuśa with its end to the east about four fingers²⁹ below the navel of the animal with ‘oşadhe trāyāsva’ (Vāj. S. VI. 15 ), places the marked edge of the knife on that blade, makes a slit on the kuśa blade and the belly obliquely, takes in his left hand the portion of the blade cut off and anoints the ends of the other portion of the blade with blood (that spirts out from the slit) with ‘thou art the portion of evil spirits’ (Vāj. VI. 16 ), touches water and throws that blood-stained blade on the utkara.³⁰ The sacrificer treads³¹ upon the blood-stained blade with the left foot (and then touches water with his hand). The adhvaryu then pulls out from the belly of the victim the omentum, envelopes the two spits³² (vapāśrapaṇīs) with it, pierces the thin end of the vapā with one spit, severs it from the belly on all sides and sprinkles it with water holding the spits over the cātvāla pit. Then the pratiprasthātṛ heats the omentum on the śāmitra fire. The adhvaryu, pratiprasthātṛ and āgnīdhra come from the cātvāla to the āhavanīya. The āgnīdhra throws the śāmitra fire (viz. the firebrand and not the fire produced by attrition) into the āhavanīya and the adhvaryu also throws into it the portion of the blade held in his left hand (as stated at p. 1123 above). Āp. (VII. 19. 3) adds that the śāmitṛ holds tightly by the closed fingers of his hands the two portions of the skin of the victim's belly till the omentum is offered into fire. The pratiprasthātṛ, standing to the north of the āhavanīya fire, heats the omentum on that fire, then carries it by the space between the yūpa and āhavanīya, goes round to the south side, and roasts the omentum on the āhavanīya. The adhvaryu takes clarified butter in the sruvā ladle and pours ājya on the omentum that is being held for roasting on the āhavanīya by the pratiprasthātṛ with a mantra. When drops (stokas) of fat begin to drip from the omentum, the adhvaryu directs the maitrāvaruṇa to recite for the dropṣ The maitrāvaruṇa recites Ṛg. I. 75. 1 and Ṛg. III. 21. 1-5.³³ When the omentum is well roasted, the pratiprasthātṛ says to the adhvaryu ‘it is roasted, proceeḍ’ The omentum is placed on the south corner of the western side (śroṇī) of the vedi on a branch of plakṣa tree stretched on the barhis (kuśa grass on the vedi). Then the hotṛ recites the mantra for srugādāpana (making the adhvaryu take up the juhū and upabhṛt ladles) and the adhvaryu issues a direction³⁴ to the maitrāvaruṇa. priest to ask the hotṛ to recite the last Āpri verse as the yājyā for the 11th prayāja (which had remained to be recited). Having offered ājya (the 11th prayāja) into fire and having offered the two ājyabhāgas (according to Jai. X. 8. 5 and some others the ājyabhāgas are not offered in independent animal sacrifices nor in the animal sacrifice in soma-yāga, Āp. VII. 20. 8) he puts ājya in the juhū ladle, places a piece of gold thereon, then the whole omentum on that piece (taking it from the spits), places another golden piece on the omentum, on which he pours ājya.³⁵ The adhvaryu then offers into the āhavaniya the omentum so treated to Indra and Agni (or Sūrya or Prajāpati as stated above on p. 1117). The anuvākyā and yājyā of the vapā are respectively Rg. I. 93. 1 and 5. According to Āśv. III. 4. 4. the pradānas (yāgas) in all paśu- bandhas are three, viz. vapā, purodāśa and haviṣ After offering vapā, the adhvaryu throws, while standing to the north, into the āhavaniya the vapāśrapaṇī spits, the one with two forks having the forks in the east and the other having its point turned to the west (according to Āp. VII. 21. 3 it is the prasthā pratīṣṭhā who does this). The adhvaryu offers on the spits the samśrava (the drippings). Āp. (VII. 21. 5) and some other sūtras prescribe that the fee of one bull and three milch cows or three other cows is given to the priests at this stage. The priests (six), the sacrificer and his wife go out to the cātvāla and there purify themselves by mārjana (purifying with drops of water) with ‘idamāpaḥ pravahata,’ ³⁶ Vāj. S. VI. 17 and Rg. X. 9. 8 (while Āp. VII. 21. 6 prescribes five, viz. the three ‘āpo hi ṣṭhā’ Rg. X. 9. 1-3, ‘idamāpaḥ’ Rg. I. 23. 22, ‘nirmā muñcāmi’ Rg. X. 97.16 = Vāj. S. XII. 90). When doing this the maitrāvaruṇa lays down his staff (Āśv. III. 5. 1).

Now preparations are to be made for the paśu-purodāśa³⁷ and the necessary utensils are placed to the east of the āhava- niya (the former āhavaniya i.e. the gārhapatya in this sacrifice) on kuśa grass by the āgnīdhra. The devatā of the purodāśa is the same as the devatā of the victim i. e. Indra and Agni (vide p. 1117 above). Jai. ( XII. 1. 1-6 ) prescribes that the proce- dure (viz. prayājas) performed at the time of offering vapā is not to be repeated when the paśupurodāśa is offereḍ The adhvaryu separates the various organs (such as the heart, the tongue) from the corpse without cutting into parts each organ (according to the coṃ on Āp. VII. 22. 5 and 7 it is the samitṛ who cuts up the several limbs ). There is some divergence as to the limbs of the victim that are cut off and are used as avadānas and since animal sacrifices became rare or were altogether stopped in medieval times, the commentators do not explain all the words used in the ancient texts in the same way (vide Āp. VII. 22. 6, Kāt. VI. 7. 6–12 and Bauḍ IV. 8). Accord- ing to Āp. VII. 22. 6, ^{815 816} the limbs cut off are : the heart, the tongue, chest, the liver, the kidneys ( vṛkyau, vṛkkau in Kāt. ), left forefoot, the two flanks (pārśve), the right haunch, a third part (i. e. the middle one) of the entrails—these are meant for the devatās and are to be offered with the juhū ladle ; the right fore-foot, the left haunch, the thinnest third of the entrails—these are for sviṣṭakṛt ; the kloman (the right lung ? ) ⁸¹⁷, plihan ( the spleen ), puritat ( pericardium ? ), adhyūdhnī ( a tubular vessel above the udder ), vaniṣṭhu (large entrails ?), medas (fat), jāghanī ⁸¹⁸ (the tail). Kāt. VI. 7. 11 adds that kloman and the next three may be cut off or not. The medas (fat on the abdomen) is, according to Kāṭ., thrown on the guda (entrails) if the victim be thiṇ The tail is to be employed as an offering in the Patnīsaṁyāja, according to Kāṭ. and the largest part of the intestines (3rd of the whole) was to be employed as offering in upayaj homa. The undigested grass (inside the belly of the victim) is put in a pit dug up to the west of the śāmitra fire and to the north of the utkara and on it the blood of the victim is poured with the words 'thou art the portion of evil spirits' (Vāj. S. VI. 16). The victim's heart is held pierced on a pike (śūla) made of varaṇa wood one aratni long and is roasted on the śāmitra fire and all other parts of the victim except the heart are cooked in an ukhā (pot for boiling or cooking). According to Goṃ on Āp. VII. 22. 9 this cooking is done by the śāmitṛ. Jai. XII. 1. 12 prescribes that the cooking is done on the śālāmukhiya fire and not on śāmitra fire. The adhvaryu performs the operation of sprinkling butter on the juhū and upabhṛt, cuts two portions from the middle and front parts of the cooked material into the juhū, pours butter over it and offers it into fire for Indra and Agni, then cuts one portion (for Sviṣṭakṛt) into the upabhṛt, makes two pourings of butter over it and makes an offering to Agni Sviṣṭakṛt.⁴¹ Jai. (XII. 1. 10-11) concludes that the offering of the paśupuroḍāśa is made with the ladles used in darśapūrṇamāsa and not with the soma vessels (viz. the cups and camasas). Then a portion is cut off out of the remainder of the material from which puroḍāśa was offered and placed in a vessel called prāśitraharaṇa (which portion of the sacrificial food is eaten by the brahmā priest) and some portion is cut off as the iḍā, which is invoked with mantras and eaten by all the priestṣ He then thrice asks the śāmitṛ whether the havis (the heart roasted on a pike) is ready cooked and the latter simply replies 'it is cooked'. Kāṭ. VI. 8. 1 prescribes that the śāmitṛ should in his reply utter only the word 'ṛtam' and should not add any word like 'revered sir' (bhagavaḥ) or 'hi'. The śāmitṛ then takes off the heart from the pike ( śūla ) on which it was roas- ted, and keeps it in a pot ( kumbhī ) and pours over it praśājya ( clarified butter in which sour milk is mixed ) with ‘san te’ ( Vāj. S. VI. 18, Tai. S. I. 3. 10. 1 ) and ājya over the other portions of the paśu. The śāmitṛ gives the hṛdaya-śūla ( the pike on which the heart was roasted ) to the adhvaryu who does not keep it on the bare ground nor throw it in water, nor does he touch it with himself or others ( but holds it tied by a cord ). He takes these ( viz. the roasted heart and the cooked organs ) between the yūpa and the āhavaniya fire and places them on the southern part of the altar ( viz. its southern corner of the western side ) over which kuśa grass is already spreaḍ Then ājya is sprinkled over four utensils viz. juhū, upabhṛt, vasā- homahavanī ( a sruc ladle with which the offering of vasā i. e. of the gravy is to be made ) and the vessel in which iḍā is to be cut. Then a golden piece is placed in the juhū and the upabhṛt, which are then kept on twigs of plakṣa tree and then in the juhū and upabhṛt are cut by the pratiprasthātṛ ( with the anointed edge of the knife ) portions of the heart, then of the tongue and then of the chest ( this order is stated in the Tai. S. VI. 3. 10 ) and then of the other limbs in any order ( the whole of the entrails being at this stage cut in three parts ). Two portions of the size of the fore-part of the thumb are cut both in the juhū ( of the daivata limbs ) and upabhṛt ( of the limbs meant for Sviṣṭakṛt ). While this is being done the adhvaryu directs the maitrāvaruṇa to repeat texts for the havis that is to be offered to Manotā and the maitrāvaruṇa repeats the whole hymn Ṛg. VI. 1 ( in the first of which only the word Manotā occurs as an epithet of Agni, probably meaning ‘thinker’ ). He takes the gravy in the vasāhomahavanī⁴² with ‘red-asi’ ( Vāj. S. VI. 18 ), pours ājya over it twice and mixes the two together with the knife. The rest of the vasā he pours in the iḍāpātra to which are added the chest and other boneless partṣ²⁵¹ When the yājyā for Indra-Agni is half repeated, a part of the vasā is offered by the pratiprasthātṛ sitting to the north into fire with ‘ghṛtam ghṛtapāvanaḥ’ ( Vāj. S. VI. 19, Tai. S. I. 3. 10. 2 ) and with the remainder of the vasā he makes offerings in each direction with ‘diśaḥ pradiśaḥ’ ( Vāj. S. VI. 19, Tai. S. I. 3. 10. 2 ). No vasā is kept for being partaken of by the priests ( coṃ on Kāt. VI. 8. 22 ). Then the adhvaryu takes in the juhū a part of pṛṣadājya ( mottled butter ) from the pot of pṛṣadājya and offers to Vanaspati and after taking the contents of the upa- bhṛt into the juhū makes the offering to Sviṣṭakṛt ( Āp. VII. 25. 14 and Kāt. VI. 8. 18–22 state that the order of these last offerings may be different ). Then he touches the remaining organs and limbs of the paśu and keeps the juhū and upabhṛt in their placeṣ Then the iḍā ( to be eaten by the priests ) is brought between the yūpa and the āhavaniya fire. After the iḍā is invoked the six priests and the sacrificer partake of it, but there are special portions assigned to each viz. the vaniṣṭhu is given to the āgnīdhra, the adhyūdhni to the hotṛ and the chest to brahmā. Then they all purify themselves by mārjana. The adhvaryu then directs the āgnīdhra ‘bring burning coals for upayaj offerings’, directs the pratiprasthātṛ ( called upayaṣṭṛ ²⁵⁸ here ) to attend to the coals; to the brahmā

2521. The whole animal is the sacrificial material ( just as rice- grains are the material from which caru is prepared for offering ) and havis is constituted by the heart and other organs of the animal. Vide coṃ on Kāt. VI. 8. 6 and Jai. X. 7. 1–2. The several organs and parts are taken out of the ukhā and spread over a large bamboo vessel ( vamśa-patrī ), the last part being placed in the north. The adhvaryu performs on each of the eleven limbs ( called jauhava ) praṇadāna ( vivification ) while no praṇadāna is done for the portions to be offered to Sviṣṭakṛt. According to Āp. VII. 24. 5 only one portion is out from the limbs meant for Sviṣṭakṛt. Several rules are laid down in Āp. VII. 24. 6–12 about the cutting of some partṣ Out of the three parts of the entrails, one of medium thickness is cut in two and placed among the daivata portions, the thinnest part being for sviṣṭakṛt; the medas is out in three parts, two being put in the two sruos and the third in the iḍāpatra. The medas is mixed in the broth of the victim's limbṣ The iḍā is made from the first six out of the limbs ( heart &c. ) and the vaniṣṭhu is the 7th. The iḍā is increased by the addition of the limbs that have no bones viz. kloman, spleen and purītat.

2522. According to coṃ on Āp. VII. 26. 8 the hotṛ is the upayaṣṭṛ. According to Jai XII. 4. 8 this offering of the entrails is a saṁskāra ( pratipattikarma ) and when many victims are sacrificed in one rite, the entrails of all animals are offered as upayāja offeringṣ priest he says 'shall I start' and also directs the agnīdhra to place a samidh on the fire. The agnīdhra brings red-hot coals from the śāmitra fire, and puts them down on the northern corner of the west side of the altar after removing the kuśas strewn thereon (in soma the coals may be optionally brought from the agnīdhriya fire-place and placed on hotr dhisnya). The third and thickest part of the entrails (that has been kept aside) is cut obliquely into eleven parts, which are offered into the red-hot coals placed as above by the pratiprasthātr with his right hand, each with a mantra (for eleven mantras vide Vāj. S. VI. 21, Tai. S. I. 3. 11. 1), when the ory vauṣaṭ is uttered for each of the eleven anuyājas²⁵²³ that are offered with prsadājya here (Āp. VII. 26. 12). These eleven offerings of the entrails are called upayājas (additional offerings), vide Jai. XII. 4. 8. At the end of the 11th offering, the pratiprasthātr touches his mouth and the portion sticking to his hand is wiped on the barhis with the words ‘adbhyastvausadhibhyah’ (Tai. S. I. 3. 11). At the end of the anuyājas, the svaru is placed in the juhū ladle and offered into fire with 'may thy smoke reach the sky, may thy flame reach heaven, fill the earth with thy ashes svāhā!' (Vāj. S. VI. 21, Āp. VII. 27. 4). Āp. (VII. 27. 6-7) and others say the direction (praiṣa) for repeating the sūktavāka is uttered by the maitrāvaruṇa²⁵²⁴ (and not by the adhvaryu). The hotr repeats it and the maitrāvaruṇa throws his staff into the āhavanīya fire (Āśv. III. 6. 21) and Āp. (VII. 27. 8) says that the three paridhis also are thrown into fire by means of the srucs except the dhruvā. The patnīsaṃyāja is performed with the tail of the animal, which is taken to the south of the sacrificial grounḍ There was a difference of opinion whether portions of the tail were offered to all the four deities of patnī- saṃyāja²⁵²⁵ or to some only (vide Kāṭ. VI. 9. 14-20). Accor- ding to Āp. (VII. 27. 10) and Kāṭ. (VI. 9. 15-19) only ājya offerings are made to Soma and Tvaṣṭr, the inside part of the tail (on which no hair grow) is cut up for the wives of the gods and the hairy part is cut up for Agni Gṛhapati. Whether The sacrificer is caturavattin or pañcāvattin, all four or five portions are cut off from the tail and there is no under layer (upastaraṇa) and upper layer (abhigħāraṇa) of ājya in this case. According to Kāt. VI. 9. 20 portions of the tail are offered to all devatās of patnīsaṃyāja. Vide Jai. XII. 4. 10-16 and III. 3. 20-23 on thiṣ Iḍā is cut from the hairless portion of the tail for hotṛ and from the hairy portion for the agnīdhra and the rest of the tail is handed over to the sacrificer's wife who passes it on to the adhvaryu or some brāhmaṇa. The śamitṛ had so far partaken of nothing, but he is now given the shoulder of the victim, but if he be not a brāhmaṇa he gives it to a brāhmaṇa. They offer three samiṣṭayajus, ⁴⁷ throw the barhis into fire, approach a pond (or reservoir of water) taking with them the spit (śūla) on which the heart was roasteḍ Āp. VII. 27. 15 says that they carry⁴⁸ the śūla in such a way as not to touch it. The adhvaryu enters in the midst of the water and conceals the spit into the bottom underneath with its tip downwards with the mantra 'thou art sorrow; give him sorrow who hateth us and whom we hate' (Tai. S. I. 3. 11. 1-2 and also with Vāj. S. VI. 22 according to Kāt. VI. 10. 3), at the same time thinking of his enemy (without taking his name). If he does not enter water, then he may pour some water to the east of the yūpa and should conceal the spit at the place where the dry space and wet space meet. Āśv. (III. 6. 25-26) prescribes that all the priests, the sacrificer and the wife do not touch the śūla after it is thrust into the earth, do not look at it, and return, each taking one after another three fuel-sticks with a mantra for each and put them on fire with a mantra for each stick one after another, after doing homage to the āhavanīya with Rg. I. 23. 23. Then they all perform mārjana near the concealed śūla or the cātvāla with 'sumitri-yā na āpa oṣadhayah' (Tai. S. I. 4. 45. 2) or according to Kāt. VI. 10. 5 they touch water with 'dhāmno ...... sumitri-yā na āpah' (Vāj. S. VI. 22). Then they pray Varuṇa to free them from sin in the words 'dhāmno dhāmno rājan' (Tai. S. I. 3. 11. 2), and 'ud-uttamam' (Tai. S. I. 5. 11. 3). They lay samidhs on the āhavanīya as in Varuṇapraghāsa. The animal sacrifice ends with the samiṣṭhājapa as in darśapūrṇamāsa.

Kāmyāh Paśavaḥ:—Just as several kāmyā iṣṭis were prescribed for securing various desired objects so various animal sacrifices are found in the texts prescribed for the attainment of such objects as prosperity, villages, eloquence &c. Tai. S. (II. 1. 1-10) refers to several such sacrificeṣ For example, Tai. S. II. 1. 1 says 'one who is desirous of prosperity should offer a white paśu to Vāyu; one who is desirous of a village should sacrifice an animal to Vāyu Niyutvat; one who having command over speech or words is not able to speak eloquently should offer an ewe to Sarasvatī' (II. 1. 2. 6). The Tai. Br. (II. 8. 1-9) contains the anuvākyās and yājyās of the vapā, purodāśa and havis offerings of many animal sacrificeṣ Ap. (XIX. 16-17) deals with kāmya animal sacrificeṣ Aśv. III. 7 gives the anuvākyās and yājyās of a group sacrifice (Aikā- daśina) of eleven animals ⁴⁹ to Agni, Sarasvatī, Soma, Pūṣan, Bṛhaspati, Viśve Devas, Indra, Maruts, Indra-Agni, Savitṛ, and Varuṇa; while Aśv. III. 8. 1 sets out the anuvākyās and yājyās of eighteen animal sacrifices in additioṇ

These follow the procedure of the nirūḍhapaśubandha sacrifice and are all passed over here.