Chapter XXXIII. Agnishtoma

Volume II: Part II pp. 1133–1203

Chapter XXXIII. Agnishtoma

AGNIṢṬOMA¹

Sacrifices are often divided for convenience into iṣṭi, paśu and soma. According to Gaut. VIII. 21 and Lāt. Śr. V. 4. 24 there are seven forms of soma sacrifices, viz. Agniṣṭoma, Atyagniṣṭoma, Ukthya, Ṣoḍaśin, Vājapeya, Atirātra and Aptor-yāma. The Agniṣṭoma is the model (prakṛti) of all soma sacrificeṣ The Agniṣṭoma is a one day (aikāhika or ekāha) sacrifice and it is an integral part of the Jyotiṣṭoma so much so that the two are often identifieḍ Soma sacrifices are classi-fied into those that are finished in one day (and so called ekāha), those that are celebrated for more than one day up to twelve (and so called ahīna), those that extend over more than twelve days (and are called Sattra). The dvādaśāha is both a sattra and an ahina.² The Jyotiṣṭoma occupies generally five days and the chief rites performed on these days are: (1) choosing of priests, madhuparka, dīkṣaṇīyeṣṭi, consecration of the sacrificer (dīkṣā); (2nd day) Prāyaṇīyā iṣṭi (i. e. opening iṣṭi), purchase of soma, ātitheyeṣṭi (iṣṭi offering hospitality to soma), Pravargya and Upasad (homage twice a day in the morning and evening); (3rd day) Pravargya and Upasad twice again; (4th day) Pravargya and Upasad, Agniṣomapraṇayana, Agniṣomapraṇayana, havirdhāna-praṇayana, animal sacrifice; (5th day called sutya or savanīya) pressing of soma, offering it and drinking it in the morning, mid-day and evening, the udayanīyā (concluding iṣṭi), avabhṛtha (final purificatory bath). In the following pages only a skeleton outline of Agniṣṭoma is presented, derived from the principal Śrauta sūtraṣ Jai. in VI. 2. 31 declares that the performance of Jyotiṣṭoma is obligatory on all members of the three higher varṇas, just as upanayana is, since the word brāhmaṇa in Tai. S. VI. 3. 10. 5 (a brāhmaṇa when born comes charged with three debts) is only illustrative. Agniṣṭoma is so called because in it Agni is praised or because the last chant (stotra) is addressed to Agni.⁴ It is to be performed in vasanta (spring) every year and on the New Moon or Full Moon day (Āp. X. 2, 2, 5 and 8, Kāt. VII. 1. 4 and Sat. VII. 1 p. 562). The general view ex-pressed in Jai. IV. 3. 37 was that one should perform a soma sacrifice after having performed darśapūrṇamāsa, cāturmāsyas and paśu sacrifice, but some held that it could be performed even before darśa-pūrṇamāsa, but after agnyādhāna (Āśv. IV. 1-2 and Sat. VII. 1. p. 556). Jai. (V. 4. 5-9) also states this as the view of some. Jaimini, however, declares that all modifications of the Agniṣṭoma must be performed after one has begun to perform darśapūrṇamāsa (V. 4. 26). The intending sacrificer sends a person called somapravāka (inviter to officiate at a soma sacrifice) to invite brāhmaṇas who are thorough masters of the Veda, neither too young nor too old, with clear and loud voices and not deficient in any limb (Tāṇḍya Br. I. 1. 1, Drāhyāyaṇa Śr. I. 1. 10, Āp. X. 1. 1). He invites the principal four or all the 16 (or 17, including ‘sadasya’) priests (ṛtvij ), who make inquiries whether some other person has refused the office and whether the fee will be excellent. Those portions of the choosing mantras are uttered inaudibly wherein the priests are invoked as if they were divinities and the portion asau mānuṣaḥ or tvam mānuṣaḥ is uttered loudly.⁵ When the priests come madhuparka is offered to theṃ The sacrificer goes to the king (of the country) to ask for a sacrifi-cial ground (devayajana), even if he has one already, with the formula ‘god Varuna, give me devayajana’.⁶ This is a mere form, but even the king has to make a similar request (in his case) to the hotṛ and other priestṣ The requirements of a proper devayajana have already been given above (p. 988n). In the western portion of the devayajana from which all roots are uprooted, a pavilion ⁷ (vimita, a four-cornered maṇḍapa) is erected, the central ridge and the covering bamboos of which run from west to east, which has doors (two cubits wide) in all directions and which slightly inclines towards the east, or a rectangular house (śālā) may be built, twenty aratnis long and ten aratnis wide (Kāt. VII. 1. 19-25, Āp. X. 5. 1-5, Bauḍ VI. 1). A shed for cooking the vrata food is erected to the south of the pavilion and another to the west for the patnī (wife of the sacrificer). The sacrificer while in his house implants his gārhapatya and āhavanīya fires on the araṇis with a mantra ‘ ayam te yoniḥ ’ (Vāj. S. III. 14., Tai. S. I. 5. 2), comes to the devayajana, enters (along with the priests and his wife) the maṇḍapa by the eastern door with the araṇis in his hand, and touches the central post of the pavilioṇ The things that are required (sambhārāḥ) ⁸ are also brought to the pavilioṇ In the pavilion a vedi is prepared and fires are established after being produced by attritioṇ Offerings of ājya with the sambharayajus formulas (Tai. Ā. III. 8), with the sapta-hotṛ formulas (Tai. Ā. III. 5) are made and also a yūpāhuti is offereḍ Outside the pavilion to its north the sacrificer gets the hair on the head, arm-pits and on the face cut by a barber in a tent covered with mats, pares the nails of his hands first (of the right hand first from the small finger) and then of the feet. Jāl. (III. 8. 3-11) establishes that it is the sacrificer (and not the adhvaryu) who pares his nails, cuts his hair, brushes his teeth, subsists on milk. Sat. VII. 1. p. 587 states that the nails of the left hand are pared first and then of the right hanḍ He brushes his teeth with an udumbara twig, then he bathes in a reservoir of water or in a kuṇḍa after putting a golden piece in it with mantras, performs ācamana and drinks water as a consecratioṇ All these from paring nails ( called apsu-dīkṣā )⁸ except the cutting of hair are also undergone by the wife at the instance of the pratiprasthātṛ priest (but without mantras). The adhvaryu hands over a fine silken fresh garment to the sacri- ficer which the latter wearṣ In the afternoon in the prāgvaṁśa he partakes of food (rice)¹⁰ mixed with ghee and sprinkled over with curds and honey or whatever is' liked by hiṃ The wife also does the same. He takes up butter ( navanīta ) with two bunches of darbha grass and smears himself thrice with them beginning from the face. He applies collyrium with a darbha blade twice to the right eye and once to the left or thrice to both. The adhvaryu performs the purification ( pavana ) of the sacrificer outside the prāgvaṁśa to its north by three bunches of seven darbhas each rubbed twice over his body above the navel and once below the navel with mantras and the sacrificer also mutters mantraṣ The wife also does all this (smearing the body with butter, applying añjana and purifica- tion) without mantras at the instance of the pratiprasthātṛ. The sacrificer enters the pavilion by the eastern door and the wife by the western and occupy their respective seatṣ Then follows dīkṣaṇīyā iṣṭi¹¹ which is so called because it effects a saṁskāra in the man intending to sacrifice and because after it is performed he is entitled to be called ‘dīkṣita’. The conclu- sion in Jai. V. 3. 29-31 is that a man becomes a dīkṣita at the end of the dīkṣaṇīyā iṣṭi and has thenceforward to observe the rules laid down for a dīkṣita and that one does not become a dīkṣita by being given the staff or the girdle &c. At first six āhutis called dīkṣāhutis are offered, four with ājya taken from the dhruvā into the sruvā, 5th with the sruc and the sixth is called pūrṇāhuti and is offered with sruc (in which twelve ladl- ings with sruvā have been made). These six āhutis are called ' audgrabhaṇa ' ( Āp. X. 8. 7 and coṃ on Sat. VII. 1. p. 591 ) or ' audgrabhaṇa ' ( Kāṭ. VII. 3. 16 ). In the dīkṣaṇīyā iṣṭi a cake prepared on eleven potsherds is offered to Agni-Viṣṇu (or boiled rice with clarified butter). Some offered another offering of boiled rice to Aditi. Several matters that occur in the model iṣṭi (such as observing a vrata, the girding up of the wife, cutting off a portion for yajamāna, phalīkaraṇahoma, cooking anvāhārya rice as fee for the priests, samiṣṭayajus) are omitted in this iṣṭi (Bauḍ VI. 3 mentions ten matters that are omitted, Āp. X. 4. 12, Sat. VII. 1. p. 575). According to Jai. VIII. 1. 3-10 the several actions done in the model iṣṭi are not to be extended to somayāga unless the vedic texts expressly say so, and Jai. X. 1. 4 establishes that there is no ārambhaṇīyā iṣṭi in dīkṣaṇīyā and other iṣṭis of somayāga. The dīkṣaṇīyā ends with the patnīsaṃyājas and the eating of the 2nd iḍā (Sat. VII. 1. p. 578). Certain rules are laid down about the pitch of the voice in the several riteṣ According to Āp. X. 4. 9 everything is said inaudibly till the agnīṣomiya rite. According to Kāt. (VII. 2. 31-32) the voice reaches the highest pitch in the dīkṣaṇīyā iṣṭi, the mantras in the prāyaṇīyā and ātithyā iṣṭis are in a lower tone than in the dīkṣaṇīyā and the upasad mantras are repeated inaudibly. The dīkṣā (consecration) of the sacrificer and his wife proceeds as followṣ¹² To the south of the śāvanīya two black antelope hides (or one if two are not available) with the neck portion to the east are spread on the altar with the hairy part outside. He (the priest) sits to the west of the antelope skin bending his right knee; the sacri-ficer touches the white and black spots (or the line that joins them, Kāt. VII. 3. 23), then creeps upon the hide with his right knee bent and sits down on the western side of the hide. The sacrificer ties round his waist above the garment worn by him a girdle of three strands made of hemp and muñja grass, covers his right shoulder with a fresh garment and folds round his head a piece of cloth, he is given the horn of a black ante-lope about a span in length with three or five folds (from left to right), which he ties to the hem of his garment (or in the corner of his upper garment). He touches his forehead above the right brow with the horn, draws a line with it from west to east outside the vedi, and if he wants at any time to scratch his body he does so with that horṇ Jai. (XI. 4. 48-49) declares that the mantra is to be repeated only once even if the yajamāna feels the desire to scratch several parts of his body at the same time. The adhvaryu gives a staff of udum- bara (or of some other sacrificial tree) which is as high as the sacrificer’s mouth (or chin), which he raises up and keeps on his right shoulder. While the adhvaryu is doing these things for the yajamāna, the pratiprasthātṛ does the same things for the wife (without mantras) except that she has the yoktra girt round her upper garment, that her head is covered by a jāla (a net or fillet) of wool and she has a piece of some sacri- ficial tree one span long for scratching her body. The sacri- ficer and adhvaryu repeat long passages wherein the word dīkṣā occurs frequently (Āp. X. 10. 6 and X. 11. 1), and the adhvaryu makes him repeat the sambhāra-yajus mantras (Tai. Ā. III. 8). The sacrificer then contracts the fingers of both hands one after another with mantras (first the small fingers of both hands, then the ring-fingers of both hands and so on) and ultimately he clinches his fistṣ He observes silence. Some priest (like the pratiprasthātṛ) other than the adhvaryu inaudi- bly declares (to the gods) thrice and loudly proclaims to the world thrice ‘this brāhmaṇa has undergone the consecration, son of so and so, grandson of so and so, great-grandson of so and so, the son of such and such a woman, grandson of such and such a woman and great-grandson of such and such a woman’. Even when the sacrificer was a kṣatriya or vaiśya, the announcement was still to be ‘this brāhmaṇa’¹³ &c.,’ since after dīkṣā a person was supposed to be reborn and to be a child of holy prayer and to have become pure enough for receiving spiritual influenceṣ The Śat. Br. III. 3. 12 states ‘he who is consecrated becomes an embryo’. Dīkṣā takes place in the afternoon (Āp. X. 12. 1) and the sacrificer observes silence till the appearance of stars in the evening. The adhvaryu directs the milking of two cows to supply milk for The sacrificer and his wife who are to subsist on the milk of the two cows during the period of the sacrifice. This vrata (observance) of subsisting on milk is declared by Jai. (IV. 3. 8–9) to be kratvartha (an obligatory rule) and not puruṣārtha (recommendatory). Vide also Jai. VI. 8. 28. Some allowed rice or barley to be cooked in that milk. The two cows were milked in two separate vessels, one of which (meant for the sacrificer) was heated on the gārhapatya and the other (for the wife) was heated on the dakṣiṇa fire. A kṣatriya or vaiśya sacrificer could take gruel or āmikṣā respectively or all persons could subsist on milk or on rice cooked in milk or on fruits (if enough milk was not available) or if he had a desire for curds, he could use curds or use fried barley grains or he could take ghee. He was to take his food at midday or midnight long after ordinary men have taken their meals and he took his food from a pot which was not earthenware and the wife from a copper pot. Persons who were not dīkṣitas were not to see him when taking his milk or other vrata diet. The wife was also to take her milk or other diet in her own place. Vide Āp. X. 16 and Kāt. VII. 4. 19–34 for detailṣ The dīkṣita and his wife (to some extent) have to observe certain rules (till the final bath) and people also had to observe some rules with reference to hiṃ He has to keep awake on the night of the dīkṣā (Jai. XII. 1. 17), on the night when soma is purchased and on the night before the pressing day. He is not ²⁵⁴² to speak with women or śūdras nor should a śūdra follow hiṃ If he is obliged to speak to a śūdra he should do so by employing a messenger belonging to the three higher varṇaṣ He may speak to or bless another, but he was not to bow to another, even if the latter was his ācārya or father-in-law or a king. No one was to touch him or to address the dīkṣita by his name (but use only such terms of address as 'bhoḥ', 'dīkṣita' &c.). The sacrificer was not to keep aside the antelope horn till the fees were distributeḍ He could laugh covering his face with his hand and should not show his teeth. He was not ordinarily to answer calls of nature by day, but if he has to do so, he must do so in a shaded spot. He has to observe complete celibacy. While he is consecrated for the sacrifice, he does not go out by the western door, nor does he perform the daily agnihotra, nor vaiśvadeva nor offering of bali nor perform the darśapūrṇamāsa iṣṭi (Jai. XII. 1. 19–23), but he may employ another to do all these. He must speak the truth and address people in a pure and conciliatory style adding the word 'canasita' when address- ing a brāhmaṇa and the word 'vīcakṣaṇa' when addressing a kṣatriya or vaiśya (vide Ait. Br. I. 6). He must always be in the pavilion at sunrise and sunset; he sleeps on the ground to the south of the āhavaniya with his head to the east and sleeps on his right side and does not turn his back to the fire. He always sits on antelope hide and never leaves it and his staff (except when answering calls of nature). No one is to eat the food given by a dīkṣita till the agnīṣomiya victim or its omentum is offereḍ It is recommended by all the sūtras that dīkṣā (consecration) should not be finished in one day, but it should extend over 12 days or a month or a year or till from being fat he becomes lean (vide Āp. X. 14. 8, X. 15. 4, Āśv. IV. 2. 13–15). Every day (while the dīkṣā lasts) the sacrificer observes silence from the afternoon till the appearance of stars and in the morning from before sunrise till the sun goes up. The dīkṣita is allowed to go himself or to send agents called (sanihāra) ¹⁵ to collect money and materials necessary for the sacrifice. He has to observe many rules on his journey (vide Āp. X. 19. 6–16 ).

After the day (or days of dīkṣā ), the next day the first rite is the prāyaṇīyā ¹⁶ (opening) iṣṭi. In this iṣṭi caru (rice) cooked in milk is offered to Aditi (Jai. IX. 4. 32–40 ) and four offerings of ājya to four more deities viz. Pathyā Svasti, Agni, Soma and Savitṛ in the four directions (viz. east, south, west and north ) respectively. Caru is offered to Aditi in the centre. Agni Sviṣṭakṛt is the sixth deity. According to Āśv. IV. 3. 3 no ājyabhāgas are offered in this iṣṭi, but according to Kāt. VII. 5. 15 they are offereḍ The priests that officiate in this iṣṭi should as far as possible officiate in the Udayanīyā (concluding ) iṣṭi. The rites of this iṣṭi end with the first Samyu, ¹⁷ but there is no patnī-saṁyāja and no samiṣṭayajuṣ The puronuvākyā verses in this iṣṭi become the yājyā verses in the udayanīyā iṣṭi and vice versa (vide Āśv. IV. 3. 2 for them). He keeps aside in a well-known place in the prāgvamśa the cooking pot (from which the leavings of rice sticking to the bottom are not removed according to some), the mekṣaṇa and the barhis (except the prastara) for use in the udayanīyā. Jai. (XI. 2. 66-68) refers to this use of niṣkāsa in the udayanīyā iṣṭi.

Then comes the purchase of soma (referred to in the Brāhmaṇas and Sūtras as ‘rājan’). Soma is purchased from a brāhmaṇa of the Kutsa gotra or from a śūdra (Āp. X. 20. 12 allows it to be purchased from any brāhmaṇa). ¹⁸ Jai. III. 7. 31 states that the vendor of soma is someone other than the priestṣ The seller of soma is asked to free it from the weeds that may be mixed up with it; the adhvaryu turns his back towards soma when this (weeding) is being done and neither the adhvaryu nor his assistants nor the sacrificer nor the latter’s sons should do the weeding out nor does anyone of these see it being done (Sat. VII. 1, p. 609). The soma plant is placed on the southern part of the red hide of a bull by the pratiprasthātṛ spread on the place where uparavas (four sound-ing holes) will be made later on and the seller of soma sits on the northern part of the hide. A water jar is placed in front of soma. The doors of the sacrificial hall are shut, the adhvaryu pours into the juhū four times ājya from the dhruvā ladle used in the prāyaṇīyā (or five times for those who are pañcavattins), ties a piece of gold by a blade out of the darbhas spread on the altar, puts down into the juhū the blade with the gold and makes an offering into the āhavanīya of that ājya ( this offering is called hiraṇyavatī āhuti ); he takes out the piece of gold, casts the blade (with which it was tied) on the vedi and ties the gold piece with a threaḍ The doors of the hall are opened and the adhvaryu and yajamāna come out. To the south of the eastern door of the sacrificial hall stands a heifer (called somakrayani ), that is one, two or three years⁸⁵⁴⁷ old, is tawny, has yellowish brown eyes or is red (but has no red eyes), has not given birth to a calf, has no deficiency and is not tied ( vide Āp. VI. 20. 2–5 and Sat. VII. 2, p. 623 for further details ). The cow is not held by her ear or her foot is not tied by a rope (she may be held by the neck, if necessary). She is invoked by the adhvaryu (who is sitting) with a mantra ‘cidasi’ (Vāj. S. IV. 19, Tai. S. I. 2. 4. 1). The cow is led towards the north, the adhvaryu and yajamāna follow her. After she goes six steps, at her 7th step, the brahmā and yajamāna sit down to the cow’s right, behind her sits the adhvaryu and the nestṛ priest to her north. They keep the golden piece on the spot where the 7th step is put by her (which is first covered with his folded hands by the adhvaryu) and make an offering of it to Aditi (adityai idam na mama). Taking the sphya the adhvaryu draws lines round the 7th foot-print (once with a mantra, twice silently) from right to left (Āp. X. 23. 3 adds that lines are drawn also with the antelope horn of the sacri ficer); the dust on the lines is gathered with the hand and put into a pot (sthālī) and handed over to the yajamāna who passes it on to his wife who invokes the cow with a mantra. He washes his hand (that has the piece of gold in it) on the 7th foot-print (of the cow), pours some water on the dust collected in a pot, divides the dust into three parts, one of which is placed on the cold ashes of the gārhapatya, the 2nd on the cold ashes of the āhavanīya and the third is given to the wife who places it in the house. The adhvaryu ties the piece of gold to his small finger (on which it must be at the time of āpyāyana and pres sing of soma and at the time of taking the aṁśu and adābhya cups ). The adhvaryu directs the sacrificer’s servant to bring a piece of cloth for tying soma, another for covering it all round and a turban; the first is carried by the adhvaryu or yajamāna and the rest by the pratiprasthātṛ. They go with their faces to the east towards the soma which is in a four-wheeled cart covered all round and above with mats &c. Detailed rules follow how soma stalks ( amśu ) are selected and taken with the hand, tied in the cloth and covered with the turban ( Āp. X. 24. 7-14, Kāt. VII. 7. 12-21 ). The yajamāna pays homage to soma and waits upon Aditi ( Āp. X. 25. 1 ). The adhvaryu hands over the soma (so tied and turbaned) to the vendor of soma²⁰ and there ensues a dialogue ( which is a mock drama ) between the vendor and the adhvaryu wherein they higgle for the price of the soma (five times, beginning with a kāla or ⅛th or the thigh of the cow and ending with the whole cow). Gold piece is also offered to the vendor of soma, who says ' soma is sold to you but offer me some other animals' and the adhvaryu replies ' yours are the gold piece, clothes, goats, another cow, a cow and bull and three other cowṣ' Adhvaryu comes with the soma in his right hand and pushes aside the garment from the sacrificer's right thigh and places the soma tied in a piece of cloth on the thigh of the sacrificer, who mutters the text ' śvāna bhrājān- ghāre²¹ &c.' ( Vāj. VI. 27, Tai. S. I. 2. 7. 1 ). Ultimately the gold piece and somakrayaṇī cow are brought back, another is offered in exchange and the former is sent to the cowpen belong- ing to the sacrificer. Āp. ( X. 27. 8 ) and Sat. (VII. 2. p. 644) say that according to some the vendor is always struck with sticks and clods of earth ( i. e. there is a show of seizing the soma from him and driving him away with sticks, vide Kāt. VII. 8. 27 also). The sacrificer's staff is handed over to the maitrā- varuṇa priest ( vide Jai. IV. 2. 16-18 ) and the sacrificer holds in both his hands the bundle of soma placed on his thigh, gets up, places his hand on his head and thereon the bundle of soma, approaches a cart ( śakaṭa ) kept to the south ( of the place where soma was bought) that is washed, is covered with a mat or the like and has all its parts complete. The adhvaryu spreads on the box of the cart a black antelope-skin with the neck portion to the east and hairy side upwards, places the soma thereon, covers it with another piece of cloth, ties a skin to a staff as a flag. Two oxen are yoked to the cart, the Subra- hmaṇya priest (an assistant to the udgātṛ) standing on the ground between the two shafts of the cart drives the oxen hold- ing two palāśa branches in his hand (as whips). The adhvaryu touches the cart and directs the hotṛ to repeat a verse for soma that is bought (or being taken round) and directs the subra- hmaṇya priest to pronounce the Subrahmaṇyā invocatioṇ The hotṛ stands three steps behind the cart between the two wheel- tracks, and while keeping his heels firm and unmoved throws up to the south with a verse (tvam vipraḥ, Āśv. IV. 4. 2) clods (or dust) thrice with the forepart of his foot, then utters standing ‘him bhūrbhuvaḥ svarom’ and a verse ‘bhadrād abhi śreyāḥ prehi’ (Āśv. IV. 4. 2). While following the moving cart between wheel-tracks he recites Ṛg. I. 91. 9-11, X. 71. 10, IV. 53. 7 (half) and stopṣ When the cart stops the hotṛ approaches the soma from the south side of the cart, and stands facing it. He touches the soma or the cloth covering it with two verses (called paridhānīyā viz. Ṛg. I. 91. 19 and VIII. 42. 3). Then the sacrificer touches the soma and comes to the sacrificial hall (śālā) along with all the priestṣ The subrahmaṇya priest recites the famous subrahmaṇyā litany²⁵⁵⁰ (which is an invitation to Indra). According to Lāṭ. I. 3. 1 this litany is recited after the performance of ātithyā iṣṭi, but according to Āp. and Kāt. it is recited before ātithyā. At the time of each upasad the subrahmaṇyā litany is recited (Sat. VII. 4. p. 676). According to Lāṭ. the subrahmaṇya stands inside the spot where the altar would be prepared and recites the litany and the yajamāna touches him and the wife touches the yajamāna. The formula is 'O Subrahmaṇya (Indra who protects excellent prayers ), come, O Indra ! O Lord of hari ( bay ) steeds! Ram of Medhātithi! Menā ( wife or daughter?) of Vṛṣaṇaśva! Attacking buffalo! Lover of Ahalyā! O Kauśika! O brāhmaṇa! Thou who callest thyself Gautama!'. Then he should state 'in so

( Continued from last page ) gives rules about the accents of the Subrahmaṇyā. According to Lāṭ. and Drāhyāyana I. 3. 17 the subrahmaṇyā litanies after the upasads are finished are recited near the utkāra outside the altar. The priest takes breath at each of the first two words ( सुमन्त्राण्यो३द ), then again after मेने and after वृषणो. This invocation is repeated thrice (Āp. X. 28. 6, Lāṭ. I. 3. 10 ). On the Agniṣomiya day ( day before pressing ) before the reference to sutyā, the words ‘asau yajate’ ( this, so and so, offers sacrifice ) occur and the names ( nākṣatra, gotra and vyāvahārika names ) of the sacrificer are mentioned with the names of his ances- tors ( son of so and so, grandson of so and so, great-grandson of so and so ) and then the names of his living descendants according to seniority by birth, both males and females, in the words ‘father of such and such a son &o.’. Manu IX. 126 refers to this last. In Ṛg. I. 51. 1 and I. 52. 1 Indra has the appellation ‘meṣa’ and there is a legend that Indra became a ram and drank the soma of Medhātithi Kāṇva. In Ṛg. VIII. 2. 40 it is said that Indra in the form of a ram carried off Medhātithi Kāṇva. In Ṛg. I. 51. 13 Indra is spoken of as born of the Menā of Vṛṣaṇaśva ( menābhavo vṛṣaṇaśvasya ) and Sāyaṇa quotes the Tāṇḍya that Menā was the daughter of Vṛṣaṇaśva. Indra is addressed as Kauśika in Ṛg. I. 10. 11. The legend of Indra’s love for Ahalyā, the wife of Gautama, is well-knowṇ Vide Rāmāyaṇa I. 48 and Viṣṇupurāṇa I. 9. 21. Jaimini ( in IX. 1. 42–44 ) states that when the Subrahmaṇyā litany is uttered in Agniṣṭut and other rites and when for Indra the word Agni is substituted, there is no substitution of other adjectives in place of Harivat and otherṣ Śabara, however, notes that yājñikas do substitute other words viz. they says ‘अग्ने आगच्छ रोहिताश्व ह्य-ग्नाो धूमकेतो जातवेदो विचर्षण श्रुति ⁹³’. Kumārilabhaṭṭa in his Tantravārttika ( p. 208 on Jai. I 3. 7 ) explains, like a modern comparative mythologist, that Indra in this legend means the Sun and Ahalyā means the night पर्जन्यप्रवादः पर्जन्येोर्यन्यस्मात् तर्जन्यप्रवादः पर्जन्यः सूर्योद्यतिनि लीयमानया एहल्ययाऽप्यन्तस्थाना पक्रयाण, अपराह्नकालएोद्भवति।अग्निस्मानागच्छतीतिसिद्धिरादित्य एवपञ्चत्वादः परम्परया। Vide Haug's tr. of Ait. Br. pp. 383–84, S. B. E. vol. 26, p. 81–82. many days, to the soma feast.' Then he adds 'Ye Gods and brāhmaṇas ! come hither!' While the Subrahmaṇya is being recited the sacrificer mutters certain prayers (Āp. X. 28. 5). Near the eastern door of the prāgvamśa the pratiprasthātṛ stands holding by the ear a goat (as a present to king Soma) that has white and dark spots of hair or red and dark ones, that is hornless, fat and beardeḍ The cart is stopped to the east of the prāgvamśa with its shafts to the east or north, the yoke-pins are taken out, the oxen are released from the yoke (or only one ox, the northern one, is released). While this is being done prepa- rations are made for ātithyeṣṭi to receive hospitably as a guest king Soma. The adhvaryu and three other priests make ready a stool or couch (āsandī) of udumbara wood, having feet as high as the navel, with a board one aratni square plaited with cords of muñja grass, on which a black antelope skin is spreaḍ On this the soma is placed after being taken out of the cart. Soma thus seated on the couch is brought inside the śālā by the eastern door, is taken to the west of the āhavanīya and established to the south of the āhavanīya to the east of the seat of the brahmā priest. Then follows the work of ātithyeṣṭi. The wife quickly takes out the materials for a cake on nine potsherds for Viṣṇu (who is the principal deity in this iṣṭi). In all iṣṭis (in Agniṣṭoma) after the dīkṣaṇīyā up to udayanīyā (the concluding iṣṭi) there is no agnvanvādhāna, no taking up of vrata, no subsisting on fast food, no gifts and no choosing of brahmā. There are only five prayāja offerings and no anuyājāṣ²³ Fire is produced by attrition, and the iṣṭi comes to an end after the first iḍā. For details see Āp. X. 30 and Kāt. VIII. 1. After the iḍā is eaten there is tānūnaptra, a solemn convenant made by the sacrificer and the priests pledging themselves in the name of Tanūnāpat (the mighty blowing wind, that is the witness of all living beings) not to injure each other. They make this²⁴ covenant by touching simultaneously clarified butter taken in a vessel of kāmsya or in a camasa from the ājya in the dhruvā ladle used in the ātithyā and placed on the southern hip (south corner of west side) of the altar. That clarified butter used for this covenant is shaken by the adhvaryu and is kept by him in a vessel (which is not earthen-ware) in a well-known spot and is given mixed with the fast milk (vrāta-dugdha) to the sacrificer in the afternoon (for eating). Then follows the avāntara-dīkṣā (intermediate consecration) of the sacrificer, in which he offers a fuel-stick in the āhavanīya fire (with 'agne vratapās' Vāj. S. V. 6), the wife also silently offers a fuel-stick in gārhapatya; he touches water heaped in a vessel called madantī, clenches his fists more closely, tightens his girdle and drinks only hot milk. All priests also touch the madantī water and together with the sacrificer strengthen²⁵ the soma stalks with their hands holding golden pieces with the mantra 'aṁśur-aṁśu' (Vāj. S.V. 7, Tai. S. I. 2. 11. 1). Then they place their right hands one after another on the prastara which is on the southern end of the vedi with the palms turned upwards and cover the palms with their left palms turned downwards (this action being called nihnava, according to Āp. XI. 1. 12 and Kāṭ. VIII. 2. 9). Nihnava²⁶ is a kind of salutation to Heaven and Earth.

Then follows Pravargya and after that Upasad or the Upasad may precede Pravargya (Āp. XI. 2. 5, Sat. VII. 4. p. 662). Both are done twice, in the morning and then in the afternoon, for at least three days (2nd, 3rd and 4th) if soma is to be pressed on the 5th, but if soma is to be pressed on the 7th or any later day (from the beginning) then there will be more Pravargyas and Upasadṣ²⁷ The same barhis, prastara and paridhis employed in the ātithyā are used in the upasads and in the rite of Agniṣomīya paśu.

Pravargya is separately dealt with in most sūtras, as in Āp. XV. 5-12, Kāṭ. XXVI, Bauḍ IX. 6 ff. It was supposed to provide the sacrificer with a new celestial body²⁸. It was an independent rite by itself (apūrva) and was not the modification of any other rite (vide coṃ on Kāt. XXVI. 2. 5). It appears from Āp. XIII. 4. 3–5 that the Pravargya rite was not necessarily performed in every Agniṣṭoma. The gharma is styled Samrāṭ in Vāj. S. 39. 5, is identified with the sun, is said to be the head of Yajña and the hot milk was divine life and light. Vide Ait. Br. IV. 1, Śat. Br. XIV. 1–4, Tai. Ār. IV. 1–42, V. 1–12; and Haug’s translation of Ait. Br. pp. 41–43 (note), S. B. E vol. 44, Intro. XLVI–L. An earthernware vessel, one span in height, is made, the middle of which is contracted (like a mortar), which has a rim or belt (mekhalā) about three fingers lower down from the top which is a large and deep bowl and has at the end a hole or spout for pouring in liquiḍ This is called mahāvīra and it resembles three pots placed on one another. There are two other earthenware vessels (which are called mahāvīra). There are also two milking bowls (pinvana) and two round plates called rauhīṇa for baking two cakeṣ All the three are heated with the fire of horse dung kindled at the gārhapatya (or dakṣiṇa according to some) fire. baked in a square pit like ordinary pans and then taken out. The two puroḍāśas baked on the round rauhīṇas are offered into fire in the morning and evening to Day and Night respectively. The vessel called mahāvīra is placed on a raised clay platform and fire is kindled round it, and when it is hot ghee is poured into it. The principal mahāvīra is the first vessel and the other two are not to have the different processes performed on them (they are apracaraṇīya, Āp. XV. 6. 11). These other two are kept covered with cloth on the big āsandī to the north of the stool on which soma is placed and to the south of the āhavanīya (Kāt. XXVI. 2. 17). To the boiling ghee in the principal vessel are added the milk of a cow and of a she-goat having a male young one. The hot milk thus mixed and contained in the mahāvīra is called ‘gharma’, of which offerings are made to Aśvins, Vāyu, Indra (with Vasus and Rudras and Ādityas), to Savitṛ, Bṛhaspati, Yama. The sacrificer drinks (the priests only smell) the remainder by the upayamani. The hotṛ repeats several mantras at various stages from the time the mahāvīra is placed on the raised platform up to the time when the hot milk is offered and the priest called prastotṛ chants sāmanṣ The whole of this ceremony is called Pravargya. A few interesting matters out of the numerous details of this rite are indicated here. All the doors of the sacrificial hall are screened with cloth, the wife's shed also is so screened and she is to sit in her shed ( and not to see the mahāvīra,²⁹ but at a later stage she looks at it and repeats a mantra, Kāt. XXVI. 4. 13 ). Whatever wooden pātras are required in this rite they are³⁰ made of udumbara and the cords are made of muñja grasṣ The paridhis were thirteen and of vikankata and the fuel-sticks for boiling the gharma were to be of the same wood or of khadira, palāśa, udumbara and a few other treeṣ There were three black antelope skins to be used as fans and two rukmas ( plates or bars ) of gold and silver, two vedas ( bunches of kuśa ), one of which has its ends cut off. Special rules are laid down about the clay out of which the mahāvīra vessel is to be made ( vide Āp. XV. 1. 9 ff. ) viz.³¹ it was to be dug from a pit to the east of the āhavanīya fire; with that earth was to be mixed the dust dug by a wild boar and the clay from an ant-hill, pūtika ( a plant ), the hair of a goat and of a black antelope skin; on it an ajā ( she-goat ) was to be milkeḍ The clay so mixed is to be carried only by men of the higher castes and hot water is to be poured on the clay only from madantī vessels³² in order to mix the various ingredientṣ No śūdra nor woman is to look at all thiṣ Two vessels for milking the cow and the she-goat are made of this very clay. The Mahāvīra is to be lifted up only with two wooden pieces like tongs ( called parīśāsa or śapha ) and never otherwise. The āsandī ( stool or chair ) on which the mahāvīra is to be placed is bigger than the one for king Soma ( thereby bringing out its super-eminence as samrāt ) and it is placed north of the seat for Soma. Two kharas ( mounds covered with sand) are made to the north of the gārhapatya and of the āhavaniya and a third mound (called ucchiṣṭa khara) is made in the north-east of the prāgvaṁśa, having a channel outside (the śālā) for wiping off the leavingṣ A silver blade or plate of one hundred raktikās (berries for weighing) in weight is inserted in the loose sand of the western mound, sheaths of reed grass kindled at the gārhapatya are thrown on the mound and the mahāvīra vessel is placed thereoṇ Then pieces of vikaṅkata wood (paridhis) are laid round the Mahāvīra by the adhvaryu and pratiprasthātṛ, in all 13, the last being placed by the adhvaryu. Then a gold bar or plate (representing the Sun) is placed on the Mahāvīra pot. The adhvaryu fans the fire thrice by means of the three fans made of black antelope skin from right to left and then thrice from left to right. When a blaze is produced the gold plate is taken away. According to the Ait. Br. IV. 2 and Aśv. IV. 6. 3 the hotṛ recites several verses (21 in number) when the empty Mahāvīra is being heated (they constitute the pūrva patala) and several operations such as anointing it are being performeḍ The Ait. Br. IV. 5 further prescribes 21 verses for recitation by the hotṛ when the cow is being milked (they are called uttara patala). Vide Aśv. IV. 7. 4 also.

According to Śāt. Br. XIV. 2. 2. 44-46 and Jai. III. 3. 32-33 the Pravargya was not to be performed at a sacrificer's first soma sacrifice and it was not to be performed for anyone and everyone, but only for him who was well-known or was a complete master of the veda. On the day previous to the soma pressing day, the two performances of pravargya and upasad are combined and gone through in the morning and on that day takes place the ‘udvāsana' (setting out or orderly discharge) of the pravargya either by laying out the pravargya apparatus in the form of a human body or by throwing them in the midst of water or in a river island &c. They (the priests and yaja- māna) set out as a general rule (Āp. XV. 16. 6) all the imple- ments on the uttaravedi, the principal mahāvīra vessel as the head is placed close to the front side of the navel of the uttara- vedi, the two other mahāvīras are placed to its east, the bunch of kuśa grass (called veda) is placed on top of the mahāvīra to represent śikhā (top-knot of hair), the two lifting sticks (śaphas) are placed on two sides as arms and so oṇ Vide Śāt. Br. XIV. 3. 1. 16, Āp. XV. 15, Kāt. 26.7.14 ff. According to Āp. XV. 11. 10-13 the yajamāna and some of the priests viz. hotṛ, adhvaryu, brahma, pratiprasthātṛ and agnīdhra drink the remainder of the milk (gharma) from the upayamanī (a large wooden spoon). When a person performs pravargya he should not for a year partake of meat, should not approach a śūdra woman for sexual intercourse, should not drink water from an earthen pot and should not allow a śūdra to eat the leavings of his food (Āp. XV. 12. 13). According to Śat. Br. XIV. 3. 1. 32 ff the gold plate goes to the brahmā, the gharma to adhvaryu, while accord- ing to Āp. XV. 13. 1 the sacrificer gives the gold and silver plates to adhvaryu, the cow to hotṛ, the she-goat to agnīdhra and a pregnant cow to brahmā.

Upasad³³ is an iṣṭi. The several processes such as agnyan- vādhana found in the darśa-pūrṇamāsa are not performed in this iṣṭi, but a start is made from the carrying forward of the praṇītā water. Offerings of clarified butter are made in this iṣṭi to Agni and Soma with the juhū ladle and to Viṣṇu with the juhū after pouring therein the ājya taken in the upabhṛt ladle; that is, the principal deities are Agni, Soma and Viṣṇu and that besides the āhutis of ājya to these there are the upasad āhutis with the mantra 'yā te' &c. Vide the coṃ on Kāt. VIII. 2. 35 for all detailṣ All actions done after the ātithyā iṣṭi such as the strengthening of soma, the nīnhava, the recital of the subrahmaṇyā litany take place in each upasad (per- formed in the morning and afternoon for three or more days). There are no āyabhāgas, no prayājas nor anuyājas and no offering to Agni Sviṣṭakṛt (Āśv. IV. 8. 8.). The three verses, Rg. VII.15.1-3, are repeated thrice each, so as to make nine kind- ling verses (sāmidhenis) in the morning and Rg. II. 6. 1-3 (repeated thrice) are sāmidhenis in the evening. Upasad offering is made by the sruva ladle with the mantra 'yā te agne ayahṣayā tanūr'³⁴ (Vāj. S. V. 8) on the first day, on the 2nd day with the same verse but reciting 'rajahṣayā' for 'ayahṣayā' and on the 3rd day with 'harīṣayā' for 'ayahṣayā'. The upasād mantras show that they have reference to the sieges of iron, silver and gold castleṣ How these mantras came to be inserted here it is difficult to say. Vide Śat. Br. III. 4. 4. 3–4 (for the cities and their siege). Āp. XI. 4. 8 adds that if a hostile king gives battle or attacks the capital of a kṣatriya performing a soma sacrifice, on the first upasād a piece of iron should be placed in the sruvā ladle and offered along with the clarified butter, on the 2nd upasād a piece of silver and on the 3rd a piece of gold should be so placeḍ The yājyās of the morning upasād become the anuvākyās in the afternoon and vice versa. Jaimini (X. 7. 43–46) establishes that Upasads are special iṣṭis (apūrva) and only those parts that are expressly stated in the texts are to be performed in them and not others that occur in the model iṣṭi. The procedure of upasād is like upāmśuyāja (Śat. VII. 4. p. 666).

On the 2nd day of the upasads after the morning pravargya and upasād rites are performed the great vedi for the soma sacrifice is measured and made (Kāt. VIII. 3. 6, Śat. VII. 4. pp. 679–685 and Āp. XI. 4. 11). In front of the āhavanīya to the east a peg (śaṅku) is driven in the ground at a distance of 6 prakramas (Bauḍ VI. 22) or according to Kāt. VIII. 3. 7 at the distance of 3 prakramas to the east from the eastern post (i. e. the middle of the door) of the ordinary agni-śālā a peg is driven which is called antahpātya (intermediate) or śālāmukhīya (according to Bauḍ); 36 prakramas to the east from this peg another peg is driven, which is called yūpavāṭīya (i. e. connected with the hole for yūpa). A cord is stretched between these two pegs and is called pṛṣṭhyā (spine). On both the south and north sides of the first peg (i. e. of antahpātya) pegs are driven at the distance of 15 prakramas and on the south and north sides of the 2nd peg two pegs are driven at a distance of 12 prakramas each. In this way the west side called śroṇi (hips) of the mahāvedi is 30 prakramas ³⁵ and the east side called aṁsa (shoulders) is 24 prakramas and the length of the mahāvedi is 36 prakramaṣ A rope is passed all round the mahāvedi. Almost all the saṁskāras that are performed for the vedi in darśapūrṇamāsa are a great vedi in somayāga (Sat. VII. 4. p. 685 ). An uttaravedi ( a quadrangular platform raised high ) is measured on the mahāvedi in its eastern part. This uttaravedi is on its west side (śroṇi) ten padas (i. e. five on the south and five on the north of the pṛṣṭhyā) and on its east side (aṁsa) eight padas (some hold that the uttaravedi is 10 padas on all sides i. e. a perfect square). The cātvāla pit (i. e. its southern shoulder or the middle point of the southern side) is 1 padas (or one prakrama, according to Sat. p. 687 ) to the north from the northern shoulder of the mahāvedi towards the west, while the utkara near which the āgnīdhra sits is 12 prakramas to the west of the cātvāla ³⁶ (i. e. its western side or its middle) and one prakrama to the north of the line of the vedi. The utkara is about two padas in extent (coṃ on Sat. VII. 4. p. 687 ). The way to and from the vedi is between the utkara and the cātvāla pit. The vedi is prepared (i. e. its earth is loosened, clods are broken, roots taken out) with the sphya, a rib (of some holy animal) or an axe. For the nābhi vide at p. 1113 above. That day the vedi remains covered with the branches of udumbara or plakṣa tree.

On the next day both the pravargyas and upasads of the morning and afternoon are gone through in the morning. After the udvāsanā of the pravargya, the bringing forward of the fire (agnipraṇayana) from the āhavanīya to the uttaravedi takes place. The fire placed on the nābhi becomes the āhavanīya for all actions in the soma sacrifice and the original āhavanīya becomes the gārhapatya (Āp. XI. 5. 9–10). Kuśa grass, the fuel and vedi are thrice sprinkled with water and the vedi is covered with that grass with the points of the blades to the east. Two carts, washed with water, with their yokes tightly bound but with no yoke-pins, are brought round from the āgnīśāla and placed in the mahāvedi, one about one cubit (aratni) to the south of the pṛṣṭhyā line and the other to the north about one cubit. The cart to the south (called dakṣiṇa-havirdhāna) is larger than the one to the north and the shafts of both are towards the east. These carts are called havirdhāna because the soma plant (which is the havis in somayāga) is to be placed thereoṇ³⁷ The south and north carts are respectively in charge of the adhvaryu and pratiprasthātṛ. They are then covered with grass mats or thatch made of split bambooṣ A maṇḍapa (called havirdhāna-maṇḍapa) is erected by having six posts in front of the two carts and six behind them and having two bamboos on the posts from south to north. He suspends from the front part of the maṇḍapa a garland-like sheaf of twisted grass (rarāṭī). Various saṁskāras are performed on the axles of the carts by the wife and pratiprasthātṛ respectively. Detailed rules about covering the carts and similar matters are passed over (Āp. XI. 7-8, Kāṭ. VIII. 4). The havirdhāna maṇḍapa is higher in the east than in the west and has two doors one to the east and the other to the west (Sat. VII. 4. p. 701). No one is to take his meals or even to eat iḍā inside the havirdhāna maṇḍapa. The adhvaryu digs four round holes (in two rows, two in each row) below the fore part of the shafts of the southern cart (but not far from the axle), each hole being about one span in diameter, being at a distance of one span from each and all being connected by cross-way subterranean passageṣ They are one arm deep. They are dug in such an order that the hole to the north-east is the last (i. e. first south-east one is dug, then north-west one is dug, then south-west and then north-east or first north-west one, then south-east, then south-west and lastly north-east). On these holes are spread kuśa blades over which two wooden boards (adhiṣavaṇa-phalaka) are placed over which is spread the red skin of a bull (adhiṣavaṇa-carma), on which soma juice is extracted by means of four stoneṣ These holes add to the noise of the stones by the sound reverberating through them and they are therefore called uparava.³⁸ Jai. (XI. 4. 52-53) states that the mantra ‘rakṣo-hano’ is to be repeated at each time when a hole is dug and not only once for all holeṣ The adhvaryu and the sacrificer insert their right hands in the holes (the adhvaryu inserting his hand in the south-east hole and the sacrificer in the north-west and then a second time the adhvaryu inserts his hand in the south-west hole and the sacrificer in the north-east) and touch each other's hands and adhvaryu asks 'sacrificer! what is there?'; 'the sacrificer replies 'welfare (or happiness)' and the adhvaryu in a low voice says 'may that belong to us both.' This is done twice (Kāt. VIII. 5. 14-21). At the second time the yajamāna asks 'adhvaryu! what is there?', the adhvaryu replies 'welfare' and the yajamāna says 'let it be mine.' The uparavas are sprinkled with water beginning from the south-east one and ending with the north-east one with a mantra ('rakṣohano &c.' Vāj. S. V. 25, Tai. S. I. 3. 2). Then the rest of the prokṣaṇī water is poured into them, kuśas are spread over their bottoms as in the hole of the yūpa (described above), a golden piece is placed thereon and offering of ājya is made. To the east of the uparavas or of the adhisavana-carma or of the upastambhana³⁹ a four-cornered mound (khara) is made for keeping the soma vessels on with the earth (dug up from the uparavas) that is sprinkled with water and mixed with sanḍ In front of this mound sufficient space is left to move about in the havirdhāna maṇḍapa. To the west of the utkara at a distance of six prakramas (which comes to about the middle of the north side of the great altar) is prepared the shed for āgnīdhra, which is half inside and half outside the great vedi, which has four posts and the beams of which run from west to east, which has a door to the south and is covered on all sides with matṣ This shed is so made that its west side would be a continuation of the end of the western side of the havirdhāna maṇḍapa and this shed is a square having sides of five aratnis each (coṃ on Kāt. VIII. 6. 13). The sadas is measured at a distance of three prakramas from the western side of the great vedi to its east and has its length from south to north. The width of the sadas is nine aratnis (or half of its length) and its length (from south to north) 27 aratnis or as much as would be necessary for allowing room to all the priests, their dhiṣṇyas (seats) and the prasarpakas (assistants and spectators). In the midst of the sadas a post of udumbara is fixed which is of the height of the sacrificer above its pit and which is placed at a distance of one prakrama to the south of the prṣṭhyā. All saṁskāras that are made on the yūpa and its pit are made in the case of this post except those referring to śakala ( vide p. 1115 above ). The udumbara post has an ear-like protuberance towards the east when it is fixed in the pit. On that protuberance a gold piece is offered with the juhū and ājya is poured on in such a way that some of it will trickle to the grounḍ This audumbarī is thicker than any post of the sadaṣ The posts on the borders of the sadas are as high as the navel of the yajamāna towards its sides, but in the middle they are as high as the audumbarī post. On the posts of the sadas beams are placed running from south to north and west to east. The middle of one third of this is covered with three mats that have their ends to the north, and then to the south and north of the middle portion three mats ( on each side ) are placed in such a way that their ends are turned towards the audumbarī post. The sadas is covered with nine mats in all that are well sewn together. The sadas is surrounded by screens and it has two doors to the east and west (just as the havirdhāna pavilion has ). Some prepare the sadas first and then the uparavas or vice versa ( Āp. XI. 10. 19). The doors of the prāgvaṁśa, the sadas and havirdhāna are so arranged ( opposite each other ) that a person sitting in one of these can see into all. Then eight dhiṣṇyas ( seats ) are to be prepareḍ The first is made in the āgnīdhra shed in its middle in such a manner that between it and the north side of the great vedi some space will be left for moving about. Six more dhiṣṇyas are to be made in the sadaṣ The earth for all these dhiṣṇyas is taken from the cātvāla pit. The six seats are made in the eastern portion of the sadas leaving between them and the eastern side of the sadas suffi- cient space to move about. The earth is spread on the seats by the adhvaryu who faces the north when preparing all the seats ( except two ) and who is touched by the sacrificer with the sphya. Over the earth sand or gravel is spread on all the seatṣ Out of the six seats the adhvaryu facing the west makes the seat for the hotṛ to the north of the pṛṣṭhyā line but touching it about one prakrama from the eastern door of the sadas ( or on the pṛṣṭhyā line itself, according to Āp. XI. 14. 4). Then four more seats are made to the north of the seat of the hotṛ in order for brāhmaṇācchaṁsin, potṛ, nestṛ and acchāvāka respectively, each of which is at the same distance from the next and the seat of the acchāvāka is ( four aṅgulas ) larger than those of the rest. The seats are either square or round ( according to Sat VII. 7. p. 723) and of 18 aṅgulas in diameter. or on each side, and at the distance of one cubit or 18 angulas from each other (coṃ on Kāt. VIII. 6. 22 ). To the south of the hotṛ's dhiṣṇya, the adhvaryu with his face to the north prepares at a distance of 4½ aratnis from the hotṛ seat the seat for maitrāvaruṇa (or praśāstṛ ), which seat is also to the south-east of the audumbari post. The seat of maitrāvaruṇa is pre-pared immediately after hotṛ's seat. These seven priests viz. āgnīdhra to maitrāvaruṇa are called the 'seven hotṛs' in soma-yāga according to Tai. Br. II. 3. 6 and Sāyapa thereon, but Aśv. I. 2. 26 seems to be opposed to thiṣ Outside the sadas just opposite the āgnīdhra shed to the south is prepared the mārjālīya ⁴⁰ shed which is half inside the great vedi and half outside to the south and in the midst there is the mārjālīya seat made by the adhvaryu facing the south. The mārjālīya shed has a door facing the north. When all these several sheds and seats are got ready the adhvaryu and spectators have to enter and leave the great vedi by a route between the cātvāla pit and the utkāṛa or between the cātvāla and the āgnī-dhra shed and according to some on the day on which soma is pressed spectators may move about anywhere (Āp. XI. 13. 10–11 ).

On the uparavas slender kuśas with tips to the east or north are spread and over them are kept two boards (of udumbara or palāśa or kārśmarya wood ) called adhisavaṇa-phalaka ⁴¹ between which there is a space of two angulas (towards the west ) which are one aratni long, are washed with water, their eastern face being curved like the board of a wheel and the western face being straight. In modern practice the boards are not curved on the east, but are straight. The wood is dry and well planeḍ In sacrifices in which soma is pressed on more days than one the boards are grooved and made to fit in each other and pierced with a nail. The boards are made firm by driving two pegs through them in front, two behind and one each to the north and south (so that they will not recede ). Vide Bauḍ VI. 28. The space of two fingers between the two is filled with the dust dug out from the uparavaṣ One board is placed on the two southern uparavas and the other on the two northern oneṣ On the two boards is placed a hide (called adhisavana-carma ), which is red and cut up all round to fit in with the boards, with the neck portion to the east and the hairy portion up. On the hide are placed four stones (grāvan ) for pressing soma juice. The adhvaryu then issues directions to spread barhis over the great vedi (except the uttaravedi, the khara, uparavas and dhiṣṇyas, Sat. VII. 7. p.727) and for making the sacrificer take only one-fourth of the fast milk on which he is to subsist (according to Kāt. VIII. 6. 30, half of the milk ). Then begins the procedure of the sacrifice of an animal to Agni and Soma (jointly ). This is on the same lines as the nirūdha- paśubandha which has already been describeḍ The various actions such as paristaraṇa, placing the sacrificial pātras, pro- kṣaṇa are gone through. One more ladle called pracaraṇī made of vikankaṭaka wood and resembling a juhū is used in addition (Āp.XI. 16.6). The pratiprasthātṛ (or neṣṭṛ according to Sat. VII.8, p.736) brings the wife from her usual place (the patniśālā). The sacri- ficer's near relatives who always share the same roof are calleḍ The yajamāna touches the adhvaryu, the wife touches the sacri- ficer, the sons and brothers of the sacrificer touch the wife. They are all covered with a fresh piece of cloth and the adhvaryu offers with the pracaraṇī offerings of ājya called Vaisarjana⁴² to Soma (Kāt. VIII. 7. 1, Āp. XI. 16. 15). Then comes the carry- ing forward (praṇayana ) of Agni and Soma. Fire is kindled on the āhavaniya and is carried to the uttaravedi. Numerous utensils and vessels are taken to the great vedi beyond the sadas for use in the animal sacrifice and in the pressing of soma next day and kept in proper placeṣ⁴³ Fire is established in the āgnīdhra dhiṣṇya. The soma stalks are taken to the havirdhāna maṇḍapa and placed in the southern cart (havirdhāna) on a black antelope skiṇ The sacrificer consigns the soma to the care of gods with a mantra ‘God Savitṛ ! here is thy soma’ (Vāj. S. V. 39, Tai. S. I. 3. 4. 2). Then the yajamāna gives up the intermediate dīkṣā after offering into the āhavanīya a samidh with the mantra ‘Agne vrata pate’ (Tai. S. I. 2. 11. 1, Vāj. S. V. 40) i. e. he loosens his girdle and his fists (that so far had been clenched), gives up the vow of silence (to be observed at both sandhyās) and his fast food and he hands over his staff to maitrāvaruṇa (Āp. XI. 18. 6). He may on the next day (soma pressing day) partake of soma and the leavings of sacrificial fooḍ Hereafter he may be addressed by name and food prepared in his house may be taken by others (Kāt. VIII. 7. 22). Then the sacrifice of the animal to Agni and Soma takes place (of the omentum, the paśupuroḍāśa and havis). Jai. after a lengthy discussion (VI. 8. 30-43) holds that this paśu must be a chāga (a goat). Jai. (VIII. 1. 12) states that the procedure of darśa-pūrṇamāsa is followed in this animal sacrifice and not of soma sacrifice. Vide also Jai. VIII. 2. 10-14. Animal sacrifice has already been described above (pp. 1109-1131); but there are a few points of difference between the nirūḍha-paśubandha and the agniṣomiya paśu offered the day previous to the soma- pressing day; viz. the svaru is not offered into fire in the latter nor is the heart-spit dischargeḍ According to Jai. III. 7. 43-45 the maitrāvaruṇa is the priest where praiṣa and anuvākyā are to be uttered (ordinarily the praiṣa is given by adhvaryu and the anuvākyā is uttered by hotṛ). When the omentum is offered a direction is issued to the subrahmaṇya priest to chant the subrahmaṇya⁴⁴ litany for inviting Indra in which the sacrificer is described as the son, grandson and great-grandson of so and so and as the father and grandfather of so and so ( vide note 2550 above ). Hereafter wherever the subrahmanyā is to be recited it is in this forṃ The agniṣomiya rite ends with the Patnīsamyāja ( Sat. VII. 8. p. 757 ). When the subrahmanyā call has been made, standing with his face to the west he brings in a jar the water from a flowing river that starts from a mountain, but he should not pass over a river that is near his place, even if it does not start from a mountaiṇ He takes this water before the sun sets and from a spot in the river where the shadow of a cloud and sunshine meet or ( if that is not possible ) in the shadow of one’s own body or of a tree or of the river bank. He should fill the jar with water against the stream with ‘haviṣmatīr’ ( Vāj. S. VI. 23, Tai. S. I. 3. 12. 1 ). Śat. Br. III. 9. 2. 8-9, Kāt. VIII. 9. 8-10 and Āp. XI. 20. 10-12 suggest other alternative sources for the water. He enters with the jar of vasatīvarī water⁴⁶ by the path between the utkara and cātvāla, takes it by the north of the agnīdhra shed, enters the śālā by the eastern door and places the jar to the west of the śālāmuhkīya⁴⁷ fire. In the second watch of the night the adhvaryu carries the jar of vasatīvarī waters on his shoulder and takes it round the altar and fires in several ways ( minutely described in Āp. XI. 21. 3-5, Sat. VII. 8. p. 759 and Kāt. VIII. 9. 18-23 ). At that time only the sacrificer and his wife are allowed to stay inside and all others have to go out. Ultimately the vasatīvarī jar is placed in the agnīdhra shed ( Āp. XI. 21. 5, Kāt. VIII. 9. 23 ) and the soma plant also is placed in the same hut but on the āsandī ( a large stool or couch ). The sacri- ficer ⁴⁸ keeps awake or is kept awake that night in the agnīdhra shed or in the havirdhāna shed and guards the soma stalks, while the wife keeps awake in the prāgvaṁśa ( the usual sacrificial hall). All the priests stay that night in the āgnīdhra shed and no one is to stay in the sadaṣ That night the pratiprasthātr draws milk in the evening for the payasyā (āmikṣā) to be offered to Mitra and Varuna the next day and the adhvaryu issues orders to milk the cows that yielded the fast milk for the sacrificer and his wife for making respectively from their milk kṣīr (i. e. soma mixed with milk) and for the graha (cup) of curds (dadhi) and to milk the cow that yielded the milk in the pravargya rite for dadhigharma ⁴⁹ (a warm beverage made with inspissated milk) and for the milk that will be heated but not mixed with butter milk (to be offered) to Mitra and Varuna and boiled milk mixed with butter milk and brought to the state of curds for the Āditya graha (cup). The priests deck themselves with ornaments and fine clothes and stay for the night in the āgnīdhra sheḍ

The last day (generally the 5th day) is called 'sutyā' (on which soma is pressed). The priests are awakened sometime after midnight long before dawn in order to be able to finish all actions up to upāṁśu (i. e. the extracting of Soma with upāṁśu stone before sunrise, coṃ on Āp. XII. 1.1). Then the adhvaryu sips water and invokes the āgnīdhra shed, the havirdhāna shed, the sadas shed, the sruc ladles and vessels called vāyavya (that are contracted in the middle like a mortar, are one span in length and have a bowl on the upper part, Āp. XII. 1. 4). The adhvaryu makes 33 offerings of ājya called yajñatanū in the āgnīdhriya fire with mantras (from Tai. S. IV. 4. 9. 1). The various ⁵⁰ pātras are placed on the khara (mound), the upāṁ- śūpātra on the south corner of the eastern side of the great vedi and the antaryāmapātra on the north corner and between the two the grāvan (stone) called upāṁśusavana (employed in extracting soma). Āp. (XII. 1. 6–XII. 2. 13), Śat. (VIII. 1, pp. 770–777 ), and Kāṭ. IX. 2 describe at great length how and where the numerous pātras required on this day are placeḍ According to Kāṭ. IX. 2. 1 the unnetṛ priest arranges the pātraṣ Then preparations are made for the savaniya paśu (the animal to be killed and offered on the day of the pressing of soma) on the lines of the agniṣomiya paśu offered the previous day. Then so early before dawn that birds have not begun to chirp or men to speak the adhvaryu issues directions, to the hotṛ to recite the prātaranuvāka (morning prayer) in honour of the gods that come early in the morning (viz. Agni, Uṣas and the Āśvins), to the brahmā priest to observe silence, to the pratiprasthātṛ to take out the materials (nirvāpa) for the savaniya cake and to the subrahmaṇya to recite the subrahmaṇyā litany (he will use the words ‘adya sutyām’ in the formula) and promises the hotṛ that he (the adhvaryu) will follow the hotṛ mentally in the latter's recitatioṇ The hotṛ sits down between the yokes of the two havirdhāna carts and recites the prātaranuvāka in three parts ( called kratu ), the first for Agni, the second for Uṣas, and the third for the Āśvinṣ⁵¹ In each part he has to repeat at least one hymn in each of the seven metres viz. Gāyatri, Anuṣṭubh, Triṣṭubh, Bṛhatī, Uṣṇih, Jagatī and Paṅkti. Āśv. (IV. 13. 6–IV. 15. 3) states the hymns to be recited, the minimum being at least one hundred ṛkṣ If all the hymns and verses specified by Āśv. are recited the total of the Āgneya section will be over 1324 (out of which verses in Gāyatri are 320, in Triṣṭubh 591 and only one hymn, Ṛg. V. 6 of 10 verses, is in Paṅkti metre). About 250 verses ⁵² are set out by Āśv. for being recited in the Uṣas kratu and about 407 in the Āśvina kratu of the prātaranuvāka (in all about 2000 verses i. e. nearly one-fifth of the whole of the Ṛgveda ). The prātaranuvāka is to be recited in the low or base ( mandra ) scale ( Āśv. IV. 13. 6 ). Āśv. further directs that even when the minimum of 100 verses or any number short of the one prescribed by him are recited, the order of the hymns set out by him is to be followed and that the three hymns Ṛg. VII. 12 (to Agni in Triṣṭubh ), VII. 73 (to Āśvins in Triṣṭubh ) and I. 112 (to Āśvins in Jagatī ) are called maṅgala ( auspicious ) and that if the darkness of night is still there when he is about to finish the prātaranuvāka he should go on repeating Ṛg. I. 112 till sun- light appears ( Āśv. IV. 15. 7 and 9 ).

While the Prātaranuvāka is being recited by the hotṛ, the āgnīdhra (according to Kāt. IX. 1. 15, the pratiprasthātṛ accord- ing to Āp. XII. 4. 4) priest takes out materials (nirvāpa) for five offerings which are a cake on eleven potsherds for Indra, dhānā (fried barley) for two Haris (bay horses of Indra ), Karambha (barley flour with curds ) for Pūṣan, curds for Sarasvatī, payasyā for Mitra and Varuṇa. There is an option that all five are meant for Indra, but the last four are in that case to Indra associated with the other deities in order as shown below. ⁵³ The adhvaryu asks the hotṛ to think of water and is- sues directions to the attendant of maitrāvaruṇa holding a mai- trāvaruṇa camasa (a flat wooden dish or cup with a handle) that he should come with the adhvaryu, to the neṣṭṛ to fetch the wife or wives of the sacrificer, asks the other ṛtviks to hold the ekadhana pitchers and the āgnīdhra to wait near the cātvāla pit with vasatīvarī waterṣ The adhvaryu goes to a pond or lake, makes offerings of ājya with the camasa of maitrāvaruņa, fills it with water, the ekadhana pitchers also are filled and the wife fills a vessel called pannejana or pānnejana⁵⁴ (a small vessel with water for washing the feet or thighs). While the ekadhana pitchers are being filled the hotṛ recites Rg. X. 30. 1-9 and 11 which are called 'aponaptriyā verses' as the deity of those verses is 'apāṁnapāt' (vide Ait. Br. VIII. 2, Aśv. V. 1. 8 and S. B. E. vol. 26. p. 232 ṇ 2).⁵⁵ Then the water in the maitrāvaruņa camasa and the vasatīvarī waters are mixed up together. And placing the vasatīvarī water in the hotṛcamasa the adhvaryu hands the camasa to the sacrificer, which water is thence-forward called nigrābhya (Āp. XII. 9. 1). Then the adhvaryu makes an offering of curds from a cup (called dadhi-graha, Āp. XII. 7. 5-7). He also takes a few soma stalks from the heap of soma, places them on the upara (vide note 2582) and pours some vasatīvarī water over them, beats the stalks with the stone, extracts soma juice, fills a cup with it and offers it (this is called somagraha, Āp. XII. 7. 10-12). Āp. XII. 9 and Kāt. IX. 4 describe how soma is extracted to fill the Upāṁśugraha by using the Nigrābhya water, a portion of it is offered in the southern part of fire (the tyāga is 'idaṁ sūryāya') and a portion is kept in the Āgrayaṇasthālī and a large coil of soma stalks is placed in the Upāṁśugraha for use in the evening pressing. Vide Haug's tr. of Ait. Br. p. 489 and S. B. E. vol. 26 pp. 244-245 ṇ 2 for the method of the pressing of soma for upāṁśu-graha (they slightly differ). Then comes the mahābhiṣava (the great or principal pressing of soma). The adhvaryu goes near the ādhavanīya trough and pours into it all the water that is in the maitrāvaruņa camasa and a third part of the vasatīvarī water also is poured in that trough and also of the ekadhanā water. The rest of both kinds of waters is kept in the place of the ekadhanā water (viz. to the west of the axle of the northern haviridhāna and below it). The adhvaryu sits to the north of the adhisavaṇa-carma towards the east and behind him sits the sacrificer, to the south of the adhisavaṇa-carma sits the pratiprasthātṛ, to the west nestṛ and to the north the unnetṛ (Āp. XII. 12. 2 and Sat. VIII. 3. p. 825 ). A very large portion of the soma stalks is to be taken for the morning pressing and a small one for the midday one ( Āp. XII. 9. 7 ). The adhvaryu takes hold of the stone called upara, ⁵⁶ places it on the adhiṣavaṇa hide, brings soma stalks thereon, nigrābhya water is poured on them, the stalks are beaten by the priests with the other stones held in their right hands, which have a golden ring or the like. This is called the first turn or round ( paryāga ). Then there is a second turn, when the stalks of soma scattered about in the first beating are collected and are again poundeḍ Then there is a third turṇ The texts even prescribe how many times the stalks are to be beaten in each turn ( vide Āp. XII. 10. 4–8, 9 and XII. 12. 8–9 ). The wet and pounded stalks are collected by the adhvaryu into a vessel called sambharaṇī, ⁵⁷ are put in the ādhavanīya trough which already contains water, the ādhavanīya contents are thoroughly stirred, the stalks are washed, pressed, then taken out and placed on the adhiṣavaṇa- carma. The four stones are again placed facing the upara ( the central big stone ), the sediment or dregs ( rījīṣa ) ⁵⁸ of the soma stalks are put over the face of the stoneṣ The droṇakalaśa ( a big trough ) is carried from its place and kept over all the stones by the udgātṛ priests, who spread over it a woollen strainer or sieve held on a wooden frame or stool with its hem to the north and its centre ( nābhi ) made of the bunch of wool that was handed over to the sacrificer when soma was purchased ( Āp. X. 26. 11 and XII. 13. 1 ). The unnetṛ priest takes in a vessel ( camasa ) the soma liquid from the ādhavanīya trough, pours it into the hotṛcamasa containing nigrābhya water held by the sacrificer, who pours a continuous stream on to the woollen strainer ( from the hotṛcamasa ). From the stream of soma juice flowing down from the strainer all cups ( that are wooden ) up to the dhruva cup are filled, the first being the cup called antaryāma. The soma that falls in the droṇakalaśa is called śukra ( Kāt. IX. 5. 15 ). The Upāṁśu cup is offered before sunrise, while the adhvaryu offers the antaryāma cup when the sun rises ( Āp. XII. 13. 12 ). The cups filleḍ are Aindravāyava, Maitrāvaruṇa, Śukra, Manthin, Āgrayaṇa, Ukthya, Dhruva and they are placed on various spots of the mound (khara) described at p. 1155 above. As the cups are filled from the stream (dhārā) they are called dhārāgrahas (coṃ on Kāt. IX. 6. 26). The cups are wiped with the hems of the strainer or another strainer is employed for the purpose (Āp. XII. 14. 10–11). In the case of the maitrāvaruṇa cup the contents are mixed with boiled but cooled milk, those of the manthin with barley flour. The three grahas viz. Āgrayaṇa, Ukthya and Dhruva are filled to the briṃ He then fills three cups called atigrāhyas for Agni, Indra and Sūrya (Āp. XII. 15. 9, only in Agniṣṭoma and not in other soma sacrifices). After the cups are filled, the droṇakalaśa trough is half filled with soma juice, then the stream of soma stops (Āp. XII. 16. 9, Kāt. IX. 6. 26), all fluid from the woollen strainer is wrung out into the droṇakalaśa and the strainer is kept aside. Then he pours from the maitrāvaruṇa camasa which is filled with ekadhanā waters into the ādhavanīya trough as much as would be necessary (for filling all soma vessels in the morning pressing); he spreads the strainer with its hem to the north on the mouth of the pūtabhṛt trough, pours thereon a portion of the soma juice that is in the ādhavanīya trough and then touches all the three troughs with distinct mantras (Āp. XII. 16. 11). Then the adhvaryu, prastotṛ, pratihartṛ, udgātṛ, the brahmā (being the last) come out of the havirdhāna shed touching each other with the right hand in the order stated (Tāṇḍya Br. VI. 7. 12, Āp. XII. 17. 1), adhvaryu being the first (some give a slightly different order). They perform (or according to Kāt. the adhvaryu alone performs) what are called ‘viprud-dhomas’.⁵⁹ When the soma is being pressed drops of it are scattered about. In order to make these drops go to the gods and also as a sort of expiation this offering of ājya is made to Soma (in all the three savanas). Then the five priests touching each other (adhvaryu being the leader, brahmā being the last and the sacrificer touching him) creep with heads bent in a stealthy manner (like hunters pursuing a deer, according to Āp. XII. 17. 3–4) towards the north for the purpose of the Bahiṣpavamāna chant that is to be sung.⁶⁰ The adhvaryu takes two blades from the grass strewn on the altar, throws one in the cātvāla pit and the other in front of the udgātṛ priests or gives a handful of kuśa grass to the prastotr with ‘ Vāyu makes the him sound ’ ( Tai. S. III. 3. 2. 1). The udgātṛ priests ask the permission of the brahmā priest ‘ shall we chant ’ (and also of Maitrāvaruņa, according to Āśv. V. 2. 11) and he replies ‘yes, do chant’ (after repeating in the morning pressing ‘bhūr indravantaḥ’, but with ‘bhuvah’ and ‘svah’ in the other pressings). Vide Āśv. V. 2. 12–13. According to Āp. XIV. 9. 7, X. 10. 1 the brahmā repeats the text ‘deva savitar &c.’ and then one of the texts called stomabhāgas (in Tāṇḍya I. 9–10), the one employed here being the first viz. ‘raśmirasi’ (thou art a ray, to thee for residence, give impulse to residence) and then gives permissioṇ All pavamāna chants are introduced in this manner (i. e. by giving a handful of kuśas to the prastotr &c.). In the case of stotras other than pavamāna, the adhvaryu makes the chanters start after giving them two kuśa blades with ‘asarji ..... upavartadhvam’. At the time of chanting the bahiṣpavamāna ⁶¹ stotra, the priests and sacri- ficer sit inside the vedi not far from the cātvāla pit in a certain order and look at the cātvāla or they sit round the northern shoulder of the vedi. The udgātṛ sits facing the north, the prastotr sits facing the west and the pratihartṛ faces the south-east; in front of them with faces to the west sit adhvaryu and the pratiprasthātṛ and the sacrificer sits to the south of these.⁶¹ They sit placing their right foot on the left thigh, look at the horizon and hold their mouths straight (neither hanging down nor up-lifted). This is the position of the chanters in all stotras ( Lāt. I. 11. 18–23). Then the prastotr, udgātṛ and pratihartṛ chant the bahiṣpavamāna chant. The place where this chant takes place is called ‘āstāva’ (coṃ on Āśv. V. 3. 16). The Bahispavamāna of sacrifices lasting for more than one day is chanted in the sadas except on the first day (vide Drāhyāyana Śr. IV. 1. 13). The sacrificer and at least four of the other priests (but not adhvaryu) act as choristers (upagātr, Āp. XII. 17. 11-12). According to Lāt. I. 11. 26 and Drāhyāyana III. 4. 6 the priests sing the chorus 'ho' and the sacrificer says 'om' continuously in the mandra (low) tone in the intervals between the prastāva and the other elements of the chant and also during the chanting of these elements except the nidhana, according to coṃ on Drāhyāyana III. 4. 6 and stop from doing so at the finale (nidhana) which is to be sung by the three sāma priests together. Jai. (III. 7. 30) states that the choristers are some of the priests (ṛtviks) themselves (except adhvaryu) and not otherṣ At the time of the first prastāva of the bahispavamāna chant, the ⁶² sacrificer mutters the famous prayer (set out on p. 5 above) 'asato mā sad gamaya ..... māmṛtam gamaya' (Br. Up. I. 3. 28 and coṃ on Kāt. IX. 7. 4), while according to Āp. XII. 17. 14 the sacrificer mutters the daśahotr texts (vide p. 993 above for them). The first stotra at each pressing is called Pavamāna (Āp. XII. 17. 8-9), that at the morning savana being called Bahispavamāna, those at the 2nd and 3rd pressings being respectively called Mādhyandina pavamāna and Ārbhava or Tṛtīya Pavamāna. The other stotras are called Dhurya (coṃ on Kāt. IX. 14. 5).

According to Lāt. I. 12. 1 and Drāhyāyana Śr. III. 4. 16-17 the prastotṛ takes the prastara bunch from the adhvaryu, asks the permission of the brahmā and the praśāstṛ and then hands over the prastara to the udgātṛ who touches his thigh with it, and keeps it down with a yajus mantra. The three sāman priests then commence the chanting of the Bahiṣpavamāna stotra, while looking at the cātvāla (Tāṇḍya VI. 7. 24). The verses in this stotra are nine, viz. Rg IX. 11. 1-3, IX. 64. 28-30 and Rg. IX. 66. 10-12; they correspond to Sāmaveda II. 1. 1. 1-3 (Benfey) and S. V. vol. III. pp. 4-5, 7-8, 10-11. According to the coṃ on Lāṭ. VI. 10. 1 each sāman in a stotra has five parts called prastāva (preceded by ‘hum’ uttered by the sāman priests together), udgītha, pratihāra, upadrava and nidhana (finale), which are respectively chanted by the prastotṛ, udgātṛ, pratihartṛ, udgātṛ, all the three together.²⁵⁸⁹ According to Lāṭ. I. 12. 7 the Bahiṣ- pavamāna is begun to be chanted after once uttering the syllable ‘hum’, while the udgītha in all cases begins with ‘om’ (Lāṭ. VI. 10. 13)²⁵⁹⁰. In other stotras the himkāra is made more ओमि ते' मधुना पयोम् । ॐ माध्वर्गो' अशिश्या दे र यैवैं’ देवा१ १ २ १ २ | हूँ' आ र | योयो । सां डै ‘दे पम् || से नः पवस्व शं गयोम् । ॐ शा र रा ये शम्वों तो इ शक् रीजां १ नो र बो यौ १ २ १ २ | हूँ' आ र | योयो । सुवा ३ दै: || (द्विप्तीयस्तुचः) दैवि सुततियो रचोंम् । ॐ पा शिषो' मा रतीयो रूपा र सोमो: शुका र गोवां १ २ १ २ | हूँ' आ र | शोइरो । ईडा ३ दै: || 'हिमालो’ हेतुमिहोतीम् । ॐमा वाजं वाजकर्मी' १ २ १ २ तू सी' 'दैतो बो १ २ १ २ नुबौ १ २ १ २ | हूँ' आ र | योयो | सां डै ‘दे प क् || (Continued on next page) than once (vide coṃ on Drāhyāyaṇa Śr. III. 4. 22). The Lāṭ. Śr. itself illustrates (in VII. 10. 18-21) how the first verse is chanteḍ The nidhanas for the nine verses are (Lāṭ. VII. 13. 7) sāt, sām, suvaḥ, iḍā, vāk, ā (for the last four verses). The note below will, it is hoped, convey some idea (however vague) of the manner in which the sāman verses are manipulated for the purpose of chanting. It is very difficult (nay, almost impossible) to convey in print how the sāmans are sung. The difficulty is aggravated by the fact that the notations adopted in the msṣ and the editions are different and hardly any two MSS. agree in all respectṣ Besides the present writer does not profess to have studied the intricacies of ancient Indian or modern European music and is not in a position to write a dissertation on this topic. He has, however, given below and elsewhere such general and useful hints as could be gathered from Sanskrit workṣ Those who are desirous of making a close study of the sāmans may read the following: The Pañca- vidha-sūtra, edited by Dr. Richard Simon (Breslau, 1913); Sāyaṇa’s introduction to his commentary on the Sāmaveda in vol. I. of the B. I. edition; Nāradīya-śikṣā published in the Benares Sanskrit series; Satyavrata Sāmaśramī’s learned notes in his edition of the Sāmaveda in five volumes (in B. I. Series); Burnell’s Introduction to Sāmavidhāna Brāhmaṇa (1873), Introduction to the Jaiminīya text of the Ārṣeya Brāhmaṇa (1878, where on p. XV he gives diagrams of the hand and fingers employed in indicating the chanting of the sāmans), Introduction to Ṛktantra-vyākaraṇa, particularly p. XXXVIII (1879); ‘the Vedic chant studied in its sexual and melodic form’ by J. M. Van der Hoogt (Wageningen, Holland, 1929) which presents a special study of stobhas; translation (with notes and Introduction) of the Pañcavimśa Brāhmaṇa by Dr. Caland (in the B. I. series, 1931); the Introduction to the recent edition of the Sāmaveda brought out by Paṇḍit Sātavale- kar at Aundh (1939); ‘the Music of Hindostan’ by A. H. Fox Strangways (Oxford, 1914), particularly pp. 249-279; a booklet ‘the Ancient Mode of singing sāmagāna’ by Mr. Lakṣmaṇa Śaṁkarabhaṭṭa Drāviḍa of Poona. It may, however, be stated here that even on reading these books no thorough knowledge of sāmagānas can be acquireḍ Thorough investigation and research have yet to be made in these gānas and the first endeavour must be to collect gramophone records of the methods of chanting adopted throughout India and then compare theṃ A generation or two hence, it is feared, hardly any learned sāma singers will be left.

Most of the sāman chants are taken from the Ṛgveda. In reciting a verse from the Ṛgveda attention has to be paid to the accents called udātta, anudātta and svarita. When the same verse is chanted as a sāman, one has to attend besides to the notes of the melody to which the verse is being sung. The way of marking the accents of the Ṛgveda verse is not followed when it is taken in the Sāmaveda. The svarita of the Ṛgveda is represented in the Sāmaveda MSS. in several ways, but generally by the figure 2 written above the letter and anudātta preceding an udātta is represented in the Sāmaveda saṃhitā by the figure 3 and udātta following an anudātta has the figure one placed on the letter. There are further detailed rules about these accents and also other marks which are not set out here. Only one further remark is made. The letter ‘ra’ preceded by 2 is placed over a svarita coming after the udātta which follows another udātta. Modern sāma singers have generally no knowledge of these ancient rules and signs but only chant as they learned from their teachers, nor do their chants always agree with the notations in the several MSS. Further there is a certain monotony and sameness in their melodieṣ If one hears a modern singer sing songs in several rāgas like the Jogi or Jhinjoti or Khamāch a person totally ignorant of the rāgas can feel, however vaguely, the difference between the two. But this is not so when a Rathantara melody or a Bṛhat melody is sung. According to the Sāmavidhāna-brāhmaṇa (I. 1. 8 and 14) these notes (also called svaras) are seven, viz. kṛṣṭa, prathama (1st), dvitīya (2nd), tṛtīya, caturtha, pañcama (or mandra) and antya (last) or atiśvārya.⁶⁶ Sāyapa explains that the seven svaras named above are arranged in a descending scale, though from the words first, second and so on one is apt to suppose that they are in an ascending scale. Sāyapa further states that these seven svaras are also called yamaṣ⁶⁷ In the Nāradīya-śikṣā (Benares Sanskrit series) the seven svaras are stated to be prathama, dvitīya, tṛtīya, caturtha, mandra, kṛṣṭa and atiśvāra (1. 12). The kṛṣṭa is the highest note and comes before prathama in many textṣ The same work (III. 5) mentions the seven classical notes, ṣaḍja, ṛṣabha, gāndhāra, madhyama, pañcama, dhaivata and niṣāda (which are indicated in modern India as sa ri or re ga ma pa dha ni ). The Nāradīya-śikṣā then (V. 1–2) tries to establish a correspondence between the seven ancient names of the notes of sāma chanters and the seven notes of classical times by stating that the seven sāman notes mentioned (from prathama onwards) are respectively the same as the notes produced on the Indian vīṇā (lute) called madhyama, gāndhāra, ṛṣabha, ṣaḍja, dhaivata, niṣāda and pañcama. Paṇḍit Sātavalekar (Introduction to the edition of the Sāmaveda p. 2) holds that the printed Nāradīya-śikṣā has wrongly transposed the places of niṣāda and dhaivata.⁶⁸ The notations employed in the North Indian and South Indian Msṣ of the Sāmaveda vary considerably and the confusion is made worse by the fact that the several śākhās ( such as the Kauthumas, the Rāpaṇīyas and Jaiminīyas ) have various readings and varying notations of their owṇ The Nāradīya-śikṣā further points out ( VI. 2-6 ) that the sāmans can be sung to the notes of the ordinary vīṇā and also to the accompaniment of the movements of the thumb and fingers of the hand ( and so it calls the latter gātraviṇā, 'body-lute' ). The reciter sitting cross-legged is to place his hands on the two knees, to touch by the tip of the thumb the middle parva ( joint ) of the fingers for indicating the several notes of the song ( and not the root of the fingers ) and to hold the hand in front of his nose like a cow's ear. The seven svaras are indicated as follows :⁶⁹ the kṛṣṭa is on the head ( top ) of the thumb, the prathama ( i. e. madhyama of classical notes ) is on the central part of the thumb; gāndhāra, ṛṣabha, ṣadja and dhaivata ( i. e. 2nd, 3rd, 4th and mandra ) are respectively indicated by ( touching with the tip of the thumb the central joints of ) the fore-finger, the middle finger, the ring finger and the small finger; and niṣāda is indicated at that part of the palm below the small finger which resembles a channel when the fingers are closed in a fist.

While the Bahispavamāna is being chanted the unnetṛ priest pours the soma juice contained in the ādhavanīya vessel on to the pūtabhṛt trough over which the woollen strainer is stretched with its hem to the north. When the chant is finished the adhvaryu issues directions ( praiṣa ) to the āgnīdhra priest to kindle fires ( on the dhiṣṇyas ), to strew kuśa grass ( on the vedi ) and to deck the puroḍāśas and to the pratiprasthātṛ to come with the savaniya ( to be sacrificed on the pressing day ) paśu ( animal ). The āgnīdhra brings burning coals from the āgnīdhrīya fire and kindles fires on the dust ( or sand ) of the several dhiṣṇyas beginning with that of the hotṛ ( in the order in which the seats were arranged and with the same mantras ). The agnīdhra spreads kuśas beginning from the gārhapatya up to the āhavanīya, along the pṛṣṭhyā line and decks the puroḍāśaṣ He offers soma into the āhavanīya, āgnīdhriya and mārjālīya fires and ājya in otherṣ The adhvaryu, whom the sacrificer touches, fills the Aśvina cup (graha) from the droṇakalaśa with the pariplavā (a small spoon resembling a sruc without its rod, Āp. XII. 2. 7) and the other cups that are not dhārāgrahas are also filled in the same way.

Then begin the rites for the offering of the savaniya paśu, commencing from the tying of a triple girdle round the post (yūpa). According to Kāṭ. IX. 8. 1 the girdle (raśanā) that was used the previous day at the time of sacrificing the Agni-ṣomīya animal is again used for the savaniya paśu, while according to Āp. XII. 18. 12 a new girdle is useḍ In the Agniṣṭoma the animal sacrificed on soma-pressing day is a goat for Agni. In the Ukthya sacrifice another goat (in addition) is sacrificed for Indra and Agni, in the Ṣoḍaśin sacrifice a third paśu (a ram according to Kāṭ. IX. 8. 4, a goat according to Āp. XII. 18. 13) is offered in addition and in the Atirātra a fourth one (a goat) to Sarasvatī in additioṇ Kāṭ. (IX. 8. 5–6) allows optionally a ewe. These four animals that are offered are called stomāyana (Kāṭ. IX. 8. 7) and kratupaśus (Āśv. V. 3. 4). Then the procedure of Nirūḍhapaśubandha described above is followed up to the offering of the vapā (omentum) and sub-sequent mārjana (purification with water). Then all the priests and the sacrificer enter the sadas and occupy places to the west of the audumbari post and to the west of their several seats (dhiṣṇyās)⁷⁰ and other places after looking (with man-tras for each) at the several cups, the three troughs (ādhava-nīya, pūtabhṛt and droṇa-kalaśa), the clarified butter and vessels and the sacrificer pays homage to all these (with mantras set out in Āp. XII. 19. 5 ff).

At this stage the pratiprasthātṛ brings the five savaniya offerings (vide p. 1163 above). The adhvaryu places them on the vedi, cuts off portions of the offerings, arranges them in one large vessel (or the juhū) in such a way that the cake for Indra is placed in the middle, the dhānā is to the east of it, karambha to the south, parīvāpa to the west and āmikṣā to the north. The portions meant for sviṣṭakṛt are placed in the Upabhṛt. The adhvaryu issues his direction to the maitrāvaruṇa to recite the anuvākyās for the puroḍāśa and other offerings to Indra in the morning pressing and to ask the hotṛ to repeat the yājyā for the same. The anuvākyās for the puroḍāśa and other offerings in the three savanas are respectively Rg. III. 52. 1, 5 and 6 and the anuvākyās in the three savanas for the sviṣṭakṛt offering are Rg. III. 28. 1. 4 and 5 respectively. The maitrāvaruṇa's praiṣa to the hotṛ and the latter's formula before the offering is made are given in the note below.⁷¹ The adhvaryu makes the principal offering into fire and then the sviṣṭakṛt. Portions of the remainder are cut off for the Brahmā priest, iḍā is cut off and placed on the seat of the hotṛ and the rest is kept securely for the sacrificer.

Then offerings of soma from the cups are made to the joint deities (dvidēvatya grahas) viz. for Indra and Vāyu, Mitra and Varuṇa, and the two Aśvinṣ After this comes camasōnnayana. The unnetṛ fills to the west of the uttaravedi nine camasas for the priests called camasādhvaryus, by first pouring in each some soma from the droṇakalaśa (this is upastaraṇa), then soma from the pūtabhṛt trough and then again from the droṇakalaśa (this is abhighāraṇa). The order in which the nine are filled is: first that of hotṛ, then for brahmā, udgātṛ, sacrificer, maitrāvaruṇa, brāhmaṇācchāṁsin, potṛ, neṣṭṛ, āgnīdhra (there is none for unnetṛ and acchāvāka here). The maitrāvaruṇa repeats Rg. I. 16, VII. 21 and IV. 35 in the three savanas respectively when the camasas are being filled (Aśv. V. 5. 14). Then follows śukrāmṛanthi-pracāra. The adhvaryu takes the soma cup called Śukra, the pratiprasthātṛ the Manthin cup and the camasādhvaryus the camasas that are placed on the uttaravedi. The camasādhvaryus are not ṛtviks chosen by the yajamāna but they are assistants chosen by the priests (the ṛtviks themselves). Vide Jai. III. 7. 27. Jai. (III. 7. 26-27) further says that they are generally teṇ They (adhvaryu and pratiprasthātr) cover the cups with two pieces of wood (chiselled off when the yūpa was made) that are sprinkled with holy water, wipe the cups from their mouths downwards with two pieces (of the yūpa, but not sprinkled) saying ‘wiped off is Śaṇḍa’ (adhvaryu says) and ‘wiped off is Marka’ (says pratiprasthātr). They place the cups on the south and north corners of the western side of the uttaravedi, go to the south and north of the yūpa, throw away the unsprinkled chips (referring to the repulse of Śaṇḍa and Marka)⁷² outside the vedi and the sprinkled ones are placed into the āhavanīya and standing on both sides of the yūpa they two offer the cups with their faces to the west and the cama-sādhvaryus (who are nine here and ten in other cases, vide coṃ on Kāt. IX. 11. 2) do the same with faces to the east and silently. All these offerings are made to Indra (coṃ on Kāt. IX. 11. 2). The pratiprasthātr pours what remains in the manthin cup into the śukra cup and the adhvaryu pours the mixture of the soma juice remnants of the two cups into the hotṛ-camasa. The adhvaryu directs attendants to refill the cups of the maitrāvaruṇa, brāhmaṇa-chaṁsin, potṛ, neṣṭṛ and āgnīdhra with soma from the dropakalaśa and the contents are offered into fire respectively for Mitra and Varuṇa, Indra, Maruts, Tvaṣṭṛ, Agni. Then the hotṛ, adhvaryu and prati-prasthātr partake of the remnants of the contents of the cups offered to the double deities (Indra and Vāyu, Mitra and Varuṇa, the two Aśvins). Vide Āp. XII. 25. 13. A keen controversy is carried on in the sūtras whether the adhvaryu or hotṛ drinks first. Vide Āp. XII. 24. 6, Kāt. IX. 11. 12-17. The contents of the cup for Indra-vāyu are drunk twice and of the rest once. The mantra in all cases of the drinking of soma by the priests is ‘vāgdevī juṣāṇā somasya tṛpyatu saha prāṇena svāhā’ (Vāj. S. VIII. 37, Āp. XII. 24. 11. 12, Kāt. IX. 11. 19, Aśv. V. 6. 22). The remnants in the cups are poured into hotṛ-camasa. Then a very small part of the puroḍāśa is thrown into the aindra-vāyava cup by the adhvaryu, a portion of the payasyā in the maitrāvaruṇa cup and the dhāṇā in the āśvina cup. Vide Jai. III. 8. 33 (where it is said that this effects a saṁskāra of the puroḍāśa &c). The pratiprasthātṛ then keeps these cups on the northern wheel-track of the southern havirdhāna cart. The adhvaryu and other priests make an offering of Vājina (Kāt. IX. 12. 1). The several priests drink soma from their camasas ( in a rather complicated manner, for which vide coṃ on Kāt. IX. 12. 3 and Āp. XII. 25. 16–23). The hotṛ drinks once from all camasas and twice from his own camasa, the maitrāvaruṇa and other priests drink from their own camasas twice (Āp. XII. 25. 19–21 )⁷³. On drinking, soma the priests touch their mouth and heart with Rg. VIII. 48. 3–4 'we drank soma and have become immortal &c.' Vide niśhed (āpyāyana) by the priests by repeating two mantras 'āpyāyasva' &c. (Rg. I. 91. 16 and 18 = Vāj. S. XII. 112–113, Tai. S. III. 2. 5. 3) and by filling them with soma from the pūtabhṛt trough and then they are placed under the southern havirdhāna cart to the west of the axle and are thence-forward called Nārāśaṁsa till the taking up of the Vaiśvadeva cup (Āp. XII. 25. 24–27, Kāt. IX. 15. 5–8). The adhvaryu takes a small portion of the puroḍāśa and while giving it to the acchāvāka priest who sits outside the sadas in front of the seat (dhiṣṇya) prepared for him says 'O acchāvāka, say whatever you have to say.' The acchāvāka holding the portion on a level with his mouth recites the three verses, Rg. V. 25. 1–3 (acchā vo agnimavase &c.). He combines the 'om' uttered at the end of the third verse with a long prose formula⁷⁴ (nigada) which ends with 'O brāhmaṇa! call us who are brāhmaṇas'. The adhvaryu on hearing this requests the hotṛ to summon the acchāvāka (to the soma drink). When the hotṛ calls him, the acchāvāka recites Rg. VI. 42 and a camasa is filled for him first with soma from the droņakalaśa, then from the pūtabhṛt trough and again from the droņakalaśa. After the acchāvāka recites Rg. VIII. 38.7 (as the yājyā) the adhvaryu makes an offering of soma from his camasa in the āhavanīya, the acchāvāka lays down the piece of purodāśa and sitting on his own seat drinks the remainder of soma himself from his camasa and also eats the portion of purodāśa given to him (Āśv. V. 7. 7 and 9). His camasa is then placed among the other camasaṣ

After the acchāvāka sits down, the brahmā, hotṛ, adhvaryu, maitrāvaruņa and āgnīdhra partake of the iḍā of the savanīya cake and the other four offerings in the āgnīdhra shed (Āp. XII. 25. 8–15, Āśv. V. 7. 10, Kāṭ. IX. 11. 29 and IX. 12. 16). The sacrificer also partakes of it and the wife partakes of light food (rice &c.) in her shed (Kāṭ. IX. 12. 16–17, coṃ on Āp. XII. 25. 12). Āp. (XII. 25. 13) states that at this time take place several of the acts that are done in the darśapūrņamāsa such as throwing the śākhā on fire, the offering of vājina, the two homas of piṣṭalepa and phalikaraņa &c.

Then comes the offering of ṛtugrahaṣ These cups are filled from the droņakalaśa and are offered by the adhvaryu and the pratiprasthātṛ to the twelve months (Madhu, Mādhava, and so on, from Tai. S. I. 4. 14 or Vāj. S. VII. 30) or 13 months (when there is an intercalary month called Saṁsarpa in Tai. S. I. 4. 14. 1 and Ambhasaspati in Vāj. S. VII. 30) or 14 (vide Āp. XII. 27. 1). There are 6 pairs of months, for the first of which the offering is made by the adhvaryu and for the 2nd by the pratiprasthātṛ with the mantra (Vāj S. VII. 30) 'upayamagṛhītosī madhave tvā' (and so on). Bauḍ VII. 16 gives at length all the mantras for the twelve monthṣ The praiṣas are uttered by the maitrāvaruņa and when the adhvaryu enters the havir-dhāna pavilion to make the offering the pratiprasthātṛ leaves it and vice versa. The vaṣaṭkāra for the first six is uttered respectively by hotṛ, potṛ, neṣṭṛ, āgnīdhra, brāhmaṇācchaṁsin and maitrāvaruņa and the adhvaryu or pratiprasthātṛ (as the case may be) eats of the remains in the cup with that priest who utters the vaṣaṭkāra. In the next four the vaṣaṭkāra is uttered by hotṛ, potṛ, neṣṭṛ and acchāvāka and for the last two by hotṛ. After this a cup is filled from the droņakalaśa or pūtabhṛt for Indra and Agni (Āp. XII. 27. 8, Kāṭ. IX. 13. 20). All the soma pātras from which soma was drunk by the priests are washed on the mārjālīya place (Āp. VII. 27. 10), It would not be out of place to remark here that according to the Ait. Br. 35. 2-4 (referred to on p. 140 above) a kṣatriya sacrificer was not to drink soma, but if he desired he might drink the liquid obtained by pounding the young sprouts of the banyan tree and the fruits of that tree and of the udumbara and of other holy trees mixing them with curdṣ⁷⁵ It is however to be noted that in classical Sanskrit literature sometimes kings are described as 'somapāḥ'. The sūtras (e. g. Śat. VIII. 7. p. 882, Āp. XII. 24. 5) say the same. Jai. (III. 5. 47-51) refers to this practice and says that the liquid so prepared and poured into a cup is called phala-camasa and is really an offering made on a coal taken from the āhavanīya to its north, and not a mere substitute for some eatable. Vide also Jai. III. 6. 36.

The adhvaryu with the ṛtu cup in his hand sits down near the door of the sadas in front of the hotṛ with his face to the east, mutters the words 'Idā, the summoner of gods' (Tai. S. III. 3. 2. 1). Then the hotṛ performs japa of a long passage ⁷⁶ (found in Āśv. V. 9. 1), he issues without uttering himkāra a call (āhāva) to the adhvaryu loudly viz. ‘Śom3śavo3m’ (let us both praise) ⁷⁷ and recites inaudibly the prayer called tuṣṭimsaṁsa. The adhvaryu stands up or bends his body with his face to the west at the door of the sadas and makes the response (pratigara ) with 'somsāmo daiva ' ( Āśv. V. 9. 5). There are several śāvas and several pratigaras in the course of reciting all the texts connected with a śastra. The tuṣṭimsaṁsa is of three clauses or six clauses (vide below). ⁸⁰ Then he loudly repeats twelve clauses called nivid, pausing at the end of each clause 'fire kindled by the gods, kindled by Manu...... May the god bring the gods hither, may the god worship the gods, may he, Jātavedas, perform the rites ' ( Ait. Br. X. 2, Āśv. V. 9. 12). ⁸¹ The Ait. Br. explains these clauses, says that they are to be loudly recited and calls them a puroruc for Jātavedas ( Ait. Br. X. 7). This nivid is not to be combined with the Tuṣṭimsaṁsa, but the last word of the former is to be combined with the first verse of the ājya śastra, which is the name of the hymn Rg. III. 13 ( verses 1-7 ). The first verse of the hymn is recited thrice, each half of that verse being kept separate from the next half (Āśv. V. 9. 15, 20-21 ) and ‘om’ being added to the end of the verse. At the end of the sixth verse the hotṛ repeats the āhāva (śo3ṁśāvo3m ) and the adhvaryu responds with the pratigara ‘śo3ṁśāmo daiva.’ And then the hotṛ recites the 7th verse of Rg. III. 13 ( which being the last verse of the śāstra is called paridhānīyā, Āśv. V. 9. 23 ). At the end of the śāstra, the adhvaryu responds with the word ‘om’ (Āśv. V. 9.10). After the recitation of the śāstra the hotṛ mutters ‘the recitation is concerned in speech; to thee for glory’ (Tai. S. III. 2. 9. 1). The adhvaryu then takes the Ainadrāgna cup of Soma and the camasādhvaryus take the camasas and after āśravaṇa and pratyāśruta the adhvaryu issues a direction to hotṛ ‘O reciter of an uktha ( i. e. śāstra), repeat a yājyā verse for Soma.’ Then the hotṛ recites Rg. III. 25. 4 as the yājyā (Āśv. V. 9. 26 ) and when he utters ‘vau3ṣaṭ’ the adhvaryu offers the soma from his cup into the āhavanīya fire and after a second vouṣaṭ is uttered ( with the words ‘somasyāgne vihi3 vau3ṣaṭ’) the camasādhvaryus only shake the Nārāśaṁsa cupṣ The adhvaryu first partakes of the remnant from the soma cup and then the other priests who have camasas eat the contents of the camasas ( Āp. XII. 28. 1-3 ).

It will have been noticed from the preceding description that there are six or seven elements connected with the recitation of the śāstras: (1) the inaudible japa, (2) āhāva and pratigara, (3) tūṣṇiṁśāṁsa, (4) the nivid or puroruk, (5) sūkta, (6) japa of words ‘uktham vāci’ ( Āśv. V. 10. 22-24 ) with certain words added that differ at different times ( this is called ukthavīrya ), to which the adhvaryu responds with ‘ukthaśāḥ’ &c., (7) the yājyā (Āśv. V. 10. 21). ⁸² Only the Tūṣṇiṁśāṁsa does not occur in the other śāstraṣ

In the Agniṣṭoma there are twelve stotras and twelve śāstraṣ The words śāstra and stotra in their etymological sense mean ‘praise or laud,’ but a stotra is a laud that is sung to a melody and a śāstra is a laud that is only recited ( vide Śābara on Jai. VII. 2. 17). A śāstra always belongs to and follows a stotra. In the prātaḥsavana the hotṛ begins his āhāva after the udgātṛ makes hiṁkāra in the stotra he chants and in the other two savanas the hotṛ does so after the pratīhāra element of the stotra ( Āśv. V. 10. 1-3 ) when the prastotṛ draws his attention by uttering the word ‘esā’ ( this ) at the time of the prastāva of the last verse in the stotra.⁸³ The ājyāśastra is the first śastra in the Agniṣṭoma and the agnīmāruta is the last. Jai. ( II. 1. 13-29 ) establishes that when the vedic text says ‘he recites the prauga śastra’ or ‘he chants the ājya stotra,’ what is meant is not that these stotras and śastras are merely some subordinate matters in connection with the devatā of the rite, but they are really principal matterṣ In X. 4. 49 Jai. states that in the Agniṣṭut sacrifices there is no ūha of the stotras and śastras of the Agniṣṭoma, but they are sung and recited as in Agniṣṭoma. In the morning savana ( pressing of soma ), five stotras are chanted viz. Bahiṣpavamāna and four Ājyastotras; in the mid-day pressing five more viz. the mādhyandina pava- māna and four Pṛṣṭhastotras ( vide Haug's tr. of Ait. Br. p. 193 ṇ 29 ) and in the evening pressing two stotras viz. the Ārbhava pavamāna and the Agniṣṭoma-sāman ( viz. yajña-yajña vo &c.). The corresponding twelve śastras are: in the morning the Ājyāśastra ( by hotṛ ), Praugaśastra ( by hotṛ ) and three Ājyāśastras ( by maitrāvaruṇa, brāhmaṇācchaṁsin and acchāvāka, these three priests being called hotrakas ); in the mid- day pressing the marutvatīya śastra ( by hotṛ ), niṣkevalya śastra ( by hotṛ ) and three more by the three assistants of the hotṛ; in the evening pressing the two śastras are vaiśvadevaśastra and Agni- mārutāśastra ( both by the hotṛ ). The Bahiṣpavamāna is chanted in the Trivṛtstoma, the four ājyastotras and the mādhyandinapava- māna in the Pañcadaśaśtoma, the four Pṛṣṭha-stotras and the Ārbhavapavamāna in the Saptadaśaśtoma and the yajñāyajñīya in the Ekaviṁśaśtoma ( vide Tāṇḍya Br. XX. 1. 1 ). Stoma means a group of verses and pañcadaśaśtoma and similar words mean that the verses ( usually three ) are increased to 15, 17, 21 &c. by repetition in various patterns ( which are called viṣṭuti ). There are three viṣṭutis of the pañcadaśaśtoma. These patterns differ in the order and number of repetitionṣ The prastotṛ marks the several turns, the number of verses and the order by means of small sticks a span long ( called kuśas ) cut from the uḍumbara tree and placed on a piece of cloth spread in the midst of the singerṣ Vide Lāṭ. II. 6. 1-4. For example, the first ājyastotra (Ṛg. VI. 16. 10-12 = S. V. II. 1. 4, eḍ by Benfey) is raised to fifteen verses in three paryāyas (turns) of five verses each. If the three verses are denoted by a, b, o then the 15 verses will be a a a b o (first paryāya), a b b b o (2nd paryāya) and a b o o c (third paryāya). Vide Tāṇḍya Br. II. 4. The 2nd viṣṭuti of the pañcadaśastoma is represen-ted by a a a b c, a b b c, a b b c c c and the third viṣṭuti by a b c, a b b b o and a a a b c c (vide Tāṇḍya Br. II. 5-6 ). The word stoma is to be distinguished from stotra. The latter is a chant of a certain number of verses set to a certain melody out of those mentioned in the gānas of the Sāmaveda. Stobhas are musical interjections and flourishes introduced in the sāman chants such as ‘hāu’, ‘hāī’, ‘ī’, ‘ū’, ‘hum’ (vide Chāṇ Up. I. 13). Hāu and hāī are stobhas employed in the Rathanțara and Vāmadevya sāmans respectively. Jai. IX. 2. 39 defines stobha as that which is in addition to the letters of the ṛk (that is being chanted) and has other varṇas than those of the ṛk (adhikam ca vivarṇam ca Jaiminiḥ stobha-śabdātvať). The word sāman means, no doubt, a chant (gīti), but since stobhas are necessary to bring out the melody and help in musical appreciation they are included in the connotation of the word sāman ⁸⁴ (Jai. II. 1. 36, IX. 2. 34-38). Śābara states that there are a thousand (numberless) means of adding to the charm of the melody (gīti), which only conveys certain notes produced by internal effort and which is denoted by the word sāmaṇ The chant has a fixed extent and is sung on a ṛk verse. In order to effectuate that chant resort is made to change of letter (as in ‘ognāyī’ for ‘agnā’ in ‘agna āyāhi vitaye), to stobha and the other devices stated below ⁸⁵. Since the ṛk verses are sung to a certain melody the r̥ks are the skeleton, the notes of the melody are the flesh that clothes the bare bones, they are super-imposed over the r̥k, and the stobhas are embellishments or flourishes like the hair on one's body. This very apt and happy figure is employed by the Sāmavidhāna Brāhmaṇa to illustrate the relationship of the r̥ks, the notes and the stobhaṣ⁸⁶ Each sāman chant is primarily connected with certain verses, e. g. when we speak of Rathantara without more the verses meant are Rg. VII. 32. 22–23 abhi tvā śūra &c. = S. V. II. 1. 1. 11 (Benfey) and S. V. vol. III. pp. 83–84 (B. I. series); and when one refers to the Vāmadevya sāman without further qualification the verses intended are Rg. IV. 31. 1–3 (kayā naścītrā ābhuvat) = S. V. II. 1. 1. 12 (Benfey) and S. V. vol. III. pp. 87–89 (B. I.). These are called the own (svakīya) verses of the respective sāmāns (vide coṃ on Drāhyāyana II. 1. 1) and that one verse occurring in the pūrvarcika part of the Sāmaveda, which is the first in the sāman as set out in the Uttarārcika portion, is called the yoni of the sāman (Jai. VII. 2. 17 and Śabara thereon). But the verses that are the own verses of a sāman can be sung to another melody. Tāṇḍya XV. 10. 1 says ‘the kavatī verses’ are the verses ‘kayā naścītrā &c.’ which are the svakīya verses of the Vāmadevya. When some texts say ‘he chants the Rathantara on the Kavatī verses’ what is meant is that, not minding the Vāmadevya melody to which the verses ‘kayā naścītrā &c.’ primarily attach themselves, they are to be sung to the Rathan-tara melody in that particular rite. So the word sāman as applied to Rathantara, Br̥hat, Raivata and others means simply a melody and not one or more r̥k verses that are sung⁸⁷ (vide Jai. IX. 2. 1–2 ).

Jaimini deals in about 60 adhikaraṇas with matters arising out of the relation of the Sāmaveda to sacrifices in V. 3, IX. 1, IX. 2, X. 5–6 and elsewhere. Some of the conclusions are very interesting and may be briefly indicated; viz. the ūha-grantha is of human authorship (IX. 2. 1–2), the r̥k is principal and the melody is an attribute of it (IX. 2. 3–13), the whole melody is to be sung on each ṛk of the sāman (IX. 2. 14-20), the verses of a sāman should as far as possible be in the same metre (IX. 2. 21-22), the ṛk verses set out in the Uttarārcika are to be taken for singing the melody on (IX. 2. 23-24), that two verses have to be arranged as three by repetition of the 4th or last pāda in certain melodies (IX. 2. 25-27), that in the Yajñāyajñīya sāman for the words ‘girā girā’ in the original ‘irā irā’ has to be substituted in the melody (IX. 1. 50-51).

After the recitation of the śāstra and the partaking of remnants of soma the adhvaryu takes the Vaiśvadeva cup, fills it from the droṇakalaśa, touches it with two kuśa blades, hands over the blades to the prastotṛ priest and urges the sāman priests to chant a stotra. This is the mode in all cases of dhurya stotraṣ Stotras other than the Bahiṣpavamāna are chanted near the Audumbarī post in the sadas; the prastotṛ sits facing the west behind the adhvaryu, the udgātṛ sits to his west facing the north, and the pratihartṛ sits facing udgātṛ, but looking towards the south-east (Tāṇḍya VI. 4. 14, Drāhyāyaṇa III. 3. 28). The stotra chanted after the Vaiśvadeva cup is taken and the three following ones are called ājyastotras⁸⁸ (coṃ on Āp. XII. 28. 6). The 2nd śāstra is called prauga (Āśv. V. 10. 6) which is recited after the taking up of the Vaiśvadeva cup and is supposed according to the Ait. Br. XI. 2 to confer fooḍ This śāstra is made up of Rg. I. 2 and 3 (in all 21 verses), which are divided into seven triplets addressed to seven deities in order viz. Vāyu, Indra-vāyu, Mitra and Varuṇa, Aśvins, Indra, Viśve Devas, Sarasvatī. Each of the seven triplets is preceded by a verse called puroruk. The first puroruk is preceded by ‘him’ and ‘bhūr-bhuvaḥ svaro 3ṃ’⁸⁹ The 2nd verse of Rg. I. 2 is repeated thrice ( and not the first as is usual, coṃ on Āśv. V. 10. 6). At the end of the recitation the priest mutters 'uktham vāci ślokāya tvā' (instead of 'ghoṣāya tvā'), and Rg. I. 14. 10 is the yājyā of the Prauga-śastra. This cup is offered and the remnants of it and of the camasas are drunk by the priestṣ Then from the Ukthyasthālī containing soma a third is taken for filling three cups to Mitra and Varuṇa, Indra, and Indra-Agni. Stotras and śastras follow at each of these three cups, the śastras being repeated respectively by the maitrāvaruṇa, brāhmanācchamsin and acchāvāka. For want of space all these three śastras cannot be set out at length here. Āśv. V. 10. 26 very succintly inoticates theṃ Each of these śastras has four parts, (1) a triplet called stotriya (because those very verses have been chanted in the corresponding stotra); (2) then another triplet called anurūpa which should agree in metre, deity and even the sage (according to some) with the stotriya triplet (Āśv. V. 10. 26-27); (3) the core or principal part of the śastra, hence called uktha-mukha (vide Sāṇ VII. 11. 3); (4) a yājyā verse. For example, in the maitrāvaruṇa śastra, Rg. III. 62. 16-18 constitute the stotriya triplet (those three verses are chanted as the 2nd ājyastotra) Rg. V. 71. 1-3 form the anurūpa triplet, Rg. V. 68. 1-5 and Rg. VII. 66. 1-9 are the uktha-mukha and Rg. VII. 66. 19 is the yājyā of the śastra. This brings the prātaḥsavana to an end, and the adhva- ryu makes an offering at the end with the words 'May Agni protect us in the morning savana'. At the bidding of the adhvaryu the maitrāvaruṇa asks all the priests to come out of the sadas and they come out by the way they went iṇ

Then before the mādhyandina savana begins the priests again enter the sadas, and the yajamāna enters by the eastern door. The procedure of the mid-day pressing is in main out- lines the same as that of the morning one (Āp. XIII. 1. 2). There is no hurry in the first two pressings, but the third press- ing is got through with speed (Āp. XII. 29. 12). There are a few points of difference. In the mid-day pressing there are no cups for the joint deities (dvidevatya grahas), no cups for the seasons (Āp. XIII. 1. 4). The great pressing is done as in the morning pressing, but in a loud voice (Āp. XIII. 1. 8). In this pressing the vasatīvarī waters are taken in the hotr̥camasa, are handed over to the yajamāna and become the nigrābhyā for pressing soma. The cloth in which soma stalks are tied is loosened and given for wearing as a turban to the priest called grāvastut and it is taken back from him after he recites the praise of the crushing stone (Āp. XIII. 1. 5 and coṃ). The cups taken are five, viz. śukra and manthin, āgrayaṇa, two marutvatīya and ukthya. (also taken either before both marutvatīya-cups or between the two). The grāvastut (praise of the stones used in crushing soma stalks) enters the havirdhāna pavilion by the eastern door, throws away a blade of kuśa on a spot which is to the north-east of the northern point of the axle of the southern havirdhāna cart and stands opposite the soma stalks with face to the south-east. He takes the cloth in his joined hands, folds it round his head and face from left to right thrice (so as to make it look like a turban). When the stalks of soma are placed for being crushed he should recite certain verses by the middle tone (Āśv. V. 12. 7–8), which is the tone for all vedic texts in the mid-day pressing. The texts repeated by the grāvastut are ( Āśv. V. 12. 9–11): Rg. I. 24. 3, V. 81. 1, VIII. 81. 1, VIII. 1. 1, X. 94 (this hymn is called Arbuda), Rg. X. 76 and 175. Before the last verse of Rg. X. 94, the two hymns Rg. X. 76 and X. 175 are reciteḍ Either between the latter two hymns or after them or before them he recites as many pavamāna verses as are required up till the taking up of the cups, finishes the last verse of Rg. X. 94 and hands back the turban to the sacrificer. Āśv. further directs that from the hymn Rg. X. 94 which has 14 verses the 4th is taken out and the last is the paridhānīya (the finishing verse) and the rest (12 verses) are divided into four triplets and each of the triplets is either preceded or followed by a triplet out of the following viz. Rg. I. 91, 16–18, IX. 8. 4, IX. 15. 8, IX. 107. 21, VIII. 72. 8, VIII. 72. 16, IX. 17. 4, IX. 67. 14–15 (which together come to twelve verses). The four triplets are respectively recited by the grāvastut at the time of sprinkling water on the soma stalks, pounding with the hands, extracting juice, and collecting the soma juice in the ādhavanīya trough ( Āśv. V. 12. 15–19). In the mid-day pressing the place of the Bahiṣpavamāna is taken by the Mādhyandina-pavamāna stotra ( Āp. XIII. 3. 7). This stotra consists of Rg. IX. 61. 10–12, X. 107. 4–5, X. 87. 1–3, that is Sāmaveda II. 1. 1. 8–10 (Benfey) and S. V. vol. III. pp. 22–23, 41–42, 78–80. The yajamāna mutters several texts before the mādhyandina pavamāna is chanted and during its chanting ( Āp. XIII. 3. 1).

After the chanting of the Mādhyandina-pavamāna comes the rite called Dadhigharma, if the sacrificer has performed the Pravargya rite ( Āśv. V. 13. 1). The pratiprasthātṛ brings curds in the ladle (sruc) made of udumbara; the curds are heated on the āgnīdhriya fire. The hotṛ when asked ‘is the havis heated' repeats Rg. X. 179. 2 as the anuvākyā and X. 179. 3 is the yājyā and after he says ' vauṣaṭ' the curds are offered in the āhavaniya, and when he repeats 'agne vihi' and also a second vauṣaṭ another offering of the heated curds is made and the remnants of curds are eaten by those who partake of the remnants in the Pravargya rite. Then the paśupuroḍāśa ( of the animal killed in the morning) and the other offerings (such as puroḍāśa on eleven potsherds) are made and the remnants eateṇ Then ten camāṣas are filled ( including that of acchāvāka). Then offerings of soma from the śukra and manthin cups are made respectively by the adhvaryu and pratiprasthātṛ and the camasādhvaryus offer the soma taken in their camasas and the remnants are partaken by the priestṣ After this come the offerings of ājya called dakṣiṇāhuti or dakṣiṇa homa (Kāt. X. 1. 4., Śat. IX. 2. p. 910). The procedure here resembles the Vaiśarjjina homa described above (p. 1158). Gold is tied by the hem of the garment that covers the yajamāna and his family, it is placed in the ājya contained in the juhū, and two āhutis are offered with ' udu tyam ' (Rg. I. 50. 1) and ' citram ' (Rg. I. 115. 1) in the gārhapatya fire, the piece of gold is taken out and the yajamāna holding that gold piece and ājya in his hand approaches the dakṣiṇās (the various articles that constitute the fee) placed to the south of the mahāvedi. Vide Śat. Br. IV. 3. 4 about dakṣiṇā (derived from 'daksay' to invigorate) where it is stated that no priest should officiate at a soma sacrifice for a fee less than one hundred cowṣ Āp. (XIII. 5. 1—XIII. 7. 15) gives numerous rules about the dakṣiṇā to be distributed among the sixteen priestṣ The dakṣiṇā may consist of 7, 21, 60, 100, 112, or 1000 cattle or an unlimited number or a man may give all his wealth except the share of the eldest son⁹⁰ and when he gives a thousand cattle or all his wealth he has to give one mule in addition (Āp. XIII. 5. 1-3). He may also give goats, sheep, horses, slaves, an elephant, clothes, chariots, corn of various kinds, asseṣ A man may give his own daughter in marriage (in the daiva form) as fee (Āśv. V. 13. 7). With regard to the cows meant as fee Āp. states that the yajamāna drives them with the black antelope skin so as to form them into four groupṣ One group (i. e. ⅓ of the whole number) is given to the adhvaryu and his assistants in such a way that the pratiprasthātṛ, neṣṭṛ and unnetṛ receive respectively half, one-third and one-fourth of what the adhvaryu gets; that is, as stated by Kāt. X. 2. 25 and the coṃ on Āp. XIII. 2. 12, twelve cows are given to each of the four principal priests, 6, 4 and 3 respectively to each of their assistants in the order stated above in note 2228 (supposing one hundred cows are to be distributed). Jai. (as indicated below) and Manu VIII. 210 refer to this rule of distributioṇ The āgnīdhra is the first recipient of gifts, receiving a piece of gold, pūrṇapātra and a pillow woven with threads of all colourṣ The pratihartṛ is the last recipient (Āp. XIII. 6. 2, Kāt. X. 2. 39). Gifts are made to the priests while they sit inside the sadas and to the adhvaryu and his assistants in the havirdhāna pavilioṇ To a brāhmaṇa of the Atri gotra (who is not a ṛtvik) a gold piece is given before everybody else or after the āgnīdhra (Āp. XIII. 6. 12, Kāt. X. 2. 21). After the āgnīdhra come brahmā, udgātṛ and hotṛ (Kāt. X. 2. 26). Apart from the gifts meant for the ṛtviks something is given accord-ing to ability and inclination to the camasādhvaryus, the sadasya and to sight-seers in the sadas (they are called prasar-pakas), except to those who belong to the Kaṇva or Kāśyapa gotra or those who ask for a gift (Āp. XIII. 7. 1-5, Kāt. X. 2. 35). Āp. (XIII. 7. 6-7) says that generally no gift is to be given to one who is not a brāhmaṇa, but a gift may be given to a non-brāhmaṇa who knows the Vedic lore, while no gift is to be made to a brāhmaṇa who is not learneḍ Kāt. X. 2. 38 states that the wife also joins in making giftṣ After the anuvākya is repeated by the maitrāvaruṇa for the marutvatīya cup to be described below no gifts are made (Āp. XIII. 7, 14, Kāt. X. 3. 2). On making the gifts the sacrificer does obeisance (namaskāra) to the priests and utters an invocation as to animals donated in the words 'who gave to whom?' ⁹¹ Drāhyā-yana (V. 3. 14-19) states that before accepting a gift every priest murmurs the famous mantra 'I take thee at the impulse of god Savitṛ.... &c' (Tāṇḍya I. 8. 1) and after receiving the gift each donee murmurs 'who gave to whom' (Tāṇḍya I. 8. 17). The gifts are taken away by the path between the āgnīdhriya shed and the sadas and then by the tīrtha (Drāhyā-yana V. 3. 13). Jai. (X. 2. 22-28) declares that the making of gifts to the priests is not merely a formal act as part of the sacrificial rites, but is intended to induce the priests to give their services in return for the giftṣ In Jai. X. 3. 39-49 it is concluded that in the words ‘the dakṣiṇā is 112’ the vedic text refers only to cows and not to the various kinds of corns, in X. 3. 50-52 that the division of the gifts is to be made by the sacrificer and not left to be done by the priests and that all the priests do not share equally, but according to the Vedic texts some get half ( they are ardhinaḥ ), others one-third (they are called tṛtīyaḥ ) and still others one-fourth (X. 3. 53-55). Jai. XII. 1. 32 states that as valuable gifts are given in Somayāga, there is no rice cooked (called anvāhārya ) for the priests in the iṣṭis of Somayāga as there is in darśapūrṇamāsa ( note 2390 ).

When the gifts are taken away by the priests the sacrificer casts away the antelope horn in the cātvāla pit with two mantras ( Āp. XIII. 7. 16 ). Jai. ( IV. 2. 16-19 ) says that this casting away is the final disposal of the horn ( it is a pratipatti- karma ) and (in XI. 3. 13-14) that this casting takes place on the last day in sacrifices like the Dvādaśāha. The adhvaryu offers five offerings of ājya called Vaiśvakarmaṇa ( i. e. for Viśvakarman ) in the āgnīdhra fire with five mantras from Tai. S. III. 2. 8. 1-3 ( Āp. XIII. 7. 17 and Sat. IX. 2. p. 911 ). The adhvaryu and the pratiprasthātṛ take two cups for ( Indra ) Marutvat and offer theṃ The remnants of the cup in prati- prasthātṛ’s hand are poured in the adhvaryu’s cup; from this mixture a portion is poured in the oup of the pratiprasthātṛ. The priests partake of the remnantṣ Then a third Marutvatīya cup is taken to the accompaniment of the śastra called marutvatīya⁹². recited by the hotṛ ( Āp. XIII. 8. 2) and at the end of the recita- tion of that śāstra it is offereḍ Then a cup for Mahendra is takeṇ The stotra for Mahendra is called Pṛṣṭha²⁶¹⁶ and is chanted at this time, being sung in Rathantara melody ( Lāṭ. II. 9. 7, Āśv. V. 15. 2–3 ). Then follows the Niṣkevalya śāstra by the hotṛ. After the Mahendra cup is offered, the pratiprasthātṛ, neṣṭṛ and unnetṛ take up three grahas ( cups ) called Atigrāhya respectively for Agni, Indra and Sūrya ( Āp. XIII. 8. 7–9 ). Then three Ukthya cups are offered as in the morning pressing. Then three Pṛṣṭhastotras²⁶¹⁷ are chanted,

##2616. The Rg. verses of the Rathantara sāman are (VII. 32.22–23); अ॒भि त्वा॑ शू॒र॒ नॊनु॒मोऽदु॑ग्धा इ॑व धे॒नव॑: । ईशा॑न॒मस्य॒ जग॑तः स्व॒दृश॒मीशा॑न॒मिन्द्र॒ त॒स्थुष॑: ॥ न त्वावाँ॑ अ॒न्यो दि॒व्यो न पार्थि॑वो॒ न जा॑तो॒ न ज॑निष्यते । अ॒श्वा॑य॒न्तो म॑घ॒वन्त्सि॑ष॒सो॒ वाजि॑नो गव्य॒न्तस्त्वा॑ ह॒वामहे॑ ॥ These two are respectively in the Bṛhatī and Paṅkti metres and together constitute a Bārhata Pragātha. Vide Jai. IX. 2. 25–28 and Śabara thereoṇ In chanting these to the Rathantara melody they are to be made into three, by repeating the 4th pāda of the first with the first half of Rg. VII. 32. 23. The Wai Mṣ writes it as follows: ॐ॒ । ओ॑भि॒त्वा शू॒र नॊनु॒मॊ॒' वा॑ । ॐ॒ मादु॑ग्धा॒ इव॑ धे॒नवै॑ ईशा॑न॒मस्य॒ जग॑त॒: स्वृषा॑ २ ३ ईशा॑नॊ॒ । ओ॑ ईशा॑नॊ॒ २ ३ इ॒न्द्रौ॑ ३ । सू॑सू॒ २ ३ ४ षौ ओ॑र्षौ॒ ५ हा॑उ॒वा ॥ अं॑स॒ १ ॥ ईशा॑वॊ॒ । ओ॑ ना॒मि॒न्द्रा॑सु॒सु॒वॊ॒' न त्वावाँ॑ अ॒न्यौ॑ दि॒विया॒: नै पा॑ २ ३ थि॒वौ॒' । नै जा॑तौ॒' नॊ २ ३ जाँ॒' । नॊ॑ मि॒ष्या॒ २ ३ ताउ॒वौ॑ ५ हा॑उ॒वा॒ । अं॑स॒ु ॥ नै जॊवाँ॑ । ॐ॒ तॊ न ज॒निष्य॑ते॒' अ॒श्वा॑य॒न्तौ' म॒घवा॒ननिन्द्रे॒ वा॑ २ ३ जिनाँ॑: । गे॒व्वय॒न्तस्सौ॑ २ ३ हा॑ रे॒। वौमा॑ २ ३ ४ हॊ॒ औ॒' वौ॑ ५ हॊ॒' उ॒वा॒ । अं॑स॒ु ॥ The Wai Mṣ inserts after जगतः ओँ वामभामु भौमि भभे भभ भौं भो भभ भ भ भ भ भ भ: । (after जगतेः). This is probably in accordance with लाट्यायनश्रौत VII. 11.6-8. ताण्ड्य. VII. 6. 11 says that अदृश् is the निधन of रथन्तर; vide ताण्ड्य VII. 7. 1 and 3 for प्रस्ता्व and प्रति- हार of रथन्तर. The Mṣ in the Bombay Asiatio Society’s Library places the letter ‘ra’ wherever in the other two there is a vertical stroke and it has no figure over ‘him’ and ‘om’. There are a few other differences also ( not noted here ). In the B. I. edition ( vol. III. p. 85 ) the scheme is a good deal different as the following (only the first verse is taken ) will show: अ॒भिला शू॒र नॊनु॒मा॒: । अ॒दु॑ग्धा॒ आ॒यि॒ । वौ॒ २ धॊयिनौ॑ २ वा॒: ईशा॑न- मस्य॒ जग॑त॒: सुव॒दृं शाँ॑ २ ३ ४ मे॒ दी॑' । ईशा॑ना॒ २ ३ ४ मी॒' । द्वसू॑ २ ओउ॒वा॒ २ ३ । दे॒ ३ खै॒वौवैवौ॑ ॥

##2617. The 2nd पृढस्तोत्र is वामदेव्य, Rg. IV. 31. 1–3, Sāmaveda II. 1. 1. 12 (Benfey) and S. V. vol. III. pp. 87–89; the 3rd is नौधस, Rg. VIII. 88. 1-2, Sāmaveda II. 1. 1. 13 and S. V. vol. III. pp. 91–92; the 4th is कालेय, Rg. VIII. 66. 1-2, Sāmaveda II. 1. 1. 14 (Benfey) and S. V. vol. III. pp. 101–102. each followed respectively by the śāstras recited by the maitrā-varuņa, brāhmaṇācchaṁsin and acchāvāka. This closes the mid-day pressing of soma.

The evening pressing commences with the taking of the Āditya cup (a cup the deity of which is Aditi). In the third pressing the Vedic texts are to be uttered in the highest tone (Aśv. V. 17. 1). The procedure in this pressing resembles that of the mid-day pressing (Sat. V. 3. p. 915). The adhvaryu, the sacrificer, the pratiprasthātṛ, āgnīdhra and unnetṛ enter the havirhdhāna shed by the eastern door and the wife enters by the western door (Kāt. X. 3. 2–3). The doors of the havirhdhāna shed are shut when there are many persons sitting inside the vedi (Āp. XIII. 9. 2, Sat. IX. 3. p. 915). The adhvaryu takes into the Āditya cup a part of the remnants of the soma from the cups for the joint deitieṣ In the middle or western part of the āditya cup he adds curds and then again takes the whole of the remnants of the soma from the cups for the joint deities (that has been poured in the āditya asthālī). He stirs the contents of the cup with the upāṁśusavana stone used in crushing the soma stalks and mixes them well together. He then takes out the stone and places it among the stones used for crushing soma stalkṣ The āditya cup is not placed down, but is covered with darbhas or with the right hand of the adhvaryu, who comes out after the doors of the havirhdhāna are opened, takes it to the uttaravedi, stirs the contents with darbhas in such a way that a few drops fall down out of the cup. After the usual praiṣa and the other procedure the adhvaryu throws the darbhas on the āhavaniya and offers the contents of the āditya cup into fire. At the time of offering the contents and also immediately after doing so he does not look at the offering but looks elsewhere (Aśv. V. 17. 3). He does not partake of the remnants of soma in the āditya cup but keeps it with the remnants of soma therein among the several vesselṣ He puts on the rīlṣa (the dregs of soma stalks) that is left after the two pressings the stalks (aṁśu) that are in the adābhya vessel and the upāṁśupātra and silently extracts soma juice therefroṃ In the āgnīdhra shed the sacrificer’s wife prepares by churning ‘āsir’ (milk mixed with soma) and enters the havirhdhāna shed by the western door. The yajamāna enters by the eastern door, spreads on the mouth of the pūtabhṛt trough the strainer and pours thereon along with his wife the āsir with four mantras (Tai. S. III. 2. 8. 4–5). He fills the āgrayaṇa cup from four streams (the fourth being from the remnants of soma in the ādityapātra), while in the mid-day pressing there are only three streams (Sat. IX. 3. p. 918, Ap. XIII. 10. 11 ). In this pressing no turban is given to the grāvastut priest. Then the Viprud-dhoma is performeḍ The Ārbhava ²⁶¹⁸ pavamāna is then chanted on the lines of the Mādhyandina pavamāna.

The havis prepared from the various limbs of the (savanīya) paśu sacrificed in the morning is then offered ( Ap. XIII. 11. 3, Āśv. V. 17. 4). After the idā is partaken of by the hotṛ, the purodāśa ( cake baked on 12 potsherds, Sat. IX. 3. p. 920) is offered to Indra and the rest of the procedure up to the laying down of the Nārāśaṁsa cups is followeḍ Then soma of the third pressing is offered by the adhvaryu from the hotṛcamasa and by the camasādhvaryus from their camasas and as else- where the priests and camasādhvaryus partake of the remnantṣ After the Nārāśaṁsa cups are laid down each of the priests who drink soma from camasas takes from the softest part of the purodāśa three small balls (or pills), places them on the ground to the south of his own camasa and they then offer them to their own father, grand-father and great-grand-father with the appropriate mantras ²⁶¹⁹ ( Ap. XIII. 12. 9, Āśv. V. 17. 5). They mutter the namaskāra mantras ( vide note 2438 above ) and the sacrificer utters the Ṣaḍ-dhotṛ mantras ( Ap. XIII. 12. 10-11) which are in Tai. Ār. III. 4. Then the Sāvitra cup is offered (Āp. XIII. 13. 1, Āśv. V. 18. 1). The Vaiśvadeva cup is thereafter filled from the Pūtabhṛt trough, but there is no stotra chanted for this cup; the vaiśvadeva śāstra however is recited by the hotṛ (Āśv. V. 18. 5-13). Then rice (caru) is boiled for being offered to god Soma. The adhvaryu wears the sacred thread in the prācīnāvīta form, cuts off to the south of the āhavanīya one oblation from the boiled rice with his right hand and another with the mekṣaṇa, crosses to the north of the āhavanīya, and with his face to the south offers in the southern part of the āhavanīya fire the oblations of rice, the yājyā being ‘tvam soma pitṛbhiḥ samvidānaḥ’ (Ṛg. VIII. 48.13). Ājya is poured on the remnants of the caru in the pot, the adhvaryu sees his face in the clarified butter (Āśv. V. 19. 4), anoints his eyes with the ājya by means of his thumb and ring- finger and then hands over the pot of rice (with ājya therein) to the three udgātṛ priests, who see their reflections in the ājya and if they cannot see their reflection (which is an evil omen) then more ājya is poured and two mantras are repeated (Āśv. V. 19. 5, one being ‘bhadram karṇebhiḥ’ Ṛg. I. 89. 8) and then again they look for their reflection in the ājya. The āgnīdhra carries lighted roots of darbhas to the several dhiṣṇyas and establishes them thereon as fires and the adhvaryu pours ājya taken afresh in a pot over them while the darbhas are glowing (Āp. XIII. 14. 5-6, Sat. IX. 4 p. 929). He keeps some ājya in the pot, takes the cup called Patnīvata, ⁹⁵ fills it from the soma in the Āgrayaṇasthālī, mixes in it the ājya that remains after pouring over on the dhiṣṇya fire-brands and offers it into the northern part of the fire. Jai. (in III. 2. 33-37) lays down several pro- positions about this cup viz. that it is offered only to Agni Patnīvat and not also to Indra-Vāyu and other joint deities (though the soma in the āgrayaṇasthālī had in it the remnants of the contents of the grahas for joint deities), that, though the mantra in offering it contains the word Tvaṣṭṛ (‘O! Agni Pat- nīvat! drink soma joined with god Tvaṣṭṛ’) that cup of soma is offered only to Agni Patnīvat and not to Tvaṣṭṛ also and that, though Rg. III. 6. 9 ( the yājyā verse ) contains a prayer about the thirty-three gods, the Pātnivata is not to be supposed to be offered to them also. The adhvaryu then issues various directions to the several priests ( Āp. XIII. 14. 11, Sat. IX. 4. p. 930 ). The āgnīdhra sits on the lap⁹⁶ of the nestṛ and par- takes of the remnants of the Pātnivata cup (Āśv. V. 19. 8, Kāt. X. 6. 24 ), while so sitting. He washes that cup on the mārjā- līya and keeps it on the khara. The camasas of the hotṛ and others are filled by the unnetṛ in such a way that no soma is left, the two jars of soma are wiped with the daśās and they are all kept with mouths turned downwardṣ The adhvaryu starts the udgātṛ priests on their chant of Yajñāyajñīya stotra ( Āp. XIII. 15. 3 ), which is the principal stotra of the Agniṣṭoma ( Sat. IX. 4. p. 931 calls it ' Agniṣṭoma Sāman' ). All those priests who are to chant the stotra and the choristers cover their heads together with the earṣ⁹⁷ Those who come as sight-seers into the sadas should join in the chant as choristers ( Āp. XIII. 15. 6 ). When the udgātṛ makes the hiṅkāra of the yajñāyajñīya stotra he looks at the sacrificer's wife who is brought by the nestṛ near the udgātṛ. When the nidhana ( Anale ) of the first verse is being sung the wife removes the garment from her right thigh and with her face to the north pours the pānnejani water on her thigh up till the prastāva of the third stotrīya of the first paryāya⁹⁸ ( so as to leave no water in the jar ). The wife retires to her shed when the udgātṛ asks her to go or when he has looked at her thrice and she has poured water thrice ( Kāt. X. 7. 5-6 ). While the chant proceeds the sacrificer repeats the saptahotṛ mantras ( note 2393 above ). The Yajñāyajñīya sāman is Rg. VI. 48. 1-2= Sāmaveda II. 1. 1. 20 (Benfey) and S. V. vol. III. p. 175-177.⁹⁹ After this comes the recitation of the Agnīmāruta śāstra (Āśv. V. 20. 6) which is to be done in the druta (quick) mode of recitatioṇ¹⁰⁰ While the hotṛ recites Ṛg. X. 9. 1-3 (the hymn beginning with ‘āpo hi ṣṭhā’), which is part of this śāstra he touches water separately at each verse, the other priests touch him, they all remove the covering from their heads,¹⁰¹ the hotṛ utters the āhāva, the adhvaryu utters the pratigara after splashing water. There are āhāvas when the four verses of Ṛg. VI. 47. 1-4 are being recited in the Agnīmāruta śāstra. Accord- ing to Sat. IX. 4. p. 932 the āhāva at the beginning of the first verse has a response which is ‘madā modaiva modā modaiva (or-daivom)’.¹⁰²

When the last verse (paridhānīyā) of the Agnimāruta śāstra is being recited (or at one of several other stages, accord- ing to Āp. XIII. 16. 2-5 and Sat. IX. 4. p. 933) the pratipra- sthātr brings into the hotṛ-camasa the soma contained in the dhruva graha and the adhvaryu offers the soma contained in that camasa and the camasādhvaryus offer the soma in their cups and the priests partake of the remnantṣ When the upayāja homa with reference to the animal killed in the morn- ing is performed and the paridhis are cast into the fire, he takes the Hāriyojana cup.¹⁰³ The unnetr brings into it all the soma contained in the āgrayaṇa-sthālī and mixes therein plenty of fried barley grains, places the cup on his head, comes out of the havirdhāna shed, steps backwards and forwards several timeṣ Then the contents are offered to Indra (the tyāga by the yajamāna is ‘idaṁ Indrāya harivate’) and the remnants are brought to the sadas for being partaken by the priests and the sacrificer. They distribute the remnants into other vessels, drink the fluid only smacking their lips, press the fried grains between their teeth so as to extract and take in all juice out of them and spit out of the vedi the masticated fried grains and sip water. According to some (Kat. X. 8. 5) the priests only smell the fried grainṣ They throw chips of the tree from which the yūpa was made into the āhavanīya each with ‘thou art the expiation (means of removal) of the evil caused by gods, men pitṛs &c.’ (Vāj. S. VIII. 13., Tai. S. III. 2. 5. 7 quoted in Āp. XIII. 17. 9). They partake of the thick cheese-like layer on curds with ‘dadhikrāvṇo’ (Rg. IV. 39. 6) in the āgnīdhra shed (Sat. IX. 4. p. 935, Āp. XIII. 18. 1). They cast into the jars containing remnants of Ekadhanā waters green dūrvā grass, squeeze that grass well, impart to the water a sharp flavour ( by the juice of the dūrvā ), pour the water into ten camasaṣ Each priest smells his camasa ( and those who have none smell the one nearest to them) to the west of the cātvāla or in the place (called āstāva ) where the Bahiṣpavamāna was chanted ( Āp. XIII. 17. 9, Kāt. X. 8. 7, Sat. IX. 4. p. 935 ) and pour the water down into the cātvāla pit ( Sat. IX. 4. p. 935, or inside the vedi according to Āp. XIII. 18. 1 ). All priests wait upon the āhavanīya with the mimdā mantra ‘yanma ātmano mimdābhūt’ ( whatever fault has been mine, Agni has mended it’ &c. Tai. S. III. 2. 5. 4 ). The priests then discharge them- selves from the vow made at the Tānūnaptra ceremony. Then the Patnīsaṁyājas are performed as in the animal sacrifice ( Āp. XIII. 18. 3 ). The adhvaryu offers with the juhū nine saṁiṣṭayajus offerings in a continuous stream, standing inside the vedi. Then he performs the prāyaścittas for actions like spilling soma drops about and offers a savanāhuti ( i. e. an ājya offering indicating the completion of the Agniṣṭoma ). The adhvaryu issues a direction to the maitrāvaruṇa to urge the priests to come out of the sacrificial shed and the latter do so.

Then follows the Avabhṛtha ( the final purificatory bath ). The procedure of this is an iṣṭi. Jaimini, however, in X. 7. 47-50 lays down that the avabhṛtha is a special rite and therefore all that takes place in the darśapūrṇamāsa iṣṭi does not follow as a matter of course. A fuel-stick is laid on fire, a veda bunch is made, kuśa is strewn round the fires (that is paris- taraṇa ), the necessary yajñapātras are placed with mouths downwardṣ No idhma is brought and some do not even prepare the vedi. Only four ladlings of ājya are taken in all the ladles (sruc ). The nirvāpa is only for a cake to Varuṇa on one potsherd ( Āp. XIII. 19. 3 ). There are no praṇītā waters ( Sat. IX. 5. p. 938 ), and no girding up of the wife ( vide above p. 1040 for it ). The ājya in the ladles and the grains taken out for puroḍāśa are placed on the shoulder ( north corner on eastern side) of the uttaravedi. The sacrificer takes out from its pit the post of udumbara (audumbari in the sadas ), places it on the hide and board used in extracting soma juice and all other utensils except the four sthālīs viz. the āgrayaṇa, ukthya, āditya-sthālī and dhruvāsthālī ( vide Tai. Br. I. 4. 1 for these four sthālīs of clay ) that are smeared with soma in the space between the cātvāla pit and the utkara or on the northern shoulder of the vedi on the large stool ( āsandī ) used for soma. The yajamāna casts away the antelope skin in the cātvāla pit (other ways of disposal are also mentioned in Āp. XIII. 19. 8–9). When starting for avabhṛtha he offers clarified butter with ‘O! Fire, that gives life &c.’ (Tai. S. I. 3. 14. 4), a second oblation with the mantra ‘avabhṛtha, nicumpuṇa &c.’ (Vāj. S. VIII. 27).¹⁰⁴

A third oblation of ājya is made to Rudra (Āp. XIII. 20. 1) with ‘namo Rudrāya’ (Tai. Br. III. 7. 9). When starting from the vedi or from near the cātvāla with faces to the north they recite Ṛg. I. 24. 8 (Tai. S. I. 4. 45. 1). The adhvaryu issues a direction to the prastotṛ to chant a sāmaṇ The sāman chanted is called ‘avabhṛthaśāman’ (Lāt. II. 12. 1). It is ‘agniṣṭapati’ (vide Śat. Br. IV. 4. 5. 8 and Drāhyāyaṇā śr. VI. 4. 1). When the nidhana of the sāman is being sung, all the priests, the yajamāna and his wife thrice repeat that finale. They do so a second time when they have traversed half of the distance to the reservoir of water and a third time when they reach the water (Āp. XIII. 20. 4 and Sat. IX. 5. p. 941). The same procedure is followed for the Varuṇa puroḍāśa as in Varuṇapraghāsa for niṣkāsa. The dregs of soma are thrown into water with the branch of the udumbara tree and curds are poured over it. All utensils smeared with soma are thrown into water (Āp. XIII. 21. 12, Kāt. X. 8. 24). Jai. (IV. 2. 19–22) says that this casting into water is merely the final disposal (pratipatti) of these utensils and the śruti passage ‘they approach the water for the final bath with whatever is smeared with soma’ does not lay down any subordinate matter about avabhṛtha. The girdle of the yajamāna and the yoktra, the jāla (net on the head of the wife) and the antelope skin of the wife are dipped in water. The yajamāna invokes the water with ‘devīrāpaḥ’ (Tai. S. I. 4. 45. 3) and enterṣ The deep silent waters of flowing rivers are to be preferred, but in the absence of such waters any water reservoir will do (Kāt. X.8.19). The yajamāna and the wife enter water, splash water on their heads (but do not dip them into water), rub each other’s back. A handful of kuśa is thrown into the water and this handful in the water serves as the āhavanīya for all āhutis in avabhṛtha. The prayājas and anuyājas are offered as in darśapūrņamāsa (except to God Barhis). Jai. (XI. 2. 30-34) lays down that not only is the principal offering of purodāśa offered into water but also all subordinate ones like āghāraṣ A portion of the purodāśa for Varuņa is offered thereiṇ The rest of the purodāśa is offered to Agni and Varuņa, which becomes the Svişţakŗt offering in this case (Kāt. X. 8. 27, Sat. IX. 5 p. 944). The unnetr at the direction of the adhvaryu leads all out of the water (the yajamāna or hotr being the first). The yajamāna and his wife put on fresh garments and come out. The cloth with which soma was enveloped is worn as a turban by the yajamāna and that in which soma stalks were tied is worn by the wife and both the pieces of cloth are donated later on in the Udavasānīyā işţi to the adhvaryu (Āp. XIII. 22. 3-4 ). The priests, the yajamāna and the wife hold each a fuel-stick of udumbara, mutter the Mahīyā ŗk (viz. apāma somam-amŗtā abhūma, Ŗg. VIII. 48. 3), proceed following the unnetr towards the sacrificial ground without looking back at the water, perform mārjana in front of the cow-stable (of the sacrificer) and place the fuel-stick (carried by each) on the āhavanīya with ‘edhosi &c.’ (Tai. S. I. 4. 45. 3) and wait upon that fire with ‘apo anvacārışam’ (Āp. XIII. 22. 6 quoting Tai. S. I. 4. 45. 3). Then follows the Udayanīyā (the concluding işţi). It is performed in the prāgvaṁśa (and not on the specially prepared uttaravedi). The procedure is like that for the prāyaṇīyā işţi (already described on p. 1140). In the same sthalī (pot) in which the prāyaṇīyā offering was cooked and to the bottom of which some remnants stick he takes the offering for this işţi. The wife again ties round her waist the yoktra. Prayājas are optional and if not offered no ājya is taken in the juhū. The yājyās and anuvākyās of the prāyaṇīyā become respectively the anuvā- kyās and yājyās of the Udayanīyā. The order of deities is different, viz. Agni is the first, Pathyā Svasti the last for ājya offerings (Āp. XIII. 23. 4, Sat. IX. 6. p. 950, Aśv. VI. 14. 3). When the Udayanīyā is finished the anubandhyā rite follows¹⁰⁵ (Āp. XIII. 23. 6, Śat. IX. 6. p. 951). A barren cow is to be offered to Mitra and Varuņa. The procedure is the same as that of Nirūdha-paśu-bandha. Some sacrificed three anubandhyā cows viz. to Mitra and Varuņa, to the Viśve Devas and to Bṛhaspati, but Āp. (XIII 23. 6. 10 and 14) restricts them to Vājapeya, Rājāsuya and sattraṣ Kāt. (X. 9. 14-15) says that instead of the cow, a bull may be offered or only payasyā may be offered to Mitra and Varuna.¹⁰⁶ Āp. XIII. 24. 10 states that in place of the anubandhyā cow the followers of Ṛgveda offered āmikṣā to Mitra-Varuna and the offering was made by the hotṛ in front of the havirdhāna shed and all the ceremonies in the archetype iṣṭi up to Iḍā were performed in that rite. After the anubandhyā (or āmikṣā) was offered came the five offerings called Devikā viz. a cake on twelve potsherds to Dhātṛ and four oblations of rice cooked in milk in the four sthālīs mentioned above (in which soma had been placed) to Anumati, Rākā, Sinīvālī and Kuhū (Āśv. VI. 14. 15, Āp. XIII. 24. 1-3). The yajamāna shaves his hair and moustache near the southern side of the vedi (Āp. XIII. 23. 16). The āhavanīya fire is taken to the north outside the mahāvedi in an earthen-ware vessel and the kuśas strewn on the vedi are burnt thereon and the smoke issuing therefrom is invoked with a mantra (Sat. IX. 6. p. 954), the adhvaryu offers on the fire (of the kuśas) ground barley from his joined hands (Āp. XIII. 24. 16-17). The fires are then deposited in the araṇis by repeating ' ayam te yoniḥ ' (Ṛg. III. 29. 10, Tai. S. I. 5. 2, Vāj. S. III. 14) as stated in Āśv. III. 10. 5. Having given up the sacrificial ground he again produces fire by attrition to the north of the sacrificial ground and the udavasānīyā iṣṭi is performeḍ¹⁰⁷ In this iṣṭi a cake baked on eight or five potsherds is offered to Agni (Āp. XIII. 25. 5, Sat. IX. 6. p. 956). In this iṣṭi (Āśv. VI. 14. 24) everything is done as in the punarādheya, but the mantras are muttered inaudibly in all cases except the last anuyāja. A bull is the fee or as much gold as will purchase a bull. Instead of this iṣṭi an offering of ājya was made by some (Āp. XIII. 25. 7-8) from the juhū in which twelve ladlings were made with sruva with 'idam viṣṇur' (Ṛg. I. 22. 17). Ingenious theories have been advanced by European scholars about the origin of the soma sacrificeṣ Considerations of space forbid the discussion of this topic here. Those who are interested in these speculations may consult Prof. Eggeling's Introduction to S. B. E. vol. 26 pp. XI-XXXIII (where several European works are cited and questions about soma are discussed), L' Agniṣṭoma (pp. 481-490), Prof. Keith's 'Religion and philosophy of the Veda &c.' pp. 331-332 and the works cited there. With the greatest respect for all these learned and industrious European savants it must be said that none of the theories has any great plausibility or carries convictioṇ The cult of the soma is at least Indo-Iranian and no sure traces are left in the ancient Indian religious books of the origin of that cult. We have simply the institution of the sacrifice before us and all else is imagination and speculatioṇ One important question is the relation of the plant soma to the moon (also called soma as in Rg. X. 85. 1 and 2). The moon is generally called 'mās' or 'candramas' in the Rg. (Rg. V. 51. 15, X. 85. 19, VIII. 94. 2, X. 12. 7, X. 68. 10). In Rg. VIII. 82. 8 occurs the very striking simile ¹⁰⁸ 'Soma that is seen among the (soma) vessels as the moon in waters' and the Atharvaveda (XI. 6. 7) states that the god whom people call Candramas is soma. In several places soma is addressed as indu (which certainly means the moon in later literature). Vide Rg. IX. 86. 24, 26, 37, VIII. 48. 2, 4, 5, 12, 13. It is said that soma grew on Mūjavat (Rg. X. 34. 1) and in the Ārjikiya country (Rg. VIII. 64. 11) on the river Suṣomā. Even in the Ṛgveda soma appears to have become mythical. In Rg. IX. 86.24 soma is said to have been brought from heaven by Suparṇa (eagle or bird?) and in I. 93. 6 by a Śyena (hawk). Another matter to be noted is that the soma plant had certainly become rare, ¹⁰⁹ if not unobtainable, in the times of the Brāhmaṇaṣ The Śat. Br. IV. 5. 10 mentions several substitutes for soma, among which are Phālguna plants having brown flowers, Dūb plant and greenish kuśaṣ The Tāṇḍya Br. says ‘If one does not secure soma, one may extract juice from pūtikas’.¹¹⁰ Jai. (III. 6. 40 and VI. 3. 13-17) states that this passage restricts a sacrificer when no soma is available to pūtikas and prevents the employment of other substances similar to soma and in VI. 3. 31 he declares that pūtikas are the proper prati-nidhi (substitute) for soma and not any other substance even if it may be more similar to soma than pūtikas, but that if both pūtika and soma are unavailable then another substance similar to soma may be employeḍ Aśv. (VI. 8. 5–6) states that if soma stalks be not available then pūtika stalks and Phālguna plant should be used or other plants mixed with pūtikas may be employed (and the coṃ adds that those others are dūrvā, kuśa and the like). In the Deccan the plant that is taken to repre-sent soma when soma sacrifices are rarely performed is called ‘rāṁśera’ (in Marathi) which grows in the hills of the Deccaṇ