Chapter XXXV. Sautrāmanī and Other Sacrifices

Volume II: Part II pp. 1224–1255

Chapter XXXV. Sautrāmanī and Other Sacrifices

SAUTRĀMAṆI¹ AND OTHER SACRIFICES

This rite is included among the seven forms of havir- yajñas (Gaut. VIII. 20, Lāṭ. V. 4. 23). It is not a soma sacrifice but is a combination of an iṣṭi with animal sacrifice (Śāt. Br. XII. 7. 2. 10). The chief characteristic of it is the offering of surā (wine) in it. In modern times milk is offered in place of surā in the Sautrāmaṇī. According to Lāṭ. V. 4. 20 and Āp. XIX. 5. 1 there are two kinds of this rite, viz. Kaukili and Caraka-sautrāmaṇī (or the ordinary one). Kaukili is an independent rite, while the ordinary Sautrāmaṇī is performed at the end of the Rājasūya (one month after it) and also at the end of the piling of the fire-altar (agnicayana). Lāṭ. V. 4. 21 states that there is chanting of sāmans only in the Kaukili and not in the other variety and according to Kāt. XIX. 5. 1 (coṃ) it is the brahmā that chants the Sāman to Indra in the Bṛhati tune (viz. Vāj. S. XX. 30) Āp. XIX. 1. 2. states that in the ordinary sautrāmaṇī the procedure is that of the nirūdha- paśubandha and that (XIX. 5. 2) in Kaukili also the same procedure applieṣ There are two fires as in Varuṇaprāghāsa, but the southern one is not established on a vedi (Kāt. XIX. 2. 1 and V. 4. 12). Some held (as is done by Śat. Br. XII. 7. 3. 7) there were two vedis behind which two mounds were raised, one for cups of milk and the other for cups of surā. The rite takes four days, during the first three out of which wine is prepared from various ingredients, while on the last day three cups of milk and three of surā are offered to Aśvins, Sarasvatī and Indra and animals are slaughtered for the same three.

In this rite the victims are a reddish-white goat for the Aśvins, an ewe for Sarasvatī, and a bull for Indra Sutrāman (Śāṇ XV. 15. 1-4, Āśv. III. 9. 2). A brief description of the method in which wine was prepared in the Sautrāmaṇī is given below from the Śat. Br. V. 5. 4, XII. 7. 2, Kāt. XV. 9. 28-30, XIX. 1-2 (and coṃ thereon ). Rice-grains² (or malted rice grains and malted barley or śyāmāka ) germinated and un-germinated covered in linen cloth are purchased from an eunuch in exchange for lead, wool and fried grain for threaḍ This purchase takes place on the southern one of the vedis specially prepared for this rite near the peg called antahpaśya on a hide. The rice grains are cooked in plenty of water and the malted barley grains are powdered and boileḍ The water and scum are strained through woollen cloth. The hair of the lion, the wolf and the tiger are thrown into the mixture (this is symbolic of the characteristics of prowess, impetuosity and fury found in those wild beasts). Certain vegetable substances such as myrobalans, ginger, nutmeg (which serve as yeast and are mentioned in the note below), are powdered and boiled in plenty of water. The hot watery scum from the two pots of boiled rice and powdered barley is taken into two vessels and the extract of vegetables is poured in both of them, the mixture being called māsara. The boiled rice and barley are also mixed with the extract of powdered vegetables, put in a kumbhī (a big jar ) along with contents of the māsara vessels and the jar is placed in a pit dug to the south-west of the sacrificial hall and kept there for three nightṣ On the first day the milk of one cow meant for Aśvins is poured into the kumbhī placed in the pit and powder of śaspa is addeḍ The next day the milk of two cows meant for Sarasvatī is poured into the kumbhī and powder of tokma is addeḍ On the third milk of three cows meant for Indra is added and also the powder of fried rice grains ( lāja ). To the west of the mound prepared on the southern vedī a pit is dug (outside the vedī according to coṃ on Kāṭ. XIX. 2. 7.) on which is spread bull's hide over which a sieve of bamboo is held and the liquid from the large jar is poured over the sieve (called kārōṭara).³ The wine thus purified is collected in a sata (a vessel of palāśa wood) and it is further purified wine the pratiprasthātṛ fills the cups for being offered to the three deities, viz. the Aśvins, Sarasvatī and Indra. Either one or three cups are filled for each of the three deities (Kāt. XV. 10. 13). This is done after the offering of the omentum and after mārjana. According to Āp. XIX. 2. 9-11 and Kāt. XV. 10. 12 powders of kuvala, karkandhū and badara fruits are added to the wine in the cups and they are offered in the dakṣiṇā fire (Kāt. XV. 10. 17). There was only one puronuvākyā, one praiṣa and one yājyā for all cupṣ²⁶⁶² On the dakṣiṇā fire a vessel having a hundred holes covered with a hair strainer and gold and containing the remnants of the wine cups was hung by means of a śikya and the trickling drops of wine were offered to pitṛs called Somavat, Barhiṣad and Agniṣvātta with Vāj. S. XIX. 52-60. It is to be noted that the remnants of the wine were not drunk by the priests, but were either drunk by a brāhmaṇa hired for the purpose (Āp. XIX. 3.3) or they were poured over an ant-hill. Āśv. (III. 9.5-6) says that the priests muttered a verse (which is Vāj. S. XIX. 35) and only smelt the remnants of the wine offered (this is called prāṇabhakṣa). Sāṇ. notes that some teachers recited the puronuvākyā, yājyā and praiṣa in an entirely changed form (probably as directly mentioning only surā and not in the phraseology of soma) but it should not be so done, since that is a method fit only for asuraṣ From this one may plausibly argue that the Sautrāmaṇī was practised among Asuras (non-Aryan people or schismatics) and was adopted by the Vedic Āryans, with appropriate changeṣ But it is clear that the drinking of surā by priests was condemned even theṇ⁴⁵ Eggel- ing (in S. B. E. vol. 44 p. 246 n) does not appear to be right so far at least as the sūtra literature goes when he says that the priests drank the remnants of the wine cups (though the Śat. Br. uses the somewhat doubtful word 'bhakṣayanti' which in the sūtras also means 'smelling').

All three animals in the sautrāmaṇī may be goatṣ A fourth animal was offered to Bṛhaspati under certain circumstances (Ap. XIX. 2. 1-2). Though the omentum of the victims was offered to Aśvins, Sarasvatī and Indra, the paśupuroḍāśas were offered to Indra, Savitṛ and Varuṇa (Āśv. III. 9. 2). This rite was performed at the end of Rājasūya or for one who performs cayana or for one who suffers from purging due to excessive drinking of soma beverage or who vomits soma or from the openings of whose body (except the mouth) soma flows out. The independent (kaukill) sautrāmaṇī was performed for a brāhmaṇa who desired prosperity, or for a king who was driven from his kingdom or for one who had no cattle (Kāt. XIX. 1. 2-4). In the beginning and at the end there was a caru to Vditi.

The northern vedi is in extent only one-third of the vedi for a soma sacrifice. When the uttaravedi is being prepared the pratiprasthātṛ takes earth from the cātvāla pit, makes a mound to the south of the uttaravedi, a second mound for the dakṣiṇa fire and establishes it on the mound which is to the south of the uttaravedi. According to Kāt. XIX. 2. 11 (which is part of the description of the independent sautrāmaṇī) the adhvaryu purifies on the northern vedi milk contained in a vessel made of reeds (vetasa) and fills cups of milk, the one for Aśvins being made of aśvattha wood, and those for Sarasvatī and Indra being made of udumbara and nyagrodha. The three cups of milk are offered together by the adhvaryu. After the offering to Vanaspati in the animal sacrifice a couch of muñja cords is placed between the two vedis and the sacri-ficer sits on the couch which is covered with a black antelope skin with a silver piece under his left foot and a golden one under his right foot. The adhvaryu offers thirty-two cups of vasā (fat) from vessels made of the hoofs of bulls with Vāj. S. XIX. 80-95. The remnants of fat are contained in a saṭa ( vessel ) of reedṣ The adhvaryu sprinkles over the yajamāna whose body has been rendered fragrant with unguents the liquid from that vessel till it trickles down up to his mouth. The adhvaryu touches the sacrificer who summons his men and servants calling them by auspicious names (such as suśloka ). The men lift him gradually first up to the knee, then up to the navel &c. The sacrificer alights on a black antelope skin when a 33rd cup of fat is taken, a sāman in the Bṛhat tune for Indra (Vāj S. XX. 30) is chanted by the brahmā priest and the nīdhana ( finale ) of it differs according to the varṇa of the sacrificer⁶ and is sung in chorus by all and then the 33rd cup is offereḍ There is the final purificatory bath as in Somayāga. Finally, after the caru to Aditi āmikṣā is offered to Mitra and Varuṇa and then an animal to Indra Vayodhaṣ Jaimini lays down certain propositions about the Sautrāmaṇī. In III. 5. 14–15 he states that all the contents of the grahas of milk are offered in the fire on the northern vedi and of the wine cups into the southern fire and nothing is left out of them for being offered as Sviṣṭakṛt offering or for the purpose of iḍā. In IV. 3. 29–31 it is established that when the Vedic text says 'after piling the fire altar one should perform Sautrāmaṇī' there is no injunction about the time of performing Sautrāmaṇī but what is declared is that the Sautrāmaṇī is an aṅga ( a subordinate constituent ) of the principal rite viz. agnicayana and in IX. 3. 40–41 it is stated with reference to the same text that the sautrāmaṇī is not necessarily performed immediately after agnicayana but on the Full Moon day or New Moon day thereafter. In VIII. 2. 1–9 Jaimini declares that though the surā offered in Sautrāmaṇī is spoken of as soma and though several actions such as purchase of surā, tying in cloth are common to surā and soma, the general procedure to be followed in Sautrāmaṇī is that of darśapūrṇamāsa and not of soma sacrifice and that surā is spoken of as soma by way of lauding the offering of wine cupṣ⁷

Aśvamedha ( Horse-sacrifice ).

This is one of the most ancient sacrificeṣ Rg. I. 162 and 163 show that the horse-sacrifice was in vogue long before the com- position of those two hymnṣ It was believed, as said above Ch. XXXV ] Aśvamedha (on p. 982), by the composer of those hymns that the horse when sacrificed went to heaveṇ A goat was led in front of the horse (Rg. I. 162. 2-3 and I. 163. 12). The horse was decked with ornaments, it was anointed with the svaru (I. 162. 9) and it perambulated fire thrice or fire was carried round it thrice (I. 162. 4); cloth and a piece of gold are provided for the dead body of the horse to lie down upon (I. 162. 16). Horse's flesh was cooked in a pot called ukhā (I. 162. 13) and offered in fire (I. 162. 19); 34 ribs are mentioned in Rg. I. 162. 18, while 26 ribs are mentioned in other texts with reference to the goat. It appears that āgūḥ, yājyā and vaṣaṭkāra were uttered in making offerings of the horse's flesh (Rg. I. 162. 15). The horse is identified with Āditya, Trita and Yama (Rg. I. 163. 3).

This rite is described in the Śat. Br. XIII. 1-5, Tai. Br. III. 8-9, in which several ancient monarchs are enumerated who performed the Aśvamedha. The Tai. Br. III. 8. 9 identifies the Aśvamedha with the kingdom ⁸ and states 'he, who being weak, offers an Aśvamedha, is indeed thrown away (lit. spilt away). If the enemies (of the king) were to secure the horse, the sacrifice would be destroyed'. The sūtras closely follow the Brāhmaṇaṣ The Aśvamedha is deemed in the sūtras to be an ahīna of three pressing days (Āśv. X. 8. 1, coṃ on Kāt. XX. 1. 1., Sāṇ XVI. 1. 2). A paramount sovereign (sārvabhauma) or a crowned king who is not a sārvabhauma may perform this sacrifice (Āp. XX. 1. 1, Lāṭ. IX. 10. 17). Āśv. X. 6. 1 states (probably following the Ait. Br. about the Mahābhiṣeka in Rājasūya) that one who desires to secure all objects, to win all victories (including one over his own senses) and to attain all prosperity may perform Aśvamedha. ⁹ A beginning is made on the 8th or 9th of the bright half of Phālguna or on the same days of Jyeṣṭha or Asādha according to some (Kāt. XX. 1. 2-3, Lāt. IX. 9. 6-7). Āp. holds that it should be begun on the Full Moon of Caitra (XX. 1. 4). Rice from four vessels, four añjalis and four handfuls is cooked (it is called brahmaudana); it is smeared with ghee and given to the four principal priests who are also given one thousand cows each and gold weighing one hundred berries (Kāt. XX. 1. 4-6, Lāt. IX. 9. 8). Two iṣṭis are per- formed, the first for Agni Mūrdhanvan and the 2nd for Pūṣan (Āśv. X. 6. 2-5, Kāt. XX. 1. 25). The yajamāna cuts off his hair, pares his nails, brushes the teeth, bathes, puts on new garments, wears a golden ornament (niṣka), observes silence. Vide Tai. Br. III. 8. 1 and Āp. XX. 4. 9-14 for these. His four queens well-decked and wearing niṣkas come near the king, the crowned queen accompanied by princesses, the 2nd queen (vāvāṭā, the favourite one) accompanied by daughters of kṣa- triyas, the third (parivṛkti, the discarded one) accompanied by daughters of śūtas and village headmen and the fourth (pālā- galī, of low origin) accompanied by daughters of kṣattrs (chamberlains) and saṁgrāhitṛṣ¹⁰ The yajamāna enters the fire-hall and sits to the west of the gārhapatya facing the north.

Various rules are stated about the horse's colour and other qualities (Śat. Br. XIII. 4. 2. 4, Kāt. XX. 1. 29-35, Lāt. IX. 9. 4). The horse must be all white with dark circular spots and of great speed, or the front part of its body may be dark and the rest of the body white, or it may have a tuft of dark blue hair. The horse is sprinkled with holy water by the four principal priests standing in the four directions (from the east) each surrounded respectively by a hundred princes, a hundred ugras who are not kings, by śūtas and village headmen, and by chamberlains and saṁgrāhitṛs (Āp. XX. 4, Śat. XIV. 1. 31). A dog with four eyes (i.e. having two natural eyes and two depressions in the skin above the eyes) is killed by a man of the āyogava caste or by a voluptuary with the pestle of sidhraka wooḍ The horse is made to enter water and the corpse of the dog is with a loop of reeds made to float under the horse (apastamba has chapters 1-2.6-13, Kāt. XX. 1. 38 ff., Śat. XIV. 1. 30-34). The horse is brought near the fire and offerings are made in the fire till the water ceases to drip down from the horse's body (Kāt. XX. 2. 3-5). A girdle made of muñja grass or of darbhas 12 or 13 aratnis long and smeared with the ājya that remains after being poured over the brahmaudana is invoked with the mantra ‘imām—agṛbhṇan raśanām ṛtasya’ (Tai. S. IV. I. 2. 1, Vāj. S. 22. 2 ) and the horse is bound with it after taking the permission of the brahmā priest. The horse, having water sprinkled over it with mantras and after the sacrificer repeats into its right ear the several appellations for a horse (Āp. XX. 5. 1–9 ), is let off to roam over the country accom panied by four hundred guards with the mantra ‘O gods, the guardians of quarters, protect this horse &c.’ (Vāj. S. XXII. 19, Tai. S. VII. 1. 12. 1 ). The guards include one hundred princes deserving to be seated on couches in the presence of the king, wearing armour and the other guards are armed with swords, arrows and thick clubs according to their rank (Tai. Br. III. 8. 9, Āp. XX. 5. 10–14, Kāt. XX. 2. 11 ). The horse is allowed to roam for a year where it likes and is not made to turn back, but it is prevented from associating with mares or plunging into water for a bath (Kāt. XX. 2. 12–13 ). While doing their duty of guarding the horse, the guards are to subsist by demanding food from brāhmaṇas who do not know the procedure of Aśvamedha (or depriving them of it) or on cooked food taken from all brāhmaṇas; they may stay in the houses of chariot-makers (Āp. XX. 5. 15–18, Kāt. XX. 2. 15–16 ). Every day during the year that the horse is absent, three iṣṭis are offered to Savitṛ in the morning, mid-day and evening, when Savitṛ is respectively addressed as Satyaprasava, Prasa vitṛ and Āsavitṛ (Āśv. X. 6. 8, Lāt. IX. 9. 10, Kāt. XX. 2. 6). When the prayāja offerings are made a brāhmaṇa (other than the priests) with a vīṇā chants three laudatory gāthās in honour of the king composed by himself stating ‘you donated this, you performed such and such a sacrifice, you cooked food for distribution’ (Āp. XX. 6. 5, Kāt, XX. 2. 7 ). This singing took place thrice a day after the iṣṭi to Savitṛ (Śat. Br. XIII. 4. 2. 8–14, Tai. Br. III. 9. 14 ). A kṣatriya lute player also sang three laudatory songs (Śat. Br. XIII. 1. 5. 6, Āp. XX. 6. 14 ) referring to the battles fought and victories won by the sacri ficer. Every day for a year after the iṣṭi to Savitṛ is finished the hotṛ sitting on a golden cushion to the south of the āhavanīya fire recites to the crowned king surrounded by his sons and ministers the narratives called ‘Pāriplava’ (revolving or recurring legends ). When about to commence the Pāriplava the hotṛ makes the summons ‘adhvaryo3’ and the adhvaryu seated on a golden seat (with four legs) responds with ‘ho hotar' (Āśv. X. 6. 10-13).¹¹ The other priests also sit down on cushions or boards and bands of singers holding lutes sit down to the south and sing of the good deeds of the king along with those of his ancestors (Āp. XX. 6. 13). As the king is thus engaged in sacrifices and in listening to the Pāriplava¹² and to the songs, Āp. (XX. 3. 1-2) notes that, till the Aśvamedha is performed, the adhvaryu becomes the king, as the sacrificer ( the crowned king ) declares ‘O brāhmaṇas and nobles ! this adhvaryu is your king. Whatever honour you (usually pay to me) should be paid to hiṃ May whatever he does be regarded as done by you.’ Āśv. (X. 7, 1-10) sets out what the Pāriplava iṣ Śat. Br. XIII. 4. 3 and Śāṅ. XVI. 2 also deal at length with the Pāriplava and they agree with Āśv. in most placeṣ For ten days one after another different texts are recited and this goes on for a year in narrative cycles of ten dayṣ On the first day the hotṛ says ‘Manu was the son of Vivasvat, men are his subjects’ and points at the house-holders sitting down in the sacrificial hall with ‘they ( men as subjects of Manu ) are here sitting down ’ and then recites some one hymn of the Ṛgveda saying ‘to-day the Veda is that of ṛṣiṣ’ On the second day he says ‘Yama is the son of Vivasvat, the pitṛs are his subjects ’ and points to the old men assembled and recites one anuvāka from the Yajurveda. On the 3rd day Varuṇa and the gandharvas (as his subjects identified with fine looking young men ) are mentioned and some hymn from the Atharva-veda dealing with diseases and their cure was narrateḍ On the 4th day the narration relates to Soma, son of Viṣṇu and Apsarases (identified with beautiful young women), and some hymn containing magic spells from the Āṅgirasa Veda; on the 5th the narration relates to Arbuda Kādraveya and serpents (identified with visitors who know serpent lore and poison lore); on the 6th day to Kubera Vaiśravaṇa, his subjects the Rakṣases (identified with evil doing selagas and the lore of Piśāca Veda (?)). On the 7th the narration relates to Asita Dhānvana, his subjects the Asuras and usurers and some illusion (a trick) from Asura lore, on the 8th day to Matsya Sāmada, his subjects aquatic animals, Puñjiṣṭhas (fishermen) from Matsya country and some Purāṇa passage from the Purāṇa-veda, on the 9th to Tārkṣya, son of Vipaścit, his subjects the birds and brahma- cārins and some narrative (itihāsa) from the itihāsaveda; on the 10th day Dharma Indra, his subjects the gods and the young śrotriyas who accept no gifts, and some sāman from the Sāmaveda. Every day for a year in the evening four oblations called Dhṛti were made in the āhavaniya (Kāt. XX. 3. 4). On the first day 49 homas called Prakramas were made in the dakṣiṇā fire with Vāj. S. XXII. 7–8 (beginning with ‘himkārāya svāhā’). Vide Śat. Br. XIII. 1. 3. 5, Tai. S. VII. 1. 19. In this way the Sāvitrī iṣṭis, singing, listening to Pāriplava and Dhṛti offerings went on for a year. For a year the sacrificer kept observances as in the Rājasūya (Lāṭ. IX. 9. 14). Large fees were given to the hotṛ and adhvaryu (Lāṭ. IX. 9. 12–13 and 16) and to the singers (Kāt. XX. 3. 7).

Several expiatory ceremonies are prescribed (Āp. XXII. 7. 9–20, Kāt. XX. 3. 13–21) if the horse died or suffered from disease. If the horse was carried away by an enemy the sacrifice was destroyeḍ At the end of the year the horse was brought to a stable and the sacrificer underwent dīkṣā (initia- tion). There were 12 dikṣās, 12 upāsads and three sutyā days (days on which soma was pressed). Vide Śat. Br. XIII. 4. 1. Āśv. X. 8. 1, Lāṭ. IX. 9. 17. After the dīkṣā the sacrificer is sung as on a par with the gods and on the pressing days, at the time of avabhṛtha, the udayanīyā iṣṭi, the anubandhyā and the udava- sanīyā he is spoken of as on a par with Prajāpati.¹³ There are 21 yūpas (stakes) all being 21 aratnis high. The central one is of Rājjudāla (śleṣmātaka) tree. On its two sides are two pine yūpas and on both sides thereafter there are three yūpas each of bilva, khadira and palāśa (Tai. Br. III. 8. 9, Śāt. Br. XIII. 4. 4. 5, Āp. XX. 9. 6-8, Kāt. XX. 4. 16-20). Large numbers of animals are tied at all these stakes and slaughtereḍ Even wild animals like boars and birds are bound and held between the intervals of the yūpas (Āp. XX, 14. 2 ff.). Vide Vāj. S. XXIV for a list of hundreds of animals out of which those from Kapīñjala onwards (Vāj. S. XXIV. 20 ff.) are let off after fire is carried round them (Kāt. XX. 6, Āp. XX. 17. 5). The 2nd among the three pressing days is the most important and is full of several very striking matters (such as the ribald dialogue, the brahmodya &c.). The horse to be sacrificed is yoked to a chariot along with three horses, the adhvaryu and sacrificer occupy the chariot and take it to a lake or reservoir of water, make the horses enter it (Kāt. XX. 5. 11-14). On the horse’s return to the sacrificial ground it is anointed with clarified butter by the crowned queen, the favourite queen and the discarded queen in the front, the middle and hind parts of its body respectively. They also respectively tie 101 golden beads on the head, mane and tail of the horse with bhūḥ, bhuvaḥ and svaḥ. They give the remnants of the previous night’s offering to the horse with Vāj. S. XXIII. 8. If it does not eat it the remnants are cast into water. Near the yūpa a dialogue takes place between the hotṛ who asks ‘who wanders alone’ (Vāj. S. XXIII. 9) and ‘who was the first to be thought of’ (Vāj. S. XXIII. 11) and the brahmā replies with Vāj. S. XXIII. 10 and 12 respectively. The horse is praised by repeating Rg. I. 163 (Āśv. X. 8. 5). A piece of cloth is spread over grass, thereon a mantle is spread and a gold piece is placed thereon and the horse is killed thereoṇ Before the words ‘adhṛigo śamidḥvam’ in the adhrigu praiṣa Rg. I. 162 and Rg. I. 163. 12-13 are to be reciteḍ When the horse is killed, the wives of the king go round it thrice from left to right with ‘gaṇānām tvā’, thrice from right to left with ‘priyaṇām tvā’ and again thrice from left with ‘nidhinām tvā’ (all in Vāj. S. XXIII. 19). They fan the dead horse with their garments while braiding their hair on the right side upwards loosening the hair on the left side and strike their left thighs with their right hands (Āp. XXII. 17. 13, Āśv. X. 8. 8). The crowned queen lies down by the side of the dead horse and both are covered by the adhvaryu with the mantle on which the horse lies and she unites with it (Āp. XXII. 18. 3-4, Kāt. XX. 6. 15-16). Then according to Āśv. X. 8. 10-13 outside the vedi the hotṛ abuses the crowned queen in obscene language and she returns the abuse along with her one hundred attendant princesses and the brahmā priest and the favourite wife enter into a similar obscene abuse. According to Kāt. XX. 6. 18 the four principal priests and the chamberlain enter into an obscene abusive dialogue (given in Vāj. S. XXIII. 22-31 ) with the queens along with their young female attendantṣ Vide Śat. Br. XIII. 2. 9 and Lāṭ. IX. 10. 3-6. The attendant princesses raise the crowned queen from near the horse with 'dadhikrāvaṇo' ( Rg. IV. 39. 6 = Vāj. S. XXIII. 32 ). The horse is cut up with golden, silver and iron (lauhī may mean copper) needles by the crowned queen, the favourite queen and the discarded one with Vāj. S. XXIII. 33-38. They take out the fat of the dead horse in place of the omentum taken from the goat in other sacrifices (Āp. XXII. 18. 10-11, Kāt. XX. 7. 7). The blood of the horse is cooked and offered at the end of the other offerings to sviṣṭakṛt (Āp. XXII. 19. 10 and Kāt. XX. 8. 8). Before the omentum of the animals meant for Prajāpati is offered there is brahmodya (a theological dialogue, where questions and riddles are propounded and answers given ) between the priests in the sadaṣ According to Aśv. X. 9. 2-3 at first the hotṛ asks the adhvaryu 'who roams alone &c.' ( Vāj. S. 23. 45 ) and the adhvaryu replies 'the sun roams alone &c.' ( Vāj. S. 23. 46 ). Then the hotṛ again asks 'what light is like the sun's &c.' ( Vāj. S. 23. 47 ) and the adhvaryu replies 'truth is light equal to the sun &c.' ( Vāj. S. 23. 48, which however reads 'brahma sūryasamam'). Then the brahmā priest asks udgātṛ and he replies ( Vāj. S. 23. 49-50 ), then the udgātṛ asks a question and the brahmā replies ( Vāj. S. 23. 51-52 ). Then the four priests come out and each asks the sacrificer who sits facing the east the question 'I ask you the furthest limit of the earth &c.' ( Rg. I. 164. 34 ) and the sacrificer replies 'this vedi is the furthest limit' ( Rg. I. 164. 35 ). Vide Lāṭ. IX. 10. 9-14 for almost the same questions and answerṣ¹⁴ Kāt. (XX. 7. 10-15) mentions Vāj. S. XXIII. 49-62 as the dialogue that takes place at this stage in the Aśvamedha and states that Rg. I. 164. 34 (= Vāj. S. XXIII. 61 ) is the question propounded by the sacrificer (and not by the priests as Aśv. says). Two grahas called Mahiman are offered, one before the omentum is offered and the other after it (Śat. Br. XIII. 5. 2. 23 referring to Vāj. S. XXIII. 2, Aśv. X. 9. 4, Kāt. XX. 7. 16-17 and 27). Offerings of the vapā of all animals are made to the several deities of whom Prajāpati is the last. Then the king sits on a lion's or tiger's skin, a piece of gold is placed on his head with Rg. I. 90. 1, a bull-hide is held over his head, he is sprinkled with the remnants (saṁsrāva) of the offerings called mahiman and offerings are made to the twelve months, Madhu, Mādhava &c. and seasons Vasanta &c. After the several offerings, on the third pressing day, the sacrificer performs the final purifi- catory bath. At the end of the avabhṛtha iṣṭi, on the head of a bald man, ¹⁵ whose eye-balls are yellowish-brown, who has prominent teeth, who is suffering from white leprosy and who dips into water, an offering is made (three according to Ap. XX. 22. 6) with the words 'to Jumbaka, svāhā' (Vāj. S. XXV. 9). Vide Kāt. XX. 8. 16, Śāṅ. XVI. 18. 18 and Sat. XIV. 5. 4. The latter add two important details, viz. that the man should be of the Atri gotra and that he should enter such deep water that it should flood his mouth. The Tai. Br. III. 9. 15 says that the āhuti 'to Jumbaka, svāhā' is the last in Aśvamedha and that Jumbaka means Varuṇa. A hundred cows and a cart to which bulls are yoked are given to hiṃ When the sacrificer comes out of the water after avabhṛtha persons guilty of such grave sins as brāhmaṇa murder plunge into that water and become purified without having performed the penances prescribed for such sins (Kāt. XX. 8. 17-18).¹⁶

Apart from the gifts provided for many of the subordinate rites performed in the Aśvamedha, Lāṭ. (IX. 10. 15—IX. 11. 4) prescribes that on the first and last of the three soma pressing days he should donate a thousand cows and on the second day he should donate all the wealth that belongs to the non- brāhmaṇa residents in one district (janapada) out of his realm, or he should donate to the hotṛ the wealth in the eastern part of the country conquered by him and the wealth in the southern, western and northern parts respectively to the brahmā, adhvaryu and udgātṛ and their assistants or he should at least donate 48,000 cows to each of the four principal priests, 24000, 12000, 6000 to each of the four groups of three assistants of the principal priests in order. Aśv. X. 10. 10 also says that he should donate the wealth of non-brāhmaṇas in the four conquered quarters except land and human beingṣ Kāt. (XX. 4. 27-28) contains similar ruleṣ

Even in ancient times this sacrifice must have been rare. The Tai. S. V. 4. 12. 3 and Śat. Br. XIII. 3. 3. 6 both state that the Aśvamedha was a sacrifice which was utsanna (gone out of vogue). The Atharvaveda (XI. 7. 7-8) also appears to regard the Rājasūya, Vājapeya, Aśvamedha, the sattras and several other sacrifices as utsanna. The origin of the rite is obscure. In it several popular, religious and symbolical elements are inextricably blended and some rites like the queen lying down near the dead horse must be regarded as unaccountable survivals from the hoary past. Various theories have been advanced to account for the origin, but there is, as is to be expected, no agreement among scholarṣ Vide S. B. E. vol. 44. pp. XVIII-XXXIII, Prof. Keith's Introduction to Tai. S. pp. CXXXII ff. and 'Religion and Philosophy of the Veda' part 2 pp. 345-347 for the several theories of European scholarṣ

In the Aśvamedhika parva of the Mahābhārata Aśvamedha is described at some length. It is probable that in the epic only the popular elements and a few of the religious rites were emphasizeḍ In chap. 71. 16 Vyāsa tells Yudhiṣṭhira that the Aśvamedha purifies a person of all sinṣ¹⁷ The dīkṣā took place on the full moon of Caitra (72. 4). The sphya, kūroas and utensils were made of or inlaid with gold (72. 9-10). The greatest warrior of the day, Arjuna, was appointed to guard the horse during its rambles for a year, and he was asked to avoid battle and carnage as far as possible (72. 23-24). The horse was kṛṣṇasāra (marked with dark spots, 73. 8). Arjuna was accompanied by a pupil of Yājñavalkya and many learned brāhmaṇas (73. 18) for the performance of propitiatory rites (śānti). No indication is given as to the number of soldiers that accompanied Arjuna. The horse is said to have wandered over the whole of India from east to south, then west to north. After many fights with opponents Arjuna meets death at the hands of his son Babhruvāhana, king of Maṇipura, whom he upbraided for meek submission, but is brought back to life by his wife Ulūpi, the Nāga princess (chap. 80). Arjuna spares the lives of the opponents whom he vanquishes and invites them to the sacrifice. The description of the sacrifice follows the general outline given above. But there is hardly any detailed or graphic description of the special features of Aśvamedha and one rather carries the impression that the author does not depict what he has seen but only what he has heard or reaḍ The pravargya (88. 21) and the pressing of soma are mentioned (88. 22). There were six yūpas of bilva, 6 of khadira, two of devadāru and one of śleṣmātaka (88. 27-28). Bull's heads and aquatic animals were built into the fire altar (88. 34). Draupadī was made to lie by the dead horse (89. 2-3). There are several points of difference. The altar is shaped like a Garuḍa (88. 32), the bricks were of gold, and 300 animals were sacrificeḍ It is said that the vapā of the horse was offered (89. 3), while Āp. (XX. 18. 11) emphatically states that there is no vapā in the case of the horse. Great emphasis is laid on the huge masses of food distributed to all, on the drinking bouts and singing parties and the feeding of the poor and helpless (88. 23, 89. 39-43). Crores of niṣkas were donated to brāhmaṇas and the whole earth to Vyāsa (89. 8-10) who returned it to Yudhiṣṭhira for gold to be given to him and to brāhmaṇaṣ The Bālakāṇḍa of Rāmāyaṇa (chap. 13-14) contains a more graphic description of the Aśvamedha performed by Daśaratha for securing sonṣ It expressly refers to the Kalpasūtra (tryahośvamedhaḥ saṁkhyātaḥ kalpasūtreṇa brāhmaṇaiḥ).

In I. A. vol. VIII. p. 273 (at p. 278) we find that a general, called Udayacandra, of Nandivarma Pallavamalla (about the 9th century A. D.) defeated Pṛthivīvyāghra, king of Niṣadha, who had accompanied the horse in his horse sacrifice. In E. C. vol. X. Kolar No. 63 it is stated in an inscription of 757 A. D. that the Cālukya emperor Pulakeśī was purified by his bath at an Aśvamedha. In the very ancient Nanaghat Inscription (A.S.W.I. vol. V. pp. 60-61) an Andhra king¹⁸ is described as having performed the Rājasūya, two Aśvamedhas, Gargatrirātra, Gavāmayana and Aṅgirasām-ayana.¹⁹ In the first half of the 18th century Savai Jayasing, king of Amber, performed an Aśvamedha (vide Īśvaravilāsakāvya of Kṛṣṇa-kavi, D. C. Ms No. 273 of 1884–86 and ‘Poona Orientalist,’ vol. II. pp. 166–180 ).

Sattra It was shown above ( pp. 1213–1214 ) that the Dvādaśāha sacrifice partook of the characteristics of both ahīna and a sattra and a few points of difference between the two were also set out there. Sattras are sacrificial sessions, the duration of which varies from 12 days to a year or more. Their archetype (prakṛti) is the Dvādaśāha (Āśv. XI. 1.7). Sattras again may for convenience be divided into those called Rātrisattras and those called Sāṃvatsarika ( carried on for a year or more ). Āśv. (XI. 1. 8–XI. 6. 16) and Kāt. (XXIV. 1–3) speak of numerous Rātrisattras called Trayodaśarātra and so on up to Śatarātra, state the principles on which these sattras are evolved from the Dvādaśāha, the model, and set out the schemes of all of theṃ If only one day has to be added then it is the Mahāvrata that is added before the last day called Udayanīya. If two or more days are required to be added then they are added before the Dāśarātra ( that forms the central part of the Dvādaśāha and comes after the Prāyaṇīya day). In the case of Rātrisattras of many days' duration ṣaḍahas are added (Kāt. XXIV. 1. 5–7, Āśv. XI. 1. 8–14 ); the Dāśarātra is never repeated but is only one in the same sattra ( Kāt. XXIV. 3. 34 ). For want of space all the Rātrisattras will be passed over. The Gavām-ayana²⁰ (lit. the course or way of the cows i. e. the sun's rays or days) is the model of all Sāṃvatsarika sattras ( Āśv. XI. 7. 1 and coṃ, Jai. VIII. 1. 8, Kāt. XXIV. 4. 2). Several sattras of the duration of one year or more are mentioned in the sūtra texts such as Ādityānām-ayana (Āśv. XII. 1. 1 ), Aṅgirasām-ayana Kuṇḍapāyinām-ayana (Āśv. XII. 4. 1), Sarpaṇām-ayana, Trai-varṣika (one for three years), Dvādaśavarṣika, Ṣaṭ-triṁśad-varṣika, Śatasaṁvatsara for sādhyas (Āśv. XII. 5. 18) and Sahasrasamvatsara, Sārasvata (performed on the holy Sarasvati river). A few words will be said only about the Gavāṁ-ayana.

Gavāṁ-ayana which is a Saṁvatsarika sattra (extending over 12 months of 30 days each) consists of the following parts (Tāṇḍya XXIV. 20. 1, Āśv. XI. 1. 2-6 and 7. 2-12, Sat. XVI. 5. 18-40, Āp. XXI. 15 ff.): A. Prāyaṇīya Atirātra (opening day) Caturviṁśa day, an Ukthya Five months, each consisting of four Abhiplava ṣaḍahas and one Prṣṭhya ṣaḍaha (i.e. each month of 30 days). Three Abhiplavas and one Prṣṭhya } 28 dayṣ Abhijit day (Agniṣṭoma) Three Svarasāman dayṣ All these together come to six months of 30 days each. B. The Viṣuvat²¹ or central day (which is Ekaviṁśastoma) on which an Atigrāhya Soma cup is offered to the sun and also a victiṃ C. Three Svarasāman days ( on which sāmans called Svara are chanted, Tāṇḍya IV. 5 ) } 28 dayṣ Viśvajit day (Agniṣṭoma) One Prṣṭhya and three Abhiplava ṣaḍahas Four months, each consisting of one Prṣṭhya in the beginning and four Abhiplava ṣaḍahas Three Abhiplava ṣaḍahas One Goṣṭoma (Agniṣṭoma) } 30 dayṣ One Ayuṣṭoma (Ukthya) One Daśarātra (ten days) Mahāvrata day (Agniṣṭoma) Udayanīya (Atirātra). All these in C come to six monthṣ The Gavām-ayana was performed for various rewards viz. progeny, prosperity, plenty (or greatness), high position, heaven (Āp. XXI. 15. 1, Sat. XVI. 5. 14). About the day on which dikṣā (initiation) for it took place there were several viewṣ The Ait. Br. (19. 4) prescribes that it should be done either in Māgha or Phālguna. Some (Sat. XVI. 5. 16–17, Āp. XXI. 15. 5–6) said that dikṣā took place four days before the Full Moon of Māgha or Caitra. Vide Lāṭ. X. 5. 18–19, Kāt. XIII. 1. 2–10 for the several dayṣ Jai. VI. 5. 30–37 and Kāt. XIII. 1. 8 favour the view that the dikṣā should be undertaken four days before the Full Moon day of Māgha (i. e. on ekādaśī day) since the Vedic texts prescribe the Ekāṣṭakā day of Māgha (i. e. 8th of dark half ) for the purpose of soma (after 12 days of dikṣā). In the Gavām-ayana the procedure of the Dvādaśāha as a sattra is to be followed (Āp. XXI. 15. 2–3, Jai. VIII. 1. 17), but some held that in Gavām-ayana there were to be 17 dikṣās (instead of 12). There are certain general rules about sattras which may be stated here. They are to be performed by many as sacrificers and only brāhmaṇas can perform them (Jai. VI. 6. 16–23, Kāt. I. 6. 14). There are no separate priests (ṛtvij), but the yajamānas themselves are the priests (Jai. X. 6. 45–50 and 51–59, Sat. XVI. 1. 21). A text quoted by Śabara on Jai. VI. 2. 1 says that the persons who engage together in a sattra must be at least 17 and not more than 24 and each of the performers secures the same unseen (or spiritual) reward for which the sattra is performed (Jai. VI. 2. 1–2). There is therefore no varana (choosing) of priests and there is no question of remunerating them for their services by several gifts as in Jyotiṣṭoma (Jai. X. 2. 34–38). At the time when gifts are made in other rites, in sattras the sacrificers perform the Dakṣiṇā homas and waving their dark antelope skins they go out with their faces turned northwards by the path by which dakṣiṇas are taken away in other rites (Sat. XVI. 2. 19, Kāt. XII. 2. 18). As no dakṣiṇas are to be donated in sattras agents (called sanihāras) are not to be sent for collecting subscriptions (Sat. XVI. 1. 40). The sacrificial utensils (yajñāpātras like juhū) to be used in the sattra are specially got prepared for the common use of all, while each keeps his own utensils separate with which he is cremated if he dies in the midst of the performance (Jai. VI. 6. 33–35). Though the general rule is that there is no pratinidhi (substitute) for the performer of rites like agnihotra, the sattra is an exception, since if any one of the many performers dies in the midst of a H. D. 156 sattra another person may be substituted by the others in his place (Jai. VI. 3. 22), but he is only an agent secured by pay-ment and the spiritual unseen reward of the sacrifice goes to the performer that is dead (Jai. VI. 3. 23-25). The Tāṇḍya Br. IX. 8. 1 states that if one of the performers of a sattra dies after dīkṣā, he should be cremated, his bones should be tied in his antelope-skin and placed beyond the mārjālīya shed and his son or other very near relative should be given dīkṣā and be associated in the sattra. Only those who have consecrated the three Vedic fires can engage in sattras except in the Sārasvata sattra (Jai. VI. 6. 27-32). According to Jai. (VI. 6. 1-11) only those who follow the same procedure can join in the sattra, otherwise difficulty is caused in the case of the Prayājas and the Āpri verseṣ The second prayāja deity in the case of Vasisthas and Śunakas is Narāśaṃsa, while Tanūnapat is the second prayāja deity in the case of other gotraṣ After stating the view of Gāṇagāri that only those who have the same gotra can join in a sattra, Āśv.(XII. 10. 2-3) states the view of Śaunaka (and it is his view also) that even persons of different gotras may join in a sattra, that where in a particular matter there is a difference of procedure in accor-dance with the difference of gotra, the procedure should be regulated by the gotra of one (called gṛhapati) of those who join in the sattra. Jai.(VI.6.24-26) states the somewhat striking rule that even among brāhmaṇas those who belong to the Bhṛgu, Vasiṣṭha and Śunaka gotras cannot join in a sattra but only those who belong to the Viśvāmitra gotra or who have a similar procedure (about prayājas &c.), since śruti requires that the function of hotṛ in a sattra must be performed by one belonging to Viśvāmitra gotra. If after making a resolve to join in a sattra or if after just beginning a sattra a man gives up the idea, he had to perform by way of penance the Viśvajit rite (Jai. VI. 4. 32 and VI. 5. 25-27).

Though in a sattra all are yajamānas yet one of them becomes the gṛhapati; those actions which only one can perform and which are done in other sacrifices by the yajamāna (except what are saṃskāras like vapanā) are here done by the gṛhapati alone and others only touch him (e. g. in tying the veda or placing a fuel-stick on fire, Kāt. XII. 1. 9-15). In performing dīkṣā a peculiar procedure is followed (Kāt. XII. 2. 15, Śat. XVI. 1. 36, Āp. XXI. 2. 16-XXI. 3 1). The adhvaryu first gives dīkṣā to the gṛhapati and to brahmā, hotṛ and udgātṛ; the pratiprasthātṛ gives dīkṣā to adhvaryu, then to maitrāvaruṇa, brāhmaṇācchaṁsin and prastotr; the neṣṭr gives dīkṣā to the pratiprasthātṛ and the acchāvāka, āgnīdhra and pratihartṛ; the unnetṛ gives dīkṣā to neṣṭr, the grāvastut, and subrahmaṇya and lastly the pratiprasthātṛ or another brāhmaṇa (who is himself a dīkṣita) or a Veda student or snātaka gives dīkṣā to unnetṛ. Each of the wives of all these is given dīkṣā along with her husband (Kāt. XII. 2. 16). Every day one of those who join in a sattra guards soma silently and others are allowed to study their Veda and to fetch fuel-sticks (Śat. Br. IV. 6. 9. 7, Kāt. XII. 4. 1 and 3). On the tenth day there is brahmodya²² as in Aśvamedha or they engage in the abuse of Prajāpati for having created such pests as bees and wasps and thieves (Āp. XXI. 12. 1-3, Śat. XVI. 4. 33-35, Kāt. XII. 4. 21-23).

While engaged in the sattra the performers have to observe certain rules (Āśv. XII. 8, Drāhyāyana Śr. VII. 3-9 ff). From the day the dīkṣaṇīyā iṣṭi is performed in the sattra, the usual duties to pitṛs (such as piṇḍapitṛ-yajña), to gods (such as Agnihotra) are stopped till the end of the sattra. They have to give up sexual intercourse and must not run, they should laugh covering their teeth (so as not to show them), should not jest with women, should not speak to those who are not āryas, should not plunge in deep water, should give up falsehood and anger, should not climb up trees or enter a boat or chariot. Rules are laid down as to whom to bow to. A sattrin should eschew singing, dancing and instrumental music. While dīkṣās are going on he should subsist on milk. On pressing days he should partake of the remnants of havis only or of fruits and roots and other food fit for vrata.

One of the most interesting day is the Mahāvrata, which is the last day but one in a sattra. Several strange and bizarre rites are performed on this day. This day is so called because it is specially meant for Prajāpati who is ‘mahān’ and mahā-vrata means ‘anna’ (Tāṇḍya IV. 10. 2, Śat. Br. IV. 6. 4. 2). In this a mahāvratīya cup of soma is offered in addition to the usual ones and a victim is slaughtered for Prajāpati. In connection with this oup a mahāvrata sāman is chanted followed by the recitation of the Mahad-uktha (great laudation) of the hotṛ. Vide Haug's tr. of Ait. Br. p. 283 n, S. B. E. vol. 43 pp. 282-283 note 5. The chanting of the Pṛṣṭhastotras is started by a brāhmaṇa who plays on a harp (vāṇa) with a hundred strings of muñja grass (Sat. XVI. 7. 7-9, Tāṇḍya V. 6. 12-13). During the chanting the udgātṛ priest sits on a chair of udumbara, the hotṛ on a swing, the adhvaryu on a board and the other priests on seats of grass (Tāṇḍya V. 5. 1-12). A brāhmaṇa in the front part of the sadas and a śūdra at the back alternately belaud and abuse those engaged in the sattra, the former saying they have done well and the latter saying they have not done well (Tāṇḍya V. 5. 13). An ārya and a śūdra engage to the west of the āgnīdhra shed in a contest for a white circular skin that symbolizes the sun (for whom the Gods and Asuras fought laying claim to the Sun as their own), the fight being so arranged that it culminates in favour of the ārya (Tāṇḍya V. 5. 14-17, Sat. XVI. 7. 28-32). A harlot and a brahmacārin abuse each other on the northern hip of the altar.

Sexual intercourse between a man and a woman (that are strangers to the sacrifice) takes place in a screened shed to the south of the mārjālīya shed (according to Kāt. XIII. 3. 9). This probably is a symbol for indicating creation of the world by Prajāpati to whom the mahāvrata specially appertainṣ A chariot is made ready to the east of the southern corner of the vedi. A noble or a kṣatriya in full armour occupies it, armed with a bow and three arrowṣ He goes round the vedi thrice and discharges three arrows at a hide but not so as to pierce it through and through (Śāṇ XVII. 15 ).

They beat drums placed on all corners of the vedi and strike a bull-hide spread over a hole dug to the west of the āgnīdhriya shed, half inside the vedi and half outside (this is called ‘bhūmi-dundubhi’). When the priests chant, the wives of the performers act as choristers²³ to the singing priests (Jai. X. 4. 8, Sat. XVI. 6. 21, Āp. XXI. 17. 15-16 ) and play on several instrumentṣ Eight servants and maids or slaves and slave girls, placing water jars on their heads dance thrice round the mārjālīya seat, striking the ground with their right feet and singing popular songs ( gāthās ) in which cows are lauded as mothers of ghee and which contain words like ' this is sweet ' ( Sat. XVI. 6. 39-41, Āp. XXI. 19. 17-20 and XXI. 20 ). These features of the mahāvrata show that it was some folk festival in the hoary past and was welded on to the solemn vedic sacrifices as a relaxation after the weary days and months of sacrificeṣ The Ait. Ār. ( I and V ) gives an esoteric turn to the mahāvrata. In one place it summarizes all the popular features of the Mahāvrata.^268B

On the Udayanīya day three anubandhyā cows are offered to Mitrāvaruṇa, the Viśve Devas and Bṛhaspati ( Kāt. XIII. 4. 4 ).

In the Indian Antiquary, vol. 41, Dr. Sham Sastry contributed a series of articles on the Vedic calendar in which he adduced weighty arguments for holding that the Gavāmayana was a symbolic representation of the efforts made to square up the Vedic lunar year with the solar year by adding intercalary dayṣ It is somewhat remarkable and also indicative of the bias of most western scholars that while Prof. Keith in his work on the 'Religion and philosophy of the Veda' refers ad nauseam to all sorts of lucubrations by European scholars on the origins of the Vedic sacrifices, about rain spells and fertility rites and similar lore he does not condescend to notice the views of Dr. Sham Sastry or Mr. Tilak, which have far more probability than many of the learned hypotheses advanced by European scholars who appear to be obsessed by the notion that Vedic usages must be similar to practices found in the 19th century among the backward races of Africa, America and Oceania.

Though the sūtras speak of sattras for a hundred or a thousand years, there were writers even in ancient India who thought that such sattras did not exist in fact, at least in historical timeṣ Patañjali states in his Mahābhāṣya that the sattras of a hundred or a thousand years were never attempted in times near to his day and that Yajñikas prescribe rules for them following the tradition of sageṣ²⁵ Jaimini also boldly asserts that when the texts²⁶ speak of Viśvasṛjām-ayana for a thousand saṁvatsaras the word saṁvatsara means only a day (Jai. VI. 7. 31–40).

Among the other sattras the Sārasvata sattras are most instructive, since in them many places on the most sacred Sarasvatī and other rivers were approached by the sacrificers during the course of the sacrifice.²⁷ Vide Āśv. XII. 6., Lāṭ. X. 15 ff, Kāt. XXIV. 6. 14 ff.

Agmicayana (piling of the fire-altar)

The construction of the fire-altar is a special rite and is the most complicated and most recondite of all Śrauta sacrificeṣ The Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa devotes five out of its fourteen sec- tions (about one-third of the whole work) to cayana and is the leading work on that subject. Prof. Eggeling in his very learned Introduction (pp. XIV ff) to vol. 43 of the S. B. E. deals with the fundamental conceptions underlying this Śrauta ritual. According to him cayana was originally an indepen- dent rite and was later on incorporated in the system of Soma sacrificeṣ At the bottom of this rite are certain cosmogonic theorieṣ Even in the Ṛgveda we meet with the conceptions that Hiraṇyagarbha or Prajāpati (Ṛg. X..121) is the creator of the universe, that creation, destruction and re-construction of the universe are eternal, ever-recurring processes going on from all time and will go on for all time (Ṛg. X. 190. 3, ‘ dhātā yathāpūrvam-akalpayat ’), that Puruṣa himself became the sacrificial material ( havis ) and the year and seasons aided in the process of the reconstruction of the sacrificed and dismembered Puruṣa. Man himself who is a child of this process must also do his part in the reconstruction of the worlḍ This he can do best by identifying Fire with Prajāpati ( as in Sat. Br. X. 4. 1. 12 ) and regarding Fire as the Highest Divinity and the source of all life and activity and the periodic performance of sacrifice in fire as his contribution, however small it may be, to the process of re-creation and re-constructioṇ The re-construction of the world by Prajāpati a man can imitate by him-self constructing an elaborate structure with brickṣ The Śat. Br. in several places brings out these ideas, though in a some-what esoteric way ²⁸ (e. g. VI. 2. 2. 21). The tenth kāṇḍa ( section ) of the Śat. Br. is the rahasya ( the esoteric doctrine ) of cayana. Most of the acts done in the piling up of the altar are a symbolic representation of the process of re-creation and re-construction as will be seen later oṇ In the Śat Br. the principal authority on this doctrine of cayana is not yajña-valkya (who is the dominating figure in the first five sections of that Brāhmaṇa) but Śāṇḍilya who traces that doctrine through a succession of teachers to Tura Kāvaṣeya who received it from Prajāpati himself (Śat. Br. IX. 5. 2. 15–16, X. 4. 1. 11, X. 6. 5. 9 &c. ).

A very brief description of the cayana based principally on Kāt., Sat., and Āp. is given below.

The construction of the fire-altar in five layers is an anga of Somayāga. But cayana is not obligatory in every soma sacrifice. It must however be performed in the Somayāga called Mahāvrata (which as stated above is the last but one day in Gavām-ayana). When a man desires to pile the fire altar, he first offers after the Full Moon iṣṭi of Phālguna (i. e. on the first of the dark half) or on Māgha new moon five animals (viz. a man, a horse, a bull, a ram and a he-goat were offered, the man in a screened place). ²⁹ The heads of the beasts were built up into the altar and their trunks were thrown in water, which was then used for making bricks from clay. Kāt. (XVI. 1. 32) allows an option that instead of killing animals golden or clay heads of these may be useḍ In modern times when rarely cayana is performed only golden images of the above five are takeṇ Then on the 8th of the dark half of Phālguna a horse, an ass and a he-goat are taken in procession to the south of the āhavanīya fire (the horse leading) with their mouths to the east and the place from where clay is to be taken is reached by the horse. To the east of the āhavanīya a square pit is dug and a ball of clay is put therein which brings the pit on a level with the surrounding grounḍ At the middle of the distance between the clay lump and the āhavanīya clay taken from an ant-hill is heapeḍ A spade one cubit long made of some sacrificial tree is kept to the north of the āhavanīya. The ant-hill clay is placed on the lump of earth in the pit with that spade. The horse is made to plant its foot on the pit with that spade. He (the priest) draws three lines with the spade on that lump of clay, spreads black antelope skin to the north of the lump and thereon keeps a lotus leaf on which the lump of clay from the pit is placed and the corners of the skin are tied with a girdle of muñja. He takes up the hide with the clay therein, raises his arms towards the east, holds the bundle over the animals that come back in the reverse order (the goat leading). According to Āp. XVI. 3. 10 the bundle is placed on the back of the ass and brought near a tent. The lump is placed to the north of the āhavanīya in a tent screened on all sides; then he takes the hair of the he-goat and mixes the hair in that lump of clay with water in which palāśa bark is boiled and mixes therewith gravel, iron rust and small stoneṣ From the clay thus mixed the wife of the sacrificer (or the first wife if there are several) prepares the first brick called Asādhā, which is in measure as much as the foot of the sacrificer, is rectangular and has three lines scratched on it. The sacrificer prepares an ukhā (fire-pan) from the mixture of clay, which is one span in diameter. According to some three pans are made. He also makes three bricks called Viśva-jyotis, each having three lines and so marked as to show which is first, second and thirḍ The remaining clay is called upāśaya and is kept aside ( as it will be required later ). The ukhā is fumigated with the smoke from seven horse-dung cakes kindled on the dakṣiṇa fire. A square hole is dug with the spade referred to above, therein fuel is put and the bricks and the ukhā ( with the mouth downwards ) are put for being baked and more fuel is addeḍ He removes the coals and ashes and takes out during the day the bricks (four) and the ukhā, on which the milk of a she-goat is sprinkleḍ Thereafter other bricks are made which have three lines on each, which are generally as long as the sacrificer's foot and are baked till they are reḍ The dikṣā (initiation) for the rite takes place on the amāvāsyā of Phālguna. The dīkṣaṇīyā iṣṭi and other usual rites are performeḍ Either the yajamāna or the adhvaryu places the ukhā on the āhavanīya and puts thereon 13 samidhs one span in length. The sacrificer wears a golden ornament with 21 pendants reaching up to his navel. The ukhā is taken from the āhavanīya to the east of the āhavanīya and is placed in a śikya and fire is put into it. He carries for a year or a shorter period (12, 6 or 3 days according to Āp. XVI. 9. 1) this fire placed in the ukhā. On alternate days in the year he adores the fire with the Vātsapra mantras (Vāj. S. XII. 18-28=Ṛg. X. 45. 1-11), takes the Viṣṇu strides (Viṣṇukramas); he also removes the ashes, puts fuel-sticks on the fire in the ukhā.

Then follows the building of the altar. The altar has five layers, the first, third and fifth being arranged in the same pattern and the 2nd and 4th being of a different pattern from the 1st, 3rd and 5th. The altar may have several forms such as that of a droṇa (trough), a chariot-wheel, a śyena (hawk), kaṅka (heron), suparṇa (eagle)³⁰ &c. Vide Tai. S. V. 4. 11, Kat. XVI. 5. 9. The altar requires bricks of several shapes; some are triangular, some are oblong, some are perfectly square, some are oblong plus a triangle (in one). They are not to be placed one over the other as one chooses but are arranged in peculiar ways, some in front, some on the sides and so oṇ A sound knowledge of geometry and mason craft is required in constructing the altar. Every brick is to be placed after repeating a mantra. The bricks have various names to distinguish theṃ For example, the bricks called Yajuṣmatī are to be used in building the body (of the birdlike pattern, which is the most usual one), but not in building the sides or tail of the layer. The usual mantras in laying down and invoking a brick are two viz., 'tayā devatayā--sīda (Vāj. S. XII. 53, Tai. S. IV. 2. 4. 4) and 'tā asya sūda-dohasaḥ' (Vāj. S. XII. 55, Tai. S. IV. 2. 4. 4). Sat. XI. 8. 18 says that 'tayā devatayā... dhruvā sīda ' is repeated after each brick is depositeḍ But special mantras are prescribed in several cases e. g. as to the ten lokampṛṇā bricks the mantra is ' lokam pṛṇa ' (Vāj. XII. 54, Tai. S. IV. 2. 4. 4). Some kinds of bricks bear the names of sages (e. g. Vālakbilya bricks). Probably they were first used by those sageṣ There are three bricks which are called svayam-ātrņņāh (i. e. they are long and thin stones and have natural holes) and which are placed in the centre of the 1st, 3rd and 5th layers and are deemed to represent earth, air and heaveṇ ³¹ Jai. (V. 3. 17-20) deals with the respective positions of certain bricks called citriņi and lokamprnā.

On the day of the last diksā the measuring of the plot to be used as vedi takes place. Measurements are made with a rope which is in length twice the height of the sacrificer. A fifth part of the sacrificer's height is called aratni, tenth part is called pada, each pada is divided into twelve ańgulas and three padas make a prakrama (Kāt. XVI. 8. 21). The ground for the uttaravedi on which the altar is to be constructed is ploughed with an udumbara plough and the ropes are made of muńja. Six, twelve or twenty-four oxen are yoked to the plough. He sows on the furrows made by the plough various kinds³² of corns (Āp. XVI. 19. 11-13 says fourteen kinds, seven being grāmya and seven wild). He omits one kind of corn which he has to abstain from partaking throughout life thereafter (Kāt. XVII. 3. 6-7). If so many kinds of corn cannot be had then in those furrows barley corn mixed with honey is sowṇ Then clods of earth are put thereon and the ground is made level. Several things are got ready and placed one after another on this ground (Āp. XVI. 13. 10 where they are said to be bricks but not of clay). Vide Sat. XI. 5. 21 also. The placing of bricks is begun after the first upasad (Sat. XI. 7. 2). A lotus leaf is first laid down on the spot where the horse planted its hoof (Āp. XVI. 22. 3) and on that leaf the golden ornament worn by the yajamāna at the time of the Viṣṇu strides is placed with the mantra 'brahma jajñānam' (Vāj. S. XIII. 3, Tai. S. IV. 2. 8. 2). To the south of that ornament is laid down the golden image of a man with head to the east and face turned to the sky in such a way that the image does not cover the hole pierced in the golden ornament (disc) by passing a string with which it was tied round the neck (the mantra repeated being very significant ' in the beginning Hiranyagarbha arose' Rg. X. 121. 1=Vāj. S. XIII. 4). The sacrificer performs the adoration (upasthāna) to the golden man with the three verses 'bow to the serpents' (Vāj. S. XIII. 6-8, Tai. S. IV. 2. 8. 3). One should thereafter never go to the north of the image from the south by passing in front of it (i. e. to the east of it). By the side of the two arms of the golden man he places two srucs (one of kārśmarya wood filled with ghee near the right hand and the other of udumbara filled with curds near the left) with their tops to the east. A brick called svayamātṛṇṇā on which ājya is offered and over which the yajamāna breaths is handed over to a brāhmaṇa who places it in the centre with the help of the adhvaryu, the brāhmaṇa being looked upon as fire (Tai. S. V. 2. 8. 2). On that brick a dūrvā creeper is placed in such a way that its roots are on the brick and its tops hang on to the ground towards the east. Then the brick called dviyajuṣ is laid to the east of the dūrvā, two retaḥsic bricks to the east of the preceding, then two ṛtavya bricks and then the Āṣāḍhā brick is placed to the east of the preceding. On all ṛtavya bricks avakās (mosslike plants) are depositeḍ About one aratni to the south of the Āṣāḍhā brick and to the east of the Svayamātṛṇṇā brick he places a living tortoise with its face to the east on the avakās plants (Āp. XVI. 25. 1, Kāt. XVII. 4. 27-28). The tortoise is anointed with a mixture of ghee, honey and curds, is enveloped in moss covered with a net and made motionless by means³³ of pegs (Āp. XVII. 25. 2, Sat. XI. 7. 42). When depositing the tortoise it is invoked with three verses (Vāj. S. XIII. 30-32) which express the wish that the tortoise may go to the deep waters, that the sun and fire may not torment it by heat, that it may reach heavenly worlds and that divine rain may follow. Even in modern times a tortoise is so built up into the altar. A mortar³⁴ and pestle of udumbara wood, each one span in length (the mortar being contracted in the middle and the pestle being rounded ) are placed about one aratni to the north. of the svayamatṛṇṇā brick. A śūrpa also is placed near the above two (Āp. XVI. 26. 5 ). The ukhā filled with sand, ghee and honey is placed on the mortar and offerings of ājya are made on it with the sruva ladle. The fire in the ukhā is transferred to a hearth with eight bricks in the centre of the fifth layer, on which a second layer of eight bricks (called punāściti) is laiḍ This fire becomes the gārhapatya for the Fire-altar (Śat. Br. VIII. 6. 3. 7-11, Kāt. XVII. 12. 18-21). Seven pieces of gold are placed on the golden image, the first on the mouth, then two each on the two nostrils, the two eyes and two earṣ In the forepart of the ukhā, the heads of the five animals (on which curds and honey are poured and on which 7 gold pieces are thrust) are placed in a certain order. The human head is in the middle, to the north the heads of the horse and ram and to the south the heads of the bull and goat (Kāt. XVII. 5. 13-18, Āp. XVI. 27. 5-19). According to Āp. and Śat. the head of a serpent also may be placed (Āp. XVI. 27. 22, Śat. XI. 7. 63 ) or only the mantras 'namo astu sarpebhyah' (Vāj. S. XIII. 6-8, Tai. S. IV. 2. 8. 3) may be reciteḍ The various kinds of bricks are heaped in various directions on thick mud spread on the above stated things so as to form the first layer. According to Śat. (XI. 5. 22) each layer consists of only 200 bricks (1000 for all five), when the sacrificer performs the cayana for the first time; he employs 2000 for all layers when he performs it a second time and this number goes on increasing each time he repeats agnicayana.³⁵ According to the Śat. Br. (S.B.E. vol. 43 p. 22 ṇ 1), Kāt. XVII. 7. 21-23 the bricks required for all the five layers are 10800. The time required for piling also varieṣ Some held that the piling took one year (8 months for the first four layers and 4 months for the last) or all the layers may be laid in a few dayṣ Śat (XII. 1. 1 ff) and Āp. (XVII. 1. 1-11, XVII. 2. 8, XVII. 3. 1) state that the five layers are laid on five successive dayṣ On each layer thick mud (purīṣa) prepared from the earth (mixed with water) dug out of the cātvāla pit after touching a dark or bay horse that stands to the north is spread with 'prsto divi' (Vāj. S. XVIII. 73, Tai. S. I. 5. 11. 1 quoted by Āp. XVI. 34. 6-7, Śat. XI. 5. ). Each layer and the spreading of mud are carried out each day between the two upāsads (morn ing one and afternoon one). When all the layers are completed the āhavanīya fire is established on the altar so built. Eight dhiṣṇyas, square or round, have to be constructed with bricks, viz. the āgnīdhriya and 7 others as in somayāga (but the number of bricks for each differs). A small round and variegated stone (aśman) is placed to the south of the āgnīdhra’s place on the northern part of the fire-altar. A fuel-stick is kindled on the new gārhapatya hearth, taken over the svayāmātṛṇṇā brick of the 5th layer and an offering of the milk of a dark cow whose calf is white is made on that fire. Śatarudriya homa is offered to Rudra. On the western corner of the northern side of the Fire-altar which is enclosed by a line of stones on all sides there are three stones, as high as the knee, naval and mouth on which (serving as āhavaniya) 425 obla- tions are offered to Rudra and his fearful aspects by means of the leaf of the Arka plant (serving as juhū) of wild sesame mixed with gavedhukā. A twig of arka plant is used to clear the leaf of the offeringṣ The priest faces the north and makes the oblations standing, the mantras being taken from the Śatarudriya section (beginning with ‘namaste rudra manyave,’ Vāj. S. XVI. 1-66, Tai. S. IV. 5. 1-10). The arka leaf and twig are thrown into fire. The altar is cooled by the āgnīdhra with the water from a jar which is held over the stone referred to above. The stone is thrown to the south of the altar with ‘May sorrow go to him whom we hate’ (Vāj. S. XVII. 1) and if it is not broken the adhvaryu breaks it into pieceṣ On a long bamboo, a frog, avakā plants and reed (vetasa) twigs are tied and drawn over the altar from the south hip to the south shoulder³⁶ and then they are thrown on the utkara. The Gāyatra, Rathantara and other sāmans are sung (Śat. Br. IX. I. 2. 35 ff, Kāt. XVIII. 3. 1 ff). Then follow numerous offerings, viz. one purodāśa to Vaiśvānara and 7 purodāśas to the Maruts, ³⁷ Vasordhārā ³⁸ (stream of wealth) offerings of ājya from an udumbara sruc, which is finally thrown into the fire, 6 Pārtha oblations as in Rājasūya followed later by six more after the abhiṣeka of the sacrificer, the Vājaprasaviya ³⁹ offerings of the mixture of milk and water with the gruel of 14 grāmya and wild corns with an udumbara sruvā that is four-cornered like a camasa ( the sruvā being thrown into the fire at the end ). With the remnants of Vājaprasaviya offerings collected in a pot he sprinkles the sacrificer who sits on a dark antelope skin spread on an udumbara couch to the north of the tail of the fire altar. A royal sacrificer sits on a tiger skin and a vaiśya on a goat-skiṇ After this six Pārtha offerings are made followed by twelve Rāṣṭrabhṛt (supporting the king- dom) homas of ājya with mantras, that contain the words ‘vāt’ and ‘svāhā’ ( Vāj. S. XVIII. 38-43, Tai. S. III. 4. 7 ). ⁴⁰ Then three Vāta ( wind ) homas are offered catching with his joined hands wind outside the vedi to the east and the three winds thus caught are represented as yoked to the chariot like horses, the mantra being Vāj. S. XVIII. 45, Tai. S. IV. 7. 12. 3 ( Kāt. XVIII. 6. 1-3, Āp. XVII. 20. 11 ).

Then the procedure of Somayāga is followeḍ One or two special characteristics may be noteḍ Before the Prātaranuvāka the Fire is represented as yoked after touching the paridhis and repeating three mantras ‘I yoke the fire &c.’ ( Vāj. S. XVIII. 51-53, Tai. S. IV. 7. 13. 1 ) and then Agni is released from the yoke before the Agnīmāruta stotra ( i. e. Yājñayajñīya ) in the evening with a mantra ( Vāj. S. XVIII. 54, Tai. S. IV. 3. 4. 2 ). After the anubandhyā paśu-puroḍāśa, messes of boiled rice are offered to Anumati, Rākā, Sinīvālī and Kuhū and a cake on twelve potsherds to Dhātṛ. At the end of the Udavasanīyā payasyā is offered to Mitra and Varuṇa or he may perform sautrāmaṇī ( Āp. XVII. 24. 1, Sat. XII. 7. 14 ). One who has performed the pilling of the fire-altar has to observe certain vratas for a year viz. he should not bow to any one, he should not run in the rains, he should not partake of the flesh of any bird, he should not approach a śūdra womaṇ After he performs agnicayana a second time, he should approach no woman except his own wife of the same caste, when he has performed cayana thrice he should not approach⁴¹ even his own wife (vide Āp. XVII. 24. 1-5, Kāṭ. XVIII. 6. 25-31, Sat. XII. 7. 15-17). Jai (II. 3. 21-23) declares that the piling of the fire-altar is a saṁskāra of fire and not an independent yāga by itself.

If a man does not prosper in the year after he performs agnicayana he may perform punāściti (just as punarādheya is performed). According to Āp. XVII. 24. 11 a punāściti can be performed for three objects, viz. for prosperity, for Vedic lore or for progeny.⁴²

In performing the innumerable and wearisome details of sacrifices many mistakes must have been committed and therefore the Brāhmaṇas and Sūtras prescribe numberless expiations, some simple and others complicateḍ But this subject will be dealt with in the next volume under prāyaścittaṣ

In the next volume a few remarks will be offered on the philosophical side of sacrifices and on the causes whereby they gradually faded into the background and gave place to other religious observanceṣ