Grihya Sutras, Part 2 (SBE30): pastamba's Ya<I>g</I><I></I>a-Paribhsh-Stras: Stras 26...

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The Grihya Sutras, Part 2 (SBE30), by Hermann Oldenberg, [1892], at sacredtexts.com

PASTAMBA'S YAGA-PARIBHSH-STRAS. (cont.) 26

STRA XXVI.
If the guh has been elsewhere employed, let it be done with a ladle (sruva).

26c

Commentary. The guh is a sruk, a spoon, the sruva, a ladle.

27

STRA XXVII.
The offering is made in the havanya fire.

28

STRA XXVIII.
The sacrificial vessels are kept from the first laying of the fires (dhna) for the whole life.

28c

Commentary. All sacrificial vessels and instruments are to be kept, and most of them are burnt with the sacrificer at his death.

29

STRA XXIX.

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At every sacrifice these vessels are to be purified.

30

STRA XXX.
The rule for the sacrifice are the Mantras and Brhmanas.

31

STRA XXXI.
The name Veda belongs both to the Mantras and Brhmanas.
p. 324

32

STRA XXXII.
The Brhmanas are the precepts for the sacrifice.

33

STRA XXXIII.
The rest of the Brhmana, that which does not contain precepts, consists of explanations, i.e. reproof, praise, stories, and traditions.

33c

Commentary. It is difficult to find words corresponding to technical terms in Sanskrit. Arthavda, which I have translated by explanation, means not only the telling of the meaning, but likewise the telling of the object; parakriti, story, means literally the action of another; purkalpa, traditions, means the former state. The difference between the two is stated to be that parakriti refers to the act of one person, purkalpa to that of several. This subject is fully treated in the Prva-mmms. Satyavrata begins a new Stra with 'reproof' (nind).

34

STRA XXXIV.
All the rest are Mantras.

35

STRA XXXV.
But passages which are not handed down, are not to be classed as Mantras, as, for instance, the pravara, the words used in choosing priests, divine or human; ha, substitution of one word for another; and nmadheya-grahana, the mentioning of the names of particular sacrificers.

35c

Commentary. The reason why such passages are not to be treated as Mantras is that they should not be subject to some of the preceding rules, as,

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for instance, the murmuring, enjoined in Stra IX. Those passages naturally vary in each sacrifice. With regard to the names a distinction is made
p. 325

between the grhyam nma, the domestic name of a person, such as Yagasarman, and the astrological name, such as Rauhina, derived from the star Rohin.
36

STRA XXXVI.
Likewise the sound of a carriage and the sound of a drum.

36c

Commentary. These sounds, though serving for the sacrifice, are not to be considered as liable to the rules given for the recitation of Mantras.

37

STRA XXXVII.
The prohibition of reciting Mantras in the Svdhyya does not apply to the sacrifice, because there is then a different object.

37c

Commentary. Svdhyya, i.e. self-reading, is the name given to the study of the Veda, both in first learning and in afterwards repeating it. This study is under several restrictions, but these restrictions cease when the Veda is used for sacrificial purposes.

38

STRA XXXVIII.
Sacrificial acts are accompanied by one Mantra.

38c

Commentary. If it is said that the priest cuts the plants with fourteen verses, that means that there are fourteen plants to be cut and that one verse is used for each plant.

39

STRA XXXIX.
This applies also to sacrificial acts which have a number and are to be carried out by separate (repeated) acts.
p. 326

39c

Commentary.

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If a rule is given, such as trih prokshati, he sprinkles thrice, the mantra which accompanies the act, is recited once only. Again in the case of acts that require repetitions, such as rubbing, pounding, &c., the hymns are recited once only.
40

STRA XL.
The same applies to rubbing, sleeping, crossing a river, downpours of rain, the conjuring of unlucky omens, unless they happened some time ago.

40c

Commentary. If several members of the body are to be rubbed, the verses required for the purpose are recited once only. A prayer is enjoined if one wakes during the night. If one wakes more than once that prayer is. not to be repeated. In crossing a river the necessary verse is not to be repeated at every wave, nor during a down-pour, at every drop of rain. If some unlucky sight has to be conjured, the conjuring verse is spoken once and not repeated, unless some time has elapsed and a new unlucky sight presents itself.

41

STRA XLI.
In case of a journey, however, one hymn is used till the object (of the journey) has been accomplished.

41c

Commentary. I read prayne tu--arthanirvritteh. Another reading is arthanivrittih.

42

STRA XLII.
It is the same also with regard to acts which do not produce an immediate effect.

42c

Commentary. The commentators distinguish between acts which

p. 327

produce a visible effect, such as pounding or sprinkling, and acts which do not, such as addressing, approaching, looking. The latter are called asamniptin. Thus when the stones used for the preparation of Soma are addressed, the hymn which is used for addressing them, is not repeated for each single stone, the same as in Stra XL. Stras XLI and XLII are sometimes joined.
43

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43

STRA XLIII.
Repetition takes place in the case of the Havishkrit, Adhrigu, Puronuvky, and Manot hymns, (because they have to be used) at different times.

43c

Commentary. Havishkrit-adhrigu-puronuvky-manotam is to be taken as a Dvandva compound. The Havishkrit hymn is an invocation when the havis is made. The Adhrigu hymn is 'Daivyh samitrah,' &c. The Puronuvky hymn is that which precedes the Ygy, immediately after the Sampraisha. The Manot hymn is 'Tvam hy agne prathamo manot,' &c. These hymns are to be repeated, if the act which they accompany has to be repeated after a certain interval.

44

STRA XLIV.
When it is expressly stated, one sacrificial act may be accompanied by many hymns.

44c

Commentary. Thus we read, 'He takes the Abhri, the hoe, with four Mantras.'

45

STRA XLV.
One ought to let the beginnings of a sacrificial act coincide with the end of the Mantras.
p. 328

45c

Commentary. The mantra which indicates the nature and purpose of a sacrificial act should come first, and as soon as it has been finished the act should follow. See Katy. I, 3, 5.

46

STRA XLVI.
In the case of the ghra, sprinkling of clarified butter, and of dhr, pouring out of Soma, the beginning of the mantra and the act takes place at the same time.

47

STRA XLVII.
Mantras are indicated by their first words.

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47c

Commentary. These first words are often called Pratkas, and rules are given in svalyana's Srauta-stras I, 1, 17-19, as to the number of words that should form such a pratka, if it is meant for one verse, for three verses, or for a whole hymn. According to svalyana, if one foot is quoted, it is meant for a verse; if an imperfect foot of an initial verse is quoted, it is meant for a whole hymn; if more than a foot is quoted, it is meant for three verses.

48

STRA XLVIII.
One should know that with the beginning of a following mantra, the former mantra is finished.

49

STRA XLIX.
In the case of Hotr and Ygamna-mantras, an aggregation takes place.

49c

Commentary. Hotrs are mantras recited by the Hotri-priest. Ygamns are mantras recited by the sacrificer himself. They are hymns which accompany, but do not enjoin any sacrificial act.
p. 329

50

STRA L.
In the case of the Ygys and Anuvkys this (the aggregation) is optional.

50c

Commentary. The Ygy is explained by prayakkhati ygyay, the Anuvky by hvayaty anuvkyay. Sometimes more than one are mentioned, but in that case the priest is free to do as he likes. According to the same principle, when we read that one should sacrifice with rice or with barley, that means that rice should be used after the riceharvest, barley after the barley-harvest, and not that rice and barley should be used at the same time. Next: Stras 51-75

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