Grihya Sutras, Part 2 (SBE30): pastamba's Ya<I>g</I><I></I>a-Paribhsh-Stras: Stras 51...

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

PASTAMBA'S YAGA-PARIBHSH-STRAS. (cont.) 51

STRA LI.
It is the same with numbers.

51c

Commentary. If we read that, as in the case of fees to be given to priests, two, seven, eleven, twelve, twenty-one, sixty, or a hundred, this means that either one or the other, not that all should be given at the same time.

52

STRA LII.
But accumulation is meant in the buying (of Soma), in the redemption, and in initiation.

52c

Commentary. When it is said that Soma is bought for a goat, gold, &c., that it is re-bought from the priests by means of a fee, or that at the time of the Dksh, the purification and initiation of a sacrificer, clothes, gold, grain, &c., should be given, these are cases not of aut-aut but of et-et. The Soma-plant, which is supposed to be bought from northern

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barbarians, is botanically described in an yur-vedic extract, quoted in the Dhrtasvmi-bhshyatk (MS. E.I.H. 531, p. 3b), as
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symlml ka nishpatr kshrin tvaki mmsal, sleshmal vaman vall somkhy khgabhoganam. 'The creeper called Soma is dark, sour, without leaves, milky, fleshy on the surface, producing phlegm and vomiting, food for goats.' This passage, quoted from some yur-vedic text, is still the only one which gives an approximative description of the Soma-plant. Dr. Hooker says that the predicates 'sour and milky' point to Sarcostemma, but the question is not decided yet. For further information see George Watt, The Soma Plant, an extract from the third volume of the Dictionary of Economic Products of India, and Hillebrandt, Vedische Mythologie, pp. 14 seq.
53

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

53c

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

54

STRA LIV.
All priestly performances take place on the northern side of the Vihra.

54c

Commentary. Uttarata-upakrah has to be taken as a compound. Vihra is explained as vihriyantegnayah ptrni ka yasmin dese, i.e. the sacrificial ground. Upakra is explained as adhvaryvdnm samkarah, and this samkara, according to Ktyyana I, 3, 42, is the path between the Ktvla and Utkara, the Utkara being on the west, the prants on the east of the Vihra. Ktyyana I, 8, 26, expresses the same rule by uttarata-upakro yagah, the vihra being the place where the yaga takes place.
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55

STRA LV.

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The priest should never turn away from the fire, i.e. should never turn his back on the altar.
56

STRA LVI.
Nor from the Vihra.

57

STRA LVII.
Sacrificial utensils should be turned inside, the performers being outside.

57c

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

58

STRA LVIII.
After a sacrificial object has been hallowed by a Mantra, the priest should not toss it about.

59

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

60

STRA LX.
Sacrificial acts intended for the Fathers should be performed by the priest towards the south, after he has placed the Brahmanic cord over the right and
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under the left arm (prknvtin), and turning towards the left.
61

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

62

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

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priest from left to right.

62c

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

63

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

63c

Commentary. Am-vsy is the dwelling together, i.e. the conjunction, of sun and moon, an astronomical expression which was adopted in the common language of the people at a very early time. It does not occur, however, in the Rig-veda. In our Stra amvsy is used in the sense both of new moon and new-moon sacrifice.

64

STRA LXIV.
And let a man sacrifice with the Paurnamsy sacrifice at the time of the Paurnams, full moon, thus it is said.

64c

Commentary. Here the full moon is called paurnams, the sacrifice paurnamsy. Satyavrata joins the two Stras in one, and leaves out yageteti, which may have belonged to the commentary.
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65

STRA LXV.
Let a man observe that full-moon day as a day of abstinence on which the moon comes out full before.

65c

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

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The meaning of purastd, which I have translated by before, is doubtful. One commentator says it has no object, and should be dropped, purastd ity etat padam asmin stra idnm anvayam na labhate prayoganbhvt. Purastd, before, may, however, mean before the second day, on which the real sacrifice takes place, and the commentator mentions purastt-paurnams as a name of the katurdas-yukt, i.e. the full moon beginning on the fourteenth day. The same kind of full moon is also called Anumati, Prvpaurnams, and Sandhy-paurnams, while that which takes place on the pratipad, the first day of the lunar phase, is called Rk, Uttar-paurnams, Astamitodit, and Svahprit. Corresponding to these two kinds of Paurnams there are also two kinds of Amvsy. That which falls on the fourteenth day is called Prv-amvsy, or Sinvl, the ; that which falls on the pratipad, the first day of the new phase, is called Kuh, Uttar-amvsy. Svoyukt. See also Ait.-Brhm. II, 4; Nir. XI, 31-32.
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66

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

66c

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

67

STRA LXVII.
The Vgasaneyins mention a third, the Kharvik full moon.

67c

Commentary. Kharva means small. If one di

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