apastamba's yajna paribhasha sutras 6.pdf

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

PASTAMBA'S YAGA-PARIBHSH-STRAS. (cont.)STRA CXXVI.

They are optionally vikras of the Aindrgna.

p. 349Commentary.

Sometimes these two Stras are combined into one. Thecommentator, however, sees in the v of aindrgnavikr v adeeper meaning. Agn-Shomau, he says, consists of four, Indrgnof three syllables. Therefore if the name of more than one deityconsists of four syllables, it should be treated as a vikra of theAgnshomya, if of less than four syllables, as a vikra of theAindrgna.

STRA CXXVII.

An exception must be made in the case of the gods of the prakriti,as, for instance, the Aindra purodsa, the Saumya karu.

Commentary.

The exception applies to cases where the offering in a vikritisacrifice is meant for the same principal deities as those of the

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prakriti offering. For instance, in the Darsa-prnamsa Agni andSoma are the deities of the Agnshomya, Indra and Agni of theAindrgna. If then in one of the secondary or vikriti sacrificesthere occurs an Aindra purodsa, or a Saumya karu, then theAindra purodsa is treated as a vikra of the Aindrgna, theSaumya karu as a vikra of the Agnshomya. The Somendra karualso, as its principal deity is Soma, would follow the Agnshomya,

the Indrsomya purodsa, as its principal deity is Indra, wouldfollow the Aindrgna.

STRA CXXVIII.

If there is sameness both in the offering and in the deity, then theoffering prevails.

Commentary.

If a karu for Pragpati occurs in a vikriti sacrifice, it would follow

that, being offered to Pragpati, it should be offered withmurmuring, but, as it is a vegetable offering, it follows the norm ofthe purodsa, though the purodsa is intended for Agni.

p. 350

STRA CXXIX.

If there is contradiction with regard to the substance and thepreparation of an offering, the substance prevails.

Commentary.A purodsa may be made of vrhi, rice, or of nvra, wild growingrice. The wild rice has to be pounded, but not the good rice. Thepreparation, however, has to yield in a vikriti, the important pointbeing the substance.

STRA CXXX.

If there is contradiction with regard to the substance, the objectprevails.

Commentary.

An example makes the meaning of this Stra quite clear. Generallythe ypa or sacrificial post for fastening sacrificial animals is madeof Khadira wood. But if a post made of wood is not strong enoughto hold the animal, then an iron post is to be used, the object beingthe fastening of the animal, while the material is of lessconsequence.

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S TRA CXXXI.

In a Prakriti sacrifice there is no ha, modification of the mantras.

Commentary.

Certain mantras of the Veda have to be slightly altered, when theirapplication varies. In the normal sacrifices, however, no suchalteration takes place.

STRA CXXXII.

In a Vikriti sacrifice modification takes place, according to thesense, but not in an arthavda.

Commentary.

Some mantras remain the same in the Vikriti as in the Prakriti.Others have to be modified so as to be

p. 351

adapted to anything new that has to be. If, for instance, there is aPurodsa for Agni in the Prakriti, and in its place a Purodsa forSrya in the Vikriti, then we must place Srya instead of Agni inthe dedicatory mantra.

STRA CXXXIII.

When we hear words referring to something else, that is arthavda.

Commentary.

Arthavda is generally explained as anything occurring in theBrhmanas which is not vidhi or command. Here, however, itrefers to Mantras or passages recited at the sacrifice. We saw howsuch passages, if they referred to some part of the sacrifice, had tobe modified under certain circumstances according to the sense.Here we are told that passages which do not refer to anythingspecial in the sacrifice, are arthavda and remain unmodified. All

this is expressed by the words paravkyasravant. Vkya stands forpadni, words, such as are used in the nivpamantra, &c. Some ofthese words are called samavetrthni, because they tell ofsomething connected with the performance of the sacrifice, as, forinstance, Agnaye gushtam nirvapmi, I offer what is acceptable toAgni; others are asamavetrthni, as, for instance, Devasya tvSavituh prasave. When such passages which are not connectedwith some sacrificial act occur (sravant), they naturally remainunaltered.

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S TRA CXXXIV.

If what is prescribed is absent, a substitute is to be taken accordingto similarity.

Commentary.

Here we have no longer modification, but substitution (pratinidhi).In cases where anything special that has been prescribed iswanting, a substitute must be chosen, as similar as possible, andproducing a similar effect.

p. 352

According to Mandana's Triknda, the degrees of similarity are tobe determined in the following order:

Kryai rpais tath parnaih kshraih pushpaih phalair api,

Gandhai rasaih sadrig grhyam prvlbhe param param.

'What is similar by effect, by shape, by leaves, by milk, by flowers,and by fruit, By smell, or by taste is to be taken one after the other,if the former cannot be found.'

STRA CXXXV.

If there is nothing very like, something a little like may besubstituted, only it must not be prohibited.

Commentary.If in a karu of mudgas, kidney-beans, phaseolus mungo, thesekidney-beans should fail, a substitute may be taken, but thatsubstitute must not be mshas, phaseolus radiatus, because thesemshas are expressly forbidden; for it is said, Ayagiy vaimshh, 'Mshas are not fit for sacrifice.'

STRA CXXXVI.

The substitute should take the nature of that for which it is

substituted.Commentary.

Taddharma, having the same qualities. If, for instance, nvra hasbeen substituted for vrhi, it should be treated as if it were vrhi.The name vrhi should remain, and should not be replaced bynvra, just as Soma, if replaced by ptik, is still called Soma.Thus, when in the course of a sacrifice vrhi has once beenreplaced by nvra, and vrhi can be procured afterwards, yet

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nvra is then to be retained to the end. If, however, the substitutednvra also come to an end, and afterwards both nvra and vrhiare forthcoming, then vrhi has the preference. If neither beforthcoming, then some substitute is to be taken that approachesnearest to the substitute, the nvra, not to the

p. 353

original vrhi. Further, if a choice has been allowed between vrhi,rice, and yava, barley, and vrhi has been chosen, and afterwards,as substitute for vrhi, nvra, then, if nvra come to an end, and inthe absence of vrhi, when a new supply of both nvra, and yavahas been obtained, the yava is to be avoided, and the originalsubstitute for vrhi, the nvra, must be retained. In most of thesecases, however, a certain penance also (pryaskitta) is required.

STRA CXXXVII.

If something is wanting in the measure, let him finish with the rest.Commentary.

If it is said that a purodsa should be as large as a horse's hoof, andthere is not quite so much left, yet whatever is left should be usedto finish the offering.

STRA CXXXVIII.

Substitution does not apply to the master, the altar-fire, the deity,

the word, the act, and a prohibition.Commentary.

The master is meant for the sacrificer himself and his wife. Theirplace cannot, of course, be taken by anybody else. The altar-fire issupposed to have a supernatural power, and cannot be replaced byany other fire. Nothing can take the place of the invoked deities,nor of the words used in the mantras addressed to them, nor can thesacrifice itself be replaced by any other act. Lastly, when it is saidthat mshas, varakas, kodravas are not fit for sacrifice, or that aman ought not to sacrifice with what should not be eaten by ryas,

nothing else can be substituted for what is thus prohibited.

STRA CXXXIX.

The Prakriti stops from three causes, from a corollary, from aprohibition, and from loss of purpose.

p. 354

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Commentary.

A corollary (pratymnna) occurs, when it is said, 'instead of Kusagrass, let him make a barhis of reeds.' A prohibition (pratishedha)occurs, when it is said, 'he does not choose an rsheya.' Loss ofpurpose (arthalopa) occurs, when peshana, pounding, would referto karu, a pulse, that cannot be pounded, while grains can be.

STRA CXL.

The Agnishtoma is the Prakriti of the Ekha sacrifices.

Commentary.

The Ekha are sacrifices accomplished in one day.

STRA CXLI.

The Dvdasha is the Prakriti of the Aharganas.

Commentary.

The Dvdasha lasts twelve days and is a Soma sacrifice. It iseither an Ahna or a Sattra. An Ahargana is a series of daily andnightly sacrifices. Those which last from two nights to elevennights are called Ahna. Those which last from thirteen to onehundred nights or more are called Sattras.

STRA CXLII.

The Gavmayana is the Prakriti of the Smvatsarikas.

Commentary.

The Gavmayana lasts three years, and it is the type of allSmvatsarika sacrifices, whether they last one, two, three or moreyears. They all belong to the class of Sattras.

STRA CXLIII.

Of the Nikyi sacrifices the first serves as Prakriti.

p. 355

Commentary.

Among the Nikyi sacrifices, lit. those which consist of a number,all having the same name, but different rewards, the first is theprakriti of the subsequent ones. The commentator calls themsdyaskra &c., and mentions as the first the Agnishtoma. See Stra

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CXLVI, and Weber, Ind. Stud. XIII, p. 218.

STRA CXLIV.

At the Agnishtoma there is the Uttara-vedi.

Commentary.

The commentator explains this by saying that at the Somasacrifices, i.e. at the Agnishtoma, Ukthya, Shodasin, and Atirtra,the fire is carried from the havanya to the Uttara-vedi, which isalso called the Soma altar.

STRA CXLV.

The fire is valid for the successive sacrifices.

Commentary.

This fire refers to the fire on the Uttara-vedi, mentioned in thepreceding Stra, and the object of the Stra seems to be to includethe act of lighting the fire on the Uttara-vedi in the Prakriti, thoughproperly speaking it does not form part of the Agnish toma. But Icannot quite understand the argument of the commentator.

STRA CXLVI.

This does not apply to the Sdyaskras, the Vgapeya, the Shodasin,and the Srasvata Sattra.

Commentary.

With regard to the Shodasin and its vikra, the Vgapeya, thelaying of the fire is not mentioned. In the case of the Sdyaskras, itbecomes impossible, because they have to be quickly finished. Inthe case of the Srasvata Sattra, there is the same difficulty onaccount of not remaining in the same place (anavasthpn ngniskyate).

p. 356

STRA CXLVII.

A sacrificer wishes the object of his sacrifice at the beginning ofthe sacrifice.

Commentary.

Some MSS. read kmayeta, 'he should wish,' but the commentatorexplains that such a command (vidhi) is unnecessary, because it is

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natural to form a wish (svatah siddhatvt).

STRA CXLVIII.

At the beginning of a special part of the sacrifice, one should wishthe object of that part of the sacrifice.

Commentary.

The commentary, though objecting, and objecting rightly, tokmayeta, 'he should wish,' in the preceding Stra, acceptskmayeta as determining the present Stra, saying kmayetetyanuvartate. One should read yaggakmam, not yagakmam,for the commentary explains it by yaggaphalasakalpah.Whether it was really intended that there should be a special wishfor each part or subsidiary act of a sacrifice (yagga), is anotherquestion, but the commentator evidently thought so.

Ktyyana, who treats the same subject (1, 2, 10 seq.), states thatthere should be this desire for a reward for certain sacrifices whichare offered for a certain purpose, as, for instance, the Dvdasha,but that there are no such motives for other sacrifices, and parts ofsacrifices. He mentions, first of all, a niyama, a precept for thesacrifice, such as 'Speak the truth.' Then a nimitta, a special cause,as when some accident has taken place that must be remedied, forinstance, when the house has been burnt down, &c. Thirdly, theAgnihotra, the morning and evening Homa; fourthly, the Darsa-prnamsau; fifthly, the Dkshyana, a vikriti of the Darsa-prnamsau, the grayana; sixthly, the Nirdha-pasu, the animal

sacrifice. All these have to be performed as a sacredp. 357

duty, and without any view to special rewards. Thus we read inVsishtha:

Avasyam brhmanognn dadhta,darsaprnamsgrayaneshtikturmsyapasusomaiska yageta, 'ABrhmana should without fail place his fires, and offer theDarsaprnamsa, the grayaneshti, the Kturmsyas, the P a s u,and the Soma sacrifices.'

Hrta says: Pkayagn yagen nityam haviryagmska nityasah,Sommska vidhiprvena ya ikkhed dharmam avyayam, 'Let a manoffer the Pkayagas always, always also the Haviryagas, and theSoma sacrifices, according to rule, if he wishes for eternal merit.'The object of these sacrifices is aparimitanihsreyasarpamoksha,eternal happiness, and hence they have to be performed during lifeat certain seasons, without any special occasion (nimitta), andwithout any special object (kma). According to most authorities,however, they have to be performed during thirty years only. After

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According to the substances offered, sacrifices are sometimes

p. 359

divided into vegetable and animal sacrifices. The vegetablesubstances are, tandulh, pishtni, phalkaranh, purodsah,odanah, yavgh, prithukh, lgh, dhnh, and aktavah. Theanimal substances are, payah, dadhi, gyam, miksh, vginam,vap, tvakah, mmsam, lohitam, and pasurasah.

STRA CXLIX.

If there are fewer Mantras and more (sacrificial) acts, then afterdividing them into equal parts, let him perform the former with theformer, the latter with the latter.

Commentary.

It happens, for instance, in certain ishtis that a pair of Ygy andAnuvky mantras is given, but six acts. In that case one half ofthe mantras is used for one half of the acts, and the other half of themantras for the other half of the acts.

STRA CL.

If there are fewer acts and more Mantras, let him perform and actwith one mantra, those which remain are optional, as the materialsfor the sacrificial post.

Commentary.

Kapardisvmin seems to have divided this Stra into three, thesecond being avasisht vikalprthh, the third yathypadravynti. But it is better to take it as one, as it is in MS.1676.

If there are, for instance, fourteen vapanas, while there are manymore mantras, let him select fourteen mantras and use them for

SevenPkasamsths:

SevenHavihsamsths:

SevenSomasamsths:

(1) Syamhomah, Agnydheyam, Agnishtomah,(2) Prtarhomah, Agnihotram, Atyagnishtomah,(3) Sthlpka, Darsa-, Ukthyah,(4) Navayagah, Paurnamsau, Shodas,

(5) Vaisvadevam, grayana, Vgapeyah,(6) Pitriyagah, Kturmsyni, Atirtrah,(7) Ashtak. Pasubandhah. Aptorymah.

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each vapana, while the rest will be useful for another performance.A similar case occurs when different kinds of wood arerecommended for making the sacrificial post, or when rice orbarley are recommended for an offering. Here a choice has to bemade. The iti at the end is explained as showing that there are otherinstances of the same kind.

Footnotes

357:1 See Manu, transl. by Bhler, S.B.E., XXV, who quotes tothe same purpose Gaut. VIII, 19-20; Vs. XI, 46; Vi. LIX, 2-9;Baudh. II, 4, 23; Yg. I, 97, 124-125.

357:2 Ktyyana, p. 34.

358:1 Vaisvadevam parva, Varunapraghsh, skamedhh.

358:2 Agnishtoma, Ukthya, Atirtra, sometimes Shodasin, are theoriginal Soma sacrifices; Atyagnishtoma, Vgapeya, andAptoryma are later. See Weber, Ind. Stud. X, pp. 352, 391.

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