Adhyāya II, Kaṇḍikā 8

1. Now he should examine the ground in the following ways.

2. He should dig a pit knee-deep and fill it again with the same earth (which he has taken out of it).

3. If (the earth) reaches out (of the pit, the ground is) excellent; if it is level, (it is) of middle quality; if it does not fill (the pit, it is) to be rejected.

4. After sunset he should fill (the pit) with water and leave it so through the night.

5. If (in the morning) there is water in it, (the ground is) excellent; if it is moist, (it is) of middle quality; if it is dry, (it is) to be rejected.

6. White (ground), of sweet taste, with sand on the surface, (should be elected) by a Brāhmaṇa.

7. Red (ground) for a Kṣatriya.

8. Yellow (ground) for a Vaiśya.

9. He should draw a thousand furrows on it and should have it measured off as quadrangular, with equal sides to each (of the four) directions;

10. Or as an oblong quadrangle.

11^[1]. With a Śamī branch or an Udumbara branch he sprinkles it (with water), going thrice round it, so that his right side is turned towards it, reciting the Śantātīya hymn.

12. And (so he does again three times) pouring out water without interruption, with the three verses, 'O waters, ye are wholesome' (Rig-veda X, 9, 1 seqq.).

13^[2]. In the interstices between the bamboo staffs he should have the (single) rooms constructed.

14. Into the pits in which the posts are to stand, he should have an Avakā, i.e. (the water-plant called) Śīpāla put down; then fire will not befall him: thus it is understood (in the Śruti).

15^[3]. Having put (that plant) into the pit in which the middle-post is to stand, he should spread (on it) eastward-pointed and northward-pointed Kuśa grass and should sprinkle (on that grass) water into which rice and barley have been thrown, with (the words), 'To the steady one, the earth-demon, svāhā!'

16^[4]. He then should, when (the middle-post) is being erected, recite over it (the two verses), 'Stand here, fixed in the ground, prosperous, long-lasting (?), standing amid prosperity. May the malevolent ones not attain thee!

'To thee (may) the young child (come), to thee the calf . . .; to thee (may) the cup of Parisrut (come); (to thee) may they come with pots of curds.'

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

8, 11. The hymn of which all verses (except a few) commence with, and frequently contain, the word śam (Rig-veda VII, 35).

[2]:

The bamboo staffs (vaṃśa) rest on the chief posts (sthūṇā); see chap. 9, 1. 2.

[3]:

Comp. chap. 1, 4.

[4]:

Comp. Śāṅkhāyana-Gṛhya III, 3, 1 and the note there. How stāmirāvatīm should be corrected and translated is quite uncertain. Instead of poṣasva Prof. Stenzler proposes to read poṣasya, as Śāṅkhāyana has; I have adopted this correction.—In the second verse jāyatāṃ saha seems to be corrupt; comp. my note on Śāṅkhāyana III, 2, 9. Instead of pariśritaḥ we should read, as Śāṅkhāyana, Pāraskara, and the Atharva-veda (III, 12, 7) have, parisrutaḥ.