Verse 3.76

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

अग्नौ प्रास्ताऽहुतिः सम्यगादित्यमुपतिष्ठते ।
आदित्याज् जायते वृष्तिर्वृष्टेरन्नं ततः प्रजाः ॥ ७६ ॥

agnau prāstā'hutiḥ samyagādityamupatiṣṭhate |
ādityāj jāyate vṛṣtirvṛṣṭerannaṃ tataḥ prajāḥ || 76 ||

An oblation duly thrown into the fire reaches the sun; from the sun proceeds rain from, rain food, and from food, the creatures.—(76)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Into the fire being thrown’—by the sacrificer.

‘Oblation’—cooked rice, cakes and such other things, when thrown into the fire, are called ‘oblation.’

‘Reaches the sun’—in an invisible form. The sun absorbs the essence of all things; hence the essence of the oblation is described as reaching the sun. This essence, evolving in the sun’s rays, becomes in time developed into rain. From that proceeds ‘food’—in the shape of Vrīhi and other grains. From that proceed ‘creatures,’—all living beings.

Thus, by throwing an oblation into the fire, the sacrificer continues to help on the world-process.

What is stated here is only a commendatory supplement to the foregoing injunction, and it is not meant to be literally true. If it were literally true, then only one who desires rain would he entitled to the performation of the act referred to; but no such thing has been asserted anywhere. Nor is there any occasion for assuming such an assertion, when it is possible to take the verse as supplementary to the principal subject-matter of the context.—(76)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Aparārka (p. 994).