The Agnistoma Somayaga in the Shukla Yajurveda
by Madan Haloi | 2018 | 109,416 words
This page relates ‘Part 4.7: Construction of the Agnidhriya shed’ of the study on the Agnistoma Somayaga as described in the Shukla Yajurveda (dealing with Vedic Rituals). The Agnistoma sacrifice (lit. “praise of Agni”) connects god with men and is performed in the spring season. It is the model of all the Soma sacrifices and forms a large and complicated ceremony preceded by four preliminary ritualistic days. This thesis deals with all the details involved in the Agnistoma sacrifice.
Part 4.7: Construction of the Āgnīdhrīya shed
[Full title: Rites Performed on the Fourth Day: (f) Construction of the Āgnīdhrīya shed (maṇḍapa-nirmāṇa)]
After the construction of the sadas, the construction of the āgnīdhrīya shed takes place. The āgnīdhrīya shed belongs to the Āgnīdhra priest. It is constructed in the northern side of the havirdhāna shed closer to the western border of this shed. It should be constructed in such a measurement that it should be equally divided by the northern border of the mahāvedī. It should stand half inside the mahāvedī and half outside the mahāvedī. Or one may construct it keeping more than half of it inside the mahāveīi and the rest outside the vedī. Or the whole shed may be constructed inside the mahāvedī. Having made the āgnīdhrīya shed, the Adhvaryu ceremonially touches it with a yajuṣ formula.[1]
The formula runs as follows—
vaiśyadevamasi/[2]
Kātyāyana adds here that the shed should have doors in the eastern and southern side like the agnyāgāra.[3]
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa , 3.6.1.26
[2]:
Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā , 5.30(d)
[3]:
Kātyāyana Śrautasūtra , 8.6.10-11