Apastamba Grihya-sutra

by Hermann Oldenberg | 1892 | 21,043 words

The short treatise of Apastamba on the Grihya ritual forms one Prashna of the great corpus of the Apastambiya-Kalpa-sutra and stands, among the Grihya texts, in closest connection with the Hiranyakeshi-Grihya-sutra. Alternative titles: Āpastamba-gṛhya-sūtra (आपस्तम्ब-गृह्य-सूत्र), Grhya, Āpastambagṛhyasūtra (आपस्तम्बगृह्यसूत्र), Apastambagrihyasut...

Praśna 6, Section 15

1.[1] After he has touched the new-born child with the Vātsapra hymn (Taitt. Saṃh. IV, 2, 2; M. II, 11, 20), and has taken him on his lap with the next Yajus (M. II, II, 21), with the next (three) (verses—II, 11, 22; 12, 1. 2—one by one) he addresses the child, kisses him on his head, and murmurs (the third verse) into his right ear.

2. And he gives him a Nakṣatra name.

3. That is secret.

4. He pours together honey and ghee; into this (mixture) he dips a piece of gold which he has tied with a noose to a Darbha blade. With the next (three) formulas (II, 12, 3-5) he gives the boy (by means of the piece of gold, some of the mixture) to eat. With the next five (verses, II, 12, 6-10) he bathes him. Then he pours curds and ghee together and gives him this (mixture which is called) 'sprinkled butter' (pṛṣadājya) to eat out of a brass vessel, with the Vyāhṛtis to which the syllable 'Om' is added as the fourth (II, 12, 11-14). The remainder he should mix with water and pour out in a cow-stable.

5. With the next (verse, M. II, 13, 1) he places (the child) in the mother's lap; with the next (II, 13, 2) he causes her to give him her right breast; with the next two (verses, II, 13, 3. 4) he touches the earth, and after (the child) has been laid down, (he touches him) with the next (formula, II, 13, 5).

6. With the next Yajus (II, 13, 6) he places a water-pot at (the child's) head, sacrifices mustard seeds and rice-chaff with his joined hands three times with each of the next (formulas, II, 13, 7-14, 2), repeating each time the word Svāhā, and says (to the people who are accustomed to enter the room in which his wife lies), 'Whenever you enter, strew silently (mustard seeds with rice-chaff) on the fire.'

7. This is to be done until the ten days (after the child's birth) have elapsed.

8. On the tenth day, after (the mother) has risen and taken a bath, he gives a name to the son. The father and the mother (should pronounce that name first).

9. (It should be a name) of two syllables or of four syllables; the first part should be a noun; the second a verb; it should have a long vowel (or) the Visarga at the end, should begin with a sonant, and contain a semi-vowel.

10, Or it should contain the particle su, for such a name has a firm foundation; thus it is said in a Brāhmaṇa.

11. A girl's name should have an odd number of syllables.

12.[2] When (the father) returns from a journey, he should address the child and kiss him on his head with the next two (verses, M. II, 14, 3. 4), and should murmur the next Mantras (II, 14, 5) into his right ear.

13. With the next Yajus (II, 14, 6) he addresses a daughter (when returning from a journey).

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

15, 1. We ought to read uttarābhir, not uttarābhyām. Comp. below, Sūtra 12.

[2]:

Comp. above, Sūtra 1.

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