Bharadvaja-srauta-sutra
by C. G. Kashikar | 1964 | 166,530 words
The English translation of the Bharadvaja-Srauta-Sutra, representing some of the oldest texts on Hindu rituals and rites of passages, dating to at least the 1st millennium BCE. The term Srautasutra refers to a class of Sanskrit Sutra literature dealing with ceremonies based on the Brahmana divisions of the Veda (Sruti). They include Vedic rituals r...
Praśna 4, Kaṇḍikā 3
1. The Adhvaryu should receive that (i.e. the Āhavanīya) fire which was carried forth for the Agnihotra. So says Āśmarathya. He should carry forth another fire (and receive it.) So says Ālekhana.
2. Some teachers prescribe the rites in the order: The partaking of food, the adding of fuel to the sacred fires, and the entering of the vow; others prescribe them in the order: The adding of fuel to the sacred fires, the partaking of food, and the entering of the vow;[1] still others prescribe them in the order: The entering of the vow, the partaking of food, and the adding of fuel to the sacred fires.
3. Before the fetching of the sacrificial grass, the sacrificer and his wife should partake of food mixed with ghee except beans and meat.
4. There is another view that they should do so before the driving away of the calves.
5. Then the sacrificer should get his hair and beard shaved.
6. Having crossed the altar to the rear of the Āhavanīya fire, he should turn by the right towards the north, sit down (on his seat), and sip[2] water with the verse, “The plants are full of sap; the sap of creepers is full of sap. O Indra, do thou unite me with that sap which is the sap of water.”[3]
7. Then he should pray to Aditya with the formula, “Thou art over-lord, thou art the guardian of the vow; I commence the vow. I pronounce it to thee; may I be capable of it; may I be enabled with it; may I flourish with it.”
8. If he enters upon the vow after the sun has set, he should pray with this formula to the Āhayanīya fire itself.
9. He should enter upon the vow on the full-moon day after having fetched the sacrificial grass, on the new-moon day after having driven away the calves. So is it said.[4]
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Instead of this order, Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra IV.2.8 mentions the order: The adding of fuel, the entering of the vow and the partaking of food.
[3]:
Taittirīya-saṃhitā I.5.10.2,3.
[4]:
This pissage cannot be traced in any Vedic text.