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 7, Kaṇḍikā 13
1. Towards the south of the Śāmitra fire, he should put the other darbha-blade with the formula, “Do thou be united with the body of this (animal); do thou, higher, place the lord of the sacrifice within the highest sacrifice; do thou guard (the animal) from the contact with the earth.”[1]
2. On it the animal should be immolated facing towards the west and with its feet towards the north.
3. The Adhvaryu should call out (the immolator), “Do thou immolate the animal without allowing it to make a sound,” and return from the animal which is to be immolated.
4. The Adhvaryu and the sacrificer should be seated[2] gazing at the pṛṣadājya with the two verses, “May the multiformed offspring, feeding all and generating, rejoice in this sacrifice. Gathering around the fire and the cowpen, may they guard us with their milk and ghee.[3]—May those cows whose udder with four openings is full of honey and ghee, become rich in milk and increasing food for us in this cowpen.”
5. After the animal has been immolated, the Adhvaryu should offer the saṃjñaptahoma with the verse, “If the animal has uttered a cry or strikes its breast with its feet, may Agni release me from that sin.”[4]
6. He should loosen the noose of the animal with the verse, “O immolators, do you come to the sacrifice set in motion by the gods. Free the animal from the noose, the lord of sacrifice from the bond.”[5]
7. He Should pierce the noose with the one-pronged fork and throw it into the cātvāla or upon the rubbish-heap with the half verse, “May Aditi loosen this noose. I bow to the cattle and to the lord of the cattle.”[6]
8. If he has to practise exorcism, he should tie it to a piece of wood or a bunch of grass (stamba)[7] with the half verse, “I cast down the enemy. I fasten the noose on him whom we hate.”[8]
9. The sacrificer’s wife[9] should pray to Aditya with the formula, “Obeisance to thee, O extended one.”[10]
10. The Pratiprasthātṛ should then lead her towards the east[11] with the formula, “Come forward irresistible, along the stream of ghee, with offspring, with abundance of wealth.”[12]
11. At the cātvāla the sacrificer’s wife should touch water with the formula, “O divine waters, purifying and pure, do you bring the gods.”[13]
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Taittirīya-saṃhitā I.3.8.2.
[2]:
Restraining their speech, according to Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra VII.17.1.
[4]:
Taittirīya-saṃhitā III.1.4.3.
[5]:
[6]:
Taittirīya-saṃhitā III.1.4.4. Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra VII.17.5 prescribes this towards the untying of the animal.
[7]:
[8]:
Taittirīya-saṃhitā III.1.4.4.
[9]:
Dhūrtasvāmin clarifies that if there are many wives, they should all pray together.
[10]:
Taittirīya-saṃhitā I.3.8.2.
[11]:
If there are many wives, they should be led one by one. The sacrificer’s wife should be brought along the rear of the Prājahita, that is, the old Gārhapatya fire, and along the north of Śālāmukhīya, that is, the new Gārhapatya fire. According to Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra VII.18.3, the Pratiprasthātṛ should optionally follow with that formula the coming of the sacrificer’s wife.
[12]:
Taittirīya-saṃhitā I.3.8.2.
[13]:
Taittirīya-saṃhitā I.3.8.2. Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra VI1.18.4 prescribes the touching of the water also by the officiating priests and the sacrificer with the formula; it does not prescribe the ritual mentioned in Bhāradvāja-śrauta-sūtra VII.14.1.