Praśna 10, Kaṇḍikā 6

1. Having got upon the skin, the sacrificer should murmur the verse, “Happily have I mounted this ship with a hundred oars and a hundred spars, without leak, able to convey across.”^[1]

2. He should cover his (right) shoulder (with the upper garment) with the formula, “Thou art the protection of Viṣṇu, the protection of the sacrificer; grant me protection.”^[2]

3. He should cover his head with the turban with the formula, “Guard me from the lustre of the stars.”^[3]

4. Or he should cover (the shoulder) together with the head in the proper manner.

5. One^[4] should arrange the kumba and the kurīra on the head of his wife.

6. A net is called kurīra.

7. It is made of black wool of a living animal. So is it said.

8. Then he should cause her to wear the linen garment with its upper end (mātṛ) towards the front.

9. A garment (the upper end of) which is to be worn on the upper part of the body is intended thereby.

10. With the formula, “Thou art the strength of Aṅgirases, soft as wool; grant me strength; guard me; harm me not,”^[5] he should fasten the sacrificer’s waist with a thick girdle which is made of muñja grass,^[6] has a noose on either side, and is made of three strands.

11. He should tie an easily (loosenable) knot towards the north of the navel, and then move it towards the south of the navel.

12. He should fasten a yoke-halter on the waist of the sacrificer’s wife as in the New-moon and the Full-moon sacrifices^[7] with the verse, “I fasten thee with milk and clarified butter; I fasten thee (with) water and with plants; I fasten thee to-day with offspring; do thou, who hast been consecrated, give us strength.”^[8]

13. Then he should give the sacrificer a horn of a black antelope having three curves or five curves by the right,^[9] with the formula, “Thou art the birth-place of Indra; do thou not harm me.”^[10]

14. The sacrificer should fasten it (to the fringes of his garment) with the same formula.^[11]

15. He should dig out a clod of earth from the altar with the formula, “(I dig) thee for fruitful cultivation.”^[12]

16. If he has to scratch, he should scratch on his head with the formula, “(I scratch) thee for plants bearing good fruit.”^[13]

17. He should scratch on his limbs with the formula, “O horn, loosen this knot, if anything has stuck to the heart of this (person), if anything has stuck to the mind of this (person).”^[14]

18. Then the Adhvaryu should give him (= the sacrificer) a staff of udumbara pertaining to the consecration, measuring (in height) up to the mouth of the sacrificer,^[15] with the formula, “Thou art born of a tree, standing up, and having splendour; do thou give splendour to the sacrificer.”^[16]

19. According to some teachers,^[17] the staff may be made of that tree, which is sacrificial and which bears fruit.

20. The sacrificer should receive it with the formula, “The divine tree is of good shoot. Being erect, guard me until the completion (of the sacrifice).”^[18]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Taittirīya-saṃhitā I.5.11.6.

[2]:

Taittirīya-saṃhitā I.2.2.2.

[3]:

Taittirīya-saṃhitā I.2.2.2.

[4]:

Probably the Adhvaryu or the Pratipiasthātṛ.

[5]:

Taittirīya-saṃhitā I.2.2.2.

[6]:

Or of śara grass according to Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra X.9.13.

[7]:

II.5.4.

[8]:

Taittirīya-saṃhitā III.5.6.1.

[9]:

Or by the left, according to Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra X.9.19.

[10]:

Taittirīya-saṃhitā I.2.2.2.

[11]:

Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra X.9.18 mentions a view according to which the Adhvaryu should either give the horn to the sacrificer or fasten it on his body.

[12]:

Taittirīya-saṃhitā I.2.2.3.

[13]:

Taittirīya-saṃhitā I.2.2.3.

[14]:

Maitrāyaṇī-saṃhitā I.2.2.

[15]:

Or up to his chin according to Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra X.10.5.

[16]:

Maitrāyaṇī-saṃhitā I.2.2.

[17]:

Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra X.10.4.

[18]:

Taittirīya-saṃhitā I.2.2,3. According to Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra X..10.6 ff., the sacrificer should murmur the keśinī dīkṣā (Jaiminīya-brāhmaṇa II.65).