Praśna 13, Kaṇḍikā 2

1. he should arrange three Atigrāhya vessels.^[1]

2. The Āditya vessel and the Āditya cup^[2] in front of the stay of the southern Havirdhāna-cart; the Dhruva vessel^[3] in front of the stay of the northern Havirdhāna-cart, without putting down anything (beneath it) for support.

3. The Dadhigraha cup,^[4] made of the wood of udumbara and having four corners, should be placed on the northern shoulder of the mound.

4. In the middle he should place the dipping utensil resembling a ladle without a handle.

5. He should place a four-cornered Ṣoḍaśin cup made of the wood of khadira at a suitable place, if the sacrifice is a Ṣoḍaśin.

5. The utensils (= cups)^[5] belonging to Vāyu should be as high as a span, should have a raised neck, should be contracted in the middle, and should have beaks.

7. Such cups for which (the wood of) no specific tree has been prescribed should be made of (the wood of) any sacrificial tree.^[6] This is the view of Āśmarathya. They should be made of the wood of vikaṅkata. So says Ālekhana.

8. The injunction about (the wood of) the trees to be used for the goblets should be regarded as having been given hereby. There is another view that they should be made of the wood of nyagrodha^[7] itself.

9. There should be ten goblets^[8] with or without handles.

10. (There should be) ten Camasādhvaryus.

11. The goblets should pertain respectively to the Hotṛ, the Brahman, the Udgātṛ, the sacrificer, the Maitrāvaruṇa, the Brāhmaṇācchaṃsin, the Potṛ, the Neṣṭṛ, the Acchāvāka, and the Āgnīdhra. The Adhvaryu should arrange them on the mound in accordance with the available space.

12. Underneath the southern Havirdhāna-cart, to the rear of the axle, he should arrange the Droṇakalaśa^[9] together with a woollen filter with the verse, “I join thee, the earth with light.”^[10]

13. On the seat of the northern (Havirdhāna-cart) he should place the Ādhavanīya pitcher with the verse [? ^[11] ?], “I join thee, the wind with the midregion.”^[12]

14. With the verse, “I join thee, the speech with the sun,” he should place the Pūtabhṛt pitcher^[13] on the forepart of the pole.^[14]

15. At this stage some teachers prescribe the arranging of the Soma-pressing skin and the pressing stones.^[15]

16. The pressing stones should be kept with their lower ends facing towards the crushing stone.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Belonging to Agni, Indra and Sūrya respectively.

[2]:

The Āditya cup should be to the north of the Āditya vessel, cf. Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra XII.2.4.

[3]:

The formula is: “Pṛthivī is the divinity; Virāṭ the metre; thou art the vessel of Dhruva.”

[4]:

Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra XII.2.1 prescribes the arranging of the Dadhigraha cup before the Āditya vessel and the Dhruva vessel. Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra XII.2.1,2 moreover prescribes the arranging of a similar cup for the aṃśu and the adābhya offerings. It, however, adds that if one takes a Soma cup instead of a Dadhigraha cup, he need not place another cup for the aṃśu and the adābhya offerings.

[5]:

The Soma-vessels (sthālī), even though belonging to Vāyu, are left out here.

[6]:

Bearing fruit cf. [Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra?] II.[?].5

[7]:

Or of rohītaka cf. Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra XII.2.8.

[8]:

If the Sadasya has been chosen as the seventeenth officiating priest, there should be eleven.

[9]:

Made of the same wood as the wooden cups. cf. Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra XII.2.11.

[10]:

Taittirīya-saṃhitā III.1.6.1.

[11]:

For collecting the unpurified Soma-juice.

[12]:

Taittirīya-saṃhitā III.1.6.1.

[13]:

For collecting the purified Soma-juice.

[14]:

Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra XII.2.13 prescribes the placing of three Ekadhana pitchers—or five, seven, nine; eleven to the rear of the axle of the northern Havirdhāna-cart.

[15]:

XII.13.8.9.