Gobhila-grihya-sutra

by Hermann Oldenberg | 1892 | 44,344 words

The Sutra of Gobhila presupposes, beside the Samhita of the Sama-veda, another collection of Mantras which evidently was composed expressly with the purpose of being used at Grihya ceremonies. Alternative titles: Gobhila-gṛhya-sūtra (गोभिल-गृह्य-सूत्र), Grhya, Gobhilagṛhyasūtra (गोभिलगृह्यसूत्र), Gobhilagrihyasutra, Gobhilagrhyasutra....

Prapāṭhaka I, Kāṇḍikā 3

1.[2] Having put wood on the (sacred) fire, having swept"(the ground) round it, he should, bending his right knee, pour out to the south of the fire his joined hands full of water with (the words), 'Aditi! Give thy consent!'

2. To the west with (the words), 'Anumati! Give thy consent!'

3. To the north with (the words), 'Sarasvatī! Give thy consent!'

4. With (the words), 'God Savitṛ! Give thy impulse!' (Mantra-Brāhmaṇa I, 1, 1) he should sprinkle (water) round the fire once or thrice so as to keep his right side turned towards it—

5. Interchanging the points at which he begins and ends the (sprinkling of water), and sprinkling so as to encompass what he is going to offer (with the streams of water).

6.[3] Let him then make oblations of the sacrificial food, be it prepared or raw, over the fire.

7.[4] If it is raw, he should sacrifice after having washed it and having let the water drop off.

8. If it consists in curds or milk or rice gruel, (he should sacrifice it) with a brazen bowl, or with the pot in which the oblations of boiled rice are prepared, or also with the (sacrificial spoon called) Sruva;

9.[5] In the evening the first (oblation) with (the formula), 'To Agni Svāhā!' the second silently, in the middle and in the north-eastern part (of the fire);

10. In the morning the first (oblation) with (the formula), 'To Sūrya Svāhā!' the second again silently, again in the middle and in the north-eastern part (of the fire).

11. Having put a piece of wood (on the fire), and having again sprinkled (water) round it, he should pour out again his joined hands full of water in the same way (as prescribed in the Sūtras 1-3); in the Mantras he says, 'Thou hast given thy consent' (instead of 'Give thy consent').

12.[7] Having circumambulated the fire so as to turn his right side towards it, having poured out the remains of water, and filled the vessel again, and put it (in its proper place), (he may do) whatever his business is.

13.[8] In that way, from that time (in which he has begun to offer the two daily sacrifices) he should sacrifice, or should have sacrificed, over the (sacred) domestic fire, till the end of his life.

14. Here now they say:

15.[9] 'If they like, his wife may offer the morning and evening oblations over the domestic fire. For his wife is (as it were) his house, and that fire is the domestic fire.'

16.[10] When the morning meal or the evening meal is ready, he should make (his wife) say, 'It is ready!'—

17. In an unbroken voice (?), having made himself pure,

18.[11] He replies in a loud voice, 'Om!' Then in a low voice: 'To that (food) I bring adoration. May it not fail!'

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Rules regarding the daily morning and evening sacrifice.

[2]:

1-5. Khādira-Gṛhya I, 2, 17-21.

[3]:

The sacrificial food is either kṛta (prepared) or akṛta (unprepared). A mess of boiled rice, for instance, is kṛta, rice grains are akṛta.

[4]:

7-12. Khādira-Gṛhya I, 5, 10-12. Prodaka in Sūtra 7 is explained by pragatodaka.

[5]:

9-10. Khādira-Gṛhya, l.l. 13-15.

[6]:

The first oblation is made in the middle, the second, sacred to Prajāpati (Śāṅkhāyana I, 3, 15, &c.), in the north-eastern part of the sacred fire. The tenth Sūtra of course is to be understood in the same way.

[7]:

The water is that mentioned chap. 1, 24. With regard to p. 21 yathārtham the commentary says, 'yathārthaṃ karmāpavargavihitaṃ Vāmadevyagānādikaṃ prātarāhutipaścādvihitaṃ brahmayajñaṃ vā kuryād iti vākyaśeṣaḥ.' Similarly in the note on II, 4, 11 it is said, 'yathārtham iti karmaṇaḥ parisamāptir ucyate;' II, 8, 17: 'yathārthaṃ tantrasamāpanaṃ kuryāt,' &c. In my translation I have adopted the opinion of Professor Weber (Indische Studien, V, 375), according to whom yathārtham simply means, '(he should behave) as required by circumstances;' '(he should do) what happens to be his business.'

[8]:

The last words are ā jīvitāvabhṛthāt, which literally means 'till the Avabhṛtha bath of his life.' The Avabhṛtha bath is the bath taken at the end of certain sacrifices, so that the Avabhṛtha of life signifies death.

[9]:

Khādira-Gṛhya I, 5, 17.

[10]:

16-18. Khādira-Gṛhya, l.l. 18, 19. In my translation of Sūtra 17 I have adopted, though not quite without doubt, the conjecture of Professor Roth given in Professor Knauer's note, p. 137. Professor Roth writes ṛtebhaṅgayā vācā or ṛtebhagayā vācā: he says simply 'om,' and not 'ó-o-ó-o-ó-om.' According to the commentary Sūtra 17 would refer to the wife, not to the husband.

[11]:

The MSS. give mākhyā and mākṣā. We ought to read, tan ma kṣāyīty upāṃśu. Comp. Āpastamba II, 2, 3, 11

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