Praśna I, Paṭala 5, Section 17

1. A she-wolf (he addresses) with (the verse), 'Whether incited by others or whether on its own accord the Bhayeḍaka (? Bhayoḍaka, var. lect.) utters this cry, may Indra and Agni, united with Brahman, render it blissful to us in our house.'

2.^[1] A bird (he addresses) with (the verse), 'Thou fliest, stretching out thy legs; the left eye . . .; may nothing here suffer harm (through thee);'

3. An owl (piṅgalā) with (the verse), 'The bird with the golden wings flies to the abode of the gods. Flying round the village from left to right portend us luck by thy cry, O owl!'

4.^[2] 'May my faculties return into me; may life return, prosperity return; may the divine power return into me; may my goods return to me.

'And may these fires that are stationed on the (altars called) Dhiṣṇyās, be in good order here, each in its right place. Svāhā!

'My self has returned, life has returned to me; breath has returned, design has returned to me. (Agni) Vaiśvānara, grown strong with his rays, may he dwell in my mind, the standard of immortality. Svāhā!

'The food which is eaten in the evening, that does not satiate in the morning him whom hunger assails. May all that (which we have seen in our dreams), do no harm to us, for it has not been seen by day. To Day svāhā!'—with these (verses) he sacrifices sesamum seeds mixed with Ājya, if he has seen a bad dream.

5.^[3] Now the following expiations for portents are prescribed. A dove sits down on the hearth, or the bees make honey in his house, or a cow (that is not a calf) sucks another cow, or a post puts forth shoots, or an anthill has arisen (in his house): cases like these (require the following expiation):

6.^[4] He should bathe in the morning, should put on clean garments, should show patience (with everybody) during the day, and should speak (only) with Brāhmaṇas. Having put wood on the fire in an inner apartment, and having performed the rites down to the Vyāhṛti oblations, he sacrifices with (the verses), 'This, O Varuṇa,' &c. (see above I, 2, 8, 16, down to the end of the Sūtra). Then he serves food to the Brāhmaṇas and causes them to say, 'An auspicious day! Hail! Good luck!

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

17, 2. The commentary explains śakuni (bird) by dhvāṅkṣa (crow). In the translation of the Mantra (Taitt. Ār. IV, 35) I have left out the unintelligible words nipepi ca. The way to correct the last Pāda is shown by Atharva-veda VI, 57, 3; X, 5, 23.

[2]:

Comp. Āśvalāyana-Gṛhya III, 6, 8.

[3]:

Śāṅkhāyana V, 5. 8. 11; Āśvalāyana III, 7, &c. Kuptvā is corrupt; we should expect a locative. We ought to correct kuptvām, as Dr. Kirste has observed, comp. Āpastamba-Gṛhya VIII, 23, 9.

[4]:

Comp. above, I, 4, 14, 2; 15, 5; I, 2, 8, 16; I, 3, 9, 7. 8.