Adhyāya I, Kaṇḍikā 11

1. In the fourth night (after the wedding), towards morning, (the husband) establishes the fire within (the house), assigns his seat, to the south (of it), to the Brahman, places a pot of water to the north, cooks a mess of sacrificial food, sacrifices the two Ājya portions, and makes (other) Ājya oblations with (the following Mantras):

2^[1]. 'Agni! Expiation! Thou art the expiation of the gods. I, the Brāhmaṇa, entreat thee, desirous of protection. The substance which dwells in her that brings death to her husband, that extirpate in her. Svāhā!

'Vāyu! Expiation! Thou art the expiation of the gods. I, the Brāhmaṇa, entreat thee, desirous of protection. The substance which dwells in her that brings death to her children, that extirpate in her. Svāhā!

'Sūrya! Expiation! Thou art the expiation of the gods. I, the Brāhmaṇa, entreat thee, desirous of protection. The substance which dwells in her that brings death to cattle, that extirpate in her. Svāhā!

'Kandra! Expiation! Thou art the expiation of the gods. I, the Brāhmaṇa, entreat thee, desirous of protection. The substance which dwells in her that brings destruction to the house, that extirpate in her. Svāhā!

'Gandharva! Expiation! Thou art the expiation of the gods. I, the Brāhmaṇa, entreat thee, desirous of protection. The substance which dwells in her that brings destruction to fame, that extirpate in her. Svāhā!'

3. He sacrifices of the mess of cooked food with (the words), 'To Prajāpati svāhā!'

4^[2]. Each time after he has sacrificed, he pours the remainder of the oblations into the water-pot, and out of that (pot) he besprinkles her on her head with (the words), 'The evil substance which dwells in thee that brings death to thy husband, death to thy children, death to cattle, destruction to the house, destruction to fame, that I change into one that brings death to thy paramour. Thus live with me to old age, N.N.!'

5. He then makes her eat the mess of cooked food with (the words), 'I add breath to thy breath, bones to thy bones, flesh to thy flesh, skin to thy skin.'

6^[3]. Therefore one should not wish for sport with the wife of a Śrotriya who knows this; for the other one is a person who knows this (and is thereby enabled to destroy a lover of his wife).

7. After he has led her to his house, be should cohabit with her after each of her monthly periods,

8^[4]. Or as he likes, because it has been said, 'May we have intercourse as we like, until a child is born.'

9^[5]. He then touches her heart, (reaching) over her right shoulder, with (the verse), 'O thou whose hair is well parted! Thy heart that dwells in heaven, in the moon, that I know; may it know me. May we see a hundred autumns; may we live a hundred autumns; may we hear a hundred autumns.'

10. In the same way afterwards.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

11, 2. Comp. Śāṅkhāyana-Gṛhya I, 18, 3.

[2]:

The water-pot is that mentioned in Sūtra 1.

[3]:

Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa I, 6, 1, 18; XIV, 9, 4, II (= Bṛhad Āraṇyaka VI, 4, 12; Sacred Books of the East, vol. xv, p. 218).

[4]:

Taittirīya Saṃhitā II, 5, 1, 5.

[5]:

See above, chap. 8, 8.