Adhyāya II, Khaṇḍa 14

1^[1]. Now (follows) the Vaiśvadeva (sacrifice).

2^[2]. The rite of the sacrifice has been explained.

3. Let him pour oblations of prepared Vaiśvadeva food in the evening and in the morning into the (sacred) domestic fire.

4. 'To Agni svāhā! To Soma svāhā! To Indra and Agni svāhā! To Viṣṇu svāhā! To Bharadvāja Dhanvantari svāhā! To the Viśve devās svāhā! To Prajāpati svāhā! To Aditi svāhā! To Anumati svāhā! To Agni Sviṣṭakṛt svāhā!'—having thus offered the oblations belonging to those deities,

5. He then shall offer Balis (i.e. portions of food) in the centre of the floor to the same deities; (then another Bali with the words,) 'Adoration to Brahman and to the Brāhmaṇas!' and (with the verse), 'Vāstoṣpati, accept us' (Rig-veda VII, 54, 1) in the centre of the floor to Vāstoṣpati.

6^[3]. He then distributes Balis, from the left to the right, through the different quarters (of the horizon, to the presiding deities) in due order (with the words),

7. 'Adoration to Indra and to those belonging to Indra! Adoration to Yama and to those belonging to Yama! Adoration to Varuṇa and to those belonging to Varuṇa! Adoration to Soma and to those belonging to Soma! Adoration to Bṛhaspati and to those belonging to Bṛhaspati!'

8^[4]. Then (turned) towards the disk of the sun, 'Adoration to Aditi and to the Ādityas! Adoration

5. 'He shall offer a Bali to those deities, i.e. to those ten deities to whom he has sacrificed, to Agni, &c. (see Sūtra 4), addressing them with the word, "Adoration (to such and such a deity")—because in the other cases the word "adoration" (namaḥ) has been prescribed for the Bali.' Nārāyaṇa.

to the Nakṣatras, to seasons, to months, to half-months, to days and nights, to years!'

9. 'To Pūṣan, the path-maker; to Dhātar, to Vidhātar, and to the Maruts'—(thus) on the thresholds.

10. To Viṣṇu on the grindstone.

11. 'To the tree'—(thus) in the mortar.

12. 'To the herbs'—(thus) where the herbs are kept.

13. 'To Parjanya, to the waters'—(thus) near the water-pot.

14. 'Adoration to Śrī'—(thus) in the bed at the head, 'to Bhadrakālī at the foot.

15. In the privy, 'Adoration to Sarvānnabhūti!'

16. Then (he throws a Bali) into the air, in the evening with the words, 'To the night-walkers,' in the morning with the words, 'To the day-walkers,' and with the Verse,' Which gods' (Rig-veda I, 139, 11).

17. To the unknown deities to the north, and to Dhanapati (i.e. the Lord of treasures).

I8. With the sacrificial cord suspended over the right shoulder he pours out the remnant to the south with the verse, 'They whom the fire has burnt' (Rig-veda X, 15, 14).

19. When he has made his offerings to gods, fathers (i.e. Manes), and men, let him give food to a Śrotriya (i.e. to a learned Brāhmaṇa).

20. Or let him give alms (of food) to a student.

21^[5]. Let him immediately afterwards offer food to a female under his protection, to a pregnant woman, to boys, and to old people.

22^[6]. Let him throw (some food) on the ground for the dogs, for the dog-butchers, and for the birds.

23^[7]. Let him eat nothing without having cut off (and offered as a Bali) a portion thereof.

24. (Let him) not (eat) alone,

25. Nor before (the others).

26. With regard thereto it has been said also in the Ṛc,' In vain the fool gains food' (Rig-veda X, 117, 6).

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

14, 1. The rules regarding the Vaiśvadeva sacrifice stand here, as I have already pointed out in the German edition, p. 142, in a very strange position amid the matter that concerns the student, and before the description of the ceremony that concludes studentship (the Samāvartana; III, 1). On the first word of the chapter, atha, Nārāyaṇa observes that thereby the householder is marked as the subject of the following rules. It seems rather forced to explain the position of this chapter, as Nārāyaṇa does, by pointing out that in some cases, for instance when the teacher is away on a journey, a student also can eventually be called upon to perform the Vaiśvadeva sacrifice (comp. below, chap. 17, 3).

[2]:

This Sūtra shows, according to Nārāyaṇa, that the Vaiśvadeva offering does not follow the ordinary type of sacrifice (the Pratiśrute homakalpa, as it is termed above, I, 9, 19), but the form described in the Agnikāryaprakaraṇa, above, chap. 10, 3 seq.

[3]:

6, 7. The distribution of Balis begins in the east, which is the part of the horizon sacred to Indra; it then proceeds to the south, the west, the north, which are sacred respectively to Yama, Varuṇa, and Soma. Finally the Bali belonging to Bṛhaspati and the Bārhaspatyas is offered, according to Nārāyaṇa, to the north-east.

[4]:

The commentators (see p. 142 of the German edition) differ as to whether ādityamaṇḍala means the disk of the sun towards which this Bali should be offered, or a place or an apartment of circular form (ādityamaṇḍalarūpe maṇḍalāgāre, as in my opinion we ought to correct the reading in Nārāyaṇa's note).

[5]:

Comp. Böhtlingk-Roth s. v. suvāsinī, and Professor Bühler's note on Gautama V, 25.

[6]:

22, 23. Probably these Sūtras should be divided after iti.

[7]:

'Pūrvaṃ means, he should not eat before his relations (bandhubhyaḥ pūrvaṃ prathamataḥ).' Nārāyaṇa.