Sankhayana-grihya-sutra
by Hermann Oldenberg | 1886 | 37,785 words
The Grihya-sutra ascribed to Shankhayana, which has been edited and translated into German in the XVth volume of the "Indische Studien", is based on the first of the four Vedas, the Rig-veda in the Bashkala recension, and among the Brahmana texts, on the Kaushitaka. Alternative titles: Śāṅkhāyana-gṛhya-sūtra (शाङ्खायन-गृह्य-सूत्र), Shank...
Adhyāya I, Khaṇḍa 3
1[1]. Now (follow) the ceremonies of the days of the new and full moon.
He fasts.
2[2]. In the morning, when the sun shines on the top of the great trees, that is the most auspicious time for all kinds of sacrifices, unless there be a special rule.
3[3]. With a genial mind, clean, on a pure, protected spot, having cooked a full, thin mess of rice, he offers that cooked oblation to the deities of the festivals of the new and full moon, distributing it in the due way.
4[4]. In the oblations of cooked food the acts of taking (the intended oblation), of putting it down (near the fire), and of sprinkling it (with water) are performed with regard to the deities of the (respective) Mantras.
5[5]. And the rules about the portions to be cut off (from the sacrificial food, are valid).
6[6]. But before the sacrifices of the new and full moon one should make offerings to the deities of the Anvārambhaṇīya ceremony.
7[7]. The time for the new moon sacrifice is not elapsed until the full moon, nor that for the full moon sacrifice until the new moon.
8[8]. And some say that the morning oblation may be made at the time of the evening oblation, in the case of danger.
9. But the time is fixed, as at the Agnihotra an expiation has been prescribed for him who has neglected the time.
10. At the two daily oblations one should use as sacrificial food either rice or barley or grains.
11. In case these are not at hand, other (sorts of sacrificial food are) not prohibited.
12. Some say that if he uses grains, he should wash them.
13. With the other (kinds of food) no such preparation takes place.
14[9]. In the evening (he makes the oblation) to Agni, in the morning to Sūrya,
15. And after both silently to Prajāpati.
16. Some (say that) before the first oblation a piece of wood (is to be put on the fire).
17[10]. The sprinkling with water as indicated (in the Śrauta-sūtra).
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
3, 1. Most probably this rule should be divided into two Sūtras, so that atha darsapūrṇamāsau would stand as the heading of the chapter; comp. below, chap. 18, 1, atha caturthīkarma; chap. 24, 1, atha jātakarma, &c.
[2]:
'If this is expressly stated, the oblation is to be made in night-time; for instance, at the Vāstoṣpatīya ceremony it is stated, "The tenth oblation of the Sthālīpāka, to Agni Sviṣṭakṛt at night" (see below, III, 4, 8).' Nārāyaṇa.
[3]:
On vighana, which I have translated thin, see the note in the German edition, pp. 119 seq.
[4]:
For instance, the taking of the portion of food destined to Agni should be performed with the Mantra: Agnaye tvā jushtaṃ gṛhṇāmi, &c. A number of ceremonies common to the Sthālīpāka ritual and to the ordinary ritual of Ājya oblations, such as the strewing of Kuśa grass round the fire, the ceremonies regarding the Pavitras (strainers), &c., have to be supplied here from the Ājya ritual given below (ch. 7 seq.); this may be looked upon as an argument in favour of our conjecture which will be stated in the preface (vol. ii of the Gṛhya-sūtras), that our text, as probably is the case also with the Pāraskara-sūtra, is based on an original, the opening sentences of which are preserved to us in Śāṅkh. I, 5, 1-5 = Pāraskara I, 4, 1-5, so that the first chapters of Śāṅkhāyana, and among them the exposition of the festivals of the full and new moon, would have been prefixed to the original commencement of the text.
[5]:
On the avadānadharmās comp. Weber, Indische Studien, X, 95; Hillebrandt, Neu- und Vollmondsopfer, pp. 122 seqq.
[6]:
The Anvārambhaṇīyā-iṣṭi is the sacrifice taught in the Śrauta texts which is to be performed before the sacrificer for the first time offers the Darśapūrṇamāsa sacrifice. See Weber, Indische Studien, X, 330; Hillebrandt, loc. cit., p. 185. The deities of this ceremony are Agnīviṣṇū, Sarasvatī, and Sarasvat.
[7]:
Comp. the expiatory sacrifice prescribed in the Pariśiṣṭa book, V, 4.
[8]:
The text here passes over from the two monthly sacrifices to the two daily ones, which correspond to the Agnihotra of the Śrauta ritual.
[9]:
14, 15. These are the same deities who are worshipped also at the Agnihotra.
[10]:
Śrauta-sūtra II, 6, 9-11. Comp. p. 120 of the German edition.