Bharadvaja-srauta-sutra
by C. G. Kashikar | 1964 | 166,530 words
The English translation of the Bharadvaja-Srauta-Sutra, representing some of the oldest texts on Hindu rituals and rites of passages, dating to at least the 1st millennium BCE. The term Srautasutra refers to a class of Sanskrit Sutra literature dealing with ceremonies based on the Brahmana divisions of the Veda (Sruti). They include Vedic rituals r...
Praśna 4, Kaṇḍikā 4
1. After having stood towards the south, he should pray to the Āhavanīya fire with the formula, “O Agni, lord of vow, I shall observe the vow; may I be capable of it; may it flourish for me.”[1] This formula is meant for a Brāhmaṇa sacrificer, not for the other two classes.
2. He should pray to Vāyu with the formula, “O Vāyu, lord of vow, I shall observe the vow; may I be capable of it; may it flourish for me;”[2] to Aditya with the formula, “O Āditya, lord of vow, I shall observe the vow; may I be capable of it; may it flourish for me;”[2] to the Āhavanīya fire with the formula, “O lord of vow of vows, I shall observe the vow; may I be capable of it; may it flourish for me.”[2]
3. In the end he should pray to the gods with the formula, “O gods, do you advance among the gods—the first among the second, the second among the third. Threefold eleven, do you guard me here. May I be capable of what I do. May the self do for the self. I shall perform this remedy. O Aśvins, possessing all remedies, do you guard this act of mine.”[3]
4. While entering upon the vow, he should inwardly pray to the sea.
5-6. He should practise this vow: He should not eat flesh, he should not approach a woman (for sexual intercourse), he should not sit upon a raised seat, he should abstain from falsehood; he should pass the night without eating anything; he should (however) drink water or consume wild grains. He may consume wild grains[4] if he so desires. According to some teachers, he may consume all flesh up to that of deer, all saps up to honey, and all grains up to leguminous grains.
7. If he is observing fast in connection with a sacrifice in which wild grains are to be offered, he should (simply) consume water or nothing.
8. He should keep awake on the night of the new-moon day.
9. Or he may do as he can.
10. He should, however, not sleep on a raised place.
11. He may sleep on a raised place.
12. He should, however, observe the vow.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Taittirīya-brāhmaṇa III.7.4.7.
[2]:
Taittirīya-brāhmaṇa III.7.4.7,8.
[3]:
Taittirīya-brāhmaṇa III.7.5.1.
[4]:
The repetition of wild grains seems superfluous.