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 9, Kaṇḍikā 3
1. After having performed the sacrifice,[1] the sacrificer should invite her with the verse, “I am this, thou art that; I am the heaven, thou art the earth; I am the Sāman. thou art the Ṛk. Come, let us two be united, place the semen virile for obtaining a male child for the abundance of wealth, possessing good progeny and manliness.”[2]
2. If the sāṃnāyya or the Agnihotra-milk spills out, one should pour it on an ant-hill with the verse addressed to Prajāpati,[3] and pray to it with the vyāhṛti bhūḥ.[4]
3. Then he should cause another cow to be milked, and offer again if the substance involved is the Agnihotra-milk.[5]
4. If it is the sāṃnāyya, one should drive away the calves for another oblation, and observe fast.[6]
5. If an insect falls in the sāṃnāyya or the Agnihotra-milk, one should take it into the middle part[7] of a palāśa tri-leaf, and pour it down inside the enclosing sticks with the verse addressed to Dyāvāpṛthivī.
6. Then he should cause another cow to be milked, and offer again if the substance involved is the Agnihotra-milk.
7. If it is the sāṃnāyya, one should drive away the calves for another oblation, and observe fast.[8]
8. If it rains upon the Agnihotra-milk carried towards the Āhavanīya fire, one should offer it[9] with the verse, “Mitra, knowing, impels the men; Mitra has supported the earth and the heaven; Mitra has been perceiving the subjects incessantly: do you offer oblation rich in ghee to Mitra.”[10]
9. Then having caused another cow to be milked, one should again offer the Agnihotra.[11]
10. If, after the first oblation of the Agnihotra has been offered, the second oblation spills out, or if one offers the first oblation with the formula intended for the second oblation, one should put a fire-stick on the Āhavanīya fire with the vānaspatya verse, “O tree, where thou knowest the secret names of gods, there do thou carry the oblations,”[12] and offer it without reciting any formula.[13]
11. Then he should cause another cow to be milked, and again offer the Agnihotra.[14]
12. If, after the first oblation of the Agnihotra has been offered, the Āhavanīya fire becomes extinguished, one should place gold on the nearest piece of fuel, and offer an oblation[15] with the formula, “Agni in the wood, Agni has gone into the wood, svāhā.”
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
According to Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra IX.2.3, after she has passed three days.
[2]:
Taittirīya-brāhmaṇa III.7.1.9.
[3]:
I.10.2.
[5]:
= Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra IX.2.4.
[6]:
According to Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra IX.2.4, one should procure another milk.
[7]:
Or the extreme part, cf. Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra IX.2.5.
[8]:
One should procure another milk, according to Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra IX.2.5.
[9]:
= Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra IX.2.6.
[10]:
Taittirīya-brāhmaṇa III.7.2.3,4.
[11]:
= Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra IX.2.6.
[12]:
Taittirīya-brāhmaṇa III.7.2.5.
[13]:
= Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra IX.2.7.
[14]:
= Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra IX.2.7.
[15]:
One should offer an oblation on the piece itself, according to Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra IX.2.8.