The Grihya-Sûtras: Rules of Vedic Domestic Ceremonies, Part II — SBE Vol. 30 (trans. Oldenberg & Müller, 1892)
The translator’s English as printed (Hermann Oldenberg & F. Max Müller). The original-language text is not held; names are romanised as the translator printed them.
Commentary.
The guha is a srué&, a spoon, the sruva, a ladle.
Sotra XXVIII.
The offering is made in the Ahavantya fire.
Sotra XXVIII. The sacrificial vessels are kept from the first laying of the fires (4dh4na) for the whole life.
Commentary.
All sacrificial vessels and instruments are to be kept, and most of them are burnt with the sacrificer at his death.
SOtrra X XIX.
At every sacrifice these vessels are to be purified.
Sotra XXX.
The rule for the sacrifice are the Mantras and
Brahmaazas.
Sétra XXXI.
The name Veda belongs both to the Mantras and Brahmamzas. ¥ 2
p. 324
Sotra XXXII.
The Brahmazas are the precepts for the sacrifice.
Sotra XXXIII.
The rest of the Brahmaza, that which does not contain precepts, consists of explanations, i.e. reproof, praise, stories, and traditions.
Commentary.
It is difficult to find words corresponding to technical terms in Sanskrit. Arthav4da, which I have translated by explanation, means not only the telling of the meaning, but likewise the telling of the object; parakyrnti, story, means literally the action of another; purdkalpa, traditions, means the former state. The difference between the two is stated to be that parakrzti refers to the act of one person, purakalpa to that of several. This subject is fully treated in the Pirva-mim4msa4. Satyavrata begins a new Sdtra with ‘ reproof’ (nind4).
Sotra XXXIV.
All the rest are Mantras.
Sotra XXXV,
But passages which are not handed down, are not to be classed as Mantras, as, for instance, the pravara, the words used in choosing priests, divine or human; dha, substitution of one word for another ; and ndamadheya-grahamza, the mentioning of the names of particular sacrificers.
Commentary.
The reason why such passages are not to be treated as Mantras is that they should not be subject to some of the preceding rules, as, for instance, the murmuring, enjoined in Sftra IX. Those passages naturally vary in each sacrifice. With regard to the names a distinction is madep. 325 between the garhyam nama, the domestic name of a person, such as Yagnasarman, and the astrological name, such as Rauhiza, derived from the star Rohini.
Stra XXXVI.
Likewise the sound of a carriage and the sound
of a drum.
Commentary.
These sounds, though serving for the sacrifice, are not to be considered as liable to the rules given for the recitation of Mantras.
Sttra XXXVII.
The prohibition of reciting Mantras in the Sv4dhy4ya does not apply to the sacrifice, because there is then a different object.
Commentary.
Svadhy 4ya, i.e. self-reading, is the name given to the study of the Veda, both in first learning and in afterwards repeating it. This study is under several restrictions, but these restrictions cease when the Veda is used for sacrificial purposes. Sotra XXXVIII.
Sacrificial acts are accompanied by one Mantra.
Commentary.
This study is under several restrictions, but these restrictions cease when the Veda is used for sacrificial purposes. Sotra XXXVIII.
Sacrificial acts are accompanied by one Mantra.
Commentary.
If it is said that the priest cuts the plants with fourteen verses, that means that there are fourteen plants to be cut and that one verse is used for each plant.
SOtra XXXIX.
This applies also to sacrificial acts which have a number and are to be carried out by separate (repeated) acts.
p. 326
Commentary.
If a rule is given, such as triZ prokshati, he sprinkles thrice, the mantra which accompanies the act, is recited once only. Again in the case of acts that require repetitions, such as rubbing, pounding, &c., the hymns are recited once only,
Stra XL.
The same applies to rubbing, sleeping, crossing a river, down-pours of rain, the conjuring of unlucky omens, unless they happened some time ago.
Commentary.
If several members of the body are to be rubbed, the verses required for the purpose are recited once only. A prayer is enjoined if one wakes during the night. If one wakes more than once that prayer is not to be repeated. In crossing a river the necessary verse is not to be repeated at every wave, nor during a down-pour, at every drop of rain. If some unlucky sight has to be conjured, the conjuring verse is spoken once and not repeated, unless some time has elapsed and a new unlucky sight presents itself.
SOrRA XLI.
In case of a journey, however, one hymn is used till the object (of the journey) has been accomplished.
Commentary. I read pray4me tu-4-arthanirvritteA. Another reading is arthanivrettiz. Sotra XLII.
It is the same also with regard to acts which do not produce an immediate effect.
Commentary.
The commentators distinguish between acts which
sOTRAS XL-XLV. 327 produce a visible effect, such as pounding or sprinkling, and acts which do not, such as addressing, approaching, looking. The latter are called asamznipatin. Thus when the stones used for the preparation of Soma are addressed, the hymn which is used for addressing them, is not repeated for each single stone, the same as in Sitra XL. SAtras XLI and XLII are sometimes joined.
Sotra XLIII.
Repetition takes place in the case of the Havishkvzt, Adhrigu, Puronuvaky4,and Manota hymns, (because they have to be used) at different times.
Commentary.
Havishkrit-adhrigu-puronuvaky4-manotam is to be taken as a Dvandva compound.
The Havishkrzt hymn is an invocation when the havis is made. The Adhrigu hymn is ‘Daivy4k samitaraz,’ &c. The Puronuvakya hymn is that which precedes the Yagy4, immediately after the Sampraisha. The Manota hymn is ‘Tvam hy agne prathamo manoté, &c. These hymns are to be repeated, if the act which they accompany has to be repeated after a certain interval.
Sotra XLIV.
When it is expressly stated, one sacrificial act may
be accompanied by many hymns.
Commentary.
The Manota hymn is ‘Tvam hy agne prathamo manoté, &c. These hymns are to be repeated, if the act which they accompany has to be repeated after a certain interval.
Sotra XLIV.
When it is expressly stated, one sacrificial act may
be accompanied by many hymns.
Commentary.
Thus we read, ‘He takes the Abhri, the hoe, with four
Mantras,’
Sotra XLV.
One ought to let the beginnings of a sacrificial act coincide with the end of the Mantras.
p. 328
Commentary.
The mantra which indicates the nature and purpose of a sacrificial act should come first, and as soon as it has been finished the act should follow. See K4ty. I, 3, 5.
Sttra XLVI.
In the case of the 4gh4ra, sprinkling of clarified butter, and of dh4rd, pouring out of Soma, the beginning of the mantra and the act takes place at the same time.
Sttra XLVII.
Mantras are indicated by their first words.
Commentary.
These first words are often called Pratikas, and rules are given in Asvalayana’s Srauta-sitras I, 1, 17-19, as to the number of words that should form such a pratfka, if it is meant for one verse, for three verses, or for a whole hymn. According to Asvalayana, if one foot is quoted, it is meant for a verse ; if an imperfect foot of an initial verse is quoted, it is meant for a whole hymn; if more than a foot is quoted, it is meant for three verses.
Sttra XLVIII.
One should know that with the beginning of a following mantra, the former mantra is finished.
Sotra XLIX.
In the case of Hotr& and Y4gam4na-mantras, an aggregation takes place.
Commentary.
Hotraés are mantras recited by the Hotvr#-priest,
Yagamanas are mantras recited by the sacrificer himself.
They are hymns which accompany, but do not enjoin any sacrificial act.
p. 329
Sotra L.
In the case of the Ya4gy4s and AnuvakyéAs this
(the aggregation) is optional.
Commentary.
The Y4gy4 is explained by prayakkhati yagyay4, the Anuvaky4 by 4hvayaty anuvakyay4. Sometimes more than one are mentioned, but in that case the priest is free to do as he likes. According to the same principle, when we read that one should sacrifice with rice or with barley, that means that rice should be used after the rice-harvest, barley after the barley-harvest, and not that rice and barley should be used at the same time.
Sotra LI.
It is the same with numbers.
Commentary.
If we read that, as in the case of fees to be given to priests, two, seven, eleven, twelve, twenty-one, sixty, or a hundred, this means that either one or the other, not that all should be given at the same time.
Sotra LII.
But accumulation is meant in the buying (of Soma), in the redemption, and in initiation.
Commentary.
When it is said that Soma is bought for a goat, gold, &c., that it is re-bought from the priests by means of a fee, or that at the time of the Diksh4, the purification and initiation of a sacrificer, clothes, gold, grain, &c., should be given, these are cases not of aut-aut but of et-et.
Commentary.
The guha is a srué&, a spoon, the sruva, a ladle.
Sotra XXVIII.
The offering is made in the Ahavantya fire.
Sotra XXVIII. The sacrificial vessels are kept from the first laying of the fires (4dh4na) for the whole life.
Commentary.
All sacrificial vessels and instruments are to be kept, and most of them are burnt with the sacrificer at his death.
SOtrra X XIX.
At every sacrifice these vessels are to be purified.
Sotra XXX.
The rule for the sacrifice are the Mantras and
Brahmaazas.
Sétra XXXI.
The name Veda belongs both to the Mantras and Brahmamzas. ¥ 2
p. 324
Sotra XXXII.
The Brahmazas are the precepts for the sacrifice.
Sotra XXXIII.
The rest of the Brahmaza, that which does not contain precepts, consists of explanations, i.e. reproof, praise, stories, and traditions.
Commentary.
It is difficult to find words corresponding to technical terms in Sanskrit. Arthav4da, which I have translated by explanation, means not only the telling of the meaning, but likewise the telling of the object; parakyrnti, story, means literally the action of another; purdkalpa, traditions, means the former state. The difference between the two is stated to be that parakrzti refers to the act of one person, purakalpa to that of several. This subject is fully treated in the Pirva-mim4msa4. Satyavrata begins a new Sdtra with ‘ reproof’ (nind4).
Sotra XXXIV.
All the rest are Mantras.
Sotra XXXV,
But passages which are not handed down, are not to be classed as Mantras, as, for instance, the pravara, the words used in choosing priests, divine or human; dha, substitution of one word for another ; and ndamadheya-grahamza, the mentioning of the names of particular sacrificers.
Commentary.
The reason why such passages are not to be treated as Mantras is that they should not be subject to some of the preceding rules, as, for instance, the murmuring, enjoined in Sftra IX. Those passages naturally vary in each sacrifice. With regard to the names a distinction is madep. 325 between the garhyam nama, the domestic name of a person, such as Yagnasarman, and the astrological name, such as Rauhiza, derived from the star Rohini.
Stra XXXVI.
Likewise the sound of a carriage and the sound
of a drum.
Commentary.
These sounds, though serving for the sacrifice, are not to be considered as liable to the rules given for the recitation of Mantras.
Sttra XXXVII.
The prohibition of reciting Mantras in the Sv4dhy4ya does not apply to the sacrifice, because there is then a different object.
Commentary.
Svadhy 4ya, i.e. self-reading, is the name given to the study of the Veda, both in first learning and in afterwards repeating it. This study is under several restrictions, but these restrictions cease when the Veda is used for sacrificial purposes. Sotra XXXVIII.
Sacrificial acts are accompanied by one Mantra.
Commentary.
This study is under several restrictions, but these restrictions cease when the Veda is used for sacrificial purposes. Sotra XXXVIII.
Sacrificial acts are accompanied by one Mantra.
Commentary.
If it is said that the priest cuts the plants with fourteen verses, that means that there are fourteen plants to be cut and that one verse is used for each plant.
SOtra XXXIX.
This applies also to sacrificial acts which have a number and are to be carried out by separate (repeated) acts.
p. 326
Commentary.
If a rule is given, such as triZ prokshati, he sprinkles thrice, the mantra which accompanies the act, is recited once only. Again in the case of acts that require repetitions, such as rubbing, pounding, &c., the hymns are recited once only,
Stra XL.
The same applies to rubbing, sleeping, crossing a river, down-pours of rain, the conjuring of unlucky omens, unless they happened some time ago.
Commentary.
If several members of the body are to be rubbed, the verses required for the purpose are recited once only. A prayer is enjoined if one wakes during the night. If one wakes more than once that prayer is not to be repeated. In crossing a river the necessary verse is not to be repeated at every wave, nor during a down-pour, at every drop of rain. If some unlucky sight has to be conjured, the conjuring verse is spoken once and not repeated, unless some time has elapsed and a new unlucky sight presents itself.
SOrRA XLI.
In case of a journey, however, one hymn is used till the object (of the journey) has been accomplished.
Commentary. I read pray4me tu-4-arthanirvritteA. Another reading is arthanivrettiz. Sotra XLII.
It is the same also with regard to acts which do not produce an immediate effect.
Commentary.
The commentators distinguish between acts which
sOTRAS XL-XLV. 327 produce a visible effect, such as pounding or sprinkling, and acts which do not, such as addressing, approaching, looking. The latter are called asamznipatin. Thus when the stones used for the preparation of Soma are addressed, the hymn which is used for addressing them, is not repeated for each single stone, the same as in Sitra XL. SAtras XLI and XLII are sometimes joined.
Sotra XLIII.
Repetition takes place in the case of the Havishkvzt, Adhrigu, Puronuvaky4,and Manota hymns, (because they have to be used) at different times.
Commentary.
Havishkrit-adhrigu-puronuvaky4-manotam is to be taken as a Dvandva compound.
The Havishkrzt hymn is an invocation when the havis is made. The Adhrigu hymn is ‘Daivy4k samitaraz,’ &c. The Puronuvakya hymn is that which precedes the Yagy4, immediately after the Sampraisha. The Manota hymn is ‘Tvam hy agne prathamo manoté, &c. These hymns are to be repeated, if the act which they accompany has to be repeated after a certain interval.
Sotra XLIV.
When it is expressly stated, one sacrificial act may
be accompanied by many hymns.
Commentary.
The Manota hymn is ‘Tvam hy agne prathamo manoté, &c. These hymns are to be repeated, if the act which they accompany has to be repeated after a certain interval.
Sotra XLIV.
When it is expressly stated, one sacrificial act may
be accompanied by many hymns.
Commentary.
Thus we read, ‘He takes the Abhri, the hoe, with four
Mantras,’
Sotra XLV.
One ought to let the beginnings of a sacrificial act coincide with the end of the Mantras.
p. 328
Commentary.
The mantra which indicates the nature and purpose of a sacrificial act should come first, and as soon as it has been finished the act should follow. See K4ty. I, 3, 5.
Sttra XLVI.
In the case of the 4gh4ra, sprinkling of clarified butter, and of dh4rd, pouring out of Soma, the beginning of the mantra and the act takes place at the same time.
Sttra XLVII.
Mantras are indicated by their first words.
Commentary.
These first words are often called Pratikas, and rules are given in Asvalayana’s Srauta-sitras I, 1, 17-19, as to the number of words that should form such a pratfka, if it is meant for one verse, for three verses, or for a whole hymn. According to Asvalayana, if one foot is quoted, it is meant for a verse ; if an imperfect foot of an initial verse is quoted, it is meant for a whole hymn; if more than a foot is quoted, it is meant for three verses.
Sttra XLVIII.
One should know that with the beginning of a following mantra, the former mantra is finished.
Sotra XLIX.
In the case of Hotr& and Y4gam4na-mantras, an aggregation takes place.
Commentary.
Hotraés are mantras recited by the Hotvr#-priest,
Yagamanas are mantras recited by the sacrificer himself.
They are hymns which accompany, but do not enjoin any sacrificial act.
p. 329
Sotra L.
In the case of the Ya4gy4s and AnuvakyéAs this
(the aggregation) is optional.
Commentary.
The Y4gy4 is explained by prayakkhati yagyay4, the Anuvaky4 by 4hvayaty anuvakyay4. Sometimes more than one are mentioned, but in that case the priest is free to do as he likes. According to the same principle, when we read that one should sacrifice with rice or with barley, that means that rice should be used after the rice-harvest, barley after the barley-harvest, and not that rice and barley should be used at the same time.
Sotra LI.
It is the same with numbers.
Commentary.
If we read that, as in the case of fees to be given to priests, two, seven, eleven, twelve, twenty-one, sixty, or a hundred, this means that either one or the other, not that all should be given at the same time.
Sotra LII.
But accumulation is meant in the buying (of Soma), in the redemption, and in initiation.
Commentary.
When it is said that Soma is bought for a goat, gold, &c., that it is re-bought from the priests by means of a fee, or that at the time of the Diksh4, the purification and initiation of a sacrificer, clothes, gold, grain, &c., should be given, these are cases not of aut-aut but of et-et.
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