२३

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः

ऋत्विजो वृणीतेऽन्यूनानतिरिक्ताङ्गान्ये मातृतः पितृतश्चेति यथोक्तं पुरस्तात् १

Oldenberg

1 1 . He chooses priests (for officiating at a sacrifice) with neither deficient nor superfluous limbs, ‘who on the mother’s and on the father’s side (&c.),’ as it has been said above.

मूलम्

ऋत्विजो वृणीतेऽन्यूनानतिरिक्ताङ्गान्ये मातृतः पितृतश्चेति यथोक्तं पुरस्तात् १

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः

यून ऋत्विजो वृणीत इत्येके २

Oldenberg
  1. Let him choose young men as officiating priests: thus (declare) some (teachers).
मूलम्

यून ऋत्विजो वृणीत इत्येके २

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः

ब्रह्माणमेव प्रथमं वृणीतेऽथ होतारमथाध्वर्युमथोद्गातारम् ३

Oldenberg
  1. He chooses first the Brahman, then the Hotṛ, then the Adhvaryu, then the Udgātṛ.
मूलम्

ब्रह्माणमेव प्रथमं वृणीतेऽथ होतारमथाध्वर्युमथोद्गातारम् ३

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः

सर्वान्वा येऽहीनैकाहैर्याजयन्ति ४

Oldenberg

4 2 . Or all who officiate at the Ahīna sacrifices and at those lasting one day.

मूलम्

सर्वान्वा येऽहीनैकाहैर्याजयन्ति ४

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः

सदस्यं सप्तदशं कौषीतकिनः समामनन्ति
स कर्मणामुपद्रष्टा भवतीति
तदुक्तमृग्भ्यां यमृत्विजो बहुधा कल्पयन्त इति ५

Oldenberg

5 3 . The Kauṣītakinas prescribe the Sadasya as the seventeenth, saying, ‘He is the looker-on at the performances.’

6 4 . This has been said in the two Ṛcas, ‘He whom the officiating priests, performing (the sacrifice) in many ways’ (Rig-veda VIII, 58, I. 2).

मूलम्

सदस्यं सप्तदशं कौषीतकिनः समामनन्ति
स कर्मणामुपद्रष्टा भवतीति
तदुक्तमृग्भ्यां यमृत्विजो बहुधा कल्पयन्त इति ५

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः

होतारमेव प्रथमं वृणीते ६

Oldenberg

7 5 . He chooses the Hotṛ first.

मूलम्

होतारमेव प्रथमं वृणीते ६

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः

अग्निर्मे होता स मे होता होतारं त्वामुं वृण इति होतारं ७

Oldenberg
  1. With (the formula), ‘Agni is my Hotṛ; he is my Hotṛ; I choose thee N.N. as my Hotṛ’ (he chooses) the Hotṛ.
मूलम्

अग्निर्मे होता स मे होता होतारं त्वामुं वृण इति होतारं ७

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः

चन्द्रमा मे ब्रह्मा स मे ब्रह्मा ब्रह्माणं त्वामुं वृण इति ब्रह्माणं ८

Oldenberg
  1. With (the formula), ‘Candramas (the moon) is my Brahman; he is my Brahman; I choose thee N.N. as my Brahman’ (he chooses) the Brahman.
मूलम्

चन्द्रमा मे ब्रह्मा स मे ब्रह्मा ब्रह्माणं त्वामुं वृण इति ब्रह्माणं ८

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः

आदित्यो मेऽध्वर्युरित्यध्वर्युम् । पर्जन्यो म उद्गातेत्युद्गातारम् । आपो मे होत्राशंसिन इति होत्रकान् । रश्मयो मे चमसाध्वर्यव इति चमसाध्वर्यून् ।
आकाशो मे सदस्य इति सदस्यम् ।
स वृतो जपेन्महन्मेऽवोचो भर्गो मेऽवोचो भगो मेऽवोचो यशो मेऽवोचः स्तोमं मेऽवोचः कॢप्तिं मेऽवोचस्तृप्तिं मेऽवोचो भुक्तिं मेऽवोचः सर्वं मेऽवोच इति ९

Oldenberg

  1. With (the formula), ‘Āditya (the sun) is my Adhvaryu; (he is my Adhvaryu, &c.)’ - the Adhvaryu.

  2. With (the formula), ‘Parjanya is my Udgātṛ; (he is my Udgātṛ, &c.)’ - the Udgātṛ.

12 6 . With (the formula), ‘The waters are my reciters of what belongs to the Hotrakas’ - the Hotrakas.

13 7 . With (the formula), ‘The rays are my Camasādhvaryus’ - the Camasādhvaryus.

  1. With (the formula), ‘The ether is my Sadasya’ - the Sadasya.

  2. He whom he has chosen should murmur, ‘A great thing thou hast told me; splendour thou hast told me; fortune thou hast told me; glory thou hast told me; praise thou hast told me; success thou hast told me; enjoyment thou hast told me; satiating thou hast told me; everything thou hast told me.’

मूलम्

आदित्यो मेऽध्वर्युरित्यध्वर्युम् । पर्जन्यो म उद्गातेत्युद्गातारम् । आपो मे होत्राशंसिन इति होत्रकान् । रश्मयो मे चमसाध्वर्यव इति चमसाध्वर्यून् ।
आकाशो मे सदस्य इति सदस्यम् ।
स वृतो जपेन्महन्मेऽवोचो भर्गो मेऽवोचो भगो मेऽवोचो यशो मेऽवोचः स्तोमं मेऽवोचः कॢप्तिं मेऽवोचस्तृप्तिं मेऽवोचो भुक्तिं मेऽवोचः सर्वं मेऽवोच इति ९

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः

जपित्वाग्निष्टे होता स ते होता होताहं ते मानुष इति होता प्रतिजानीते १०

Oldenberg
  1. Having murmured (this formula), the Hotṛ declares his assent (in the words), ‘Agni is thy Hotṛ; he is thy Hotṛ; thy human Hotṛ am I.’
मूलम्

जपित्वाग्निष्टे होता स ते होता होताहं ते मानुष इति होता प्रतिजानीते १०

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः

चन्द्रमास्ते ब्रह्मा स ते ब्रह्मा ११

Oldenberg
  1. ‘Candramas (the moon) is thy Brahman; he is thy Brahman (&c.)’ - thus the Brahman.
मूलम्

चन्द्रमास्ते ब्रह्मा स ते ब्रह्मा ११

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः

एवमितरे यथादेशं तन्मामवतु तन्मा विशतु तेन भुक्षिषीयेति च याजयिष्यन् १२

Oldenberg
  1. In the same way the others according to the prescriptions (given above).

19 8 . And if (the priest who accepts the invitation) is going to perform the sacrifice (for the inviting person, he should add), ‘May that bless me; may that enter upon me; may I thereby enjoy (bliss).’

मूलम्

एवमितरे यथादेशं तन्मामवतु तन्मा विशतु तेन भुक्षिषीयेति च याजयिष्यन् १२

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः

न्यस्तमार्त्विज्यमकार्यम् १३

Oldenberg

20 . The functions of an officiating priest are not to be exercised, if abandoned (by another priest),

मूलम्

न्यस्तमार्त्विज्यमकार्यम् १३

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः

अहीनस्य नीचदक्षिणस्य १४

Oldenberg

9 or at an Ahīna sacrifice with small sacrificial fee,

मूलम्

अहीनस्य नीचदक्षिणस्य १४

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः

व्याधितस्यातुरस्य १५

Oldenberg

or for a person that is sick, or suffering,

मूलम्

व्याधितस्यातुरस्य १५

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः

यक्ष्मगृहीतस्य १६

Oldenberg

or affected with consumption,

मूलम्

यक्ष्मगृहीतस्य १६

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः

अनुदेश्यभिशस्तस्य १७

Oldenberg

or decried among the people in his village,

मूलम्

अनुदेश्यभिशस्तस्य १७

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः

क्षिप्तयोनेरिति चैतेषाम् १८

Oldenberg

or of despised extraction: for such persons (the functions of a Ritvij should not be exercised).

मूलम्

क्षिप्तयोनेरिति चैतेषाम् १८

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः

सोमप्रवाकं परिपृच्छेत्को यज्ञः क ऋत्विजः का दक्षिणा इति १९

Oldenberg

21 10 . He (who is chosen as a Ṛtvij) should ask the Somapravāka, ‘What sacrifice is it? Who are the priests officiating? What is the fee for the sacrifice?’

मूलम्

सोमप्रवाकं परिपृच्छेत्को यज्ञः क ऋत्विजः का दक्षिणा इति १९

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः

कल्याणैः सह सम्प्रयोगः २०

Oldenberg
  1. If (all the conditions) are favourable, he should accept.
मूलम्

कल्याणैः सह सम्प्रयोगः २०

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः

न मांसमश्नीयुर्न स्त्रियमुपेयुरा क्रतोरपवर्गात् २१

Oldenberg
  1. Let (the officiating priests) eat no flesh nor have intercourse with a wife until the completion of the sacrifice.
मूलम्

न मांसमश्नीयुर्न स्त्रियमुपेयुरा क्रतोरपवर्गात् २१

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः

एतेनाग्ने ब्रह्मणा वावृधस्वेति दक्षिणाग्नावाज्याहुतिं हुत्वा यथार्थं प्रव्रजेत् २२

Oldenberg

or of despised extraction: for such persons (the functions of a Ritvij should not be exercised).

मूलम्

एतेनाग्ने ब्रह्मणा वावृधस्वेति दक्षिणाग्नावाज्याहुतिं हुत्वा यथार्थं प्रव्रजेत् २२

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः

एवमनाहिताग्निर्गृह्य इमामग्ने शरणिं मीमृषो न इत्येतयर्चा २३

Oldenberg
  1. In the same way one who has not set up the (Śrauta) fires, in his (sacred) domestic fire with this Ṛc, ‘Forgive us, O Agni, this sin’ (Rig-veda I, 31, 16).
मूलम्

एवमनाहिताग्निर्गृह्य इमामग्ने शरणिं मीमृषो न इत्येतयर्चा २३

  1. 23, 1. Comp. Śrauta-sūtra IX, 3, 20; Gṛhya-sūtra I, 5, 1. ↩︎

  2. The Ahīna sacrifices are those which last more than one day, but not more than twelve days. (Indische Studien, IX, 373; X, 355.) The priests officiating at such sacrifices are the sixteen stated in the Śrauta-sūtra IV, 1, 6. 7. Those besides the sixteen, though they are chosen (saty api varaṇe) for taking part in the sacred performances, have not the rank of ṛtvijas (officiating priests); such are the Sadasya, the Samitṛ, and the Camasādhvaryavaḥ (schol. Śrautas. loc. cit.). See Max Müller’s History of A. S. L., pp. 450, 469 seq. As to the Sadasya, however, there was some difference of opinion (see the next Sūtra). ↩︎

  3. On the office of the Sadasya, see Indische Studien, X, 136, 144. ↩︎

  4. The two Ṛcas quoted here belong to the tenth among the Vālakhilya hymns, a hymn omitted in many of the Rig-veda MSS. They give no special confirmation to the rules stated in our text, but contain only a general allusion to the unity of the sacrifice, which the various priests perform in many various ways. ↩︎

  5. ‘If the four (chief) priests have to be chosen, the choosing of the Brāhmaṇa stands first in order (see above, Sūtra 3); if all (the sixteen), then the choosing of the Hotṛ stands first in order.’ Nārāyaṇa. ↩︎

  6. The twelve priests of the sixteen (see § 4 note) who do not stand at the head of one of the four categories. Those at the head are enumerated in the Sutras ↩︎

  7. 13, 14. See above, § 4 note. ↩︎

  8. Priests who only perform the Agnyādheya for a person, are, according to Nārāyaṇa’s note on this Sūtra, not considered as p. 196 performing a sacrifice for him; consequently the formula given here is only to be used by priests who are elected for a Soma sacrifice. Stenzler translates, ‘So spricht er, wenn er das Opfer durch sie vollziehen lassen will.’ But this would be yakṣyamāṇaḥ, not yājayiṣyan. ↩︎

  9. The tradition takes nīcadakṣiṇasya as in apposition to ahīnasya, and I have translated accordingly. But I cannot help thinking that the two words should be separated, so that we should have to translate, ‘or at an Ahīna, or for a person that gives small sacrificial fee.’ Thus the Brāhmaṇa quoted by Āpastamba (see the commentary on the Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa, vol. i, p. 6, ed. Bibl. Indica) gives the following questions which the Ritvij to be chosen should ask, ‘Is it no Ahīna sacrifice? Is the Ritvij office not abandoned by others? Is the sacrificial fee plentiful?’ It is a very singular fact, that on the one hand the assistance of a number of Ṛtvijas was unanimously declared necessary for the performance of an Ahīna sacrifice, while on the other hand it was considered objectionable, at least among some of the Vedic schools, to officiate at such a sacrifice. See Weber’s Indische Studien, X, 150, 151. ↩︎

  10. The Somapravāka is the messenger who invites the priests on behalf of the sacrificer to officiate at his intended Soma sacrifice. Comp. Indische Studien, IX, 308. ↩︎