- The Śrautasūtras are an important part of the Kalpa Vedānga. They deal with the ritual called Śrauta for which the performer must be an āhitāgni (i.e, one who has established the three sacred fires). An āhitāgni is basically a married man belonging to one of the three classes viz. Brāhmaṇa, Ksatriya or Vaiśya. When a man belonging to one of these classés gets married it becomes obligatory on his part to worship the fire in the presence of which he got married. This fire is called grhya (domestic) fire. The married man (gr̥hastha) maintains the domestic fire and performs all the domestic ritual in that fire. If he is rich and capable enough, he may like to establish the Śrauta-fires and then perform the Śrauta-ritual. The Śrauta fires are called Gārhapatya, Āhavanīya and Dakṣiṇa. The Śrautasūtras describes the Śrauta-ritual. Each one of the Śrautasūtras belongs to a particular Veda. They describes the duties of the priests belonging to that Veda in particular, but occasionally refer to the duties of the other priests also. To the R̥gveda belong following priests: Hotr̥, Maitrāvaruṇa, Acchāvāka, Grāvastut; to the Yajurveda: Adhvaryu, Pratipra sthāts, Neṣṭr̥, Unnets; to the Sāmaveda: Udgātr̥, Prastotr̥, Subrahmaṇya, Pratihartr̥; and to the Atharvaveda: Brahman, Brāhmaṇācchaṁsin, Potr̥, Āgnīdhra.