Dhammapada

SR No.: 007674
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Max Muller
Publisher: Oxford
Publication Year: 1881
Total Pages: 2540
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 45 MB

Page 1061

I KÂNDA, 8 ADHYAYA, I BRÂHMANA, 43.
229
41. And when he recites,'Hither are called heaven and earth,' he hands it (the shadavatta ') to the Âgnfdhra. The Ågnidhra eats (the two pieces), with the respective texts (Vâg. S. II, 10-11), 'Hither is called mother Earth; may mother Earth call me to her! Agni (am I) by virtue of my Ågnidhraship. Hail!' 'Hither is called father Heaven; may father Heaven call me to him! Agni (am I) by virtue of my Âgnidhraship. Hail!' He, the Âgnfdhra, truly is the representative of heaven and earth, and therefore he eats (the shadavatta) in this manner.
42. And when (the Hotri) pronounces the benediction, then the sacrificer) mutters (Vâg. S. II, 10 a), May Indra bestow on me that power of his! may abundant riches accrue to us! may there be blessings for us! may there be true blessings for us!' For indeed this is a receiving of blessings : hence what blessings the priests on this occasion invoke on him, those he thereby receives and makes his own.
43. [On the conclusion of the invocation and the eating ] they cleanse themselves (with water poured)
Kâty. Sr. III, 4, 19. There is some uncertainty as to the particular time when the Adhvaryu cuts the shada vatta; cf. Hillebrandt, p. 123. Mahadhara on Våg. S. II, 10 remarks: When the Hotri pronounces the call to heaven and earth, then he (the Adhvaryu), having put one piece of each of the two cakes in (the two bowls of) the Shadavatta (vessel), gives it to the Agnîdh ; and the latter eats it with the formulas ·Hither is called (the mother Earth),' &c. The 'six cuttings' of the Shadavatta consist of a piece of the Agni cake with an 'underlayer' and a dripping of butter for each of the two bowls of the Shadavatta dish.
? That is, the formula Hither is called the sacrificer,' see par. 29.
* The priests eat first their quarter of the cake and then, with the sacrificer, their share of the ida. The Hotri eats also the avântaredâ, with the text (Äsv. S. I, 7, 8), 'O Idâ, accept graciously our share l' &c.
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