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 860

SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA.
restraint. And speech, moreover, represents sacrifice1, so that he thereby again calls the sacrifice to him.
12. Now there are four different forms of this call, viz. 'come hither (ehi)!' in the case of a Brâhman; 'approach (âgahi)!' and 'hasten hither (âdrava)!' in the case of a Vaisya and a member of the military caste (râganyabandhu 2); and 'run hither (âdhâva)!' in that of a Sûdra. On this occasion he uses the call that belongs to a Brâhman, because that one is best adapted for a sacrifice, and is besides the most gentle : let him therefore say, 'come hither (ehi)!'
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13. Now in former times it was no other than the wife (of the sacrificer) who rose at this (call, to act) as Havishkrit; therefore now also (she or) some one (priest) rises in answer to this call. And at the time when he (the Adhvaryu) calls the Havishkrit, one of the priests beats the two mill-stones.
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1 Viz. in the shape of the sacrificial formulas.
2 This inversion of the order of the second (or Kshatriya) and third (or Vaisya) castes is rather strange. The Sûtras of Bhâradv., Âpast., and Hirany. assign the same formulas to the several castes as here. Cf. Hillebrandt, Neu- und Vollmondsopfer, p. 29.
According to the Schol. on Kâty. Sr. II, 4, 13, either the wife of the patron or the Âgnîdhra (the priest who kindles the fire) acts as Havishkrit. Mahîdh. on Vâg. S. I, 15 includes the patron (sacrificer) himself, unless yagamânah patnî is a misprint for yagamânapatnî. According to Âpastamba, either a maidservant or the wife grinds; or the wife threshes and the Sûdra woman grinds' (cf. Schol. on Kâty. Sr. II, 5, 7). Similarly Bharadv. and Hirany.; cf. Hillebrandt, p. 38, n. 2. Similar cases of differences between the ritualistic practices of the present time and those of former times are very frequently alluded to in the ritualistic books; and are of especial interest, as they afford some insight into the gradual development of the sacrificial ceremonial. Cf. Weber, Ind. Stud. X, 156 seq.
Viz. the Agnidhra, whilst seated north of the expansion
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