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170
THE LÎ xi.
BK. XVIII.
was so, and they all retired, after which he announced it to the ruler, saying, 'The blood-consecration has been performed. This announcement was made at the door of the back apartment of the temple, inside which the ruler stood in his courtrobes, looking towards the south. This concluded the ceremony, and all withdrew'.
When the great apartment (of the palace) was completed, it was inaugurated (by a feast), but there was no shedding of blood. The consecration by blood of the temple building was the method taken to show how intercourse with the spirits was sought. All the more distinguished vessels of the ancestral temple were consecrated, when completed, by the blood of a young boar.
34. When a feudal lord sent his wife away, she proceeded on her journey to her own state, and was received there with the observances due to a lord's wife. The messenger, accompanying her, then discharged his commission, saying, 'My poor ruler, from his want of ability, was not able to follow her, and take part in the services at your altars and in your ancestral temple. He has, therefore, sent me, so and so, and I venture to inform your officer appointed for the purpose of what he has done.' The officer presiding (on the occasion) replied, ' My poor ruler in his former communication did not lay (her defects) before you, and he does not presume to do anything but respectfully receive your lord's message.' The officers in attendance on the commis
1 This ceremony is also described in the 'Rites of the greater Tâi,' Book X, with some difference in the details. It is difficult, even from the two accounts, to bring the ceremony fully before the mind's eye.
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| SR No. | 007678 |
| Book Title | Satapatha Bramhana Part 02 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Julius Eggeling |
| Publisher | Oxford |
| Publication Year | 1885 |
| Total Pages | 2521 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 44 MB |