Indian Antiquary Vol 41

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 88

84
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[APRIL, 1912.
354, or 360 days, the second the-year with an intercalary period, and the third an intercalary period made up of any number of intercalary days. That the terms Samvatsara and Garâm-Ayana are by no means synonyinous, is also clear from what Sâukhiyana says about the repetition of GayamAyana. He says (ziii. 27. 5)- aret Triat TTTTEET " when the number of years is great, repetition of Gavam-Ayana is to be observed.” It is clear that, if the terms Samvatsara and Gavam-Ayana had been synonymous, there would bave been no necessity for such a remark. I need not point out how the sůtra would be meaningless if the two terms Samvatsara and, GavamAyana were taken synonymously. Nor can we take the term Gavam-Ayana in the sense of a year with an intercalary period; for in that case the sutra would mean that, when the number of years is great, all those years with their intercalary periods should be repeated,-a statement which is unpractical. It follows, therefore, that the term Gavâm-Ayana means an intercalary period and an intercalary period alone, no matter what may be the number of days constituting that period. For the formation of Gavâm-Ayana, two units of intercalary periods seem to have been selected : they are (1) a period of 11 or 12 days inserted at the close of every year, and (2) a period of 21 lags inserted in the middle of every fourth year.16 The sacrifices that were performed during either of the two intercalary periods are called Suttras or sessional sacrifices. It appears that when such sessional sacrifices were not performod, -say, for about a hundred years—a sacrificial session extending for 100 X 11 or 100 x 12 days, or 25 x 21 days, was held once for all. We shall see presently that, instead of holding the session during as many days as constituted the intercalary periods left in abeyance, they seem to have limited the number of days by substituting one day for each intercalar v period. Thus a session of 100 days or of 25 days seems to have answered the purpose of 100 x 12 days or of 25 x 21 days in a bandred years. Also it appears that when one or inore such single intercalary days were being celebrated, all the past intercalary days were recalled and celebrated along with the new ones, and that the whole session was termed Gavâm-Ayana. Those who had different units of intercalary days seem to have followed the same procedure, with the difference that, instead of substituting single days for their units of intercalation, they used to hold their sacrificial session for as many days as there were in all their units of intercalation. The three sacrificial sossions of the Tapaschits, for example, consist of four, twelve, or thirty-six years corresponding to the 860 days composing a Gavâm-Ayana year. These three sessions are so arranged that thenty-four, seventy-two, or two-bandred and sixteen months form the first ball of the session, and the same number of months form the second half. This is what the Nidâna-Sutra, X. 9, says about them :
भयैतन्महातापधितामित्याचक्षते. चत्वारी देक्षास्संवत्सराः चत्वार औपसदाः चत्वारस्सीत्याः तस्य कल्पो गगमेषावनं चनुरुपकुभपि वा एतस्यैव पक्षसी अभिवृद्ध स्वाताम् अयोविंशतिरबममासाः पूर्वे पक्षसि स्यु विशतिरुत्तरे अपि वैताम्बेष प्रथमानि चत्वारि समस्खेत यथा वीणि संवत्सरे इति. अपि वा ज्योतिष्टोमाबनमेव कुरिन् एतेषां बन्मन्येरन् समापि वा यथा गणसंवत्सराणां सथा कल्पं कुर्वीत. अयंतच्यात्यानां षद्विशत्संवत्सरम्, तरसपुरोडाशमन्नसंरोधात् बरंतःपुरुषः तदन्नास्य देवतेति. ते बन्मांसमवा वा श्यामाकमवावाने अपने हविष्वमितिः अयैतानि महासत्राणि देवानामेव दीर्घायुवो देवा इति. मनुष्याणामपि सिद्धानि स्युरित्यपरम्. बहवस्सनिविश्व सुनुयुः पुत्राः पौवाः प्रपौत्रा इति. तानि खल्बलिरात्राणि अविषुवत्कानि ऊबिनानीमानि भवति, तत्र बतिरात्रं वा विषुवंतं वाऽरियत लुब्धो रोहोऽभविष्यम्. भयापि न कापनादेशो विज्ञायते नुब्रामणेन, अथाब्वेव पुराणं वेदबंते भथा येकवियोऽतत. स्स्तोमानां भवतीति.
“This is what they call the major session of the Tapaschits. Four years are spent in per. forming the initiatory rites; four years in Upasads; and four in pressing the soma plant. Its arrangement is thus : They may repeat the Gavam-Ayana four times for each of the three sets of four yrars making twelve years); or else the two wings or parts of the original Gavâm. Ayana may be so lengthened that twenty-three Ayana months fall in the first wing or part of the session and twenty-two months in the second part.""
(To be continued) 46 Soo Nidkna-Sätra, 2, 1, quoted above
47 These forty-five months, together with the sixth, the seventh, and the last i.e. twelfth month of the original Gavam-Ayana year inserted in all such cases, amount to forty eight months or fur Gay km-Ayana years.-Gargyar Arayani's Commentary on Abrala yana, rii, 5, 14.