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XII, 3. COMMENTARY.
Stanza 19.
For the employment of this stanza in the Sûtra, see the notes on XI, 1, 11, and 9. The grain which is to form the porridge is addressed, as though it were the cooked porridge that spreads in the dish, and is enriched with ghee. The second hemistich shows this to be anticipatory, for the act of the stanza is the winnowing of the grain. Cf. stanza 53. In Pâda c varshávriddham shows that the basket is made of reeds, not of dead wood; cf. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 238.
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Stanzas 20, 21.
Kaus. 61, 26-28: With stanza 21 the wife as she removes (the husks) is addressed. With stanza 20 the husband and wife touch (the husks) after they have been removed. With part of stanza 20 d (the grain) is again poured into the winnowing-basket.' There is no mention of the preparation of soma which is suggested by amsan in stanza 20 c: the word must therefore refer to some part of the ceremony which the Sûtra ignores, unless the grain is figuratively called soma.
Stanza 20.
The meaning of the first hemistich is far from clear. The Brahmana is either the priest (cf. XX, 2, 3), or some holy text. Perhaps sámmitâ brahmanena means 'have been measured out by the Brahmana;' cf. stanzas 28 and 33.
Stanza 21.
It seems again as though the animals here refer to the grain, as in stanzas 16 and 18: the grain is varied in colour; the porridge when cooked is solid in colour. In Pâda c the Padapâtha reads tấm, but we have taken tấm=tấn.
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Stanzas 22-24.
Kaus. 61, 31: With stanza 22 the pot is anointed.' As the Sûtra does not rubricate the next stanza (23), where the anointing is mentioned, by itself, we must understand
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