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६८
with a garment or thread; the staff is removed on the 4th ni. ght with appropriate mantras. ÂpGṛ. VIII. 8-10'. The explantion of the term 3 is: 'a chariot with a seat, drawn by cows, used for carrying a dead body'.
Reviews
The author has his own comments at places. Under the term af he comments that the preference for the child marriage is obviously a later development, otherwise the faaaa becomes redundant. Thus this dictionary will certainly help scholars understand the exact purport of the term, its different usages, its correlation with other cognate concepts and its sacrificial or social significance.
The author evinces his humility and honesty by acknowledging that he has drawn upon the excellent dictionary of Louis Renou: Vocabuloire du rituel vedique.
The Introduction to the dictionary is illuminating and revealing. It shows how the sacrifice which was the centre and source of social activity in ancient India gradually lost all its significance in the context of society. It bec. me meaningless monotonous performance. The mantras employed in the sacrificial ritual lost the accents and consequently meaning also. The author writes: "The sacrifice once represented the social activity of worshippers. It was a web of practices, emanating from the social thinking and emphasizing particular aspects of life. But with the decay of the society and the change in the social life the sacrifice, in abstraction, drifted to its natural death. "
The value of the dictionary is enhanced by the photographs of the sacrificial implements and utensils as also by the plans of the sacrificial arena showing the position of the sacrificer, priests, the sacrificial utensils and materials. The work is a valuable addition to the existing literature on the vedic rituals and the domestic rites.
Nagin J. Shah
