DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0429
Vaisvadeva Ceremony. 419
trustworthy guide. May all-pervading heaven and earth defend thee !
Bear our oblations to the gods for their complete satisfaction.'
After these invocations a covered dish of uncooked rice is
brought in and the cover removed. Then sacred fire is placed
in the receptacle, with these words: Om Bhur bhuvah svah,
' I deposit the fire called Rukmaka* (bright as gold).' Con-
secrated fuel is next put on and the fire fanned, while the
following well-known and remarkable text from Rig-veda IV.
58. 3 is recited: ' Four are his horns, three are his feet, two
are his heads, seven are his hands. He the triply-bound
bull roars. The mighty deity enters mortals2.'
Next comes a text from the Svetasvatara Upanishad II. 16:
' This god (of fire) pervades all the quarters of the sky; he
was the first-born of all things; he is within the womb; he
was born and is to be born; he dwells in all men, and has
his countenance in all directions.'
The collecting together and spreading of the consecrated
fuel and sacred Kusa grass employed in the ceremony are
then made; and water is sprinkled round in a circle.
Next, the rice about to be eaten is consecrated by the
sprinkling of water and placed on the fire. It is then taken
off and deposited between the worshipper and the fire.
1 Fire is of various kinds and has various names, and it is requisite to
name the particular fire intended to be prepared.
2 Professor H. H. Wilson gives a long note here, showing that Sayana
identifies Agni in this text with either Sacrifice or the Sun. The four
horns are the Veda or the Cardinal points, the three feet are the three
daily Sandhyas, or morning, noon, and evening ; the heads are either two
particular ceremonies, or day and night; the seven hands are the seven
metres or seven solar rays. The bull is sacrifice, or the Sun as the pourer
down of benefits ; the triple bond is Mantra, Kalpa, and Brahmana, and
the roaring sound is the recitation of the Veda. Patanjali in the Maha-
bhashya (I. I. i) explains the four horns to mean the four kinds of
words, nouns, verbs, prepositions and particles ; the three feet the three
tenses, past, present and future ; the two heads the eternal and tem-
porary (produced) words ; the seven hands the seven case affixes ; the
triple bond is composed of the chest, the throat, and the head. The
mighty deity is speech. (Compare St. John's Gospel, i. I.)
E e 2
trustworthy guide. May all-pervading heaven and earth defend thee !
Bear our oblations to the gods for their complete satisfaction.'
After these invocations a covered dish of uncooked rice is
brought in and the cover removed. Then sacred fire is placed
in the receptacle, with these words: Om Bhur bhuvah svah,
' I deposit the fire called Rukmaka* (bright as gold).' Con-
secrated fuel is next put on and the fire fanned, while the
following well-known and remarkable text from Rig-veda IV.
58. 3 is recited: ' Four are his horns, three are his feet, two
are his heads, seven are his hands. He the triply-bound
bull roars. The mighty deity enters mortals2.'
Next comes a text from the Svetasvatara Upanishad II. 16:
' This god (of fire) pervades all the quarters of the sky; he
was the first-born of all things; he is within the womb; he
was born and is to be born; he dwells in all men, and has
his countenance in all directions.'
The collecting together and spreading of the consecrated
fuel and sacred Kusa grass employed in the ceremony are
then made; and water is sprinkled round in a circle.
Next, the rice about to be eaten is consecrated by the
sprinkling of water and placed on the fire. It is then taken
off and deposited between the worshipper and the fire.
1 Fire is of various kinds and has various names, and it is requisite to
name the particular fire intended to be prepared.
2 Professor H. H. Wilson gives a long note here, showing that Sayana
identifies Agni in this text with either Sacrifice or the Sun. The four
horns are the Veda or the Cardinal points, the three feet are the three
daily Sandhyas, or morning, noon, and evening ; the heads are either two
particular ceremonies, or day and night; the seven hands are the seven
metres or seven solar rays. The bull is sacrifice, or the Sun as the pourer
down of benefits ; the triple bond is Mantra, Kalpa, and Brahmana, and
the roaring sound is the recitation of the Veda. Patanjali in the Maha-
bhashya (I. I. i) explains the four horns to mean the four kinds of
words, nouns, verbs, prepositions and particles ; the three feet the three
tenses, past, present and future ; the two heads the eternal and tem-
porary (produced) words ; the seven hands the seven case affixes ; the
triple bond is composed of the chest, the throat, and the head. The
mighty deity is speech. (Compare St. John's Gospel, i. I.)
E e 2