[From the Asiatic Researches, vol. vii. pp. 232-285. [148] A FORMER essay on this subject described the daily ablutions performed with prayers and acts of religion by every Bráhman. His next daily duty is the performance of the five great sacraments. The first, consisting in the study of the Veda, has been already noticed; the sacraments of the manes, of deities, and of spirits, slightly touched upon in the first essay, will be made the subject of the present one; and the hospitable reception of guests will be followed in the next by a description of the various ceremonies which must be celebrated at different periods, from the birth to the marriage of a Hindu. The sacrament of deities consists in oblations to fire with prayers addressed to various divinities; and it is exclusive of the offerings of perfumes and blossoms before idols. It does not fall within my present plan to describe the manner in which the several sects of Hindus 2 adore their gods, or the images of them; and I shall therefore restrict myself to ex 1 Ante, p. 141. 2 See note A, at the end of the present Essay. plain the oblations to fire, and then proceed to describe [149] funeral rites and commemorative obsequies, together with the daily offerings of food and water, to the manes of ancestors. I am guided by the author now before me1 in premising the ceremony of consecrating the fire, and of hallowing the sacrificial implements; "because this ceremony is, as it were, the "groundwork of all religious acts." 2 First, the priest smears with cow-dung a level piece of ground four cubits square, free from all impurities, and sheltered by a shed. Having bathed and sipped water, he sits down with his face towards the east, and places a vessel of water with kusa grass on his left; then, dropping his right knee, and resting on the span of his left hand, he draws with a root of kusa grass a line, one span or twelve fingers long, and directed towards the east. From the nearest extremity of this line he draws another at right angles to it, twenty-one fingers long, and directed towards the north. Upon this line. he draws three others, parallel to the first, equal to it in length, and distant seven fingers from each other. The first line is really, or figuratively, made a yellow line, and is sacred to the earth; the second is red, and sacred to fire; the third black, and sacred to Brahmá the creator; the fourth blue, and [150] sacred to Indra the regent of the firmament; the fifth white, and sacred to Soma. He next gathers up the dust from the edges of these lines, and throws it away towards the north-east, saying, "What was [herein] bad, is cast away:' and he concludes by sprinkling water on the several lines. 1 In the former essay, my chief guide was Halayudha, who has given very perspicuous explanations of the mantras (or prayers used at religious ceremonies) in several treatises, particularly in one entitled Bráhmaṇa-sarvaswa. In the present essay, I likewise use a ritual composed by Bhavadeva for the use of Samavedi priests, and a commentary on the mantras by Guṇavishņu, as also the Achárachandriká (a treatise on religious ceremonies observed by S'údras, but including many of those performed by other classes), and the Achárádarsa, a treatise on daily duties. 2 Poa Cynosuroides, Koenig. On the new moon of Bhádra, a sufficient quantity of this sort of grass is provided for use during the whole year. Having thus prepared the ground for the reception of the sacrificial fire, he takes a lighted ember out of the covered vessel which contains the fire, and throws it away, saying, "I "dismiss far away carnivorous fire; may it go to the realm of "Yama, bearing sin [hence]." He then places the fire before him, saying, "Earth! Sky! Heaven!" and adding, "this "other [harmless] fire alone remains here; well knowing [its 'office], may it convey my oblation to the Gods." He then denominates the fire according to the purpose for which he prepares it, saying, "Fire! thou art named so and so;" and he concludes this part of the ceremony by silently burning a log of wood, one span long and smeared with clarified butter. 66 He next proceeds to place the Brahmá or superintending priest. Upon very solemn occasions, a learned Bráhmaṇa does actually discharge the functions of superintending priest; but, in general, a bundle containing fifty blades of kusa grass is placed to represent the Brahmá. The officiating priest takes up the vessel of water, and walks round the fire keeping his right side turned towards it: he then pours water near it, directing the stream towards the east; he spreads kusa grass thereon; and crossing his right knee over his left without sitting down, he takes up a single blade of grass between the thumb and ring-finger of his left hand, and throws it away towards the south-west corner of the shed, saying, "What "was herein bad is cast away." Next, touching the water, resting the sole of his right foot on his left ankle, and sprinkling the grass with water, he places the [151] Brahmá on it, saying, "Sit on [this] seat until [thy] fee [be paid thee]." The officiating priest then returns by the same road by which he went round the fire; and sitting down again with his face towards the east, names the earth inaudibly. If any profane word have been spoken during the preceding ceremony, atonement must be now made by pronouncing this "Thrice did Vishņu step, and at three strides traversed "the universe: happily was his foot placed on the dusty text: "[earth]." The meaning is, since the earth has been purified by the contact of Vishnu's foot, may she (the earth so purified) atone for any profane word spoken during this ceremony. If it be intended to make oblations of rice mixed with milk, curds, and butter, this too is the proper time for mixing. them; and the priest afterwards proceeds to name the earth in the following prayer, which he pronounces with downcast look, resting both hands on the ground: "We adore this "earth, this auspicious and most excellent earth: do thou, O "fire! resist [our] enemies. Thou dost take [on thee] the "power [and office] of other [deities]." With blades of kusa grass held in his right hand, he must next strew leaves of the same grass on three sides of the fire, arranging them regularly, so that the tip of one row shall cover the roots of the other. He begins with the eastern side, and at three times strews grass there, to cover the whole space from north to south; and in like manner distributes grass on the southern and western sides. He then blesses the ten regions of space; and rising a little, puts some wood1 on the fire with a ladle-full of clarified [152] butter, while he meditates in silence on Brahmá, the lord of creatures. The priest then takes up two leaves of kuśa grass, and with another blade of the same grass cuts off the length of a span, saying, "Pure leayes! be sacred to Vishnu;" and throws them into a vessel of copper or other metal. Again he takes two leaves of grass, and holding the tips between the thumb and ring-finger of his right hand, and the roots between the thumb and ring-finger of his left, and crossing his right hand over his left, he takes up clarified butter on the curvature of the grass, and thus silently casts some into the fire three several times. He then sprinkles both the leaves with water, and throws them away. He afterwards sprinkles with water 1 The fuel used at sacrifices must be wood of the racemiferous fig-tree, the leafy Butea, or the Catechu Mimosa. It should seem, however, that the prickly Adenanthera, or even the Mango, may be used. The wood is cut into small logs, a span long, and not thicker than a man's fist. the vessel containing clarified butter, and puts it on the fire, and takes it off again, three times, and thus concludes the ceremony of hallowing the butter; during the course of which, while he holds the leaves of grass in both hands, he recites this prayer: "May the divine generator [Vishnu] purify "thee by means of [this] faultless pure leaf; and may the "sun do so, by means of [his] rays of light: be this oblation "efficacious." The priest must next hallow the wooden ladle by thrice turning therein his fore-finger and thumb, describing with their tips the figure of 7 in the inside, and the figure of 9 on the outside of the bowl of the ladle. Then dropping his right knee, he sprinkles water from the palms of his hands on the whole southern side of the fire, from west to east, saying, "Aditi! [mother of the Gods!] grant me thy approbation." He does the same on the whole western side, from south to north, saying, "Anumati!1 grant me thy approbation;" and on the northern side, saying, "Saraswatí! grant me thy "approbation." And lastly [153] he sprinkles water all round the fire, while he pronounces this text, "Generous "sun! approve this rite; approve the performer of it, that "he may share its reward. May the celestial luminary, "which purifies the intellectual soul, purify our minds. May "the lord of speech make our prayers acceptable." Holding kusa grass in both hands, he then recites an expiatory prayer, which will be inserted in another place; and throwing away the grass, he thus finishes the hallowing of the sacrificial implements: a ceremony which necessarily precedes all other religious rites. He next makes oblations to fire, with such ceremonies and in such form as are adapted to the religious rite which is intended to be subsequently performed. The sacrifice, with the three mysterious words, usually precedes and follows the particular sacrifice which is suited to the occasion; being most 1 The moon wanting a digit of full. |