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The Grihya Sutras, Part 1 (SBE29), by Hermann Oldenberg, [1886], at sacred-texts.com


KHANDA 16.

1. 'A bull's hide'—this has been declared.

2. On that hide the husband makes her sit down and sacrifices, while she takes hold of him, four oblations (with the following formulas),

3. 'With god Agni, with the earth-world of the worlds, and the Rig-veda of the Vedas: therewith I appease thee, N.N., svâhâ!

'With god Vâyu, with the air-world of the worlds,

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with the Yagur-veda of the Vedas: therewith I appease thee, N.N., svâhâ!

'With god Sûrya, with the heaven-world of the worlds, with the Sâma-veda of the Vedas: therewith I appease thee, N.N., svâhâ!

'With god Kandra, with the world of the quarters (of the horizon) of the worlds, with the Brahma-veda of the Vedas: therewith I appease thee, N.N., svâhâ!'

4. Or, 'Bhûh! What harm dwells in thee, bringing death to thy husband, death to thy husband's brother, that I make death-bringing to thy paramour, N.N., svâhâ!'—thus the first (of the before-mentioned formulas) may be joined with the first Mahâvyâhriti, the second with the second, the third with the third, the fourth with (the three Mahâvyâhritis) together.

5. With (the verse), 'With no evil eye' (Rig-veda X, 85, 44), let him besmear (her) eyes with Âgya salve.

6. (The bridegroom,) having touched the ends of her hair with the three (verses), 'How may us the resplendent one . . .' (Rig-veda IV, 31, 1-3),

7. And having quickly recited the four verses, 'And those divine medicines' (Rig-veda VIII, 18, 8), at the end (of that text) with the word svâhâ (pours out) the remainder on (her) head.

8. Here some place a boy of good birth on both sides, in her lap, with this (verse), 'Into thy womb' (see below, chap. 19, 6),

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9. Or also silently.

10. Into this (boy's) joined hands (the bridegroom) gives fruits and causes (the Brâhmanas) to wish an auspicious day.

11. Thus she becomes the mother of male children.

12. With the rest of the hymn, 'Stay ye here both' (Rig-veda X, 85, 42 seq.), they make them enter the house.


Footnotes

41:1 16, 1. In chap. 15, 22 it is said that the bride arrives at the house; in 16, 12, that she enters the house. Probably we are to understand, therefore, that the sacrifice prescribed in this chapter, Sûtras 2 seq., is performed before the house, like the Vâstoshpatîya karman (below, III, 4). The words, 'has been declared,' refer to the Srauta-sûtra (IV, r6, 2), 'Having spread a red bull's skin, with the neck to the north or to the east, with the hair outside, behind the fire, they sit down,' &c.

41:2 On anvârambha comp. the quotation in the note on chap. II, 2.

42:8 It should be noted that the verse â te yonim is quoted here only with the Pratika, while its full text is given below, chap. 19, 6. Can the Sûtras describing this ceremony with the kumâra ubhayatah-sugâta be a later addition?


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