LV.
1. Now follow the penances for secret sins.
gña to the four first only out of those five offerings, and this interpretation, besides being more simple than Nand.'s, is preferable for several other reasons. First, the 'offering to Brahman' includes the daily recitation of the Gâyatrî, which is mentioned here as opposed to the four Pâkayagñas. Secondly, the number of four Pâkayagñas is equally given in the Kâthaka Grihya-sûtra; and Devapâla, in his Commentary on that work, gives a definition of them, which agrees in the main with Kullûka's. 'Four' Pâkayagñas are mentioned in the Grihya-sûtras of Kausika, Pâraskara, and Sânkhâyana also. See Weber, Ind. Stud. X, 48. Thirdly, the Pâkayagñas are brought in here as opposed to the Vidhiyagñas or 'sacrifices prescribed by the Veda.' This is probably because the latter are offered in the triad of sacred fires, whereas the term Pâkayagña, in its narrower use, denotes the oblations offered in the domestic fire. Hence, it might come to include the 'offering to men,' i. e. the feeding of a guest, but certainly not the study of the Veda.]