1. On the full-moon day of Mârgasîrsha the Âgrahâyanî ceremony (is performed).
2 2. He cooks a mess of sacrificial food, sacrifices two Âgya oblations as at the Sravanâ sacrifice, and other oblations with (the following verses):
'The night whom men welcome like a cow that comes to them, (the night) which is the consort of the year, may that (night) be auspicious to us. Svâhâ!
5. After the cleaning he says, 'The Bali offering is finished.'
6 6. After they have spread out to the west of the fire a layer (of straw) and a garment that has
11. The Brahman having given his permission, they redescend with (the words), 'Life, fame, glory, strength, enjoyment of food, offspring!'
12 12. Those who have received the initiation murmur, 'May a good winter, a good spring, a good summer be bestowed on us. Blessed may be to us the rains; may the autumns be blessed to us.'
13. With (the verse), 'Be soft to us, O earth' (Vâg. Samh. XXXV, 21), they lie down on their right sides, their heads turned towards the east.
15. This (they repeat) two other times, with the Brahman's permission.
16. Let them sleep on the ground four months (after the Pratyavarohana), or as long as they like.
338:2 2, 2. The two oblations belonging to the Sravanâ ceremony are those stated above, II, 14, 4. 5.
2. The first verses in which the Âgrahâyanî night is called the consort of the year, or the image of the year, occur elsewhere with reference to the Ekâshtakâ night. See Atharva-veda III, 10; Taitt.
339:6 'Redescending' means that they do not sleep any longer on high bedsteads, which they did from the Srâvanî day till the Âgrahâyanî, on account of the danger from the snakes, but on the ground. See the notes on Sâṅkh.-Grihya IV, 15, 22; 17, 1.
340:10-11 10, 11. See the note on § 6.
340:12 On upeta, which means a person for whom the Upanayana has been performed, see my note, Sâṅkhâyana-Grihya II, 1, 1.
