1. They also say, 'If that performer of a long sacrificial session--to wit, he who (regularly) offers the Agnihotra--were to die whilst staying abroad, are they to sacrifice for him or not?' Now, some indeed think that (his Agnihotra) should be offered till they get home 1; but let him not do so, for that (fire) does not submit thereto that they should offer to it, as for the burning of a dead body: it is rather to sacrifice and oblations that it submits, and, unable to endure it, it stays by him with impatience.
2. And some, indeed, say, 'They (the fires) should lie in the very same condition, kept up (with fuel) but without offering being made on them;' but let him not do so, for that (fire) does not submit thereto that they should kindle it as for the burning of a dead body: it is rather to sacrifice and oblations that it submits, and, unable to endure it, it stays by him with impatience.
3. And some, indeed, having lifted the two fires
5. Concerning this there also is a simile:--if two smashed cars were to (be made to) unite there would be at least one (fit) for driving.
6. The procedure of this same Agnihotra (is as follows):--He causes her to be milked whilst eastward invested 1; for, sacrificially invested, one gets (the Agnihotra-cow) milked for the gods, but in the case of the Fathers it is done thus.
7. He does not put (the milk) on the (burning) coals 2; for were he to put it on coals he would be doing (what is done) for the gods: having shifted some hot cinders from the Gârhapatya towards the right (south) side, he puts it thereon, and thus makes it to be sacred to the Fathers.
9. He does not say, 'I will ladle out 3!' nor does he ladle out (the milk) four times; for were he to say 'I will ladle out!' and were he to ladle out four times, he would be doing (what is done) for the gods: only once he silently turns it upside down (into the spoon), and thus makes it to be sacred to the Fathers.
10. He does not take it (to the Âhavanîya) whilst holding a kindling-stick over (the handle of the spoon 4); for were he to take it (there) whilst holding a kindling-stick over it, he would be doing (what is done) for the gods: he takes it whilst holding (a billet) underneath, and thus makes it to be sacred to the Fathers.
11. He does not pass along the north side of the Gârhapatya 5, for were he to pass along the north
13. They also say, 'If that performer of a long sacrificial session--to wit, he who (regularly) offers the Agnihotra--were to die whilst staying abroad, how would they supply him with his fires?' Well, some, having burnt him, bring (the bones) home and make the fires smell him as he is brought; but let him not do this, for this would be as if he were to seek to cause the seed implanted in one womb to be born forth from another womb. Having brought home the bones, let him throw them on a black antelope skin, and arrange them in accordance with man's form, and having covered them with wool and sprinkled with ghee, let him by burning unite him
15. And some, indeed, burn him in a forest-fire; but let him not do this; for such fire is unappeased: it would be capable of burning him up together with his sons and his cattle.
16. And some, indeed, burn him in a firebrand; but let him not do this; for such fire belongs to Rudra: it would be capable of destroying him together with his sons and his cattle.
17. And some, indeed, build up a funeral pile in the midst of the (three) fires, and, by burning him, unite him with his fires, thinking, 'There,--to wit, in the midst of his fires,--assuredly is the Sacrificer's abode.' But let him not do this; for if in that case any one were to say of him, 'Verily, this one has caused a cutting up in the middle of the village: the cutting up of him will speedily come about 1: he will weep for his dearest;' then that would indeed be likely to come to pass.
197:1 Prof. Delbrück, Altind. Syntax, p. 430, takes 'âgantoh' in the sense,--'(thinking) he may still come;' but cf. Katy. XXV, 8, 9 with comm., according to which, in case of an Agnihotrin dying away from home, his people are--if the place of his death be somewhere near his home--to take the body there; but if it be far from home, they are to kindle a fire by 'churning' and burn the body, and having collected the bones and taken them home, they are there to perform the punardâha, or second cremation; and in either case the Agnihotra is to be performed regularly for the deceased, in the evening and morning, 'till the body or the bones arrive at the house (grihâgamanaparyantam).' The force of 'iti' here evidently is,--(thinking,) 'we will do so until the home-coming.' Harisvâmin rightly resolves 'âgantoh' by 'â âgantoh.'
198:1 That is, wearing the Brâhmanical cord over the right shoulder, and under the left arm; instead of over the left shoulder, and under the right arm as is done at the sacrifice.
198:2 For boiling the milk for the Agnihotra burning coals are shifted northwards from the Gârhapatya, and the pot placed thereon; see part i, p. 330, note.
199:1 When a spoonful of water has been added to the Agnihotra-milk, and the light of a burning straw again thrown on it, the pot is taken up three several times and put down each time further north on the hot ashes; see part i, p. 331, note 1.
199:2 That is, down from the ashes--towards the south (where the Fathers, or departed ancestors, are supposed to reside),--whilst in the case of the ordinary Agnihotra he would be shifting the pot more and more upwards, or northwards. Cf. Kâty. XXV, 8, 10.
199:3 See XII, 4, 2, 8.
199:4 See part i, p. 331, note 4.
199:5 Possibly we ought to translate,--he does not go to the north side of the Gârhapatya (but to the south side)--that is, if he makes
201:1 The burning of the dead body seems to be compared here with the cutting up of the victim which is done outside the sacrificial ground. Harisvâmin, indeed, takes 'grâma' here, not in the sense of 'village,' but in that of 'agnisamûha'--in the midst of the (set of) sacrificial fires--which, if it were possible, would certainly make the comparison even more striking.
