Page 383 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

168 SAMAGRA TlLAK - 2 • THE ARCTIC HOME
sacrificial system of the Aryan race; and we, therefore, proceed
to examine the same.
The chief characteristic of the Soma sacrifice, as distingui-
shed from other sacrifices, is, as the name indicates, the extrac-
tion of the Soma juice and the offering thereof to gods before
drinking it. There are three libations of Soma in a day, one in
the morning, one in mid-day and the last in the evening, and all
these are accompanied by the chanting of hymns during the
sacrifice. These Soma sacrifices, if classed according to their
duration, fall under three heads; ( I ) those that are performed
in a single day, called Ekahas, ( 2 ) those that are performed
in more than one and less than thirteen days called Ah£nas, and
( 3 ) those that take thirteen or more than 13 days and may last
even for one thousand years, called Sattras. Under the first head
we have the Agni~h~oma, fully described in the Aitareya Brah-
ma9a ( III, 39- 44 ), as the key or the type of all the sacrifices
that fall under this class. There are six modifications of Agnih~­
~oma, viz., Ati-agni~h~oma, Ukthya, Sho~ashi, Vajapeya,
Atiratra and Aptoryama, which together with Agni~h~oma,
form the seven parts, kinds or modifications of the Jyoti~htoma,
sacrifice, ( Ashv. S. S. VI, 11, 1 ). The modification chiefly
consists in the number of hymns to be recited at the libations,
or the manner of recitation, or tht' number of the Grahas or
Soma-cups used on the occasion. But with these we are not at
present concerned. Of the second class of Soma sacrifices, the
Dvadashdha or twelve days' sacrifice is celebrated both as Ah£na
and Sattra and is considered to be very important. It is made up
of tliree tryahas (or three days' performances, called respectively
Jyotis, Go, and A_vus ), the tenth • day and the two Atimtras
(Air. Br. IV, 23 - 4 ). The nine days' performance ( three
tryahas ) is called Nava-rdtra. Side by side with this, there are,
under this head, a number of Soma sacrifices extending over two
nights or three nights, four nights, upto twelve nights, called
dvi-ratra, tri-ratra and so on (Tait. Sani, VII, 1, 4, VII, 3, 2, Ashv.
Shr. Sut. X and XI; Tan. Bra. 20, 11 - 24, 19 ). In the third
class we have the annual Sattras and of these the Gavam-ayanam
is the type. Some Sattra which come under this class are described
as extending over 1,000 years and a discussion is found in
sacrificial works as to whether the phrase one thousand years
signifies 1,000 real years, or whether it stands for 1,000 days.