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The Sacred Laws of the Âryas: Baudhâyana - Prasna III, Adhyâya 9
1. Now, therefore, we will explain the rule of the Anasnatpârâyana (recitation of the whole Veda during a fast).
2. Let him wear a clean garment or a dress made of bark (or grass).1
3. Let him desire food, fit for a sacrifice, or water and fruit.2
4. Going forth from the village in an easterly or northerly direction, smearing a quadrangular sthandila, 'a bull's hide' in size, with cowdung, sprinkling it, drawing the marks on it, sprinkling it with water, heaping fuel on the fire and scattering (Kusa grass) around it, he offers burnt oblations to the following deities, to Agni Svâhâ, to Pragâpati3 Svâhâ, to Soma Svâhâ, to all the gods Svâhâ, to Svayambhu, to the Rikas, to the Yagus, to the Sâmans, to the Atharvans, to faith, to right knowledge, to wisdom, to fortune, to modesty, to Savitri, to the Sâvitrî (verse), to Sadasaspati, and to Anumati.
5. Having offered (these oblations), he must begin with the beginning of the Veda and continuously recite (it).
6. Let him not interrupt (the recitation) by talking, nor by stopping,4
7. Now if he converses in between or stops, let him thrice suppress his breath, and begin just there where he left off.
8. If he has forgotten (a passage), he shall recite for as long a time as he does not recollect it, what (he may know, Rik-verses) for Rik-verses, (Yagus-formulas) for Yagus-formulas, (Sâmans) for Sâmans.
9. He may (also) recite the Brâhmana of that (forgotten passage) or (the passage from the Anukramanî regarding) its metre and its deities.
10. Let him recite the Samhitâ of (his) Veda twelve (times). He thereby removes (faults committed by) studying on forbidden (days, by) angering his teacher, (and through) improper acts. His (knowledge of the) Veda is sanctified, is purified.
11. (If he reads) more than that, a cumulation (of rewards will be the result).
12. If he recites the Samhitâ of the Veda another twelve (times), he gains thereby the world of Usanas.
13. If he recites the Samhitâ of the Veda another twelve (times), he gains thereby the world of Brihaspati.
14. If he recites the Samhitâ of the Veda another twelve (times), he gains thereby the world of Pragâpati.
15. If, fasting, he recites the Samhitâ one thou-sand (times), he becomes one with Brahman, resplendent like Brahman (and) Brahman (itself).
16. If he subsists during a year on food obtained by begging, he gains (the power of) supernatural vision.
17. If during six months he subsists on barley-gruel, during four months on water and barley-flour, during two months on fruit, (and) during one month on water, or performs Krikkhra penances of twelve days, he (obtains the power of) suddenly disappearing, and sanctifies seven descendants, seven ancestors, and himself as the fifteenth, and (any) company (of Brâhmanas) which he may enter.
18. They call that the ladder of the gods.5
19. By means of that the gods reached their divine station and the sages the position of Rishis.
20. The periods for beginning this sacrifice, forsooth, are three, the time of the morning libation, the time of the midday libation, and the last part of the night, (the Muhûrta) sacred to Brahman.
21. Pragâpati, forsooth, proclaimed this (rite) to the seven Rishis, the seven Rishis to Mahâgagñu, and Mahâgagñu to the Brâhmanas.6
Footnotes
1. M. and the MSS. of the commentary read kiravâsâh instead of kîravâsâh,' clad with a garment of bark or grass,' and Govinda explains the var. lect. by 'dressed in old clothes.'
2. This rule refers to the case only where the performer of the vow is unable to bear the prolonged fasting.
3. A sthandila is the raised mound, four fingers high, which is used as the altar for the Grihya ceremonies. Regarding the term, 'a bull's hide,' see Vishnu XCII, 2. The marks (lakshana) are the lines which must be drawn on the altar; see e.g. Âsvalâyana Grihya-sûtra I, 3, 1.
4. 'By talking, i.e. by uttering words not connected with the Veda.'--Govinda.
5. Govinda explains nihsrenîm, 'the ladder,' by nihsreyasahetum, 'a cause of supreme bliss.'
6. The name of the Rishi who proclaimed it to the Brâhmans is not certain. The Dekhan MSS. read Mahâgagru and Mahâgagnu, M. Mahâgagñu, the I. O. copy of the commentary Mahâyagñu and Mahâgagñu, and the Telugu copy Mahâgagñu.
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