वेदों की प्राचीनता एवं काल-निर्णय / ओरायन (लोकमान्य बाल गंगाधर तिलक - खगोलीय वैदिक शोध)

THE COWS' WALK. 207 (three tryahas) is called the Nava-rātra. Side by side with this, there are, under this head, a number of Soma sacrifices extend- ing over two nights, three nights, four nights, upto twelve nights, called dvi-rātra, tri-rātra and so on (Tait. Saṁ. VII; 1, 4,—VII, 3, 2 ; Ashv. Shr. Sut. X and XI ; Tāṇ. Brā. 20, 11,—24, 19). In the third class we have the annual Sattras and of these the Gavām- ayanam is the type. Some Sattras 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. But we may pass it over as unnecessary for our purpose. The annual Sattras are the only important Sattras of this class, and to understand their nature we must see what a shaḷaha means. The word literally denotes a group of six days (shaṭ + ahan) and is used to denote six days' performance in the sacrificial litera- ture. It is employed as a unit to measure a month in the same way as we now use a week, a month being made up of five shaḷahas. The shaḷaha, in its turn, consists of the daily sacrifices called, Jyotis, Go, Āyus, and the same three taken in the reverse order as Āyus, Go and Jyotis. Every shaḷaha, therefore, begins and ends with a Jyotiṣhṭoma (Ait. Br. IV, 15). The sha- ḷaha is further distinguished into Abhiplava and Pṛishṭhya, ac- cording to the arrangement of the stomas or songs sung at the Soma libations. An annual Sattra is, in the main, made up of a number of shaḷahas joined with certain special rites at the be- ginning, the middle and the close of the Sattra. The central day of the Sattra is called Viṣhuvān, and stands by itself, dividing the Sattra into two equal halves like the wings of a house (Tait. Br. I, 2, 3, 1) ; and the rites in the latter half of the session or after the Viṣhuvān day are performed in an order which is the reverse of that followed in performing the ceremonies in the first half of the sacrifice. The model annual Sattra (the Gavām- ayanam) thus consists of the following parts :—