Devanagari
वस्तून्योषधय: स्नेहा रसलोहमृदो जलम् ।
ऋचो यजूंषि सामानि चातुर्होत्रं च सत्तम ॥ २५ ॥
Verse text
vastūny oṣadhayaḥ snehā
rasa-loha-mṛdo jalam
ṛco yajūṁṣi sāmāni
cātur-hotraṁ ca sattama
Synonyms
vastūni
—
utensils
;
oṣadhayaḥ
—
grains
;
snehāḥ
—
clarified butter
;
rasa
—
loha — mṛdaḥ — honey, gold and earth
;
jalam
—
water
;
ṛcaḥ
—
the Ṛg Veda
;
yajūṁṣi
—
the Yajur Veda
;
sāmāni
—
the Sāma Veda
;
cātuḥ
—
hotram — four persons conducting the performance
;
ca
—
all these
;
sattama
—
O most pious one .
Translation
Other requirements are utensils, grains, clarified butter, honey, gold, earth, water, the Ṛg Veda, Yajur Veda and Sāma Veda and four priests to perform the sacrifice.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
By using the limbs of the Lord, I assembled the following ingredients: animals, the sacrificial posts, the kuśa grass, the proper place and the proper time such as spring; plates and other utensils, plants like rice, ghee, honey, metals like gold, earth, water, verses of the Ṛg, Yajur and Sāma Vedas, the various offerings of oblations; the names of the sacrifices like jyostiṣṭoma, the mantras, gifts, vows, assigning the regions of the devatās, the sacrificial manuals, ritual vows, and the modes of performance.
Purport
To perform a sacrifice successfully, at least four expert priests are needed: one who can offer (
hotā
), one who can chant (
udgātā
), one who can kindle the sacrificial fire without the aid of separate fire (
adhvaryu
), and one who can supervise (
brahmā
). Such sacrifices were conducted from the birth of Brahmā, the first living creature, and were carried on till the reign of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira. But such expert
brāhmaṇa
priests are very rare in this age of corruption and quarrel, and therefore in the present age only the
yajṣa
of chanting the holy name of the Lord is recommended. The scriptures enjoin:
harer nāma harer nāma
harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva
nāsty eva gatir anyathā
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
This sentence continues for four verses. In order to make ingredients (teṣu) for sacrifice, I produced the ingredients from the Lord’s limbs (saṁbharāḥ sambhṛtāḥ). The end of the sentence is in verse 28. Vanaspatayaḥ means sacrificial posts. Deva-yajanam is a sacrificial ground, for it is said that one should sit in a place worthy of sacrifice. Bahu-guṇānvitaḥ means times like spring. Vastūni means plates and other utensils. Oṣadhayaḥ means plants like rice. Snehā means oils like ghee. Rasa means liquids like honey. Loha means metals like gold. Cātur-hotram means acts like offering oblations.
Nāmadheyāni means the names of the sacrifices such as jyotiṣṭoma. Devatānukrama means assigning the locations of the devatās. Kalpa means a practical guide to the actions such as Baudhāyana-śrauta-sūtras. Saṁkalpa means the utterance of a ritual vow, such as “Now I perform this ceremony.” Tantram means the method of performance.