स्थण्डिलरचनम्, अग्निस्थापनम्Making the altar; installing the fire
Verse 16
तिस्रो रेखा विधातव्या प्रागग्रास्तत्र मण्डले । कूर्चेनाभ्युक्ष्य ताः सर्वा वह्निना वह्निमाहरेत् ॥ १६ ॥
tisrō rēkhā vidhātavyā prāgagrāstatra maṇḍalē | kūrcēnābhyukṣya tāḥ sarvā vahninā vahnimāharēt || 16 ||
Translation
In that square three lines are to be drawn, their tips to the east. Sprinkling them all with the kūrca, he should fetch fire with fire.
Word by word
- tisraḥ
- (tisraḥ) three
- rēkhāḥ
- (rekhāḥ) lines
- vidhātavyāḥ
- (vidhātavyāḥ) are to be drawn
- prāgagrāḥ
- (prāk-agrāḥ) with tips to the east
- tatra
- there
- maṇḍalē
- in the square
- kūrcēna
- with the kūrca (bunch of kuśa; the seed hūṁ)
- abhyukṣya
- having sprinkled
- tāḥ
- them
- sarvāḥ
- all
- vahninā
- with fire (the seed raṁ)
- vahnim
- (vahnim) fire
- āharēt
- he should fetch
Meaning
The ṭīkā fills in the coded instructions. On the square he draws three lines running from west to east. The kūrca is a bunch of kuśa grass; with it he sprinkles water on the lines while saying the mantra hūṁ (kūrca is also the code name of that seed). "He should fetch fire with fire" (vahninā vahnim āharet): the commentary reads the first "fire" as the fire-seed, raṁ, so that the fire is brought while saying raṁ.
Commentary
Hariharānanda Bhāratī’s Sanskrit commentary, translated
"Tisraḥ" and the rest. In that maṇḍala, on the sthaṇḍila made a cubit in measure, three lines are to be drawn, with their tips to the east. Then, sprinkling those lines with the kūrca (a bunch of kuśa grass) with the mantra hūṁ, that is, wetting them with water, he should fetch (āharet, ānayet) fire with fire, with the mantra raṁ.