जाते अग्निम् उपसमाधाय अङ्के आधाय कंसे पृषदाज्यं संनीय पृषदाज्यस्य उपघातं जुहोति अस्मिन् सहस्रं पुष्यासम् एधमानः स्वे गृहे अस्य उपसन्द्यां मा छैत्सीत् प्रजया च पशुभिः च स्वाहा मयि प्राणान् त्वयि मनसा जुहोमि स्वाहा यत् कर्मणा अत्यरीरिचम् यत् वा न्यूनम् इह अकरम् अग्निः तत् स्विष्टकृद् विद्वान् स्विष्टं सुहुतं करोतु नः स्वाहा इति
jāte agnim upasamādhāya aṅke ādhāya kaṃse pṛṣadājyaṃ saṃnīya pṛṣadājyasya upaghātaṃ juhoti asmin sahasraṃ puṣyāsam edhamānaḥ sve gṛhe asya upasandyāṃ mā chaitsīt prajayā ca paśubhiḥ ca svāhā mayi prāṇān tvayi manasā juhomi svāhā yat karmaṇā atyarīricam yat vā nyūnam iha akaram agniḥ tat sviṣṭakṛd vidvān sviṣṭaṃ suhutaṃ karotu naḥ svāhā iti
When [the son] is born, he lays a fire, takes him on his lap, mixes curds with butter in a cup and offers of that mixture: "May I nourish a thousand in this [son], increasing in my own house! May his line not be cut off, with offspring and cattle — svāhā! My breaths I lay in you with my mind — svāhā! Whatever I have overdone or left undone in this rite, may Agni, the all-knowing, the auspicious, make it well-offered and well-sacrificed for us — svāhā!"
bd08a6c54ddf · published Jul 27, 2026, 1:30:39 AM UTC
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The first rite over a newborn: the father takes the child on his lap (aṅka — the first paternal embrace is made lawful by liturgy!) and offers over him three times. The petitions are a father's soul just as it is: "may I nourish a thousand in him", "may his line not be cut off" — and the third, the most touching: "my breaths I lay in you with my mind" (mayi prāṇāṁs tvayi dadhāmi): the father pours his own life into his son, consciously, by a word.
And a final insurance with Agni: "whatever I overdid or left undone in the rite, set it right, all-knowing one": the humble proviso of a father who knows his hands were shaking. The whole code breathes one thing: fatherhood is a sacred act from the first minute, and it is performed, as everything in this book is, by fire, word and breath.