奥义书 · Prāṇāgnihotra 2.10
॥
天城文
प्रायश्चित्तयस्त्वधस्तात्तिर्यक् तिस्रो हिमांशुप्रभाभिः प्रजननकर्मा
转写 (IAST)
prāyaścittayastvadhastāttiryak tisro himāṃśuprabhābhiḥ prajananakarmā
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प्रायश्चित्तयः तु अधस्तात्prāyaścittayaḥ tu adhastātbut the atoning [fires], below
तिर्यक् तिस्रःtiryak tisraḥthree, across
हिमांशु-प्रभाभिःhimāṃśu-prabhābhiḥwith the radiance of the moon's rays
प्रजनन-कर्माprajanana-karmāproducing offspring
译文
But the atoning [fires] are below, across, three, with the radiance of the moon's rays, producing offspring.
版本
8cfc0c1f6920 · 发布于 2026年8月12日 05:00:00 UTC
可用语言RUEN用方向键翻颂
Three more fires are named, prāyaścittya, "atoning," placed below and connected with the begetting of offspring. Note the word prāyaścitta, "atonement," for it is used here unusually: not as a rite, but as the name of a fire. In sacrificial practice, sarva-prāyaścitti is a special libation performed at the end of the rite, in case of errors: if something was done wrong, it covers the oversight.
This detail, to my mind, is one of the most human in the whole ritual literature, and deserves stating. The compilers of the rite knew it would be performed with errors: the priest would falter, the word would come out wrong, the wrong thing would be used. And instead of threatening, they arranged a libation that covers the error.
That is, forgiveness for inaccuracy is built into the very structure of the rite. The Vaiṣṇava side holds this rule and states it directly. Its books say that in the repetition of the Name there occur errors — offenses, carelessness, distraction; and the remedy prescribed for them is the very same repetition: nāma-aparādha is removed by unceasing continuation.
Let us add what follows from this and lifts the burden from the beginner. Where an error is corrected by a separate remedy, one must also remember the remedy. Where it is corrected by continuation, one need only not give up; and this, to my mind, is a more merciful and more reliable arrangement.