Prapathaka 6
Darśa–Pūrṇamāsa (New- and Full-Moon sacrifices) within the Śrauta Agnihotra–Iṣṭi cycle; this prapāṭhaka continues the operational details of the monthly iṣṭi—especially the preparation/handling of puroḍāśa, the sequencing of offering-acts (āhuti), and the priestly roles around the āhavanīya and associated fires.
Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda (Taittirīya Saṃhitā) 2.6 belongs to the Darśa–Pūrṇamāsa complex and functions as a procedural-liturgy layer that binds mantra to action in the monthly iṣṭi. The chapter consolidates the micro-ritual grammar of offering: preparation and consecration of oblations (notably puroḍāśa), the controlled transitions between fires, and the calibrated distribution of priestly speech-acts that authorize each physical movement. Its mantras encode a theology of exchange—Agni as mouth of the gods, Soma/food as the sacrificer’s transformed substance, and the rite as a mechanism for restoring cosmic regularity through measured giving. The prapāṭhaka’s characteristic “do-and-say” cadence illustrates the Black Yajurvedic style: injunctions embedded in mantra, with attention to correctness (śuddhi), continuity (saṃtati), and protection (rakṣas-nivāraṇa). As such, TS 2.6 is best read as a technical chapter that simultaneously articulates sacrificial epistemology: efficacy arises from exact sequencing, sanctioned substitutions, and the alignment of human intention with divine recipients.
Anuvakas
Anuvaka 1
Predominantly Brāhmaṇa-style vidhi/arthavāda prose with embedded mantra-terms (svāhā, vāṣaṭ) and enumerations of prayāja items; narrative justification for prayāja function and continuity actions.
Anuvaka 2
Brāhmaṇa prose explaining ājyabhāgas as ‘eyes’ of yajña; includes metrical/chant references (gāyatrī, triṣṭubh) and vāṣaṭ mechanics as ritual ‘vajra’ (force-marker).
Anuvaka 3
Brāhmaṇa narrative on the origin and special status of ājya; chandas appeasement via caturavatta; mythic exempla (puroḍāśa as kūrma) supporting correct handling and completeness rules.
Anuvaka 4
Mixed: explicit mantra-formulas for taking up the sphya and related acts, embedded within brāhmaṇa explanations of boundary-making and purification.
Anuvaka 5
Brāhmaṇa prose on prokṣaṇa (sprinkling/purification), barhis handling, prastara logic, and safe directional movement; includes interpretive Q&A style (brahmavādin discourse).
Anuvaka 6
Brāhmaṇa narrative (Agni’s fear/withdrawal; Matsya episode) plus procedural notes on paridhi placement, skanna (spillage) mantras, and anti-rakṣas logic; includes deity-invocations for mitigating ‘ārti’.
Anuvaka 7
Brāhmaṇa prose with a structured invocation sequence (upahūta formulas) calling meters, worlds, and ritual supports; emphasizes ‘calling-in’ (upahvāna) as a formal operation.
Anuvaka 8
Brāhmaṇa narrative and procedural constraints around prāśna (ritual tasting/acceptance act), purification with waters, and mythic justification (Pūṣan/Bṛhaspati; safe ‘acceptance’ mantras).
Anuvaka 9
Brāhmaṇa prose on re-establishing the yajña’s footing (pratiṣṭhā), addressing Brahman, and the correct ‘speech’ that keeps the yajña from becoming silent/unstable; includes chandas identification and anūyāja rationale.
Anuvaka 10
Brāhmaṇa narrative on finding the yajña’s ‘svagākartṛ’ (successful completer) and the samyoḥ formula; includes ethical constraints around speech/violence and their ritual consequences; integrates closing benedictions (āśis).
Anuvaka 11
Predominantly metrical Ṛg-style stotra material embedded in TS transmission; functions as praise/energizing recitation aligned to Agni and ritual propulsion.
Anuvaka 12
Predominantly metrical material oriented to Soma and Pitṛ-invocation themes; functions as structured calling and honoring within the broader liturgical closure/benefit framework.
Inside Prapathaka 6
Liturgical sequence
(1) Saṃkalpa/adhvaryu’s operational setup for the Darśa–Pūrṇamāsa iṣṭi; (2) preparation and sanctification of havis (esp. puroḍāśa) with accompanying mantras; (3) arranging implements and establishing the offering-space around āhavanīya (and coordination with gārhapatya/dakṣiṇāgni as required); (4) invitatory/authorization formulae leading into the principal āhutis; (5) principal offerings to the designated deities of the fortnightly rite (new/full moon set), with interleaved protective/expulsive formulas against rakṣas; (6) subsidiary/anuvākyā–yājyā-linked offerings and completion acts (sviṣṭakṛt/closure-type acts as applicable in this section); (7) distribution/handling of remnants (iḍā/avabhṛtha-like handling not as a bath but as ‘remnant management’), ensuring ritual continuity; (8) concluding stabilizing formulas affirming prosperity, cattle/offspring, and the sacrificer’s standing.
Key mantras
Representative/central motifs in TS 2.6 (chapter-level): invocations identifying Agni as the divine mouth and carrier of offerings; formulas consecrating havis/puroḍāśa as ‘fit for the gods’; protective mantras driving away rakṣas and securing the rite; yājyā-style offering sentences culminating in svāhā; closure formulas seeking kṣema (welfare), paśu (cattle), prajā (offspring), and śrī (prosperity).
Commentary synthesis
Sāyaṇācārya reads TS 2.6 primarily as prayoga-oriented: each mantra is tethered to a precise adhvaryu act (placing, sprinkling, heating, offering, or transferring), and he repeatedly glosses deity-terms as functional ritual powers (e.g., Agni as vahni/“carrier,” ‘mouth’ as the locus of consumption). He emphasizes niyama (restriction) and prāyaścitta-sensitivity: where a mantra appears redundant, it marks a distinct karmāṅga (sub-act) or guards against doṣa (fault). Bhāskara Miśra tends to foreground the internal logic of the iṣṭi: why a given offering precedes another, how remnants are ritually ‘domesticated’ (iḍā/śeṣa) to prevent leakage of efficacy, and how rakṣo-hana passages function as boundary-making. Both interpret the chapter as ensuring saṃtati (continuity) of the sacrificer’s prosperity through correct sequencing; Sāyaṇa is more lexically/ritually granular, while Bhāskara more explicitly articulates the causal rationale (kāraṇa) behind the order and substitutions.
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