Prapathaka 4
Agnicayana / Soma-sacrifice continuum (Śrauta): construction and consecration of the fire-altar (citi) and its integration with Soma-yajña procedures—especially the liturgical handling of altar materials, fire-installation, and the yajamāna–ṛtvij coordination within the larger Agniṣṭoma/Vājapeya-style sacrificial frame.
Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda 6.4 belongs to the Śrauta liturgical stratum that systematizes the Agnicayana-oriented management of sacrificial space and fire, embedding it within the operational logic of the Soma-sacrifice. The chapter’s concern is not speculative theology but ritual technology: the sequencing of acts, the verbal consecration of materials, and the controlled transitions between profane handling and sacral emplacement. Its mantras function as performative speech-acts that “make” the altar—stabilizing boundaries, invoking Agni’s multiple forms, and aligning the yajamāna’s intention with the ṛtvij’s execution. The text exhibits the characteristic Taittirīya style: compact prose-yajus interleaved with ṛk-like invocations, emphasizing correctness of placement, directionality, and correspondences (Agni–Prajāpati, meters, seasons, and worlds). The chapter thus exemplifies how Vedic ritual encodes cosmology through spatial construction and regulated recitation, producing a microcosm in which sacrifice becomes a controlled re-creation of order.
Anuvakas
Anuvaka 1
Predominantly Brāhmaṇa-style vidhi/arthavāda prose with embedded mantra-quotations ending in ‘svāhā’; mantra-cadence appears at the ‘gaccha svāhā’ segments, while the surrounding prose supplies rationale and constraints.
Anuvaka 2
Brāhmaṇa prose establishing origin-myth and procedural rules for Vasatīvarī waters; includes short mantra tags (e.g., ‘havismatīr imā āpaḥ’).
Anuvaka 3
Mixed: short mantra-addresses (‘hṛde tvā’, ‘manase tvā’, ‘dive tvā sūryāya tvā’) embedded in explanatory prose about devatā coverage and speech acquisition.
Anuvaka 4
Vidhi prose with embedded mantras for taking up the pressing stone and measuring Upāṃśu-savana; includes numeric/metrical rationale (fivefold, tenfold, virāj).
Anuvaka 5
Brāhmaṇa prose on Upāṃśu as prāṇa; includes mantra strings for pavitra (filtering) and devatā allocations; contains conditional rites (kāmya/abhicāra framing) stated as procedural options.
Anuvaka 6
Mythic arthavāda (devas/asuras) tightly coupled to vidhi for Antaryāma; includes mantra ‘antas te dadhāmi…’ and technical note on pavitra requirement.
Anuvaka 7
Arthavāda narrative about Aindra-Vāyava precedence and devatā-naming; includes Aditi’s role and the ‘sannā asann’ formula; speech (vāc) is ‘analyzed’ by Indra.
Anuvaka 8
Narrative arthavāda on Mitra and Varuṇa; procedural note on mixing with milk for Maitrā-Varuṇa; precedence relative to Aindra-Vāyava; day-night differentiation myth.
Anuvaka 9
Arthavāda on the Āśvins restoring the yajña ‘head’; procedural placement tied to Bahispavamāna; includes rationale for two-deity cups and ‘empty’ seating as protective continuity.
Anuvaka 10
Arthavāda on Bṛhaspati vs. Śaṇḍa/Marka; vidhi for Sukrāmanthin pair; includes spatial circling near nasal line metaphor (nāsikā) and directional offering logic (prācī/pratīcī).
Anuvaka 11
Vidhi-arthavāda on Āgrayaṇa graha; includes ‘voice returns’ motif (vāg-pratyāgama) and the ‘hinkāra’ triad; identifies Āgrayaṇa as yajña’s self (ātman).
Inside Prapathaka 4
Liturgical sequence
(1) Saṅkalpa and ritual delimitation of the citi/vedi space; (2) consecratory handling of altar materials (earth, bricks, sand, water, grasses) with yajus formulas; (3) placement/arrangement acts (directional setting, layering logic, joining/compacting) accompanied by invocations to Agni’s forms; (4) installation/rekindling and safeguarding of the sacred fire, with protective and boundary-maintaining mantras; (5) coordination cues for adhvaryu and assisting priests (hotṛ/udgātṛ/brahman) to align recitation with physical acts; (6) concluding stabilizations—affirmations of firmness, prosperity, and successful completion, linking the constructed altar to the Soma-sacrifice’s onward rites.
Key mantras
Representative mantra-themes (chapter-level): invocations to Agni as the altar’s life-breath; formulas for ‘placing/setting’ (adhi-√dhā / ni-√dhā) and ‘joining’ (saṃ-√yuj) altar elements; protective/boundary yajus for the vedi/citi; prosperity and firmness benedictions for yajamāna and sacrifice; identifications of altar with Prajāpati/cosmos; directional consecrations (east/south/west/north) tied to worlds and seasons.
Commentary synthesis
Sāyaṇācārya reads the chapter primarily as adhvaryu-prayoga: each yajus is mapped to a precise manual action (taking, sprinkling, placing, pressing, aligning), with frequent glosses that resolve terse ritual verbs into concrete operations and specify the intended devatā (often Agni in differentiated aspects). He emphasizes bandhu (correspondence): altar parts equated with cosmic regions, meters, and Prajāpati’s body, thereby justifying why a given placement must occur in a particular direction or order. Bhāskara Miśra, while broadly concordant, tends to sharpen the procedural logic—clarifying sequence-dependencies, distinguishing optional from obligatory acts, and explaining how a mantra’s wording constrains the gesture (e.g., whether an item is to be set down, pressed, or merely touched). Both commentators treat the mantras as efficacious performatives: correctness of recitation and placement jointly ‘complete’ Agni, ensuring continuity from altar-construction into the Soma-sacrifice’s subsequent offerings.
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