Prapathaka 5

Prapāṭhaka 6.5 of the Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda (Taittirīya Saṃhitā) belongs to the Agnicayana complex as it is embedded within the broader Śrauta economy of Soma-sacrifice and altar-building. The chapter’s mantric texture repeatedly negotiates the transformation of material components—earth, bricks, waters, and fire—into a ritually animated body of Agni. Its theology is characteristically Taittirīya: Agni is simultaneously the constructed altar, the officiant’s fire, and the cosmic mediator whose “limbs” are distributed across the citi. The sequence of formulas emphasizes protection (rakṣas-apahāra), expansion (uru/mahī), and stabilization (dhruvā), aligning the altar with the sacrificer’s longevity and social sovereignty. The chapter also exhibits the Yajurvedic concern for correct placement and naming: each act is paired with a verbal designation that fixes function and cosmological correspondence. In exegetical terms, the mantras operate as performative identifications (bandhu) that convert construction into consecration.