Kanda 6

Prapathaka 3

Agnicayana / Śrauta Soma-cycle interface: construction and consecration of the fire-altar (citi) with its brick-laying (iṣṭakā-nyāsa), establishment of the three sacred fires, and the accompanying yajus-formulas that sacralize materials, directions, meters, and deities—functioning as a bridge between altar-building and the subsequent Soma-sacrifice performance.

Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda 6.3 belongs to the Agnicayana complex, where liturgy operationalizes cosmology through the material grammar of the fire-altar. The chapter’s yajus coordinate acts of selection, purification, placement, and sealing of altar components—bricks, earth, water, plants, and implements—so that the citi becomes a ritually “living” body of Agni-Prajāpati. The text repeatedly maps spatial directions and altar layers onto meters (chandas), seasons, and divine functions, thereby converting construction into a controlled re-enactment of creation. Formulae of “placing” and “establishing” are paired with protective and expiatory utterances that neutralize fault (doṣa) in measurement, handling, or sequence. The chapter also articulates the sacrificer’s ascent: by building Agni as a cosmic totality, the yajamāna secures continuity of breath, offspring, and heavenly attainment. Thus 6.3 exemplifies the Yajurvedic principle that correct speech (yajus) is itself the instrument that makes matter sacrificially efficacious.

11 anuvakas | 62 mantras