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ARATI - A DEYELOPED FORM OF ARATRKA    147

pcrform this rite everyday.

Characteristics

1.    An image of Ritri madę out of dough is invoked and worshipped with while garments;

2.    Mustard seeds are thrown around the bed of the king;

3.    An amulet is tied and pebbles are thrown;

4.    The remnant of incense (dhupa) is given to the king. This is repeated with dilTerent verses;

5.    Pistaratri is kept at the door of the house;

6.    This is a ritual to be performed by the priest in front of the king;

7.    The motive behind this rite is to dispel the fear of evil forces.

1.1.3. The third occasion to describe SrStrika is in the AVP 4.3., 4.4, and 4.5. The word used for the rite in the lcxt is rStrikarma which is paraphrased by S9yana as SrStrikavidhSnam, AVP 4.3 RStrikarma:

A priest should place an image of the Goddess night with four lamps and worship with fragrant sticks and flowers in his front. Having bowed down to RStri and having worshipped hcr as per the procedurę, he should worship hcr with fragrant sticks, food and drink accompanicd with praising verses.

In the adjacent paragraph the AVP dcscribes ‘SrStrySnf i.e., the hymns and procedurę of irStrika. ‘A rStri pSrthivam '^l8, ‘IsirS ' (AV 19.49.1),¹⁰ ‘trySmSna ' {AV 6.107.2) ²⁰ are the hymns callcd ‘SrStrySniThese hymns and the immediately following ones are recitcd in the rite performed in front of the image of RStri invoking hcr and reciled along with the ritual. Touching the idol he should recite ‘mamobha’,²¹ ‘mahyamSpa’ (AV 6.61.1)²², etc. By uttering the five verses beginning with ‘yo na svah' (AV 1.19.3)²³, he should offcr mustard seeds.

By uttering ‘YoSsmin ^C4, ‘yastvS mituh ’ ^2S, he should wave lamp three limes in front of the king and should give it to a servant. By uttering a Rk ‘abhayam ' (A V19.15.5) he should throw four pebbles in the four directions, starting from the right. By uttering ‘ehya o’ (AV 2.13.4) he should place the fifth one. By the verses ‘na tam yaksmS ' [AV 19.38.1) and ‘aitu deva ’ [AV 19.39.1) he should offer the fragrant sticks of guggula. He should offcr bhuti (the remaining ash ) to the king by uttering yaste gandhah. By the verse 'dusya...’ (AV 2.11.1) he should lie the amulet to the king. By the verse ‘Agni... ’ [AV 19.17.1) he should throw pebbles in each direction in a circular way starting from the right. He should come out of the bcdchamber from the north, he should perfonn this rite for a friend and for one who