1872.] Rajendralala Mitra — Beef in Ancient India. 189 
then is to take up two stout sticks of Kasmarya* wood, one with, and the 
other without, leaves, and successively touch the animal and the Adhvaryu. 
This done, he should spread some ktis'a grass on the west of the hearth, and 
the animal, having been laid on it with its head towards the east or the 
west, and the feet pointing towards the north, is to be killed by the 
Samita. The instrument of destruction is not named, and it is doubt- 
ful whether a knife was used, or a spike of hard wt>od, one of the 
gambhari sticks alluded to above, was driven into the region of the heart 
to effect the destruction. Both methods are noticed elsewhere, and 
the spike was called sphya. But however effected, immediately after the 
immolation, the master of the ceremony should cover the right hypochon- 
driac region with a little kiis'a grass, and make an oblique incision to 
extract an important organ from the abdomen. If the immolation be 
made with the animal’s head to the east, it will be necessary to turn the 
carcass over to come to the spot. The organ to be extracted is called Vapd, 
and in Sanskrit dictionaries it is set down as a synonym of fat or marrow. 
Some take it to be the omentum, but the commentator of As'valayana 
describes its place to be a hollow above, and to the right of the navel, f 
which takes us exactly to the region of the liver, and knowing how 
eagerly such Hindus as take flesh meat in the present day, like the 
liver of goats, as a delicacy, I am disposed to believe that the word means 
the liver. Such a tit bit would be much more worthy of the gods than 
the skinny omentum, which is utterly unfit for human food. 
* Gmelina arborea. The wood of this tree is reputed to bo remarkably dense, 
hard and tough. The technical name of the stick is Papdsrcepcmi. A srapani is ordi- 
narily a cooking pot, but in the present instance, as one of them should be ^pjfTtsiT 
“ without leaves” and the other yrjjjtsix leaves, I infer that sticks are meant. 
f vnfflw qfw qrnr i ‘ef ^ fsRrtnqwtr 
Tfd yn I rTTrefapT 
^frT I Tfrf! JTT ifTV- 
<£fw«T ?rrircret'*rT frar tpt (avrcTwrer?? ftratqx msiT 
’rrw l sir^fsiyi: ?j-sn 
tjfrr ?f^ui 3iidT fSqTrf I fTfll I 
55RTT'?r?'!i l ^^Tfsr trtfwl I 7f7(T <fg T 
swtbj, gijfapi ’qq^r. 
= *rrq i wrt: Ji*m^vi'=roTqre^rafjf qqj 
^T’alsr: ’qqfwr vrf uqmfwuiw 
^TJlft vyfrtl aT®'S)T<T ^XiTl W%ftT I 
>l " 'J 
