The Grihya-sutras, rules of Vedic domestic ceremonies

XXVIU Gi?7HYA-SUTRAS.
it in the series of the festivals. As a rule ^ the acts we have
just mentioned are followed, in accordance with the natural
series, by the Ash/aka festivals, which are celebrated during
the last months of the year.
Alongside of these acts which are connected with fixed
points of the year we find in the various Grzhya texts
an account of a series of other ceremonies, which, in ac-
cordance with their nature, have no such fixed position
in the system of the ritual. Thus, for instance, the rites
which refer to the choice of a piece of ground to build
a house or to the building itself ; further, the rites con-
nected with agriculture and cattle raising. In many texts
we find together with this group of acts also an account
of the ceremonies, related to fixed points in the year,
which stand in connection with the annual course of
Vedic study : the description of the opening festival and
of the closing festival of the school term, as well as a point
which generally follows these descriptions, the rules as to
the anadhyaya, i.e. as to the occasions which necessitate an
intermission in the study of the Veda for a longer or for
a shorter period. As a rule, the Grzhya-sutras bring the
account of these things into the group of acts which refer to
the household life of the Grzliastha ;
for the Adhyapana^ i. e.
the teaching of the Veda, held the first place among the
rights and duties of the Brahma;/a who had completed his
time at school. On the other hand these ceremonies can
naturally also be considered as connected with the school
life of the young Hindu, and accordingly they are placed
in that division by Gobhila -, between the description of
the Upanayana and that of the Samavartana.
The sacred acts connected with the burial and the
worship of the dead (the various kinds of 5'raddha rites) may
be designated as a third group of the ceremonies which
are described to us in the Gr/hya-sutras. Finally, a fourth
group comprises the acts which are connected with the
attainment of particular desires (kamyani). Among the
1 Not ill .Sankhayaija, who describes the Ash/akas before these sacrifices.
' in, 3-