[372] Granting that atha does not here mean "auspicious," why should not this be the implied meaning, as all allow that the particle atha does produce an auspicious influence?
[373] i.e., a word's incapacity to convey a meaning without some other word to complete the construction.
[374] This is found with some variations in the Mahábháshya (p. 7, Kielhorn's ed.)
[375] The commentators hold that the word vṛiddhiḥ is placed at the beginning of the first sútra, while guṇaḥ in the second is placed at the end (ad eṅ guṇaḥ), in order to ensure an auspicious opening, vṛiddhi meaning "increase," "prosperity," as well as "the second strengthening of a vowel."
[376] In the old Bengali poem Chaṇḍí, we have an interesting list of these omens. The hero Chandraketu, starting on a journey, has the following good omens: On his right hand a cow, a deer, a Bráhman, a full-blown lotus; on his left, a jackal and a jar full of water. He hears on his right hand the sound of fire and a cowherdess calling "milk" to buyers. He sees a cow with her calf, a woman calling "jaya," dúrvá grass, rice, garlands of flowers, diamonds, sapphires, pearls, corals; and on the left twelve women. He hears drums and cymbals, and men dancing and singing "Hari." It is, however, all spoiled by seeing a guana (godhiká). The author adds, "This is a bad omen according to all śástras, and so is a tortoise, a rhinoceros, the tuberous root of the water-lily, and a hare." Elsewhere, a vulture, a kite, a lizard, and a woodman carrying wood are called bad omens.
[377] These are the names of two out of the four sacrifices lasting for one day, in which a thousand cows are given to the officiating Bráhmans.
[378] He is here called phaṇipati, "lord of snakes,"—Patañjali, the author of the Mahábháshya, being represented as a snake in mythology.
[379] Cf. Śaṅkara, Vedánta-Sút., iii. 3, 49.
[380] This is the Mímáṃsá rule for settling the relative value of the proofs that one thing is ancillary to another. 1. Śruti, "a definite text," as "let him offer with curds," where curds are clearly an ancillary part of the sacrifice. 2. Liṅga, "a sign," or "the sense of the words," as leading to an inference, as in the text "he divides by the ladle;" here we infer that the thing to be divided must be a liquid like ghee, since a ladle could not divide solid things like the baked flour cakes. 3. Vákya, "the being mentioned in one sentence," i.e., the context, as in the text "'(I cut) thee for food,' thus saying, he cuts the branch;" here the words "(I cut) thee for food" are ancillary to the action of cutting; or in the text, "I offer the welcome (oblation) to Agni," the words "the welcome (oblation) to Agni," as they form one sentence with the words "I offer," are ancillary to the act of offering. 4. Prakaraṇa, "the subject-matter viewed as a whole, with an interdependence of its parts," as in the darśa-púrṇamása sacrifice, where the prayája ceremonies, which have no special fruit mentioned, produce, as parts, a mystic influence (apúrva) which helps forward that influence of the whole by which the worshippers obtain heaven. Here the prakaraṇa proves them to be ancillary. 5. Sthána (or krama), "relative position" or "order," as the recital of the hymn Śundhadhvam, &c., "Be ye purified for the divine work," in connection with the mention of the sánnáyya vessels, where this position proves that the hymn is ancillary to the action of sprinkling those vessels. 6. Samákhyá, "title;" thus the Yajur-veda is called the special book for the adhvaryu priests; hence in any rite mentioned in it they are prima facie to be considered as the priests employed. The order in the aphorism represents the relative weight to be attached to each; the first, śruti, being the most important; the last, samákhyá, the least. Cf. Jaimini's Sútras, iii. 3, 14; Mímáṃsáparibháshá, pp. 8, 9.
[381] I.e., Yogi-Yájñavalkya, the author of the Yájñavalkya-gítá. See Hall, Bibl. Index, p. 14; Aufrecht, Bodl. Catal., p. 87 b.