Manual of the Nine Planets Sacrifice

original: "Shri" — A sacred syllable invoked at the start of pages or sections to ensure success and divine grace.

—be successful, as is stated there. Whether it is called "Victory" or "Great Victory," a pavilionoriginal: "mandapa" — A temporary porch or platform constructed for Vedic rituals. should be built for the sake of auspiciousness. 19 The "Victory" pavilion is said to be eight cubitsoriginal: "hasta" — A traditional unit of measure based on the length of the forearm (approx. 18 inches). in size, while the "Great Victory" is ten cubits. For a ritual involving ten thousand offerings, the door should be placed in the Northeast or perhaps the North. 20

Or, the door may be placed in the North; so says the sage Shaunaka. The structure should be made using the branches of the Sacred Fig, the Cluster Fig, the Wave-leafed Fig, and the Banyan tree. 21
original: "Ashvattha, Udumbara, Plaksha, Vata" — These are the four sacred "milky" trees whose wood is required for Vedic ritual enclosures.

These doors should be constructed in every direction of the pavilion. The archesoriginal: "torana" — Ornamental gateway frames used in rituals. must be fixed and decorated with the symbols of the conch, the wheel, the mace, and the lotus. 22
These are the four traditional attributes of the god Vishnu, signaling the sanctity of the space.

One should install the Eastern arch while reciting the hymn to Fireoriginal: "Agnim-ile" — The opening verse of the Rigveda: "I praise Agni, the chosen priest.". For the remaining gates, the priest should perform the installation by repeating the appropriate verses. 23

Yellow, red, white, blue, white, variegated, coral-colored, white, variegated, and black: these are the colors of the banners to be placed in order, starting from the East. 24

Having described the rules for the pavilion, the rules for the sacrificial pitoriginal: "kunda" — A specially constructed pit in the ground for the ritual fire. are now told. It should be situated in the Northeast, the East, or the North of the house. 25

There, one should construct the pit... with grain-sized measurements?. For a ritual of one hundred or fifty offerings, the pit should be the size of a fist or an elbow-lengthoriginal: "aratni" — A cubit measured from the elbow to the tip of the closed fist. in its proportions. 26

For a ritual of one thousand or ten thousand offerings, the pit is considered to be two cubits in size. It may be built with three tiersoriginal: "mekhala" — Decorative and functional steps or "girdles" surrounding the fire pit. or with just a single tier. 27

A "fist-hand" is an elbow-length measured to the little finger... for a hundred offerings, the measurement of a fist...