Manual for the Performance of Planetary Sacrifice

Having bowed to the divine Vinayaka original: "Vinayaka" — another name for Ganesha, the elephant-headed deity who is traditionally invoked at the beginning of any undertaking to remove obstacles., to the god Shiva, to Vyaseshvara, and to my Guru, I shall now compose the complete ritual procedure for the Planetary Sacrifice Graha-yajna.

Now, having carefully examined various authoritative treatises such as the Jewel of Peace (Shantiratna), the Essence of Peace (Shantisara), and the Rays of Peace (Shantimayukha)—and because of their great length, aiming for brevity—as well as the Lamp of Decision for Ritual Practice (Nirnaya-prayoga-dipika), the Great Commentary (Shri-bhashya), the works of Narayanabhatta, and many other diverse compositions; and having extracted the essence from them; and in accordance with mathematical treatises such as the Lilavati The Lilavati is a famous 12th-century Indian treatise on mathematics by Bhaskara II. Its mention here suggests that the ritual involves complex calculations for altar measurements or offering counts. and others, the procedure for the planetary sacrifice known as the Ten-Million Offerings Kotihoma is here described in brief.

The planetary sacrifice is of three types:
1. The Ten-Thousand Offerings Ayuta-homa.
2. The One-Hundred-Thousand Offerings Laksha-homa.
3. The Ten-Million Offerings Koti-homa.

There, the first is the Ayuta sacrifice. The second is the Laksha sacrifice. The third is the Koti sacrifice. Ten-thousand, ten?-hundred-thousand, and ten-million refer to the quantities of sacrificial fuel original: "samit" — small sticks of wood, usually from sacred trees like the Peepal or Palasa, offered into the ritual fire....