पतत्रिणस्तस्य वपामुद्धृत्य नियतेन्द्रियः।
ऋत्विक्परमसम्पन्नः श्रपयामास शास्त्रतः॥
patatriṇas tasya vapām uddhṛtya niyatendriyaḥ
ṛtvik parama-sampannaḥ śrapayām āsa śāstrataḥ
patatriṇaḥ tasya vapām = the reed rope around the horse’s intestines; uddhṛtya = taking; niyata-indriyaḥ = with a concentrated mind; ṛtvik = the adhvaryu; parama-sampannaḥ = and skilled in sacrificial work; śrapayām =āsa = cooked it; śāstrataḥ = according to śāstra.
Taking the reed rope around the horse’s intestines, the adhvaryu with a concentrated mind and skilled in sacrificial work cooked it according to śāstra.
[22] patatrī pakṣi-turagau (Amara).
[23] nāśvasya vapā vidyate. (Āpastamba Śrauta-sūtra)
[24] nānyeṣāṁ paśūnāṁ tejanyā avadyanty avadyanty aśvasya. (Śruti)
1 As a general principle in Vedic fire sacrifices, vapā refers to the intestines of a sacrificial animal. But as an exception, in an Aśvamedha sacrifice, vapā refers to the reed rope tied around the horse’s stomach; it does not refer to its intestines.
Patatriṇaḥ here refers to the horse [22]. Vapām refers to tejanī, the mass of reeds bundled into a rope, around the intestines of the horse. According to Āpastamba, the horse does not have a vapā, an intestinal covering, to be sacrificed [23]. And according to the Śruti, the tejanī of a horse is burnt (cooked), though the tejanī of other animals is not burnt (cooked) [24]. It was cooked “according to śāstra,” that is, the scriptural injunction noted as text 39 of this chapter.1