Canto 2: Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa ()Chapter 6: The Residents of Kosala Prepare to Celebrate Rāma’s CoronationText 2.6.2
Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 6: The Residents of Kosala Prepare to Celebrate Rāma’s Coronation
Text 2.6.2
प्रगृह्य शिरसा पात्रीं हविषो विधिवत्तदा।
महते दैवतायाज्यं जुहाव ज्वलितेऽनले॥
pragṛhya śirasā pātrīṁ haviṣo vidhivat tadā
mahate daivatāyājyaṁ juhāva jvalite ’nale
pragṛhya = He held and; śirasā = on His head; pātrīm = the vessel; haviṣaḥ = containing the sacrificial oblation; vidhivat = according to the prescribed regulations; tadā = then; mahate = for [the pleasure of that] great; daivatāya = deity; ājyam = the ghee; juhāva = poured; jvalite = on the blazing; anale = fire.
According to the prescribed regulations, He held the vessel containing the sacrificial oblation on His head and then poured the ghee on the blazing fire for the [pleasure of that] great deity.
Śrī Rāma held the vessel containing the sacrificial oblation on His head in accordance with the appropriate scriptural injunction: upari hi devebhyo dhārayati (Āpastamba Śrauta-sūtra 9.11.9)
Mahate daivatāya indicates that He performed this sacrifice for the pleasure of the great deity Lord Nārāyaṇa for the previous text stated that He approached Lord Nārāyaṇa and the next text states that He meditated on Lord Nārāyaṇa. This refutes the fallacious contention that mahate daivatāya indicates that Rāma performed this sacrifice to please Mahādeva or Lord Śiva. Mahādeva is a single word [and a proper name commonly used to refer to Lord Śiva], and [so] it can refer to Lord Śiva; but mahate daivatāya are two different words, [being two adjectives describing a person, not a single proper noun]. Only in the mode of darkness can one consider that Lord Rāma performed this sacrifice to please Lord Śiva.