BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS 141

I. VEDIC UPA-BHR.-T-

The K~ty~yana-Srautasfitra, in describing the Agnihotra, specifies vaikahkatam sruksruvam (IV. 14. 7) 'the srfica.h and the sruvdm, must be of vikafikata wood'. 1 These two categories of implements go naturally together: sruvdm ca srftcag ca sdmmrdd, hi 'wipe the dipping-spoon and the offering spoons' (Taittirfya-Brghma.na 3.2.9 (j) [14])2. We also find the sr~cah treated as a separate set: barhir asi srugbhyds tv~ sv~h~ 'ty dha. . , yd]amdnah, srucah... 'he says: 'Thou art the sacrificial grass. For the sacrificial spoons (I sprinkle) thee. Sv/fla~!"... the sacrificial spoons are (i.e. represent) the Sacrificer.' (TB 3.3.6 (b) [3] )3. Then at TB 3.3.5 (c) [2-5] we find out explicitly what the srfica.h 4 are: the juh~, the upabh(t, and the dhruv~.

It is clear, then, that the upabh(t, literally the 'sacrificer', goes with the verb upa-h.r- and with (upa-)~-hr- 'offer, bestow' and sam-upa-~-h.r- 'sacrifice', which I have discussed elsewhere s in establishing the reconstructed idiom (or complex lexeme) *TO-~her- 'sacrifice' for Indo-European, to which Sanskrit adds pra-bhr-.

In addition to *TO-bher- ~ g-hr- and pra-bh.r- it is interesting to note for Indic the characteristic development of a compound with fipa. The force of this particle here must be that of 'respect' seen in ftpa-sad-, and which I have pointed out 6 for

IE *upo. In confirmation, my friend Edwin Gerow calls my attention to the one RV

instance of the verb: (1.162.2) nt'tyam, nd s~nftm mddhu btbhrata ftpa, kr:lanti krtT.~ viddthe.su gh./s.vaya.h "Wie einen leiblicheia Sohn das Siasse tragend (= offering!) t~de ln die TLndler herbei" (Geldner I p. 241). In this hymn to the Maruts the rain is certainly meant.

The term for the upa-bhf-t- was perfectly appropriate to its solemn purpose.

H. SR uv; -

If we accept Wackernagel's inspired proposal 7 that the post-Vedic orthography iruva- is the more original, and his consequent equation of this with Avest. sr~- sruvg- 'nafl, horn', we must assume that the specification of vikafikata wood is a later stipulation. The original *gruvd- < *k:ru-6 -8 would have been made of horn.

Wackernagel explains (loc. cit.) the Vedic s for s" as arising in the same way as that of s~c{- 'needle' < *g~e:- : .r Avest. suka- 'needle'. Yet as Wackernagel him-

self points out, suc:- was probably strongly influenced (perhaps completely deter- mined) by syft- 'sew'; this would then not serve as an explanation for sruvd-. However, an analogous explanation lies to hand in the passages cited above. The frequent collocation with sruk- and srfica.h must have been responsible for the contamination