Śamitṛ
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By Swami Harshananda
Sometimes transliterated as: Samitr, ZamitR, shamitrri
śamitṛ (‘one who silences [the animal victim]’)
In the Somayāgas of the paśubandha type where an animal is sacrificed, the person who kills the animal by suffocating or strangulating it is called a śamitṛ. He may be a trained butcher or even the adhvaryu priest himself.
In the place—a previously arranged spot—where the severed limbs of the victim are to be roasted, a new fire is to be lighted. It is called śāmitra. This fire may be produced newly by attrition or by drawing it from the āhavanīya fire itself.
References
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore
