Verse 2.689

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

प्रणयः साधनत्वं च प्राप्तं तस्मादनूद्यते ।
विशिष्टोपाश्रयं द्रव्यमतोऽलं पशुसिद्धये ॥ ६८९ ॥

praṇayaḥ sādhanatvaṃ ca prāptaṃ tasmādanūdyate |
viśiṣṭopāśrayaṃ dravyamato'laṃ paśusiddhaye || 689 ||

English translation of verse 2.689:

Inasmuch as the substance (viz., the milk-pail) through its relation with the act of pouring is competent to secure cattle, the act of pouring and its being a means (to heaven) which are already given (in the text “He shall pour water by a pan”) are restated (in the text “He shall obtain cattle by a milk-pail”).

Notes:

It was stated earlier that a substance can be a means to the attainment of a fruit only through an act (dravyasya kriyādvāreṇaiva pumartha-sādhanatvam). Citing the text, “He shall obtain cattle by a milk-pail,” (godohanena paśukāmasya) which occurs in the section dealing with the darśa-pūrṇamāsa rites, one may argue that the principle enunciated does not hold good, because this text shows that the substance, viz., milk-pail (godohana) is directly connected with the fruit, viz., cattle. But a careful reading of the text in the context will show that this text is partly a restatement in so far as it repeats what is already conveyed by the text, “He shall pour water by a pan,” (camasenāpaḥ praṇayet) which occurs in the section dealing with the darśa-pūrṇamāsa rites. Through the latter text we know that the substance “water” which is in the pan (camas a) is the means to heaven through the act of pouring (praṇayana). So the text godohanena paśukāmasya is a restatement, because it contains a repetition in respect of (1) the act of appraṇayana and (2) its being a means to a fruit. But since the fruit to be secured here is cattle and not. heaven, it enjoins godohana in the place of camasa. So the text godohanena paśukāmasya must be understood as conveying that the substance, viz., the milk-pail, is the means to the fruit, viz., cattle, only through the act of praṇayana.