In the mantra literature,the affix ṇivan comes after the verb yaj 'to sacrifice' when in composition the word av,
As अवयाज्, nom. sing. अवयाः (Rig. Ved. I. 173. 12) 'name of a Vedic priest'; as त्वं यज्ञे वरुणस्यावया असि 'Thou art the priest of Varuna in the sacrifice'.
The division of this aphorism from the last in which it could have been included, is for the sake of the subsequent sutras in which the anuvritti of यज only runs. This word is thus declined:-
- 1st. अवयाः, अवयाजौ, अवयाजः
- 2nd. अवयाजं, अवयाजौ, अवयाजः
- 3rd. अवयाजा, अवयोभ्यां, अवयोभिः,