अथ यस्य जायायै जारः स्यात्तं चेद्द्विष्यादामपात्रेऽग्निमुपसमाधाय प्रतिलोमं शरबर्हिः स्तीर्त्वा तस्मिन्नेताः शरभृष्टीः प्रतिलोमाः सर्पिषाक्ता जुहुयात् ।मम समिद्धेऽहौषीः ।प्राणापानौ त आददेऽसाविति ।मम समिद्धेऽहौषीः ।पुत्रपशूंस्त आददेऽसाविति ।मम समिद्धेऽहौषीः ।इष्टासुकृते त आददेऽसाविति ।मम समिद्धेऽहौषीः ।अशापराकाशौ त आददेऽसाविति ।स वा एष निरिन्द्रियो विसुकृतोऽस्माल्लोकाद्प्रैति यमेवंविद्ब्राह्मणः शपति ।तस्मादेवंवित्श्रोत्रियस्य दारेण नोपहासमिच्छेत् ।उत ह्येवंवित्परो भवति ॥बृह. ६,४.१२ ॥
In plain words
Now if a man's wife has a lover and he would harm him: having laid the fire in an unbaked earthen vessel, having strewn a bed of reed arrows the wrong way about, let him offer in it these reed arrow-tips, smeared with butter and laid the wrong way about, saying: "Thou hast made offering in my kindled fire — I take away thy in-breath and thy out-breath, N. Thou hast made offering in my kindled fire — I take away thy sons and thy cattle, N. Thou hast made offering in my kindled fire — I take away thy sacrifices and thy good deeds, N. Thou hast made offering in my kindled fire — I take away thy hope and thy expectation, N." Bereft of vigour and stripped of merit, he goes forth from this world, whom a brāhmaṇa who knows thus curses. Therefore let a man not seek to make sport with the wife of one learned in the Veda who knows this, for he who knows this becomes the stronger.
The commentators
Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣadbhāṣyam· bhāṣya
अथ पुनर्यस्य जायायै जारः उपपतिः स्यात्, तं चेत् द्विष्यान्, अभिचरिष्याम्येनमिति मन्येत, तस्येदं कर्म। आ- मपात्रे अग्निमुपसमाधाय सर्वं प्रतिलोमं कुर्यात्; तस्मिन् अग्नौ एताः शरभृष्टीः शरेषीकाः प्रतिलोमाः सर्पिषा अक्ताः घृताभ्यक्ताः जुहुयात् 'मम समिद्धेऽहौषीः' इत्याद्या आहुतीः; अन्ते सर्वासाम् असाविति नामग्रहणं प्रत्येकम्; स एषः एवंवित्, यं ब्राह्मणः शपति, सः विसुकृतः विग- तपुण्यकर्मा प्रैति। तस्मात् एवंवित् श्रोत्रियस्य दारेण नो- पहासामिच्छेत् नर्मापि न कुर्यात्, किमुत अधोपहासम्; हि यस्मात् एवंविद्वपि तावन् परो भवति शत्रुर्भवतीत्यर्थः ॥
In plain words
Now suppose a man discovers his wife has a lover, and hates him for it, and decides: I will strike at him with sorcery. Here is the rite. He sets up a fire in an unbaked clay vessel and reverses everything about it — nothing done the usual way. Into that fire he throws roasted reed-arrow points, held backwards, smeared and anointed with ghee, one oblation after another, each one beginning 'into my kindled fire you poured' — and at the end of every single offering, he names the man himself. Whoever a Brāhmaṇa who understands this curses in that way leaves this world with his merit gone, his good deeds spent. That is why a man who understands this should never even trade a light joke with a scholar's wife, let alone anything further — because merely knowing how this works already makes him someone's enemy.
Close to the Sanskrit
Now again, if a man has a paramour, a rival lover, for his wife, and he should hate him, [thinking] 'I will work sorcery against him,' this is his rite: Having set up a fire in an unbaked vessel, he should do everything in reverse order; in that fire he should offer these — reed-arrow points roasted, arrow-reeds held reversed, smeared with ghee, anointed with clarified butter — as oblations beginning with the formula 'in my kindled [fire] you have offered'; at the end of each and every one, the naming of 'so-and-so.' This one — he who knows thus, whom a Brāhmaṇa curses — departs [from this world] devoid of merit, his righteous deeds gone. Therefore, one who knows thus should not desire dalliance with the wife of a Vedic scholar, should not even engage in playful banter — how much less low sport! — for, since even one who merely knows thus already becomes an adversary, [an enemy] — that is the meaning.