“sūnuh”, rather than with the typical Sanskritic “putra” ( ibid. ). This confirms the relative lateness of the formation of Sanskrit.
384 See A. Jacob, Ātman.
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represented as a castration of the Purusha. The semen that
fal s from the castrated phal us impregnates the Purusha
himself with a Cosmic Egg from which emerge the
manifest cosmos comprised, again, of Earthly substance
and Heavenly light (Brahman). This luminous Brahman is
also represented anthropomorphical y as a Cosmic Man.
However, this light, again represented in
anthropomorphic form, continues to possess a stormy
quality which is a persistence of Chronos in the manifest
cosmos. This force, represented as Zeus/Seth/Ganesha,
shatters the light and forces it to descend to the lower
regions of Earth, where it lies moribund as, for instance,
Osiris. However, the same storm-force has, in its assault
on the manifest light, swallowed the divine phal us and it
eventual y revives the moribund light in the underworld
with its potency. Separating the substance of Earth, into
which the cosmic light has sunk, into the earthly regions
and heaven of our universe, it emerges through the cleft
between the two into the mid-region of the stars as a
universal Tree of Life, or Phal us. The seed of this newly
formed universe is then emitted within our galaxy, first as
the moon, and then the solar force final y emerges above
the top of the Tree (Phal us) as the sun.
Āryan Rituals
The fire-based rituals of the Indo-Āryans are based on
the original sacrifice of the Ideal cosmic macroanthropos,
Purusha, as well as on its repetitions in the manifest
cosmos and in the underworld, for it is these sacrifices
that result in the formation of the sun.385 The primary
aim of the Vedic ritual is thus to restore the disintegrated
385 For a detailed study of the ancient Indo-European rituals, see A.
Jacob, Brahman.
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Purusha and, especial y, his solar energy. As Gonda
pointed out with regard to the construction of the Vedic
fire-altar,
In building the great fireplace one restores
and reintegrates Prajāpati [Purusha], whose
dismemberment had been the creation of the universe,
and makes him whole and complete. At the same time
and by means of the same ritual act, the sacrificer, who
is identified with Prajāpati (cf. Shatapatha Brāhmana
VII,4,15) constructs himself a new social personality
and secures the continuance of his existence.386
The sacrifice of the Purusha which initiated the formation
of the universe was most probably imitated in the ancient
Indo-European religions by a human sacrifice.387 Human
sacrifice is indeed archaeological y evidenced in the early
Bronze Age (fourth millennium B.C.) Luhansk site in
the Ukraine which forms part of the Yamnaya culture
associated with the Āryans. It is attested among the ancient
Germanic peoples too and discernible (in Caesar’s writings)
among the Celts, as well as among the Scythians, and
Thracians.388 Among the Indo-Āryans the human sacrifice is
natural y called a Purushamedha (sacrifice of the Purusha).
The primary purpose of a sacrifice is, however, self-
sacrifice and the sacrifice of a human involved in the
proto-Vedic Purushamedha must original y have been
conducted as a substitute for the sacrifice of the sacrificer
himself, since the sacrificer is, in all Vedic sacrifices,
386 See J. Gonda, Prajāpati’s rise, p.16f.
387 See A. Jacob, Brahman, Ch.I.
388 K. Rönnow, (“Zur Erklärung des Pravargya”) pointed to the
significant evidence of human sacrifice among the Germans, Celts, Scythians and Thracians and suggested that it must have been practised even by the Greeks and Indians, in spite of the dearth of such evidence among them (see B. Lincoln, Myth, Cosmos and Society, p.172).
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identified with the victim. As Heesterman states, “self-
sacrifice is an all-but-ubiquitous theme in the ritual
brāhmana texts, the victim as well as the other offerings
being regularly equated with the sacrificer”.389 That is why
the victim in the Purushamedha was original y exclusively
a brāhman or a kshatriya, since only these two castes were
qualified to act as representatives of the Purusha and to
conduct sacrifices.
The sacrificial victim is also always a male390 since
only his energy can substitute for the phallic force of
the Purusha that fil s the universe with its life. We have
observed in our survey of the cosmological bases of
sacrifices that the entire evolution of the material universe
arises from repeated castrations, and preservations, of
the divine phal us, first in the Ideal realm of the Purusha,
then in the early cosmos of Brahman and, lastly, in the
material universe, as the Tree of Life that arises from the
underworld and extends to the heavens. If what is most
important in the Purusha is his phallic power, as is evident
also in the Hesiodic account of the castration of Ouranos
by Chronos,391 it is probable that the sacrifice original y
focussed on the victim’s phal us, as we observe, for
example, in the veneration of the penis of a slaughtered
stallion noted among the ancient Nordic peoples.392
Similarly, in the Equus October ceremony in ancient
Rome, a race-horse was slaughtered and its tail (standing
no doubt for its penis) was brought to the regia.393
389 J.C. Heesterman, The Broken World of Sacrifice: An Essay on Ancient Indian Ritual, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993, p.173.
390 This is reflected even in the Hebrew Paschal sacrifice (see below), where the lamb necessarily has to be a male one.
391 See Hesiod, Theogony, I, 170ff.
392 See 'Volsa pattr' in Óláfs saga helga.
393 See J. Mallory and D.Q. Adams, Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, p.330.
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indo-european mythology and religion
Over time, however, the human victim was substituted
with animals that equal y represented the energy of the
divine phal us, thus a horse or a bul , and final y with
lesser animals such as sheep and goats. Indeed, at the time
of the composition of the Shatapatha Brāhmana, the most
common substitute was the goat ( SB VI,2,1,39). In all cases, however, the original significance of the sacrifice as a self-sacrifice is never forgotten, as many of the processes of
the Vedic sacrifices as well as many of the accompanying
Vedic chants reveal. SB I,3,2,1, for instance, identifies the sacrifice (also frequently called Vishnu) with the Purusha:
“Now the sacrifice is the man”.
Just as the death of Osiris is followed by his revival
in our universe as the sun, the Indo-European religious
sacrifices also betoken not only a self-sacrifice of the
sacrificer but also a solar rebirth that they allow the
sacrificer to undergo as a brāhman,
or one who has
realised the solar virtue of his soul. In the Indian horse-
sacrifice, Ashvamedha, for instance, the horse represents
the sun which has been lost and must be recovered. Thus
SB XIII,3,1,1 declares:
Prajâpati's eye swelled; it fell out: thence the horse
was produced; and inasmuch as it swelled (ashvayat),
that is the origin and nature of the horse (ashva). By
means of the A s vamedha the gods restored it to its
place, and verily he who performs the A s vamedha
makes Prajâpati complete, and he (himself) becomes
complete; and this, indeed, is the atonement for
everything, the remedy for everything.
This is the same significance that attaches also to the
Osirian funereal rites, especial y the mouth-opening
ritual.394 For the assault on the solar force by Seth is
394 See A. Jacob, Brahman, p.211f. 188
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referred to as the damage or robbing of the “Horus eye”
[the sun] which must be restored to Horus the Elder/
Osiris.
By transfiguring the sacrificer into the solar force,
the sacrifice simultaneously bestows immortality on him.
The nectar of immortality that sacrificers seek for by toil
and penance is indeed Soma ( SB IX,5,1,8). The underlying
motif of the Soma sacrifice is one related to the pressing,
or killing of the Purusha, as SB II,2,2,1 suggests: “in
pressing out the king [Soma] they slay him”. This may have
a special phallic connotation as well since the soma juice is
akin to the seminal power of Prajāpati which serves as the
source of the sun. Thus the sacrifice, though representing
the death of the sacrificer, also signifies the production of
Soma, the nectar of immortality. The sacrificer's spiritual
rebirth is essential y akin to that of the solar force Agni
that we have observed above.
The ultimate aim of the original Indo-European
sacrifices, modelled after the cosmic sacrifice of the
Purusha, however, must have been the liberation of the
self from the il usions of the material fabric in which it is
entangled and the direction of the energy of man into the
divine consciousness. This is indeed the principal aim of
yogic ascesis as wel , which, according to Heesterman, is
an internalisation of the sacrifice. However, since yoga is
likely to have preceded fire-sacrifices since it is the basis
of the cosmic vision that informs both, it is more probable
that the fire-sacrifices were a later externalisation of yogic
practice rather than that the latter was an internalisation
of the former.
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indo-european mythology and religion
Agnicayana
One of the most important of the rituals of the ancient
Indians is the Agnicayana, which recreates the birth of
the universe in the form of Prajāpati as well as the birth of
Agni as Agni (the fiery solar force)-Vāyu (the life-force)-
and Āditya (the sun).395 The first rites of this ceremony are
dedicated to the engendering of Agni as the elemental
solar fire. This is done through an initial sacrifice of five
forms of animal life, starting with a human. These five
victims also symbolise the five layers of the altar that is
to be built in the course of this ceremony ( SB VI,2,1,16).
After the initial animal sacrifices, the fire-pan (ukha) is
fashioned, which is considered to be the “ātman” (soul) of
the fire-altar. It is four-sided to represent the four quarters
of the universe. The first major step in this ceremony
( SB VI,2,2,27) is the symbolic pouring of his seed by the sacrificer into the fire-pan representing a womb. As SB
VI,2,2,22 declares “there is seed here in the sacrifice”.
SB X,4,1,1-2 explains that the pouring of the seed of the sacrificer into the fire-pan as into a womb is the same as
the pouring of the seed of Prajāpati.
Agni is later looked for in the clay ( SB VI,3,3) and
dug up ( SB VI,4,17) and then deposited on an antelope-
skin representing Earth (also called the “sacrifice”) and a
lotus-leaf representing the Sky (“the womb”), for the first
birth of Agni is from the Heavens, the second from Earth
and the third from the Waters surrounding Earth.396 Agni
is poured as seed into the lotus-leaf ( SB VI,4,3,6). Then Agni is created for a second time from Earth, represented
now by the fire-pan ( SB VI,5,1,11-12), which is the “earthen 395 The Agnicayana rituals are described in SB, Books VI-X (cf. also KYV V-VI). They are also detailed in the Shulba Sutras.
396 For a detailed description of the Indo-European cosmology
underlying the rituals see A. Jacob, Ātman; A. Jacob, Brahman.
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womb for Agni” ( SB VI,5,2,21). Milk is poured into it and Agni is generated as Vishnu ( SB VI,6,6,2,16). The sacrificer now fashions the “seed” of Agni in the form of a winged
solar bird ( SB VI,7,2,5). Next, he takes the Vishnu strides which formed the universe ( SB VI,7,2,10). The ashes of
the fire in the fire-pan are then thrown into water ( SB
VI,8,2,2), since the last birth of Agni is from the Waters.
Then follows the construction of the three hearths, the
circular gārhapatya, representing earth and the world of
men ( SB VII,I,1) and the square āhavanīya representing
heaven and the world of the gods ( SB VII,2,2). The air of the Mid-region is represented by the āgnīdhrīya fire ( SB
VII,1,2,12). During the building of the gārhapatya hearth,
the fire-pan is again impregnated with sand to conceive
Agni a second time (SB VII,1,1,41-42). In addition,
a Nirriti hearth is built representing the corruption
and evil that have to be removed from the sacrifice ( SB
VII,2,1). This is followed by the construction of the vedi,
also representing earth, and the mahāvedi, representing
heaven ( SB VII,3,1,27). The catvala (pit/womb) represents the original site of the sun before it moved to the heavens
of our universe ( Jaiminiya Brāhmana I, 86,7). The area on which the fire-altar is to be constructed is scattered with
sand representing seed in order to fill Prajāpati with seed
( SB VII,3,1,42).
The construction of the fire-altar is begun a year
(suggesting a year’s gestation period) after the ukha is
prepared. The process of constructing the five layers of the
fire-altar is described in SB VII,4,1-VIII,5,1. A lotus leaf representing Earth is placed in the centre of the altar site
and on it a gold plate that the sacrificer has been wearing
for a year. On top of this plate, which represents the orb
of the sun, a gold man representing the Purusha final y
manifest within the sun ( SB X,5,2,6) is placed facing the east. The sacrificer sings over the gold man to transfer
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his virility or semen into it ( SB VII,4,1,24). SB X,4,1,6
equates the gold plate with Indra symbolising kshatra
(sovereignty) and the gold man with Agni symbolising
brahman (priesthood). The identification of the yajamāna
with the gold man stresses the identification of the
sacrificer with Agni as the Purusha.
Then the Purusha sāman is sung and the laying of the
bricks is begun, the first being the svayamātrrina (‘the
natural y pierced’) placed on the gold man to allow him
to breathe. Within the first layer of the altar are buried
the fire-pan (representng a womb), a living tortoise and a
mortar and pestle (representing a penis in a womb). The
tortoise, an avatār of Vishnu, represents the form of the
universe, comprising heaven and earth.397 Thus the fire-
pan and the lotus leaf are considered to be “female”398 and
the “womb” which the sacrificer impregnates in order to
generate Agni, the solar force, as Āditya, the sun.
Next, after a square mortal (ulūkhulaka) made of
udumbara wood is installed at the 'northern shoulder' of
the fire-altar, the fire-pit (ukhā) is placed in the middle.
The fire-pan that was used by the sacrificer for carrying
around the fire for a year is buried in the first layer, and
the heads of the five sacrificial victims are placed in it,
the human head in the middle of the fire-pit, the head of
a horse towards the west, of a bull towards the east, of a
ram towards the south, and of a goat towards the north,
while seven pieces of gold are laid in the seven orifices of
the human head.399 The bricks of the altar are animated by
397 See M. Biardeau, Le sacrifice dans l'Inde ancienne, p.18.
398 See H.W. Tul , The Vedic Origins of Karma, Albany: SUNY Press, 1989, p.87f.
399 See H.T. Bakker, “Human sacrifice (Purushamedha), construction sacrifice and the origin of the idea of the 'man of the homestead (Vāstupurusha)” in H.N. Bremmer (ed.) The Strange World of Human Sacrifice, Leuven: Peeters, 2007, p.183.
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vital breaths represented by certain bricks called “breath-
holders” (prāna-bhrt). The altar indeed represents the
cosmic body of Agni as Purusha, and the brick-layers
represent the various breaths of the Purusha.
Macrocosmical y, Purusha's feet represent earth,
legs intermediate space, waist the mid-region, chest
intermediate space, and head heaven.400 The lowest level
of the altar in which the image is embedded represents
the Svarloka (Heaven), the third level the Bhuvarloka (the
Mid-region of the stars), the fourth level Brahman and
the immortal regions, and the fifth the Bhurloka (Earth).
Indo-European Mythology and Religion Page 21