by Roshen Dalal
SHRAUTA SOMA SACRIFICES
Soma sacrifices are the most important. Rich people and kings performed these but others also watched. A number of Vedic rites are classified as Soma sacrifices. Each sacrifice has four preliminary preparatory days:
Ekaha: This has one sutya day, the day on which Soma is extracted and the sacrifice performed.
Ahina: This has a varying number of sutya days, between two and twelve.
Sattra: This has more than twelve sutya days, and can last for a year or longer. The priests conducting it are considered the sacrificers. It is basically of the same form as the dvadashaha, the ahina sacrifice with twelve pressing days, which is further extended in the sattra type. Theoretically, a sattra sacrifice can last for many years, even 1000 years!
Among the various Soma sacrifices are seven forms together known as jyotishtoma. These are (1) agnishtoma, (2) atyagnishtoma, (3) ukthya, (4) shodashin, (5) vajapeya, (6) atiratra, and (7) aptoryama. Among these, the atyagnishtoma, vajapeya, and aptoryama are not part of the jyotishtoma in older texts, and must have been added later to reach the mystical number of seven. Descriptions of these sacrifices in various texts are not identical but the main aspects are given here.
AGNISHTOMA
Agnishtoma is one of the seven jyotishtoma sacrifices, which comprises offerings of Soma to the god Indra and other deities. This is an ekaha, that is, a one-day Soma sacrifice. Though the rituals are spread over several days, Soma is offered only on one day, in the morning, midday, and evening. It is performed at the request of a householder for religious merit. According to the Puranas, performing the agnishtoma is equivalent to honouring the pitris. The sacrifice can also be performed for general welfare, fame, health, good rainfall, and a bumper harvest. The entire ritual usually takes five days though some of its stages can be extended. It is conducted by sixteen priests. It is not commonly practised today but does take place occasionally.
The sacrifice has several stages. First, the priests are chosen, next the venue. The person initiating the sacrifice, that is the householder, and his wife are consecrated, after which they maintain purity, and do not eat or drink anything but boiled milk. A ritual is carried out consisting of acquiring Soma in exchange for a cow (though the cow is then returned) and this Soma is taken to the place of sacrifice, where it is given a ceremonial reception. Three upasad days follow, which are ceremonial days preceding the sutya day. On each of these, the pravargya ceremony takes place twice. On the second day, the altar is prepared. On the third day, a goat is offered to the gods Agni and Soma. The sons, grandsons, and relatives of the sacrificer participate in this. Next is the sutya day, the day of the Soma offerings. This begins with offerings to Agni, Usha, and the Ashvins. Soma juice is pressed and removed in an elaborate ritual involving several priests. There is another animal sacrifice, which is offered to Indra and Agni. Other offerings, including those of sacrificial cakes, take place and various verses are recited. The second or midday pressing takes place, accompanied by more rituals, after which the sacrificer distributes fees, including his possessions, to the priests. The third evening pressing takes place, again with several rituals. Finally, the Agni-Maruta shastra (verses) is recited and the avabhritha, ‘carrying of the items to the water’, takes place. Items left over from the sacrifice are thrown into the water. The yajamana and his wife bathe and wear new clothes. The god Varuna is then praised with offerings.
The pravargya ceremony forms part of the agnishtoma, though it was once possibly a separate rite. In this, a vessel is heated till it becomes red-hot and represents the sun. Milk is boiled in it and offered to the Ashvins. The entire ceremony has great mystery. All the sacrificial implements and utensils are finally arranged to represent a man. The head is the cauldron of milk. A bit of sacred grass is the tuft of hair. Two gold leaves are the eyes, two milk pails the ears, two cups the heels. Flour is sprinkled over it, representing the marrow; a mixture of honey and milk represents the blood. Prayers are recited along with these ceremonies. According to the Aitareya Brahmana, through this ritual, the sacrificer receives a new body, new energy, new life.
ATYAGNISHTOMA
This sacrifice is actually similar to the shodashin described below, but the three stotras and shastras of the ukthya and the ukthya cup are omitted.
UKTHYA
The ukthya sacrifice is similar to the agnishtoma but, in the third Soma pressing, the number of shastras and stotras recited is increased, thus reaching a total of fifteen. Additional and different samans are sung, and offerings are made to other deities. A second animal, a male goat, is offered in sacrifice on the pressing day.
SHODASHIN
This sacrifice is similar to the ukthya but a ram is offered to Indra, and the shastras, stotras, and offering cups increase to sixteen, leading to its name. The sacrificial fees differ and the shodashin cup receives special care. It is placed in another vessel, made of khadira wood.
VAJAPEYA
A consecration rite for kings, vajapeya literally means ‘drink of strength’ and this sacrifice conferred a superior status on the king. The vajapeya sacrifice included a chariot race, with seventeen chariots, after which the royal sacrificer and his wife had to ascend a pole and worship mother earth from above. The significance of this is explained in the Shatapatha Brahmana, which states that he who gains a seat in the air, gains a seat above others (5.2.1.22). Descending from the throne, the sacrificer is seated on a throne covered with goatskin. The adhvaryu then tells him, ‘You are the ruler, the ruling lord, firm and steadfast. Here I seat you for tilling, for peaceful dwelling, for wealth, for prosperity (of the people).’
ATIRATRA
This sacrifice has twenty-nine stotras and shastras. Recitation continues through the night, with the last verse recited after sunrise. At daybreak, the sandhi stotra (twilight stotra from Sama Veda 2) with nine verses is sung to the Rathantara tune (one of the tunes found in the Sama ganas). Following this is the prataranuvaka (morning litany), which is modified to form a special recitation to the Ashvins, which has at least 1000 verses, and then 1000 Brihati (metre) verses. Then the adhvaryu takes the cup of the hotr. A cup is offered to the Ashvins containing the Soma of the last evening’s pressing; the pratiprasthatr (an assistant of the adhvaryu) offers the cake. A male goat is sacrificed to Sarasvati. As it extends beyond one day, it can be classified as an ahina sacrifice.
APTORYAMA
This is similar to the atiratra. After the sandhi stotra and Ashvina shastra, it has four more stotras and shastras, with four sets of cups for the priests. According to some texts, these are for Agni, Indra, the Vishvedevas, and Vishnu. According to others, these are for the deities to whom offerings of Soma are made in the Sandhi graha or cups.
OTHER SACRIFICES
brihaspati-sava
This sacrifice is described in some texts. The Taittiriya Brahmana states that, by its performance, a priest attained his aim of becoming a purohita (chief priest). According to the Ashvalayana Shrauta Sutra, a priest usually performed this after the vajapeya. In some texts, it is considered the same as the vajapeya but, in an earlier period, the two must have been different.
ASHVAMEDHA
The horse sacrifice, one of the main sacrifices in early India, was conducted to increase the power of the king. It was the greatest of sacrifices performed by a king. It is considered an ahina Soma sacrifice, with more than one sutya day. After certain purificatory ceremonies, a horse—marked with the king’s name—was set free to roam, accompanied by warriors and nobles. The territory through which it wandered was claimed by the king; anyone who challenged this had to defeat the accompanying warriors in battle. After a period of time, usually a year or more, the horse returned to the kingdom and was sacrificed, often along with hundreds of other animals. During the time it wandered, many rituals were performed at court. Prayers were offered, and the hotr narrated stories of ancient, powerful kings. There was also music and chanting.
After the horse returned, a Soma sacrifice
was held, with three sutya days; the horse was sacrificed on the second day. The sacrificial ritual, involving the priest, king, and queen is described in detail in several texts. Some of the flesh of the horse was consecrated to the gods, some eaten by participants in the sacrifice. Before this, the queen had to spend one night near the dead horse, during which some rituals were prescribed. A priest recited riddles, for which the answers are given by another priest. On the third sutya day, the participants bathe, thus concluding the ceremonies.
There are some controversies about the nature of the ashvamedha in early times. The sacrifice is first mentioned in the Rig Veda and described in detail in the Yajur Veda, Brahmanas, and other texts. The Rig has verses on the ashvamedha but does not describe the entire ritual. The offering of a goat to Pushan is mentioned but no other animal sacrifice is cited. The Yajur provides a list of animals to be sacrificed but some feel it was a symbolic list, not meant to be taken literally. Some of the animals, such as various goats to be offered, were certainly symbolic; at times, the entire sacrifice was symbolic. In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, the symbolism of the sacrifice is described, with the horse reflecting the cosmos.
The Mahabharata describes an ashvamedha performed by King Uparichara Vasu where no animals were sacrificed (Shantiparva Chapters 335–339). Usually, however, it seems to have involved an actual sacrifice, and such animal sacrifices certainly took place in later times.
Inscriptions recording ashvamedhas occur from the 2nd century BCE, though it was practised even earlier. It indicated the power and glory of the king; in fact, important kings performed several ashvamedhas. The Guptas, the Chalukyas, and the Cholas are among the many dynasties whose kings performed the sacrifice; by the time of the Cholas, however, the practice was rare and gradually died out, though one was conducted in Jaipur in the 19th century.
Horse sacrifices took place in other ancient cultures as well including Greece and China. For instance, the Greeks and Cretans sacrificed horses to the god Poseidon Hippios. Horse sacrifices in ancient Rome were connected with agriculture and the harvest. In recent times, the ashvamedha has been recreated and performed according to Vedic rites without any animal sacrifices.
A few verses from the Vajasaneyi Samhita (Yajur Veda) related to the ashvamedha are given below. These show that many aspects of the ashvamedha cannot be taken literally. The complete verses can be read in Appendix II.
Horse, hornless goat, Gomriga, these belong to Prajapati.
A black-necked goat, devoted to Agni, (is to be bound)
in front to the forehead (of the horse); Sarasvati’s ewe
below his jaws; two goats belonging to the Ashvins, with
marks on the lower parts of the body, to his fore-legs; a
dark-coloured goat, Soma’s and Pushan’s, to his navel; a
white and a black, sacred to Soma and Varuna, to his sides;
Tvashtr’s two, with bushy tails, to his hind feet; Vayu’s
white goat to his tail; for Indra the Good Worker a cow
who slips her calf; a dwarf belonging to Vishnu.
The red goat, the smoky-red, the jujube-red, these belong to
Soma. The brown, the ruddy-brown, the parrot-brown,
these are Varuna’s. One with white ear holes, one with
partly white, one with wholly white, belong to Savitar.
One with fore feet white, partly white, wholly white,
belongs to Brihaspati. She-goats speckled, with small spots,
with big spots, these belong to Mitra-Varuna.
The bright-tailed, the wholly bright-tailed, the jewel-tailed,
these belong to the Ashvins. The white, the white-eyed,
the reddish, these are for Rudra Lord of Beasts. Long-eared
goats are for Yama; proud ones for Rudra; cloud-coloured
ones for Parjanya.
(Vajasaneyi Samhita 24.1–3)
PURUSHAMEDHA
A term for a human sacrifice, this is described in early texts such as the Yajur Veda, Taittiriya Brahmana, Shatapatha Brahmana, Shrauta Sutras, and others. The sacrifice was performed to gain prestige, prosperity, and power in the world. The Shatapatha Brahmana states that it is the highest of the sacrifices while the Katyayana Shrauta Sutra says that a performer of this sacrifice excels over everyone else in the world. Though human sacrifices are mentioned in ancient stories and legends, some feel that the complex Purushamedha described in these texts could not actually have taken place and must be symbolic. According to these, 184 human beings were to be offered to various deities or personifications of qualities. Many different types of people were to be sacrificed, including a brahmana, a kshatriya, a vaishya, a shudra, a murderer, a eunuch, a blind man, a deaf man, a washerwoman, a barren woman, a vina player, a flute player, a cripple, a bald man, and many more. It is unlikely that all these were actually located and sacrificed. An additional reason for considering it symbolic is that in the Yajur Veda section on the purushamedha, a version of the Purushasukta hymn of the Rig Veda is given, in which Purusha is the highest being, from whose sacrifice creation emerges. Purusha is also identified with Prajapati and Brahman. However, G.R. Sharma, the excavator of Kaushambi, felt he had discovered the site of an ancient purushamedha site there. He describes the shyenachiti (hawk-shaped) agnichayana (fire altar) with the remains of human and animal bones and human skulls, as well as with the different types of bricks described in texts.
RAJASUYA
One of the four main consecration rituals for kings in ancient days, the rajasuya sacrifice is described in detail in the Shatapatha Brahmana. It was inaugurated and initiated by the king. In form, it followed a Soma sacrifice. A diksha (consecration) ceremony was followed by upasad days and other rituals that lasted over a year. The main rituals began after thirteen months, with presents to the chief queen and court officials, followed by the abhisheka or sprinkling with consecrated water. This was a mixture of seventeen different types of water, including that from the river Sarasvati, from a pond, a well, a whirlpool, seawater, and dew. After invoking the gods and sprinkling the water, the king walked towards the different directions, indicating that his rule extended everywhere. Next he trod on a tiger skin, to gain the strength of a tiger. After this, the hotr recited the story of Shunahshepa, following which a mock battle or cattle raid was enacted. The king was then enthroned and played a game of dice, which he was made to win. These rituals blessed the king and were symbolic of his rule over the four quarters, and the strength and luck he required for his successful rule. The sacrifice is mentioned in the Mahabharata and other texts, as performed by Yudhishthira and several others. Other consecration rituals were the vajapeya, punar abhisheka, and aindra mahabhisheka.
SARVAMEDHA
Another sacrifice of ahina type is the sarvamedha. At the end of this, the sacrificer gives away all his possessions to the priests and retires to the forest.
The gavamayana is an interesting sattra sacrifice, lasting for one year.
All the above are shrauta sacrifices.
GRIHYA SACRIFICES
Grihya rituals, performed by the householder, were simpler than Shrauta sacrifices. While Shrauta sacrifices used three fires, the householder used one. This is mentioned even in the Rig Veda. The domestic fire was initiated and used in rituals, and maintained without interruption during marriage or the death of the head of the family.
Some Shrauta sacrifices were also grihya rituals but conducted slightly differently, and not in such an elaborate manner. Among these were the morning and evening sacrifices, the new- and full-moon sacrifices, and some animal and other sacrifices. But Soma sacrifices were exclusively part of shrauta ritual, and personal and family rites are purely part of the grihya ritual. Soma is never used in a grihya ritual.
The best time for the first lighting of the fire was on an auspicious morning at the time of the uttarayana, the northern course of the sun. The householder could perform the rituals himself but a brahmana was required at the shulagava (see below) a
nd Dhanvantari sacrifices or offerings. (Dhanvantari is a deity, a divine physician, and the traditional founder of medicine in the world.) In the morning and evening sacrifices, the wife could represent her husband. All the people in the house helped maintain the fire. At the end of most such rituals, the yajna-vastu ceremony took place. This included a prayer to the god Rudra, while some kusha grass which had been dipped in the ajya and sprinkled with water, was thrown into the fire.
MORNING AND EVENING SACRIFICES
Morning and evening sacrifices were daily rituals. In the daily morning sacrifice, barley or rice was offered to Surya and Prajapati, and in the evening to Agni and Prajapati.
PANCHA-MAHA-YAJNA
Apart from these two, five sacrifices—the pancha-maha-yajna—were to be performed daily. These were the deva yajna, an offering to the gods; bhuta yajna, an offering to the four elements, and to some minor deities and demons, as well as to non-human living beings; pitr-yajna, an offering to the ancestors; brahma-yajna, which consists of self-study or svadhyaya, and here involves the reading of Vedic texts; and manushya-yajna, a sacrifice to people, which refers to food offered to a guest or beggar.
SHRAVANA OFFERING TO SNAKES
Periodic grihya rituals include the shravana offering to snakes. It must have originated because of the danger from snakes in the rainy season. On the full-moon day of the month of shravana, an offering of barley flour or cooked food is made to the month of shravana, the god Vishnu, and to the rainy season. Next, grain and barley flour mixed with butter are offered to snakes. Snakes are not necessarily present at the time of the offering. Next, water is filled in a new pot, which is said to be for the snakes to have a wash. A comb, perfume, flowers, collyrium, and mirror are presented, so that snakes may decorate themselves. Finally an offering is made to the Nagas (divine snakes). After this, people sleep on high beds until the end of the rainy season, as this provides protection from snakes on the ground. An offering is made every night until the full moon of the month of margashirsha, when another ceremony takes place, known as the pratyavarahona (re-descent) or agrahayani festival.