THE present volume completes the theoretic exposition of the sacrificial ceremonial, and thus brings us to the end of our task. The remaining six chapters of the last book of the Brâhmana form the so-called Brihad-âranyaka, or great forest-treatise, which, as one of the ten primitive Upanishads, is included in Professor F. Max Müller's translation of those old theosophic treatises, published in the present series. The portion of the work contained in this volume forms practically continuation of the first five kândas, the intervening five books being devoted to the consideration of the Agnikayana, or construction of the sacred brick-altar, which had come to be recognised as an important preliminary to the Soma-sacrifice. The circumstances which seem to have led to this somewhat peculiar distribution of the different sections of the work have been explained in the introduction to the first volume of the translation. As was there shown, the inclusion of the Agnikayana in the sacrificial system of the Vâgasaneyins, or theologians of the White Yagus, appears to have resulted in a definite settlement of the sacrificial texts of the ordinary ritual, as contained in the first eighteen adhyâyas of the Vâgasaneyi-samhitâ, as well as of the dogmatic explanation of that ritual as given in the first nine kândas of the Satapatha-brâhmana. Considerable portions of the remaining sections of both works may have been, and very likely were, already in existence at the time of that settlement, but, being excluded from the regular ceremonial, they were naturally more liable to subsequent modifications and additions than XI, 5, 2), the Agnihotra (XI, 5, 3; 6, 2), the Soma-sacrifice (XI, 5, 5; 9), and the Animal-sacrifice (XI, 7, 2-8, 4); whilst the twelfth kânda treats of the 'Gavâm ayanam'--or most common sacrificial session lasting for a year, thus offering a convenient subject for dilating upon the nature of Pragâpati, as the Year, or Father Time;--of additional expiatory rites for Soma-sacrifices (XII, 6), and of the Sautrâmanî, consisting of oblations of milk and spirituous liquor, supposed to obviate or remove the unpleasant effects of any excess in the consumption of Soma-juice (XII, 7-9). Though supplementary notes and speculations on such ceremonial topics cannot but be of a somewhat desultory and heterogeneous character, they nevertheless offer welcome opportunities for the introduction of much valuable and interesting matter. It is here that we find the famous myth of Purûravas and Urvasî (XI, 5, 1); and that of Bhrigu, the son of Varuna, vividly illustrating the notions prevalent at the time regarding retribution after death (XI, 6, 1) as also the important cosmogonic legend of the golden egg from which Pragâpati is born at the beginning of the evolution of the universe (XI, 1, 6). Of considerable interest also are the chapters treating of the way in which XII, 5, 1-2); of the initiation and the duties of the Brâhmanical student (XI, 3, 3; 5, 4); and, last not least, of the study of the Vedas (XI, 5, 6-7) and their subsidiary texts amongst which we meet, for the first time, with the Atharvâṅgiras as a special collection of texts recommended for systematic study. With the commencement of the thirteenth kânda, we enter once more upon a regular exposition of a series of great sacrifices like those discussed in the early books; the first and most important of them being the Asvamedha, or Horse-sacrifice. Like the Râgasûya, or inauguration of a king, the Asvamedha is not a mere sacrifice or series of offerings, but it is rather a great state function in which the religious and sacrificial element is closely and deftly interwoven with a varied programme of secular ceremonies. But whilst the Râgasûya was a state ceremonial to which any petty ruler might fairly think himself entitled, the Asvamedha, on the contrary, involved an assertion of power and a display of political authority such as only a monarch of undisputed supremacy could have ventured upon without courting humiliation 1; and its celebration must therefore have been an event of comparatively rare occurrence. Perhaps, indeed, it is owing to this exceptional character of the Asvamedha rather than to the later origin of its ritual and dogmatic treatment that this ceremony was separated from the Râgasûya which one would naturally have expected it to succeed. It is worthy of remark, in this respect, that, in Kâtyâyana's Anukramanî to the Vâgasaneyi-samhitâ, the term 'khila,' or supplement, is not applied to the Asvamedha section 2 (Adhy. XXII-XXV), while the subsequent sections are distinctly characterised as such. As a matter of fact, however, the Asvamedha has
With regard to the earliest phase of Vedic religion, there is no direct evidence to show that the horse-sacrifice was already at that time a recognised institution. Two hymns of the Rig-veda (I, 162; 163), it is true, relate to that sacrifice 3, but they evidently belong to the latest productions 4 of that collection, though still sufficiently far removed from the time of the oldest of the ritual works just referred to. Seeing, however, that animal sacrifices generally are not alluded to in the Riksamhitâ 5, whilst there is every reason to believe that they were commonly practised from remote antiquity, this absence of earlier positive evidence regarding the horse-sacrifice cannot be taken as proving the later origin of that institution. As will be seen further on, there are sufficient indications to show that even human sacrifices were at one time practised amongst the Aryans of India, as they were amongst their
XIII, 3, 1, 1), the horse originated from Pragâpati's eye. But, since the offering also represents the offerer himself, or rather his divine self awaiting him in the other world (XI, 1, 8, 6; 2, 2, 6), the sacrificial horse is also identified with the Sacrificer (yagamâno vâ asvah, Taitt. Br. III, 9, 17, 4) who thereby obtains the fellowship of the Lord of creatures and a place in his world (ib. III, 9, 20, 2). Besides Pragâpati, there is, however, another deity who lays claim to the possession of the sacred steed; for the horse is Varuna's sacrificial animal (Sat. Br. V, 3, 1, 5; VI, 2, I, 5; Taitt. Br. III, 9, 16, 1); nay, Varuna is even the lord of all one-hoofed cattle (Vâg. S. XIV, 30; Sat. Br. VIII, 4, 3, 13). This connection of the horse with Varuna seems natural enough, seeing that this god, as the king of heaven and the upholder of the law, is the divine representative of the earthly king; whence the Râgasûya, or coronation-ceremony, is called Varuna's consecration (Sat. Br. V, 4, 3, 21; cf. II, 2, 3, 1). For this reason the barley also is sacred to Varuna 1 (XIII, 3, 8, 5); and accordingly, during the same ceremony, the king offers a barley-mash to Varuna, in the house of his Sûta, or charioteer and herald; a horse being the sacrificial fee for this offering (V, 3, I, 5). In the Vedic hymns, this association o1 the god Varuna with the noble quadruped finds a ready, If rather commonplace, explanation in a common natural phenomenon: Varuna's horse is none other than the fiery racer who pursues his diurnal course across the all-encompassing arch of heaven, the sphere of Varuna 2, the all-ruler. It is in the
The close and natural relations between the sun and the heavens find their hallowed expression in the divine duad Mitra and Varuna. Though, judged by the number of
As regards Varuna's and Pragâpati's joint connection with the sacrificial horse, the Taitt. S. (II, 3, 12, 1) records the following legend which may perhaps have some bearing on this point:--Pragâpatir Varunâyâsvam anayat, sa svâm devatâm ârkhat, sa pary adîryata, sa etam vârunam katushkapâlam apasyat, tam nir avapat, tato vai sa varunapâsâd amukyata, Varuno vâ etam grihnâti yo
When one compares the ceremonial of the Asvamedha, as expounded in the Brâhmana, with the ritual indications contained in the two hymns already referred to, one is struck by the very marked contrast between the two. For whilst, on the central day of the Asvamedha alone, the ritual requires the immolation of not less than 349 victims bound to twenty-one stakes (p. 311, n. 1)--not counting two sets of eleven Savanîya victims (p. 383, n. 3) subsequently added thereto--the hymns (I, 162, 2-4; 163, 12) seem only to mention two victims, viz. the horse itself, and a he-goat. This latter animal which is to precede the horse when led to the sacrificial ground (and stake), and to
Further, the allusion to the pasu-purodâsas, or cakes offered in connection with the victims, as well as to the two cloths and the piece of gold placed on the ground, as they are in the later practice, for the dead horse to lie upon, might seem to suggest that even then this sacrifice was not performed in quite so simple a manner, but somewhat more in accordance with the later ceremonial than the scanty allusions in the hymns might lead one to suppose. At all events, however, we shall probably not be far wrong in assuming that, from the very beginning, the performance of the horse-sacrifice must have had connected with it a certain amount of ceremonial of a purely secular and popular character. Even at the time of the fully developed ritual this was almost certainly the case to a larger extent than would appear from the exposition of it given in the Brâhmanas and Sûtras which, indeed, are mainly concerned with the religious side of the ceremonial. For this reason considerable interest attaches to the description of the horse-sacrifice given in the Âsvamedhika-parvan of the Mahâbhârata in which much greater stress is laid on the popular and chivalrous aspect of this religious observance. Though this epic account manifestly emanates from a much later period 2, it seems, upon the whole; to present the
From the fanciful narrative of Arguna's martial exploits whilst following his precious charge, one could not of course venture to draw any conclusion as to the kind of adventures the sacred horse might have met with, at the time of the Brâhmana, during the period of its roaming at large. As a rule, however, the closely-watched animal would probably not range very far from the place where the sacrifice was to be performed; and though its body of guardians were not permitted at any time to force it to retrace its steps, they could have had little difficulty in keeping it within a certain range of grazing. Indeed, on the occasion of King Dasaratha's Asvamedha 2, described in the first canto of the Râmâyana, no mention whatever is made of
XIII, 4, 2, 5) that a hundred worn-out horses should be sent along with the horse to keep it company would doubtless, as a rule, prove a sufficient check; but seeing that neither the Taitt. Brâhmana nor Sâṅkhâyana alludes to this expedient, it is probably meant as a practical suggestion rather than as a positive injunction. That the horse intended for sacrifice was by no means always safe from violent assaults 1 is clear from the directions given in the Brâhmanas as to what should be done in the event of foes getting possession of it 2. Even more pointed, in this respect, are the stanzas quoted in our Brâhmana (XIII, 5, 4, 21. 22),--'Satânîka Sâtrâgita seized a sacrificial horse in the neighbourhood, the sacrifice of the Kâsis, even as Bharata (seized that) of the Satvats. The mighty Satânîka having seized, in the neighbourhood, Dhritarâshtra's white sacrificial horse, whilst roaming at will in its tenth month 3, the son of Satrâgita performed the Govinata (form of) sacrifice.' As a rule, however, the fortunes of the roaming horse would doubtless depend largely on personal circumstances. Whilst a strong ruler who had already made his power felt amongst his neighbours would probably run little risk of having his consecrated victim kidnapped even though it were to stray beyond its master's boundaries, a prince of greater pretensions than resources might find it very difficult to secure the safety of his horse even if it kept well within the territory over which he ruled. In any case, however, the capture of the noble beast would doubtless
Now, it is exactly in connection with the building of the fire-altar that the clearest, and most unmistakable trace of an old practice of human sacrifices--or rather of the slaying of men for sacrificial purposes--occurs. In laying down the bottom layer of the altar, the pan which had been used by the Sacrificer for carrying about the sacred fire for a year is built into this layer, with heads of the five recognised sacrificial animals 3--man, horse, ox, sheep, and goat--put therein, in order to impart stability to the altar (Sat. Br. VII, 5, 2, I seqq.). In a previous passage of the Brâhmana 4 (I, 2, 3, 6 seq.),where the relative value of non-animal offering-materials and the five sacrificial animals is discussed, it was stated that, whilst the gods were making use of one after another of these animals, the sacrificial essence gradually passed from one to the other, thus rendering the previous one useless for sacrifice, until it finally passed into the earth whence it entered the rice and barley afterwards used for sacrificial dishes. The general purport of this passage would seem to be to indicate a gradual tendency towards substituting the lower for the higher animals, and ultimately vegetable for animal offerings; though, as a matter of fact, animals continued of
While Yâgñavalkya thus, at least in theory, deals rather cautiously with this feature of the traditional custom, the theologians of the Black Yagus 3 take up a somewhat bolder position. Indeed it is evidently against this older school of ritualists that some of the censure of our Brâhmana is directed. For though they too allow, as an alternative practice, the use of a complete set of five heads, they make
The same scholar has drawn attention to another rite in the sacrificial ceremonial which seems to him to show clear traces of human sacrifice. At the purificatory bath at the end of the Asvamedha, the Sacrificer is to be purged of any guilt he may have committed against Varuna by an oblation made to Gumbaka (Varuna) on the bald head of a man possessed of certain repulsive features, whilst standing in the water. To these particulars,--as given in the present work (XIII, 3, 6, 5), the Taitt. Brâhmana (III, 9, 15), and Kâtyâyana's Sûtra (XX, 8, 16),--Sâṅkhâyana (XVI, 18)
If now we turn our attention to the Purushamedha, or 'human sacrifice' proper, we find that the Yagus texts, as far as they deal with this ceremony at all 2, treat it as
The practice of human sacrifices seems, however, to receive evidence of a yet more direct and unmistakable kind than the facts hitherto mentioned, from the ceremonial of the Purushamedha, as set forth in the Sâṅkhâyana and Vaitâna Sûtras. If this evidence has been reserved here to the last, it is because there seems reason to believe that, in the form in which it is presented in those works, the sacrifice was never actually performed, and probably never meant to be performed, but that we have here to do with a mere theoretical scheme intended to complete the sacrificial system. The importance of the subject makes it, however, desirable that we should take a somewhat closer view of the procedure of the 'human sacrifice,' as laid down in those two Sûtras.
XIII, 5, 2, 1 seqq.), concluding with the Brahmavadya (brahmodya).--XVI, 14, 1-20. Details about chants, &c.; the fourth (and last) day of the Purushamedha to be performed like the fifth of the Prishthya-shadaha.
Vait. S. XXXVII, 10. The Purushamedha (is performed) like the Asvamedha . . . 12. There are offerings to Agni Kama, Dâtri, and Pathikrit. 13. He causes to be publicly proclaimed, 'Let all that is subject to the Sacrificer assemble together!' 14. The Sacrificer says, 'To whom shall I give a thousand (cows) and a hundred horses to be the property of his relatives? Through whom shall I gain my object?' 15. If a Brâhmana or a Kshatriya comes forward, they say, 'The transaction is completed.' 16. If no one comes forward, let him conquer his nearest enemy, and perform the sacrifice with him. 17. To that (chosen man) he shall give that (price) for his relatives. 18. Let him make it he publicly known that, if any one's wife were to speak 1, he will seize that man's whole property, and kill herself, if she be not a Brâhmana woman. 19. When, after being bathed and adorned, he (the man) is set free, he (the priest) recites the hymns A.V. XIX, 6; X, 2.-20. For a year (daily) offerings to Pathyâ Svasti, Aditi, and
Now, even a slight consideration of the ritual of the Purushamedha, as sketched out in these two works, must, I think, convince us that this form of human sacrifice cannot possibly be recognised--any more than the one propounded in the Satapatha and Taittirîya Brâhmanas--as having formed part of the traditional sacrificial ceremonial; and that, in fact, it is nothing more than what Sâṅkhâyana appears to claim for it, viz. an adaptation, and that a comparatively modern adaptation, of the existing Asvamedha ritual. Indeed, it seems to me by no means unlikely that the two different schemes of the Purushamedha originated at about the same time, and that they were intended to fill up a gap in the sacrificial system which seemed to require for Man, as the chief sacrificial animal, a more definite and, so to speak, a more dignified place in the ceremonial than was up to that time accorded to him. The circumstance that the account of this sacrifice, as given in the Sâṅkhâyana-sûtra, presents some of the ordinary features of Brâhmana diction, and that it is indeed actually assigned by the commentary to the Mahâ-Kaushîtaka, should not be allowed to weigh with us, since this is most likely done for the very purpose of securing for this scheme some sort of authoritative sanction of respectable
If thus we find it impossible to recognise the Purushamedha as a genuine member of the sacrificial system, this is still more the case as regards the Sarvamedha, or all-sacrifice, a ten days’ performance which includes amongst its component parts, not only the Purushamedha, but also the Asvamedha, the Vâgapeya, and the Visvagit with all the Stomas and Prishthas,--it thus being the very ceremonial performance that might seem calculated to fitly crown the edifice of the sacrificial theory. As regards the ritualistic treatment of this sacrifice, the number of authorities dealing with it shows a further diminution from that of the Purushamedha. For whilst the Satapatha-brâhmana agrees with the Sâṅkhâyana and Vaitâna Sûtras on the general features of its ritual--with the exception, of course, of the radical difference as to the character of the human sacrifice--the Taittirîya-brâhmana, which gave at least the list of the symbolic victims of the Purushamedha, is altogether silent on the Sarvamedha; this ceremony being,
As regards the optional and somewhat recondite character of the Pravargya ceremony, it is probably not without significance that the section dealing therewith is combined with the speculative Brihadâranyaka so as to make up with it the last book of the Brâhmana; the Âranyaka-kânda, or forest section. Such, at least, is the case in the Mâdhyandina text, where the Pravargya section occupies the first three adhyâyas of the last (fourteenth) book; whilst the Kânva text presents a slight difficulty in this respect. What passes generally as the seventeenth (and last) kânda of that version, consists of the Brihadâranyaka; whilst the sixteenth kânda begins with the section on funeral rites, corresponding to the last
And now my task is done, and I must take leave of this elaborate exposition of the sacrificial ordinances of Indian theology. For well-nigh a score of years the work has 'dragged its slow length along,' and during that time it has caused me--and, I doubt not, has caused some of my readers, too--not a few weary hours. In the early stages of the work, my old teacher, Professor Albrecht Weber, than whom no one is more deeply versed in the intricacies of the sacrificial ritual, wrote to me: 'You have undertaken a difficult, a most difficult task; and I can only hope that your courage and patience will not fail you before you are through with it.' And, indeed, I must confess that many a time I felt as if I should never be able to get through my task; and but for Professor Max Müller's timely exhortations and kindly encouragement, the work might perhaps never have been completed. 'I know,' he once wrote to me, 'you will thank me one day for having pressed you to go on with your work;' and now I do indeed thank him most sincerely and with all my heart for the kindness and patience he has shown me these many years. But, strange to say, now that the work is completed, I feel as if I could not do without working at it; and certainly, if
EDINBURGH, December 30, 1899.
xv:1 Cf. Taitt. Br. III, 8, 9, 4,--parâ vâ esha sikyate yo
xvi:1 Besides the two chapters referred to, nothing more than quotations are known of this work. Possibly, however, the difference between it and the Kaushîtaki-brâhmana consisted merely of such supplements which would thus be very much of the same character as the last two pañkikâs of the Aitareya-brâhmana, except that they never became so generally recognised.
xvi:2 Though this circumstance seems to favour the supposition of the more recent ritualistic treatment of the Asvamedha, it may not be out of place to notice that, in the Maitrâyanî Samhitâ, the Asvamedha section is followed by several Brâhmana sections; amongst them that of the Râgasûya which is not found in the Kâthaka at all. Sat. Br. XIII, 3, 3, 6, calls the Asvamedha an 'utsannayagña'; but it is not quite clear what is meant thereby, seeing that the same term is applied to the Kâturmâsyâni, or Seasonal offerings (II, 5, 2, 48).
xvii:1 See Professor M. Bloomfield's paper on 'The Position of the Gopatha-brâhmana in Vedic Literature,' Journ. Am. Or. Soc., vol. xix.
xvii:2 Cf. Mahâbh. XIV, 48, where these four sacrifices are specially recommended by Vyâsa to Yudhishthira as worthy of being performed by him as King.
xvii:3 Possibly also, the hymn Rig-veda I, 164 (Ath.-v. IX, 9, 10)--on which see P. Deussen, Allg. Geschichte der Philosophie, I, 1, p. 105 seq.--may have been placed after the two Asvamedha hymns to supply topics for the priests’ colloquy (brahmodya) at the Asvamedha. Cf. XIII, 2, 6, 9 seqq.; 5, 2, 11 seqq. The fact that the Asvamedha is not treated of in the Aitareya-brâhmana cannot, of course, be taken to prove the later origin of the hymns referred to, though it might, no doubt, fairly he used as an argument in favour of assuming that those parts of the Asvamedha ceremonial in which the Hotri takes a prominent part were probably not introduced till a later time.
xvii:4 Haug, Ait. Br. I, introd., p. 12 seqq., argues against the assumption of a comparatively late origin of the hymn I, 162; but his argument meets with serious lexical and other difficulties.
xvii:5 We may leave out of account here one or two vague allusions, such as X, 155, 5 'these have led around the cow (or hull) and have carried around the fire; with the gods they have gained for themselves glory: who dares to attack them?' The question also as to whether the so-called Âprî-hymns, used at the fore-offerings of the animal sacrifice, were from the very beginning composed for this purpose, cannot be discussed here.
xviii:1 'They (the Massagetae) worship the sun only of all the gods, and sacrifice horses to him; and the reason for this custom is that they think it right to offer the swiftest of all animals to the swiftest of all the gods.' Herod. I, 216.
xix:1 Dr. Hillebrandt, 'Varuna and Mitra,' p. 65, is inclined to refer this connection to Varuna's character as the god of waters and the rains, as favouring the crops and fertility generally.
xix:2 Whilst it may be a matter of opinion whether, with Professor Brugmann (Grundr. II, p. 154), we have to take the original form of this name to be 'vorvanos,' or whether the 'u' of the Sanskrit word is merely due to the dulling influence of the preceding r (cf. taruna, dhâruna, karuna), the etymological identity of 'varunas' and οὐρανός is now probably questioned by few scholars. The ethical attributes of this mythological conception seem to
xx:2 That is, probably, three halting-places (? the points of rising, culminating, and setting). Perhaps also the three statements are merely meant as an emphatic repetition of one and the same locality--the sky, the sea of waters; though, possibly, three different strata of the upper region may be intended. Professor Ludwig, on the other hand, takes 'trîni bandhanâni' in the sense of 'three fetters,' and Professor Hillebrandt, l.c., in that of 'three relations (or connections, Beziehungen).'
xxi:1 Whilst the climate of Baluchistan is regulated, as in Europe, by the succession of four seasons, the climate of the districts east of the Indus, as of India generally, shows the characteristic threefold division of rainy, cool, and hot seasons (S. Pottinger, Beloochistan, p. 319 seqq.).
xxii:1 Taitt. S. VI, 6, 7, 4, explains this offering as symbolically smoothing down the sacrifice torn up by recited verses and chanted hymns, even as a field, torn up by the plough, is levelled by a roller ('matya,' taken however by Sây. in the sense of 'cow-dung'). The Sat. Br. does not allude to the expiatory character of the offering, but there can be no doubt that it is of an essentially piacular significance. It need scarcely be mentioned that the 'avabhritha,' or lustral bath, at the end of Soma- and other sacrifices, is distinctly explained (II, 5, 2, 46; IV, 4, 5, 10) as intended to clear the Sacrificer of all guilt for which he is liable to Varuna. Cf. Taitt. Br. III, 9, 15, 'At the lustral bath he offers the last oblation with "To Gumbaka hail! " for Gumbaka is Varuna: he thus finally frees himself from Varuna by offering.'
xxii:2 See, for instance, Sat. Br. IV, 1, 4, 2; V, 3, 2, 4; IX, 4, 2, 16; Maitr. S. IV, 5, 8; Taitt. Br. III, 1, 2, 7 (kshatrasya râgâ Varuno
xxiii:2 Âpo vai Varunah, Maitr. S. IV, 8, 5.
xxiv:1 This, no doubt, might possibly be taken to mean 'Pragâpati led away the horse for Varuna,' but Dr. Hillebrandt could hardly have meant it in this sense, since his argument apparently is that the horse (like Varuna himself) represents the aqueous element, and that thus, by taking to himself the horse, Pragâpati incurs dropsy. The exact point which interests us here, viz. the relation between Pragâpati and Varuna as regards the sacrificial horse, lies outside Dr. Hillebrandt's inquiry.
xxiv:2 In Dr. Hillebrandt's interpretation, it is also not quite easy to see in what way Pragâpati, by carrying off Varuna's horse, impaired--'griff an,' attacked, assailed--his own godhead. One might possibly refer 'svâm' to the horse, but this would make the construction rather harsh. The verb 'nî' here would seem to refer to the leading up of the sacrificial horse to the offering-ground, either for being set free for a year's roaming, or for sacrifice, for both of which acts the verb 'ud-â-nî'--i.e. to lead up the horse from the water where it was washed--is used (Sat. Br. XIII, 4, 2, 1; 5, 1, 16).
xxv:1 Rig-veda S. I, 162, 2. 'When, held by the mouth (by the bridle)., they lead round the offering of the (horse) covered with rich trappings, the all-coloured he-goat goes bleating in front right eastwards to the dear seat of Indra and Pûshan. 3. This he-goat, fit for all the gods, is led in front of the swift horse as Pûshan's share; like (?) the welcome cake, Tvashtri promotes it, along with the steed, to great glory. 4. When thrice the men duly lead around the horse meet for offering along the way to the gods, then the he-goat walks first, announcing the sacrifice to the gods. . . . 16. The cloth which they spread (for the horse to lie upon) and the upper cloth and the gold, the halter, the steed, the shackle--these they bring up as acceptable to the gods.'--I, 163, 12. 'Forth came the swift steed to the slaughter, musing with reverent mind; his mate, the he-goat, is led in front; and behind go the wise singers.'
xxv:2 According to the Taittirîyas, this second he-goat is tied to the cord surrounding the horse's limbs somewhere above the neck of the horse.
xxvi:2 It has even been supposed to be merely a condensed version of a comparatively modern work ascribed to Gaimini, the (Asvamedha-parvan of the) Gaimini-Bhârata.
xxvii:1 Vyâsa remarks to Yudhishthira (XIV, 2071), For the Asvamedha, O king of kings, cleanses away all ill-deeds: by performing it thou wilt without doubt become free from sin.' Cf. Sat. Br. XIII, 3, 1, 1, 'Thereby the gods redeem all sin, yea, even the slaying of a Brahman they thereby redeem; and he who performs the Asvamedha redeems all sin, he redeems even the slaying of a Brahman.' As a rule, however, greater stress is laid in the Brâhmana on the efficacy of the ceremonial in ensuring supreme sway to the king, and security of life and property to his subjects.
xxvii:2 The 'rukma' is borne by the Agnikit, or builder of a fire-altar, which is required for the Asvamedha; cf. VI, 7, 1, 1.
xxvii:3 It is carefully selected by charioteers and priests, Mahâbh. XIV, 2087.
xxvii:4 Whilst, according to the Brâhmana (XIII, 4, 2, 5), the body of 'keepers' is to consist of 100 royal princes clad in armour, 100 noblemen armed with swords, 100 sons of heralds and headmen bearing quivers and arrows, and 100 sons of attendants and charioteers bearing staves; the epic gives no details, except that it states that 'a disciple of Yâgñavalkya, skilled in sacrificial rites, and well-versed in the Veda, went along with the son of Prithâ to perform the propitiatory rites,' and that 'many Brâhmanas conversant with the Veda, and many Kshatriyas followed him at the king's behest.'
xxviii:1 That is, real or symbolic, only the domesticated animals being offered, whilst the wild ones are set free after the ceremony of 'paryagnikarana.' Amongst these animals the poet curiously enough also mentions (XIV, 2542) 'vriddhastriyah,' which Pratâpa Chandra Ray translates by 'old women.' This is of course impossible; if it is not a wrong reading, it has doubtless to be taken in the sense of 'old female (kine),' probably the (25) barren cows offered at the end of the Asvamedha to Mitra-Varuna, the Visve Devâh, and Brihaspati (XIII, 5, 4, 25) being intended. In its enumeration of the victims, the Taitt. Samhitâ (V, 6, 21) indeed mentions 'vairâgî purushî,' taken by the commentator to mean 'two human females consecrated to Virâg.' If it be for this or a similar purpose that the 'vriddha-striyah' were intended, we may refer to Taitt. Br. III, 9, 8, where it is distinctly stated that 'the man' and the wild animals are to be released as soon as the 'paryagnikaranam' has been performed on them. But no 'man' being mentioned amongst the victims, Sâyana
xxix:2 The king's object, in performing the sacrifice, was to obtain the birth of a son. Cf. Sat. Br. XIII, 1, 9, 9, 'for from of old a hero was born to him who had performed the (Asvamedha) sacrifice.'
xxx:1 Whilst cattle-lifting generally, such as formed the object of the invasion of the land of the Matsyas by the Trigartas (as related in the Virâta-parvan), was probably a practice pretty prevalent from ancient times, the stealing of the sacrificial horse would offer an additional temptation, from the political point of view, on account of the exceptional character of the animal as the symbol of its master's claim to paramountcy.
xxx:2 Sat. Br. XIII, 1, 6, 3; Taitt. Br. III, 8, 9, 4.
xxx:3 One might feel inclined to take this specification of that month as implying the existence, at the poet's time, of the practice of confining the horse in a pen or shed (made of Asvattha palings) during the last two months, mentioned Taitt. Br. III, 8, 12, 2.
xxxi:1 See XIII, I, 5, 1 seqq.; 4, 2, 8 seqq.; Taitt. Br. III, 9, 14. In connection with the revolving legend,' the conductors of bands of lute-players seem to have sung additional stanzas in which the royal Sacrificer was associated with pious kings of old; see XIII, 4, 3, 3.
xxxii:1 It is hardly likely that some of the texts mentioned (devaganavidyâ, sarpavidyâ, &c.) refer merely to portions of the Vedic texts.
xxxii:2 The singing of stanzas in honour of the king, by a Brâhmana and a Kshatriya, with the accompaniment of lutes, on the other hand, does form part of the Taittirîya ritual. Taitt. Br. III, 9, 24.
xxxiii:1 Whilst the three Samhitâs contain no section relating to the Purushamedha, the Taittirîya-brâhmana (III, 4) enumerates the (symbolic) human victims in much the same way as does the Vâgasaneyi-samhitâ (see the present vol. p. 413 seqq.); and the Âpastamba-sûtra makes the performance similar to what it is in the White Yagus texts. The Vaitâna-sûtra of the Atharva-veda also makes it a five days’ performance.
xxxiii:2 Like the chapter on the Asvamedha, that on the Purushamedha is stated to be taken from the Mahâ-Kaushîtaki-brâhmana.
xxxiii:3 On this question see especially A. Weber, Zeitsch. d. D. M. G. 18, p. 262 ff., repr. in Indische Streifen, II, p. 54 ff.
xxxiv:1 See part iii, p. 95.
xxxiv:2 Cf. Max Müller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 108 ff.; M. Hang, Aitareya-brâhmana, II, p. 460 ff.; R. Roth, Weber's Ind. Stud. I, 475 ff.; II, 112 ff.
xxxv:1 The earliest reference to the myth or story of Sunahsepa is in Rig-veda I, 24, 11-13; V, 2, 7, where he is apparently alluded to as having been actually
xxxvi:2 His own mime 'Agîgarta,' on the other hand, is taken by the St. Petersburg Dictionary to mean 'one who has nothing to swallow,' and would thus be merely descriptive of his condition of life.
xxxvii:1 Viz. in their connection with the Atharva-veda. In Mahâbh. V, 548-51 Aṅgiras praises Indra by means of 'Atharvavedamantraih.' Cf. Weber, Ind. Stud. I, p. 237.
xxxvii:2 Both in making the fire-pan (ukhâ) and in laying down the bricks of the fire-altar, the expression 'aṅgirasvat' (as in the case of Aṅgiras) frequently occurs in the formulas; cf. VI, 1, 2, 28; 3, 1, 38 ff.; 4, 1, 1 ff.
xxxvii:3 All that is said in the Brâhmana regarding the headless bodies of the five victims is (VI, 2, 1, 7 seqq.) that Pragâpati, having cut off the heads, and put them on (the altar, i.e. on himself), plunged four of the trunks into the water, and brought the sacrifice to a completion by (offering) the he-goat (not a he-goat, as translated), and that he subsequently gathered up the water and mud (clay) in which those corpses had lain, and used them for making bricks for the altar. The view that the other four bodies should likewise he offered is rejected by the author, who rather seems to suggest that they should be allowed to float away on the water.
xxxvii:4 A very similar passage occurs in Ait. Br. VI, 8, on which cp. Max Müller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 420.
xxxviii:1 This doubtless is what is meant (cf. Kâty. XVI, 1, 38); and 'atha' at the beginning of VI, 2, 2, 6 ought accordingly to have been taken in the rather unusual sense of 'or' (? 'or rather'), instead of then.' Cf. VI, 2, 2, 15.
xxxviii:2 According to Âp. Sr. XVI, 17, 19-20, however, even if there is only one head (that of Vâyu's he-goat) all the formulas are to be pronounced over it.
xxxviii:3 The Maitr. Samhitâ, however, does not seem to refer to this particular point in its Brâhmana sections.
xxxix:1 Or, according to Âpastamba, for seven beans; the head to be that of a Kshatriya or a Vaisya killed either by an arrow-shot or by lightning, and apparently to be severed from the body at the time of purchase (which, as Professor Weber rightly remarks, is a merely symbolic one). As, however, the particulars given by Âpastamba are not mentioned in the older works, they may not unlikely have been introduced by him to meet some of the objections raised by the Vâgasaneyins to whose views he generally pays some attention. Otherwise the transaction might seem rather suspicious.
xxxix:2 Taitt. S. V, 1, 83, indeed, seems to speak of the other four animals being set free after fire has been carried round, so that their sacrificial use would he merely symbolical. Whether in that case only the head of the one animal would be used, or the man's head along with it, seems doubtful.
xxxix:3 Cf. Taitt. S. V, 5.
xl:1 The compound 'nihshiddhapâpmânah (apagrâmâh) 'may possibly be meant in the sense that the evil deeds of the outcasts are driven out (prevented from troubling the peace of the village); Katy. XX, 8, 17-18, however, states that when the Sacrificer has stepped out (of the water), evil-doers enter (to bathe in the water) without having performed any (other) rites, and that they are then said to be 'purified by the Asvamedha.'
xl:2 Besides the description of the ceremony in the present work (XIII, 6, 1-2, 20), only the Taittirîya-brâhmana (III, 4) seems to refer to it, enumerating merely the would-be victims who, according to Âpastamba, as quoted by Sâyana, are eventually set free. Professor Weber's suggestion that they may possibly at one time have been intended to be all of them slaughtered can hardly have been meant seriously. One might as well suppose that, at the Asvamedha, all the 'evil-doers' who, according to Kâtyâyana, are to bathe in the river, were meant to be drowned.
xli:1 When the practice became generally recognised that the Sacrificer (and priests) should eat a portion of the offered victim, this alone would, as Professor Weber suggests, have tended to make human sacrifices impracticable.
xlii:1 The Asvamedha section of the same work begins:--Pragâpati desired, 'May I gain all my desires, may I attain all attainments.' He beheld this three days’ sacrificial performance, the Asvamedha, and took it, and offered with it; and by offering with it he gained all his desires, and attained all attainments.
xlii:2 See XIII, 4, 2, 6-17.
xlii:4 See XIII, 2, 2, 2, seqq.
xliii:1 That is, as it would seem, with a view to dissuading her husband from offering himself as a victim.
xliv:1 Dr. Garbe, in his translation, makes this and the subsequent rules refer (erroneously I think) to the animal victims of rule 21.
xlv:1 On this and other passages referred to the Mahâ-Kaushîtaka, cp. Professor Aufrecht's judicious remarks, Ait. Br., p. v.
xlix:1 The Kaushîtaki-brâhmana (VIII, 3), on the other hand, seems to justify the prohibition on the ground that, prior to the first complete Soma-sacrifice, the body of the Sacrifice (and Sacrificer) is incomplete, and therefore not ready to receive its head, in the shape of the Pravargya. Hence also the same work allows the Pravargya to be performed at the first Soma-sacrifice of one who is thoroughly versed in the scriptures, since such a one is himself the body, or self, of the sacrifice.
xlix:2 See XI, 1, 6, 10.
l:1 Cf. A. Weber, Satapatha-brâhmana, p. xi.
