Śrauta
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Śrauta is a Sanskrit word that means "belonging to
śruti ''Shruti'' ( sa, श्रुति, , ) in Sanskrit means "that which is heard" and refers to the body of most authoritative, ancient religious texts comprising the central canon of Hinduism. Manusmriti states: ''Śrutistu vedo vijñeyaḥ'' ( ...
", that is, anything based on the
Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...
of
Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
. It is an adjective and prefix for texts, ceremonies or person associated with śruti. The term, for example, refers to
Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...
s who specialise in the ''
śruti ''Shruti'' ( sa, श्रुति, , ) in Sanskrit means "that which is heard" and refers to the body of most authoritative, ancient religious texts comprising the central canon of Hinduism. Manusmriti states: ''Śrutistu vedo vijñeyaḥ'' ( ...
'' corpus of texts, and Śrauta Brahmin traditions in modern times can be seen in
Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
and
Coastal Andhra Coastal Andhra (South costal Andhra) also known as Kostha Andhra is a region in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Vijayawada is the largest city in this region. It was part of Madras State before 1953 and Andhra State from 1953 to 1956. ...
.


Etymology and meaning

The Sanskrit word ''Śrauta'' is rooted in ''śruti'' (that which is heard, referring to scriptures of Hinduism). ''Śrauta'', states Johnson, is an adjective that is applied to a text, ritual practice or person, when related to śruti. Klostermaier states that the prefix means "belonging to śruti", and includes ceremonies and texts related to śruti. The word is sometimes spelled ''Shrauta'' in scholarly literature.


History

Spread via Indian religions,
homa Homa may refer to: Places Ethiopia * Homa (woreda), a district in Oromia Region, Ethiopia Kenya * Homa Bay, a town and a bay on the shore of Lake Victoria in Kenya * Homa Mountain, a volcano near Homa Bay, Kenya Iran * Chal Homa, Mark ...
traditions are found all across Asia, from
Samarkand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...
to
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, over a 3000-year history. A ''homa'', in all its Asian variations, is a ceremonial ritual that offers food to fire and is ultimately descended from the Vedic religion. The tradition reflects a ritual eclecticism for fire and cooked food (''Paka-yajna'') that developed in Indian religions, and the
Brahmana The Brahmanas (; Sanskrit: , ''Brāhmaṇam'') are Vedic śruti works attached to the Samhitas (hymns and mantras) of the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas. They are a secondary layer or classification of Sanskrit texts embedded within ea ...
layers of the
Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...
are the earliest surviving records of this. ''Yajna'' or vedic fire sacrifice ritual, in Indian context, became a distinct feature of the early śruti (Vedic) rituals. A ''śrauta'' ritual is a form of quid pro quo where through the fire ritual, a sacrificer offered something to the gods, and the sacrificer expected something in return. The Vedic ritual consisted of sacrificial offerings of something edible or drinkable, such as milk, clarified butter, yoghurt, rice, barley, an animal, or anything of value, offered to the gods with the assistance of fire priests. This Vedic tradition split into Śrauta (
śruti ''Shruti'' ( sa, श्रुति, , ) in Sanskrit means "that which is heard" and refers to the body of most authoritative, ancient religious texts comprising the central canon of Hinduism. Manusmriti states: ''Śrutistu vedo vijñeyaḥ'' ( ...
-based) and Smarta (
Smriti ''Smriti'' ( sa, स्मृति, IAST: '), literally "that which is remembered" are a body of Hindu texts usually attributed to an author, traditionally written down, in contrast to Śrutis (the Vedic literature) considered authorless, that ...
-based). The Śrauta rituals, states Michael Witzel, are an active area of study and are incompletely understood. Śrauta "fire ritual" practices were copied by different
Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
and
Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...
traditions, states Phyllis Granoff, with their texts appropriating the "ritual eclecticism" of Hindu traditions, albeit with variations that evolved through the medieval times. The homa-style Vedic sacrifice ritual, states Musashi Tachikawa, was absorbed into Mahayana Buddhism and homa rituals continue to be performed in some Buddhist traditions in Tibet, China and Japan.


Texts

Śrautasūtras are ritual-related sutras based on the ''śruti''. The first versions of the
Kalpa (Vedanga) Kalpa ( sa, कल्प) means "proper, fit" and is one of the six disciplines of the Vedānga, or ancillary science connected with the Vedas – the scriptures of Hinduism. This field of study is focused on the procedures and ceremonies associ ...
sutras were probably composed by the sixth century BCE, starting about the same time as the Brahmana layer of the Vedas were composed and most ritual sutras were complete by around 300 BCE. They were attributed to famous Vedic sages in the Hindu tradition.James Lochtefeld (2002), "Kalpa" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A-M, Rosen Publishing, , page 339 These texts are written aphoristic
sutra ''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aph ...
s style, and therefore are taxonomies or terse guidebooks rather than detailed manuals or handbooks for any ceremony. The Śrautasūtras differ from the smārtasūtra based on ''
smṛti ''Smriti'' ( sa, स्मृति, IAST: '), literally "that which is remembered" are a body of Hindu texts usually attributed to an author, traditionally written down, in contrast to Śrutis (the Vedic literature) considered authorless, that ...
'' (that which is remembered, traditions). The ''Smartasutras'', in ancient vedic and post-vedic literature, typically refer to the gṛhyasūtras (householder's rites of passage) and sāmayācārikasūtras (right way to live one's life with duties to self and to relationships with others,
dharmaśāstra ''Dharmaśāstra'' ( sa, धर्मशास्त्र) is a genre of Sanskrit texts on law and conduct, and refers to the treatises (shastras, śāstras) on dharma. Unlike Dharmasūtra which are based upon Vedas, these texts are mainly b ...
s).


Śrauta Sutras

The Śrautasūtras form a part of the corpus of
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
sutra literature. Their topics include instructions relating to the use of the śruti corpus in great rituals and the correct performance of these major vedic ceremonies, are same as those found in the
Brahmana The Brahmanas (; Sanskrit: , ''Brāhmaṇam'') are Vedic śruti works attached to the Samhitas (hymns and mantras) of the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas. They are a secondary layer or classification of Sanskrit texts embedded within ea ...
layers of the Vedas, but presented in more systematic and detailed manner. ''Baudhayana srautasutra'' is probably the oldest text in the śrautasūtra genre, and includes in its appendix a ''paribhāṣāsūtra'' (definitions, glossary section). Other texts such as the early ''Apastamba śrautasūtra'' and later composed Katyayana start with ''Paribhasa-sutra'' section. The ''śulbasūtra''s or ''śulvasūtra''s are appendices in the śrautasūtras and deal with the mathematical methodology to construct geometries for the
vedi Vedi ( hy, Վեդի), is a town and urban municipal community in the Ararat Province of Armenia, located along the Vedi River, south of the capital Yerevan, and southeast of the provincial centre Artashat. According to the 2011 census, the po ...
(Vedic altar). The Sanskrit word ''śulba'' means "cord", and these texts are "rules of the cord". They provide, states Kim Plofker, what in modern mathematical terminology would be called "area preserving transformations of plane figures", tersely describing geometric formulae and constants. Five śulbasutras have survived through history, of which the oldest surviving is likely the ''Baudhayāna śulbasūtra'' (800-500 BCE), while the one by
Kātyāyana Kātyāyana (कात्यायन) also spelled as Katyayana (est. c. 6th to 3rd century BCE) was a Sanskrit grammarian, mathematician and Vedic priest who lived in ancient India. पतञ्जलीमहर्षिः Patanjali Maharsh ...
may be chronologically the youngest (≈300 BCE).


Rituals

Śrauta rituals and ceremonies refer to those found in the
Brahmana The Brahmanas (; Sanskrit: , ''Brāhmaṇam'') are Vedic śruti works attached to the Samhitas (hymns and mantras) of the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas. They are a secondary layer or classification of Sanskrit texts embedded within ea ...
layers of the Vedas. These include rituals related to fire, full moon, new moon, soma, animal sacrifice, as well as seasonal offerings made during Vedic times. These rituals and ceremonies in the Brahmanas texts are mixed and difficult to follow. A clearer description of the ritual procedures appeared in the
Vedanga The Vedanga ( sa, वेदाङ्ग ', "limbs of the Veda") are six auxiliary disciplines of Hinduism that developed in ancient times and have been connected with the study of the Vedas:James Lochtefeld (2002), "Vedanga" in The Illustrated Enc ...
Kalpa-sutras. The Vedic rituals, states Burde, can be "divided into Śrauta and Gṛhya rituals". Śrauta rites relating to public ceremonies were relegated to the Śrautasutras, while most Vedic rituals relating to rites of passage and household ceremonies were incorporated in the Gṛhyasūtras (literally, homely; also called ''Laukika'' or popular, states Lubin). However, the Gṛhyasūtras also added many new non-Śrauta ceremonies over time. The śrautasūtras generally focus on large expensive public ceremonies, while gṛhyasūtras focus on householders and saṃskāras (rites of passage) such as
childbirth Childbirth, also known as labour and delivery, is the ending of pregnancy where one or more babies exits the internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section. In 2019, there were about 140.11 million births globall ...
,
marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...
,
renunciation Renunciation (or renouncing) is the act of rejecting something, especially if it is something that the renunciant has previously enjoyed or endorsed. In religion, renunciation often indicates an abandonment of pursuit of material comforts, in t ...
and
cremation Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a Cadaver, dead body through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India ...
. The śrautasūtra ceremonies are usually elaborate and require the services of multiple priests, while gṛhyasūtra rituals can be performed without or with the assistance of a priest in the Hindu traditions.


Animal versus vegetarian sacrificial offerings

The Śrauta rituals varied in complexity. The first step of a Śrauta ritual was making of an altar, then the initiation of fire, next of Havir-yajnas recitations, then offering of milk or drinkable liquid drops into the fire, then prayers all with mantras. More complex Śrauta rituals were based on moon's cycle (''Darshapurnamasa'') and the seasonal rituals. The lunar cycle Śrauta sacrifices had no animal sacrifices, offered a ''Purodasha'' (baked grain cake) and ''Ghee'' (clarified butter) as an offering to gods, with recitation of
mantra A mantra (Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ma ...
s. According to Witzel, "the Pasubandha or “Animal Sacrifice” is also integrated into the Soma ritual, and involves the killing of an animal." The killing was considered inauspicious, and "bloodless" suffocation of the animal outside the offering grounds was practiced. The killing was viewed as a form of evil and pollution (''papa'', ''agha'', ''enas''), and reforms were introduced to avoid this evil in late/post-Rigvedic times. According to Timothy Lubin, the substitution of animal sacrifice in Śrauta ritual with shaped dough (''pistapasu'') or pots of ghee (''ajyapasu'') has been practiced for at least 600 years, although such a substitution is not condoned in Śrauta ritual texts. The discussions about substituting animal sacrifice with vegetarian offering, states Usha Grover, appear in section 1.2.3 of the ''
Shatapatha Brahmana The Shatapatha Brahmana ( sa, शतपथब्राह्मणम् , Śatapatha Brāhmaṇam, meaning 'Brāhmaṇa of one hundred paths', abbreviated to 'SB') is a commentary on the Śukla (white) Yajurveda. It is attributed to the Vedic ...
'' of the ''
Yajurveda The ''Yajurveda'' ( sa, यजुर्वेद, ', from ' meaning "worship", and ''veda'' meaning "knowledge") is the Veda primarily of prose mantras for worship rituals.Michael Witzel (2003), "Vedas and Upaniṣads", in ''The Blackwell C ...
''. This section, states Grover, presents the progressive change in the material offered to gods during a Śrauta ritual. The change, adds Grover, may be related to
Ahimsa Ahimsa (, IAST: ''ahiṃsā'', ) is the ancient Indian principle of nonviolence which applies to all living beings. It is a key virtue in most Indian religions: Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.Bajpai, Shiva (2011). The History of India ...
(non-violence principle), or merely a means to preserve the number of cattle, or lack of availability of sacrificial animals. However, according to Grover, the ancient text suggests that "animal sacrifice was given up", and offering had become "vegetable, grains, milk and ghee". The view that ancient Vedic texts had begun asserting that vegetable offerings were as efficient as animal offerings, for certain sacrifices, is shared by
Max Müller Friedrich Max Müller (; 6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a German-born philologist and Orientalist, who lived and studied in Britain for most of his life. He was one of the founders of the western academic disciplines of Indian ...
and others.


Decline

According to Alexis Sanderson, Śrauta ceremonies declined from the fifth to the thirteenth century CE. This period saw a shift from Śrauta sacrifices to charitable grant of gifts such as giving cows, land, issuing endowments to build temples and ''sattrani'' (feeding houses), and water tanks as part of religious ceremonies.


Contemporary practices

Most Śrauta rituals are not performed in the modern era, and those that are, are rare. Some Śrauta traditions have been observed and studied by scholars, as in the rural parts of
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
, and elsewhere in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and
Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
. Śrauta traditions from
Coastal Andhra Coastal Andhra (South costal Andhra) also known as Kostha Andhra is a region in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Vijayawada is the largest city in this region. It was part of Madras State before 1953 and Andhra State from 1953 to 1956. ...
have been reported by David Knipe, and an elaborate śrauta ceremony was video recorded in
Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
by Frits Staal in 1975. According to Axel Michaels, the homa sacrifice rituals found in modern Hindu and Buddhist contexts evolved as a simpler version of the Vedic Śrauta ritual. Knipe has published a book on Śrauta practices from rural Andhra. The Śrauta ritual system, states Knipe, "is an extended one, in the sense that a simple domestic routine has been replaced by one far more demanding on the religious energies of the sacrificer and his wife," and is initiated by augmenting a family's single fire Grihya system to a three fire Śrauta system. The community that continues to teach the Śrauta tradition to the next generation also teaches the Smarta tradition, the choice left to the youth. The Andhra tradition may be, states Knipe, rooted in the ancient Apstamba Śrauta and Grihya Sutras. In the Andhra traditions, after one has established the routine of the twice-daily routine of
agnihotra Agnihotra (IAST: ''Agnihotra'', Devnagari: अग्निहोत्र) refers to the yajna of casting of ghee into the sacred fire as per strict rites, and may include twice-daily heated milk offering made by those in the Śrauta tradition. Th ...
offerings and biweekly ''dara pūrṇamāsa'' offerings, one is eligible to perform the agniṣṭoma, the simplest
soma Soma may refer to: Businesses and brands * SOMA (architects), a New York–based firm of architects * Soma (company), a company that designs eco-friendly water filtration systems * SOMA Fabrications, a builder of bicycle frames and other bicycle ...
rite. After the agniṣṭoma, one is eligible to perform more extensive soma rites and
agnicayana The Agnicayana ('; ) or Athirathram ( ml, അതിരാത്രം) is a category of advanced Śrauta rituals. After one has established the routine of the twice-daily routine of Agnihotra offerings and biweekly ''dara-purna-masa'' offerin ...
rites. Śrauta
brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...
s specialise in conducting rituals according to the śruti corpus of texts, in contrast to smarta brahmins, known for conducting rituals according to
smriti ''Smriti'' ( sa, स्मृति, IAST: '), literally "that which is remembered" are a body of Hindu texts usually attributed to an author, traditionally written down, in contrast to Śrutis (the Vedic literature) considered authorless, that ...
texts. Women reciting
mantra A mantra (Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ma ...
s at śrauta ceremonies of Hinduism from ancient times have been suggested by a number of scholars such as Mary McGee, Stephanie Jamison, Katherine Young, and Laurie Patton.


Defunct practices

The
Ashvamedha The Ashvamedha ( sa, अश्वमेध, aśvamedha, translit-std=IAST) was a horse sacrifice ritual followed by the Śrauta tradition of Vedic religion. It was used by ancient Indian kings to prove their imperial sovereignty: a horse accomp ...
and
Rajasuya Rajasuya () is a Śrauta ritual of the Vedic religion. It is ceremony that marks a consecration of a king. According to the Puranas, it refers to a great sacrifice performed by a Chakravarti - universal monarch, in which the tributary princes may ...
are not practiced anymore. There is doubt the
Purushamedha Purushamedha (or Naramedha) is a Śrauta ritual of human sacrifice. The ''Vajasaneyi Samhita-Sataphana Brahmana-Katyayana Srauta Sutra'' sequence of Shukla Yajur Veda texts contains the most details. Whether actual human sacrifice was taking place ...
, a
human sacrifice Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherein ...
, was ever performed.


Influence

The Śrauta rituals were complex and expensive, states Robert Bellah, and "we should not forget that the rites were created for royalty and nobility". A Brahmin, adds Bellah, would need to be very rich to sponsor and incur the expense of an elaborate Śrauta rite. In ancient times, through the middle of 1st millennium CE, events such as royal consecration sponsored the Śrauta rites, and thereafter they declined as alternative rites such as temple and philanthropic actions became more popular with the royalty. The
Upanishads The Upanishads (; sa, उपनिषद् ) are late Vedic Sanskrit texts that supplied the basis of later Hindu philosophy.Wendy Doniger (1990), ''Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism'', 1st Edition, University of Chicago Press, , ...
, states Brian Smith, were a movement towards the demise of the Śrauta-style social rituals and the worldview these rites represented. The Upanishadic doctrines were not a culmination, but a destruction of Vedic ritualism. This had a lasting influence on the Indian religions that gained prominence in the 1st millennium BCE, not only in terms of the Vedanta and other schools of Hindu philosophy that emerged, but also in terms of Buddhist and Jaina influence among the royal class of the ancient Indian society. With time, scholars of ancient India composed Upanishads, such as the ''
Pranagnihotra Upanishad The ''Pranagnihotra Upanishad'' ( sa, प्राणाग्निहोत्र उपनिषत्, IAST:Pranagnihotra Upaniṣad) is a minor Upanishad of Hinduism. In the anthology of 108 Upanishads of the Muktika canon, narrated by Rama ...
'', that evolved the focus from external rituals to self-knowledge and to inner rituals within man. The Pranagnihotra is, states
Henk Bodewitz Hendrik Wilhelm "Henk" Bodewitz (born 13 October 1939) is a Dutch Sanskrit scholar. He was a professor at the Universities of Utrecht and later Leiden between 1976 and 2002. Career Bodewitz was born in Gramsbergen on 13 October 1939. Between 1952 ...
, an internalized direct private ritual that substituted external public Agnihotra ritual (a srauta rite).Henk Bodewitz (1997), Jaiminīya Brāhmaṇa I, 1–65: Translation and Commentary, Brill Academic, , pp. 23, 230–233 with footnote 6 This evolution hinged on the Vedic idea of ''
deva Deva may refer to: Entertainment * ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film * ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film * ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film * Deva (2007 Telugu film) * ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film * Deva ...
s'' (gods) referring to the sense organs within one's body, and that the human body is the temple of
Brahman In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' ( sa, ब्रह्मन्) connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part X ...
, the metaphysical unchanging reality. This principle is found in many Upanishads, including the Pranagnihotra Upanishad, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad section 2.2, Kaushitaki Upanishad sections 1.4 and 2.1–2.5, Prasna Upanishad chapter 2,The Prasnopanishad with Sri Shankara's Commentary
SS Sastri (Translator), pp. 118–119
and others. The idea is also found and developed by other minor Upanishads such as the ancient
Brahma Upanishad ''Brahma Upanishad'' ( sa, ब्रह्मोपनिषत्) is an ancient Sanskrit text and one of the minor Upanishads of Hinduism. It is among the 32 Upanishads attached to the Krishna Yajurveda, and classified as one of the 19 Sannyasa ...
which opens by describing human body as the "divine city of Brahman".Patrick Olivelle (1992), ''The Samnyasa Upanisads: Hindu Scriptures on Asceticism and Renunciation'', Oxford University Press, , pp. 147–151 Bodewitz states that this reflects the stage in ancient Indian thought where "the self or the person as a totality became central, with the self or soul as the manifestation of the highest principle or god". This evolution marked a shift in spiritual rite from the external to the internal, from public performance through srauta-like rituals to performance in thought through introspection, from gods in nature to gods within.Henk Bodewitz (1997), ''Jaiminīya Brāhmaṇa I, 1–65: Translation and Commentary'', Brill Academic, , pp. 328–329 The Śrauta Agnihotra sacrifice thus evolved into Prana-Agnihotra sacrifice concept. Heesterman describes the pranagnihotra sacrifice as one where the practitioner performs the sacrifice with food and his own body as the temple, without any outside help or reciprocity, and this ritual allows the Hindu to "stay in the society while maintaining his independence from it", its simplicity thus marks the "end station of Vedic ritualism".


See also

* Horse sacrifice *
Animal sacrifice Animal sacrifice is the ritual killing and offering of one or more animals, usually as part of a religious ritual or to appease or maintain favour with a deity. Animal sacrifices were common throughout Europe and the Ancient Near East until the spr ...
*
Purushamedha Purushamedha (or Naramedha) is a Śrauta ritual of human sacrifice. The ''Vajasaneyi Samhita-Sataphana Brahmana-Katyayana Srauta Sutra'' sequence of Shukla Yajur Veda texts contains the most details. Whether actual human sacrifice was taking place ...
*
Somayajna The Somayajna ( ISO: ) or Somayaga ( ISO: ) or Soma sacrifice is a Hindu ritual. It is a type of ''yajna'' performed to appease celestial entities to promote the well-being of all humanity. This ritual is based on methods described in the Vedas. ...
*
Ashva Ashva () is the Sanskrit word for a horse, one of the significant animals finding references in the Vedas as well as later Hindu scriptures. The word is cognate to Avestan (), Latin '' equus'', Ancient Greek (), Proto-Germanic *'' ehwaz'', obsol ...
*
October Horse In Religion in ancient Rome, ancient Roman religion, the October Horse (Latin ''Equus October'') was an animal sacrifice to Mars (mythology), Mars carried out on October 15, coinciding with the end of the Roman agriculture, agricultural and mili ...


Notes


References

* * * * *


External links


Baudhayana Śrauta sutra Vol 1
W Caland, (in Sanskrit), Baptist Mission Press
Baudhayana Śrauta sutra Vol 2
W Caland, (in Sanskrit), Baptist Mission Press
Baudhayana Śrauta sutra Vol 3
W Caland, (in Sanskrit), Baptist Mission Press
Apastamba Śrauta sutra
W Caland, (in German)
Apastamba Śrauta sutra with commentary of Dhurtaswami
Narasimhachar, (in Sanskrit)
Sankhayana Śrauta sutra with commentary of Anartiya Vol 2
Alfred Hillebrandt, (in Sanskrit)
Sankhayana Śrauta sutra with commentary of Anartiya Vol 3
Alfred Hillebrandt, (in Sanskrit) {{DEFAULTSORT:Srauta Vedic animal sacrifice Horses in religion Hindu rituals Yajna