![Ashwamedha yagna of yudhisthira](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Ashwamedha_yagna_of_yudhisthira.jpg)
The Ashvamedha ( sa, अश्वमेध, aśvamedha, translit-std=IAST) was a
horse sacrifice ritual followed by the
Śrauta
Śrauta is a Sanskrit word that means "belonging to śruti", that is, anything based on the Vedas of Hinduism. It is an adjective and prefix for texts, ceremonies or person associated with śruti. The term, for example, refers to Brahmins who spec ...
tradition of
Vedic religion. It was used by ancient Indian kings to prove their imperial sovereignty: a horse accompanied by the king's warriors would be released to wander for a year. In the territory traversed by the horse, any rival could dispute the king's authority by challenging the warriors accompanying it. After one year, if no enemy had managed to kill or capture the horse, the animal would be guided back to the king's capital. It would be then sacrificed, and the king would be declared as an undisputed sovereign.
The best-known text describing the sacrifice is the ''
Ashvamedhika Parva
Ashvamedhika Parva ( sa, अश्वमेध पर्व), is the fourteenth of eighteen books of the Indian Epic Mahabharata. It traditionally has 2 parts and 96 chapters.Ganguli, K.M. (1883-1896)Aswamedha Parva in ''The Mahabharata of Krish ...
'' ( sa, अश्वमेध पर्व), or the "Book of Horse Sacrifice," the fourteenth of eighteen books of the Indian epic poem ''
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...
''.
Krishna
Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...
and
Vyasa
Krishna Dvaipayana ( sa, कृष्णद्वैपायन, Kṛṣṇadvaipāyana), better known as Vyasa (; sa, व्यासः, Vyāsaḥ, compiler) or Vedavyasa (वेदव्यासः, ''Veda-vyāsaḥ'', "the one who cl ...
advise King
Yudhishthira
''Yudhishthira'' (Sanskrit: युधिष्ठिर, IAST: ''Yudhiṣṭhira'') is the eldest among the five Pandava brothers. He is mentioned in the ancient epic Mahabharata. He was sired by King Pandu of the Kuru Dynasty and his firs ...
to perform the sacrifice, which is described at great length. The book traditionally comprises 2 sections and 96 chapters.
[Ganguli, K.M. (1883-1896)]
Aswamedha Parva
in ''The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa'' (12 Volumes). Calcutta[Dutt, M.N. (1905) ''The Mahabharata (Volume 14): Ashwamedha Parva''. Calcutta: Elysium Press] The critical edition has one sub-book and 92 chapters.
The ritual is recorded as being held by many ancient rulers, but apparently only by two in the last thousand years. The most recent ritual was in 1741, the second one held by Maharajah
Jai Singh II
Jai Singh II (3 November 1681 – 21 September 1743) popularly known as Sawai Jai Singh was the 29th Kachwaha Rajput ruler of the Jaipur State, Kingdom of Amber, who later founded the fortified city of Jaipur and made it his capital. He was born ...
of
Jaipur
Jaipur (; Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had a population of 3.1 million, making it the tenth most populous city in the country. Jaipur is also known ...
.
The sacrifice
![Krishna Advising on the Horse Sacrifice](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Krishna_Advising_on_the_Horse_Sacrifice.jpg)
The Ashvamedha could only be conducted by a powerful victorious king (''
rājā'').
Its object was the acquisition of power and glory, the sovereignty over neighbouring provinces, seeking progeny and general prosperity of the kingdom. It was enormously expensive, requiring the participation of hundreds of individuals, many with specialized skills, and hundreds of animals, and involving many precisely prescribed rituals at every stage.
The horse to be sacrificed must be a white stallion with black spots. The preparations included the construction of a special "sacrificial house" and a
fire altar. Before the horse began its travels, at a moment chosen by astrologers, there was a ceremony and small sacrifice in the house, after which the king had to spend the night with the queen, but avoiding sex.
The next day the horse was consecrated with more rituals, tethered to a post, and addressed as a god. It was sprinkled with water, and the
Adhvaryu
Priests of the Vedic religion are officiants of the ''yajna'' service. Yajna is an important part of Hinduism, especially the Vedas. Persons trained for the ritual and proficient in its practice were called ( ' regularly-sacrificing'). As memb ...
, the priest and the sacrificer whispered mantras into its ear. A "four-eyed" black dog was killed with a club made of Sidhraka wood, then passed under the horse, and dragged to the river from which the water sprinkled on the horse had come and set to flow south. The horse was then set loose towards the north-east, to roam around wherever it chose, for the period of one year,
[Glucklich, 112] or half a year, according to some commentators. The horse was associated with the Sun, and its yearly course. If the horse wandered into neighbouring provinces hostile to the sacrificer, they were to be subjugated. The wandering horse was attended by a herd of a hundred
geldings, and one or four hundred young
kshatriya
Kshatriya ( hi, क्षत्रिय) (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority") is one of the four varna (social orders) of Hindu society, associated with warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the con ...
men, sons of princes or high court officials, charged with guarding the horse from all dangers and inconvenience, but never impeding or driving it.
The escort had to prevent the stallion from mating with any mares during its journey, and if he did, an oblation of milk was performed to
Vāyu
Vayu (, sa, वायु, ), also known as Vata and Pavana, is the Hindu god of the winds as well as the divine massenger of the gods. In the ''Vedic scriptures'', Vayu is an important deity and is closely associated with Indra, the king of g ...
. If the horse became ill with injury, an oblation of pap to
Pūṣan
Pushan ( sa, पूषन्, Pūṣan) is a Hindu Vedic solar deity and one of the Adityas. He is the god of meeting. Pushan is responsible for marriages, journeys, roads, and the feeding of cattle. He was a psychopomp (soul guide), conduct ...
. If he became ill without injury, then an oblation of cake to
Agni Vaiśvānara. If he was afflicted with eye disease, an oblation to
Sūrya
Surya (; sa, सूर्य, ) is the sun as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchayatana puja and a m ...
. If the horse drowned, an oblation was performed to
Varuṇa
Varuna (; sa, वरुण, , Malay: ''Baruna'') is a Vedic deity associated initially with the sky, later also with the seas as well as Ṛta (justice) and Satya (truth). He is found in the oldest layer of Vedic literature of Hinduism, such a ...
. If the horse was lost, an oblation of cake, potsherd, and three other dishes to the deities of heaven and earth, along with an oblation of milk to Vāyu and pap to Sūrya. If the horse died, then another was selected and consecrated to replace it. During the absence of the horse, an uninterrupted series of ceremonies was performed in the sacrificer's home. Every day, three Sāvitreṣṭi rites and one evening Dhṛtihoma would be conducted by the priests. In the evening after the Dhṛtihoma, two
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 (gur ...
and two
Kshatriya
Kshatriya ( hi, क्षत्रिय) (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority") is one of the four varna (social orders) of Hindu society, associated with warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the con ...
bards and lutists would praise the patron king's generosity, who gave 4,000 cows and 400 gold coins to the priests on the first day of the sacrifice. Then a session of pariplavākhyāna took place. The pariplāvana was the cyclical recitation of tales, in which one out of ten topics would be discussed each night, with 36 cycles of the ten topics. The tales were witnessed by an audience of onlookers called the upadrāṣṭṛ, who attended in their free time.
![Asvamedha---Page-23---Chapter-IV---History-of-India-(1906)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Asvamedha---Page-23---Chapter-IV---History-of-India-%281906%29.png)
After the return of the horse, more ceremonies were performed for a month before the main sacrifice. Twelve days of dīkṣā rites took place, and then twelve days of upasad.
The dīkṣā rite was a preparatory consecration rite performed before sacrifices. It consisted of a preliminary oblation, and then the king would bathe, dress in black antelope skin, and sit on another skin in a hut in front of a fire, fasting in silence with a covered head and sleeping on the ground. The upasad was a multiday ceremony that precedes Soma sacrifices. It consisted of the acquisition and welcoming of Soma and the construction of various structures needed for the sacrifice, along with the sacrifice of a goat.
On the twenty-fifth day, the agniṣṭoma was performed. The agniṣṭoma was the main part of the Soma sacrifice. In the morning pressing, the soma was pressed out and offered along with "rice cakes, parched barley, flour in sour milk, parched rice, and a hot mixture of milk and sour milk". During the pressings and oblations, five musical chants were sung and five recitations were chanted. The priests then partook in the drinking of the soma and the twelve oblations to the seasons, and the sacrifice of a goat to Agni. The midday pressing was similar and dedicated to Indra, and dakshina was also distributed on that day to the priests consisting of a varying multitude of cows. At the evening pressing only two musical chants were sung and two recitations chanted. Then proceeded the conclusory libations to the "yoking of the bay horses" and the sun, followed by the Avabhṛtha. The Avabhṛtha was the "unpurificatory" bathing of the sacrificer at the end of the sacrifice. After an antelope skin was put in the water body, the king, his wife, and the priests ritually bathe. Afterwards a sterile cow or eleven other animals are sacrificed. Throughout the entire night, the annahoma was performed at the Uttaravedi (the northern altar). It consists of an oblation of clarified butter, fried rice, fried barley, and fried grain.
On the twenty-sixth day, the king was ritually purified, and the horse was yoked to a gilded
chariot, together with three other horses, and
Rigveda
The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' ( ', from ' "praise" and ' "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts ('' śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one ...
(RV) 1.6.1,2 (YajurVeda (YV) VSM 23.5,6) was recited. The horse was then driven into water and bathed. After this, it was anointed with ''
ghee'' by the chief queen and two other royal consorts. The chief queen (mahiṣī) anointed the fore-quarters, the favorite wife (vāvātā) the middle, and the discarded wife (parvṛktī) the hindquarters. They also embellished the horse's head, neck, and tail with golden ornaments and 101 or 109 pearls.
After this, the horse, a hornless black-necked he-
goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...
, and a
Gomṛga were bound to sacrificial stakes near the fire, and seventeen other animals were attached with ropes to the horse. The he-goat dedicated to Agni was attached to the horse's chest. A ewe dedicated to
Sarasvatī
Saraswati ( sa, सरस्वती, ) is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. She is one of the Tridevi, along with the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati.
The earliest known mention of Saraswati as a go ...
was attached under the horse's mouth. Two black-bellied he-goats dedicated to the
Aśvins
The Ashvins ( sa, अश्विन्, Aśvin, horse possessors), also known as Ashwini Kumara and Asvinau,, §1.42. are Hindu twin gods associated with medicine, health, dawn and sciences. In the ''Rigveda'', they are described as youthful div ...
were tied to the horse's front legs. A dark grey he-goat dedicated to Soma-Pūṣan was attached underneath the horse. On the two sides of the horse were attached a black goat to Sūrya and a white goat to
Yama
Yama (Devanagari: यम) or Yamarāja (यमराज), is a deity of death, dharma, the south direction, and the underworld who predominantly features in Hindu and Buddhist religion, belonging to an early stratum of Rigvedic Hindu deities. ...
. Two goats with shaggy thighs were dedicated to
Tvaṣṭar. A white goat dedicated to Vāyu was attached to the tail. A cow about to give birth was dedicated to Indra, and a dwarfish cow was dedicated to
Viṣṇu
Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism.
Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...
. A great number of animals, both tame and wild, were tied to other stakes, according to one commentator, 609 in total. The sacrificer offered the horse the remains of the night's oblation of grain. The horse was then suffocated to death.
![Aswamedha of pandavas](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Aswamedha_of_pandavas.jpg)
The chief queen ritually called on the king's fellow wives for pity. The queens walked around the dead horse reciting mantras and obscene dialogue with the priests.
The chief queen then had to spend the night beside the dead horse in a position mimicking sexual intercourse and was covered with a blanket.
On the next morning, the priests raised the queen from the place. One priest cut the horse along the "knife-paths" while other priests started reciting the verses of Vedas, seeking healing and regeneration for the horse. The horse's
epiploon along with soma are offered in an oblation, and the priests dismember the horse and other animal victims with an oblation of their blood. On the third day an Atirātra was performed.
The Atirātra was a Soma sacrifice in which there was a nocturnal session where soma was drunk. Afterwards an Avabhṛtha takes place.
However, in the Ashvamedha sinners and criminals also take part in the purificatory bathing. Afterwards twenty-one sterile cows are sacrificed, and the
dakshina was distributed to the priests. The main dakshina forms either the four wives of the king or their four hundred attendants.
The
Laws of Manu
The ''Manusmṛiti'' ( sa, मनुस्मृति), also known as the ''Mānava-Dharmaśāstra'' or Laws of Manu, is one of the many legal texts and constitution among the many ' of Hinduism. In ancient India, the sages often wrote their ...
refer to the Ashvamedha (V.53): "The man who offers a horse-sacrifice every day for a hundred years, and the man who does not eat meat, the two of them reap the same fruit of good deeds."
On Gupta coins
One type of the gold coins of the
Gupta Empire
The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Gold ...
kings
Samudragupta
Samudragupta (Gupta script: ''Sa-mu-dra-gu-pta'', (c. 335–375 CE) was the second emperor of the Gupta Empire of ancient India, and is regarded among the greatest rulers of the dynasty. As a son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta I and the ...
(reigned c. 350-370 CE) and
Kumaragupta
Kumaragupta I (Gupta script: ''Ku-ma-ra-gu-pta'', r. c. 415–455 CE) was an emperor of the Gupta Empire of Ancient India. A son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II and queen Dhruvadevi, he seems to have maintained control of his inherited te ...
(reigned c. 415-455 CE) commemorates their Ashvamedha sacrifices. The
obverse
Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ...
shows the horse anointed and decorated for sacrifice, standing in front of a ''
Yūpa'' sacrificial post, and is inscribed "The king of kings who has performed the Vajimedha sacrifice wins heaven after protecting the earth". The reverse shows a standing figure of the queen, holding a fan and a towel, and is inscribed "Powerful enough to perform the Ashvamedha sacrifice".
File:Dinar of Samudragupta LACMA M.84.110.1 (1 of 2).jpg, Samudragupta
Samudragupta (Gupta script: ''Sa-mu-dra-gu-pta'', (c. 335–375 CE) was the second emperor of the Gupta Empire of ancient India, and is regarded among the greatest rulers of the dynasty. As a son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta I and the ...
, Ashvamedha horse
File:Dinar of Samudragupta LACMA M.84.110.1 (2 of 2).jpg, The queen, reverse of last
File:Samudragupta circa 335-380 CE Ashvameda type.jpg, Samudragupta
Samudragupta (Gupta script: ''Sa-mu-dra-gu-pta'', (c. 335–375 CE) was the second emperor of the Gupta Empire of ancient India, and is regarded among the greatest rulers of the dynasty. As a son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta I and the ...
File:Gold coin of Kumaragupta I.jpg, Kumaragupta
Kumaragupta I (Gupta script: ''Ku-ma-ra-gu-pta'', r. c. 415–455 CE) was an emperor of the Gupta Empire of Ancient India. A son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II and queen Dhruvadevi, he seems to have maintained control of his inherited te ...
Similar sacrifices elsewhere
Many
Indo-European
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...
branches show evidence for horse sacrifice, and comparative mythology suggests that they derive from a
Proto-Indo-European ritual. Most appear to be funerary practices associated with burial, but for some other cultures there is tentative evidence for rituals associated with kingship. The Ashvamedha is the clearest evidence preserved, but vestiges from Latin and Celtic traditions allow the reconstruction of a few common attributes.
A similar ritual is found in
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
tradition in which the king in Ireland conducted a rite of symbolic marriage with a sacrificed horse.
The Roman
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 ...
sacrifice was an annual event, and apparently the only time horses were sacrificed, rather than cattle or smaller animals.
Horse sacrifices were performed among the ancient Germans, Armenians, Iranians, Chinese, Greeks, among others.
List of performers
Sanskrit epics
Indian epic poetry is the epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent, traditionally called ''Kavya'' (or ''Kāvya''; Sanskrit: काव्य, IAST: ''kāvyá''). The ''Ramayana'' and the ''Mahabharata'', which were originally composed in ...
and
Puranas mention numerous legendary performances of the horse sacrifice. For example, according to the ''
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...
'',
Emperor Bharata
Bharata ( sa, भरत, Bharata) is a legendary king featured in Hindu literature. He is a member of the Chandravamsha dynasty, and becomes the Chakravarti (universal monarch). He is regarded to be the ancestor of the Pandavas, the Kauravas, ...
performed a hundred Ashvamedha ceremonies on the banks of
Yamuna
The Yamuna ( Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of B ...
, three hundred on the banks of Sarasvati and four hundred on the banks of the
Ganga. He again performed a thousand Ashvamedha on different locations and a hundred
Rajasuya. Following the vast empires ruled by the
Gupta
Gupta () is a common surname or last name of Indian origin. It is based on the Sanskrit word गोप्तृ ''goptṛ'', which means 'guardian' or 'protector'. According to historian R. C. Majumdar, the surname ''Gupta'' was adopted by se ...
and
Chalukya dynasties, the practice of the sacrifice diminished remarkably.
The historical performers of Ashvamedha include:
Dhanadeva Ayodhya inscription.jpg , The Dhanadeva-Ayodhya inscription, 1st century BCE, mentions two Ashvamedha rituals by Pushyamitra in the city of Ayodhya
Ayodhya (; ) is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
Ayodhya, also known as Saketa, is an ancient city of India, the birthplace of Rama and setting of the great epic Ramayana. Ayodhya wa ...
.[Ayodhya Revisited by Kunal Kishore p.24](_blank)
/ref>
The Udayendiram inscription of the 8th-century
Pallava king
Nandivarman II
Nandivarman II (718 CE – 796 CE) was a Pallava ruler who ruled in South India. Sen states Nandivarman reigned from 731 CE – 796 CE and built the Vaikuntha-Perumal Temple. He was born in the country of Champa (modern day Vietnam) into a loca ...
(alias Pallavamalla) states that his general Udayachandra defeated the
Nishada
Nishada (') is a tribe mentioned in ancient Indian literature (such as the epic ''Mahabharata''). The ancient texts mention several kingdoms ruled by this tribe. In the Mahabharata, the Nishadas are described as hunters, fishermen, mountaineers o ...
ruler Prithvivyaghra, who, "desiring to become very powerful, was running after the horse of the Ashvamedha". The inscription does not clarify which king initiated this Ashvamedha campaign. Historian N. Venkataramanayya theorized that Prithvivyaghra was a feudatory ruler, who unsuccessfully tried to challenge Nandivarman's Ashvamedha campaign. However, historian
Dineshchandra Sircar
Dineshchandra Sircar (1907–1985), also known as D. C. Sircar or D. C. Sarkar, was an epigraphist, historian, numismatist and folklorist, known particularly in India and Bangladesh for his work deciphering inscriptions. He was the Chief ...
notes that no other inscriptions of Nandivarman or his descendants mention his performance of Ashvamedha; therefore, it is more likely that the Ashvamedha campaign was initiated by Prithvivyaghra (or his overlord), and Nandivarman's general foiled it.
In Hindu revivalism
![The horse Shyamakarna on the bank of Lake Dudumbhi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/The_horse_Shyamakarna_on_the_bank_of_Lake_Dudumbhi.jpg)
In the
Arya Samaj reform movement of
Dayananda Sarasvati
Dayanand Saraswati () (born Mool Shankar Tiwari; 2 February 1824 – 30 October 1883) also known as Maharshi Dayanand is an Indian philosopher, social leader and founder of the Arya Samaj, a Hindu reform movement. His Magnum Opus is the book ...
, the Ashvamedha is considered an
allegory or a ritual to get connected to the "inner Sun" (
Prana) According to Dayananda, no horse was actually to be slaughtered in the ritual as per the Yajurveda. Following Dayananda, the Arya Samaj disputes the very existence of the pre-Vedantic ritual; thus Swami Satya Prakash Saraswati claims that
He argues that the animals listed as sacrificial victims are just as symbolic as the list of human victims listed in 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 ...
(which is generally accepted as a purely symbolic sacrifice already in Rigvedic times).
Gayatri Pariwar since 1991 has organized performances of a "modern version" of the Ashvamedha where a statue is used in place of a real horse, according to Hinduism Today with a million participants in
Chitrakoot,
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...
on April 16 to 20, 1994. Such modern performances are
sattvika Yajna
Yajna ( sa, यज्ञ, yajña, translit-std=IAST, sacrifice, devotion, worship, offering) refers in Hinduism to any ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras.SG Nigal (1986), Axiological Approach to the Vedas, Northern Book ...
s where the animal is worshipped without killing it, the religious motivation being prayer for overcoming enemies, the facilitation of child welfare and development, and clearance of debt, entirely within the allegorical interpretation of the ritual, and with no actual sacrifice of any animal.
Reception
The earliest recorded criticism of the ritual comes from the
Cārvāka, an atheistic school of Indian philosophy that assumed various forms of
philosophical skepticism
Philosophical skepticism ( UK spelling: scepticism; from Greek σκέψις ''skepsis'', "inquiry") is a family of philosophical views that question the possibility of knowledge. It differs from other forms of skepticism in that it even reject ...
and religious indifference. A quotation of the Cārvāka from
Madhavacharya's Sarva-Darsana-Sangraha states: "The three authors of the Vedas were buffoons, knaves, and demons. All the well-known formulae of the pandits, jarphari, turphari, etc. and all the obscene rites for the queen commanded in Ashvamedha, these were invented by buffoons, and so all the various kinds of presents to the priests, while the eating of flesh was similarly commanded by night-prowling demons."
According to some writers, ashvamedha is a forbidden rite for ''
Kali Yuga'', the current age.
This part of the ritual offended the
Dalit
Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming ...
reformer and framer of the
Indian constitution
The Constitution of India (IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ri ...
B. R. Ambedkar
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served ...
and is frequently mentioned in his writings as an example of the perceived degradation of Brahmanical culture.
Scholar Manohar L. Varadpande, praised the ritual as "social occasions of great magnitude". Rick F. Talbott writes that "
Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade (; – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religiou ...
treated the Ashvamedha as a rite having a cosmogonic structure which both regenerated the entire cosmos and reestablished every social order during its performance."
["Sacred Sacrifice: Ritual Paradigms in Vedic Religion and Early Christianity" by Rick F. Talbott, p. 133]
See also
*
*
*
Footnotes
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{Authority control
Vedic animal sacrifice
Horses in Hinduism
Hindu rituals
Yajna