Chapter XXXIV. Other Soma Sacrifices

Volume II: Part II pp. 1204–1223

Chapter XXXIV. Other Soma Sacrifices

The sūtras speak of seven forms (samsthās) of soma sacrificeṣ These seven forms are Agniṣṭoma, Atyagniṣṭoma, Ukthya, Ṣoḍaśin, Vājapeya, Atirātra and Aptoryāma (according to Kāt. X. 9. 27, Āśv. VI. 11. 1, Lāṭ. V. 4. 24). The first of these has been described in some detail above. Owing to restrictions of space only a few words can be said about the other soma sacrificeṣ All sūtras do not state the same number of soma sacrificeṣ Āp. XIV. 1.1 and Sat. IX. 7. p. 958 expressly say that Ukthya, Ṣoḍaśin, Atirātra and Aptoryāma are the modifications of Agniṣṭoma and the commentaries of both point out that there were several views on the number of the modifications of the Agniṣṭoma. In the Brāhmaṇas the Agniṣṭoma, Ukthya, Ṣoḍaśin and Atirātra are generally mentioned as forms of Jyotiṣṭoma (vide Śat. Br. IV. 6. 3. 3, Tai. Br. I. 3. 2 and 4, which last mentions Vājapeya also).

Ukthya or Uktha. In this there are three more stotras (called uktha stotras) and śastras (called uktha śastras) to be chanted and recited in the evening pressing, thus bringing the total of stotras and śastras to fifteen (Ait. Br. 14. 3, Āśv. VI. 1. 1-3). Āp. XIV. 1. 2 says that the Ukthya, Ṣoḍaśin, Atirātra and Aptoryāma are respectively performed by him who desires cattle, vigour, progeny and cattle, all objectṣ In the Ukthya an additional victim, a goat (over and above those offered in Agniṣṭoma ) is sacrificed for Indra and Agni on the pressing day. Vide Ait. Br. XIV. 3, Āśv. VI. 1. 1-3, Āp. XIV. 1, Sat. IX. 7. pp. 958-959, Haug’s tr. of Ait. Br. p. 251 n, S. B. E. vol. 41, pp. XIV-XVI.

Ṣoḍaśiṇ In this sacrifice in addition to the fifteen stotras and fifteen śastras of the Ukthya there is an additional stotra and a corresponding śastra called Ṣoḍaśin in the tṛtīya savana (both the śastra and the sacrifice have the same name, as the coṃ on Āśv. VI. 2. 1 says). There is an additional cup in the morning or at all pressings according to some (Āp. XIV. 2. 4-5). It is made of khadira wood and is quadrangular in shape (Sat. IX. 7. p. 960). The stotra for the Ṣoḍaśin cup is begun to be chanted about sunset after the adhvaryu hands over a piece of gold to the sāma singer (instead of kuśa grass, Āp. XIV. 3. 1). Soma is purchased for a cow that is of very small stature and has red-coloured earṣ In this rite an additional victim viz. a ram is sacrificed for Indra. The fee is a reddish brown horse or a female mule. Vide Ait. Br. 16. 1-4, Āśv. VI. 2-3, Āp. XIV. 2. 3 ff, Sat. IX. 7. pp. 959-962, Haug's tr. of Ait. Br. p. 255-256n, S.B.E. vol. 41 pp. XVI-XVII for further detailṣ

Atyagniṣṭoma. This form is obtained by adding the ṣoḍaśistotra, the ṣoḍaśin cup and an additional victim for Indra to what prevails in the Agniṣṭoma; vide S.B.E. vol. 41, p. XVII.

Atirātra. This soma sacrifice is referred to even in the Ṛgveda (VII. 103. 7). As this sacrifice is not finished in one day but only after the day and night pass away it is called Atirātra. Āp. X. 2. 4 notes that according to some the Atirātra is performed even before Agniṣṭoma. The Atirātra has 29 stotras and 29 śastraṣ In this the additional stotras and śastras are repeated at night in four rounds (called paryāyas) of three stotras and śastraṣ Āśv. VI. 4. 10 points out these 12 śastraṣ In this sacrifice the śastra called Āśvina is recited, but before it six āhutis are offered at night. The Āśvina-śastra closely follows the procedure of prātaranuvāka, must comprise at least a thousand verses and was to be recited till sunrise (vide Haug’s tr. of Ait. Br. pp. 268-269n for description of this śastra). At twilight is chanted a stotra appropriately called Sandhistotra (Haug's tr. of Ait. Br. pp. 266-267n). It is in the Rathantara melody. If the sun did not rise by that time the hotṛ was to continue reciting Ṛg. I. 112 and when the sun rose he was to recite saurya hymns (viz. Ṛg. X. 158. 1. 50. 1-9, I. 115, X. 37). A fourth animal viz. an ewe (or ram according to some) is offered to Sarasvatī on the pressing day (Sat. IX. 7. p. 963). The principal camasas in the night are offered to Indra Apīśarvara (Sat. IX. 7. p. 963.). A puroḍāśa on two potsherds is offered by the pratiprasthātṛ to Aśvins (Āśv. VI. 5. 23 and Sat. IX. 7 p. 965) and a soma cup is offered to the Aśvinṣ Jāl. X. 8. 6 notes that as a vedic passage says ‘there is no ṣoḍaśin cup in Atirātra ’ and another says there is, the first is a prohibition and there is an optioṇ For details vide Ait. Br. 14. 3 and 16. 5-7, Āśv. VI. 4-5, Sat. IX. 7 pp. 663-665, Āp. XIV. 3. 8—XIV. 4. 11, S. B. E. vol. 41 pp. XVII–XX. Aptoryāma—This sacrifice is similar to Atirātra of which it appears to be an amplificatioṇ Only there are four additional stotras (i. e. 33 in all) and four additional śastras recited by the hotṛ and his assistants, and there are four camasas in relation to these last respectively for Agni, Indra, Viśve Devas and Viṣṇu (Āp. XIV. 4. 12-16, Sat. IX. 7 pp. 966-967, Śāṇ XV. 5. 14-18 and Sat. X. 8. p. 1111). Accord-ing to Āśv. (IX. 11. 1) he whose cattle do not live or who desires to secure cattle of good breed should perform the Aptoryāma. Āśv. (IX. 9. 22–23) says that in this the fee is more than a thousand (cows) up to an unlimited number and the hotṛ gets a special gift of a white chariot (plated with silver) to which female mules are yokeḍ This sacrifice is generally joined with otherṣ The Tāṇḍya Br. (XX. 3. 4-5) states that the rite is so called because by its performance one secures whatever object one desires ( from 'āp' to obtain ).

Vājapeya—(lit. food and drink, or drink of strength or of food of a race)¹ Though this rite is said to be a form of Jyotiṣṭoma and though it follows the procedure of Ṣoḍaśin (Āp. XVIII. 1. 4) it has so many special features of its own that it may be said to be an independent sacrifice. One characteristic feature is that the number 17 is predominant in this sacrifice (Āp. XVIII. 1. 5, Tāṇḍya XVIII. 7. 5), viz. there are 17 stotras and 17 śastras, the 17th being the Vājapeya stotra and śastra, 17 animals sacrificed for Prajāpati, 17 objects distributed as fee, the yūpa ( of bilva or khadira wood) was 17 aratnis in length, at the time of enveloping the yūpa with a girdle in this rite 17 pieces of cloth were employed for the purpose (Āp. XVIII. 1. 12 ), it lasted for 17 days (for 13 days dīkṣā, 3 upasad days and one pressing day) or there were 17 dīkṣās (and then the rite lasted for 21 days). Vide Āśv. IX. 9. 2-3 and Āp. XVIII. 1. 6-7. Another feature was that there were seventeen cups of surā ( wine) for Prajāpati as well as 17 cups of soma. Another peculiarity was that there were seventeen chariots to which horses were yoked and a race was run, when seventeen drums that were arranged on the northern śroṇi of the vedi were simultaneously beaten (Āp. XVIII. 4. 4 and 7, Kāt. XIV. 3. 14 ) to the west of the Āgnidhra sheḍ This complicated rite was undertaken by one who desired overlordship (ādhipatya, as Āśv. IX. 9. 1 says) or prosperity (Āp. XVIII. 1. 1) or svarājya (the position of Indra or uncontrolled dominion). It was performed in the autumṇ² Only a brāhmaṇa or a kṣatriya could perform it, but not a vaiśya³ (Kāt. XIV. 1. 1 and Āp. XVIII. 1. 1). In the case of a brāhmaṇa the reward aimed at must have been the attainment of the position of a super-eminently learned or prosperous maṇ All the priests, the sacrificer and his wife wear chains of gold, and Āśv. IX. 9. 5 adds that the chain worn by the hotṛ has a hundred lotus-like pendants studded with precious stoneṣ The golden chain worn by each priest becomes part of his fee. Besides the three viz. for Agni, Indra and Agni and for Indra (a ram), a barren cow for Maruts and ewe for Sarasvatī and 17 hornless, young and virile goats of one colour (or all of dark colour) for Prajāpati are offered in this rite (Āp. XVIII. 2. 12-13, Kāt. XIV. 2. 11-13). For the 17 cups of wine (called parisrut, prepared from several herbs) the pratiprasthātṛ prepares a separate mound (khara) to the west of the axle of the southern havirdhāna cart on which the wine cups made of clay are to be kept. The soma cups are to the east of the axle of the cart and wine cups to the west and they are to be kept separate. According to Kāt. (XIV. 1. 17 and 26) it is the nestṛ priest that gets ready the mound and the wine cupṣ In the midst of the wine cups a golden cup of honey is placed (Tai. Br. I. 3. 3, Kāt. XIV. 2. 9). The wine is purchased ready-made in exchange for lead from a long-haired man at the time when soma stalks are purchased, or the material, for making wine is bought, and is entered into the sacrificial enclosure by the southern door and is boiled on the dakṣiṇa fire (Kāt. XIV. 1. 14-17). The yūpa has four angles (and not eight as elsewhere) and has no top protruding beyond the caṣāla, but its top is even and is slightly depressed in the middle. The caṣāla of the yūpa (which is 17 aratnis high) is made of wheat flour (Tai. Br. I. 3. 7, Āp. XVIII. 1. 8, Kāt. XIV. 1. 22). A race is run in connection with the mid-day pressing in the following way (Āp. XVIII. 3. 3 and 12-13). The Tai. Br. I. 3. 2 refers to the race won by Bṛhaspati and connects the Vājapeya with that race. Seventeen chariots are got ready for the east of the āhavaniya with their yokes to the north or east. One of them is the sacrificer's chariot to which three horses are yoked with mantras and a fourth runs along the third but is not yokeḍ These horses are made to smell the caru of wild rice (nīvāra) which is meant for Bṛhaspati. To the sixteen other chariots four horses each are yoked outside the vedi but without mantras (coṃ on Kāt. XIV. 3. 11). A kṣatriya (rāja- putra according to Āp.) shoots an arrow from the space between the cātvāla and utkara and notes the spot where it falls, from which he shoots an arrow a second time. This is done seventeen timeṣ On the spot where the arrow falls at the 17th shooting, he plants a post of udumbara wood as the goal for the chariot race (Āp. XVIII. 3. 12 and Kāt. XIV. 3. 1-11 and 16-17). When the race starts, the brahmā priest fixes an udumbara chariot-wheel (having seventeen spokes according to Kāt. V. 12. 11) on an axle (or udumbara post navel-high) implanted on a spot between the cātvāla and the utkara (or near the utkara) and ascends on that wheel with ‘at the impulse of God Savitṛ may I win vāja (vigour, food or race) with the help of Bṛhaspati, the winner of vāja’ (Āp. XVIII. 4. 8, Kāt. XIV. 3. 12 which mentions Vāj. S. IX. 10). When the wheel is revolved from left to right (it is revolved thrice) the brahmā chants the Vājī-sāman ⁴ (Āp. XVIII. 4. 11, Aśv. IX. 9. 8. Lāṭ. V. 12. 14). According to Lāṭ. (V. 12. 13) the brahmā only rests his arms on the wheel. The yajamāna occupies the chariot on which mantras were recited and the adhvaryu (or his pupil) also gets into it to instruct the yajamāna to repeat the Vedic formulae he has to utter. Other persons (called vājaṣṛt) join in the race and sit in the other sixteen chariots and a kṣatriya or vaiśya sits in one of them and the race starts with speeḍ All the seventeen drums are beaten on the northern śroṇi of the vedi to urge on the horseṣ All the horses are made to smell the caru of wild rice (nīvāra) cooked in 17 pots for Bṛhaspati. The chariot of the sacrificer is in front and the others follow his, but do not overtake it. The adhvaryu makes the yajamāna recite the formulae of victory such as ‘ agnirekākṣareṇa ’ (Vāj. S. VIII. 31-34, Tai. S. I. 1. 11). When the chariot reaches the goal, the chariot is taken to its north and then turned round to the south. All the chariots return to the sacrificial ground and the horses are again made to smell the caru of nīvāras and a homa is offered for discharging the drums (dundubhi-vimocanīya-homa). A berry (kṛṣṇala, gold of that weight) is given to each of those that rode the chariots, but that gold is taken back from them and is donated to the brahmā who also receives the golden jar of honey (Kāt. XIV. 4. 17, Āp. XVIII. 5. 5 ) after it is presented to and taken back from the kṣatriya or vaiśya. The cups of soma are taken up by the priests (the adhvaryu taking the hotṛ-camasa), and the camasādhvaryus take up their cups ; while the pratiprasthātṛ takes up the principal wine cup and the other sixteen are taken up by those who joined in the race. The adhvaryu starts towards the east with the soma cups with ‘ sam praeṣ ’ (Tai. Br. I. 3. 3), the pratiprasthātṛ to the west with the wine cups and stands near the mārjālīya sheḍ After the adhvaryu offers the soma cups, the wine cups are shaken and given to the sixteen persons who took part in the race and they quaff them on the southern śroṇi of the vedi. According to Kāt. (XIV. 3. 20 and XIV. 4. 16) the kṣatriya or vaiśya who sat in one of the chariots receives all the wine cupṣ When preparations are made to chant the Mahendra stotra, the neṣṭṛ requests the wife to put on a short undergarment of darbha and the yajamāna wears a silken garment (tārpyam)⁵ inside the garment which he wears as a dīkṣita. A ladder is raised against the yūpa to its north or south (Kāt. XIV. 5. 5) and when the sacrificer climbs to the top of the yūpa a dialogue ensues between the sacrificer and his wife (Kāt. XIV. 5. 6-11, Āp. XVIII. 5. 9-11). The sacrificer addresses ‘ wife, come, let us ascend to heaven’. The wife responds ‘let us ascend’. They engage in this dialogue thrice. According to Kāt. XIV. 5. 8 both husband and wife climb to the top of the yūpa, while according to Āp. (XVIII. 4. 12) only the husband does so who finally says ‘out of us both I shall ascend to heaven’. On reaching the top he touches the caṣāla of wheat flour and mutters ‘we reached the heaven, the gods’ (Tai. S. I. 7. 9. 2, Vāj. S. IX. 21). Thence he looks at his house with ‘ May I live long with my children’ (Tai. S. I. 7. 9. 2 ) or in the several directions with Vaj. S. IX. 22 (Kāt. XIV. 5. 11). Vaiśyas (explained as his children by the coṃ on Kāt. XIV. 5. 12) throw up to him 17 bags of salt or saltish earth enveloped in leaves of aśvattha or (accord- ing to Āp. XVIII. 5. 16-18) the adhvaryu, brahmā, hotṛ and udgātṛ raise up the bags to his face on long poles respectively from the east, south, west and north with mantras (referring to food, vāja and winning of vāja) He receives them and descendṣ He plants his right foot on a piece of gold placed over a goat-skin spread in front of the yūpa on the ground with its neck to the east and hairy side outside and his left foot on the skin itself and from thence he sits down on a couch placed on the west side of the uttaravedi. The offerings of the omentum and other limbs of the animal for Sarasvatī and of other animals are made, the wild rice caru for Bṛhaspati is offered and the priests partake of the remnants as usual. The animals for Prajāpati are offered at the time of the mid-day pressing. Before the offering to Sviṣṭakṛt of the wild rice caru is made water and milk are poured in a vessel of udumbara and food of seventeen kinds of grains or of as many as the sacrificer remembers except one is also put therein and seven offerings are made of all this with the sruva and the yajamāna is sprinkled with the rest (Kāt. XIV. 5. 20-24). He does not eat throughout his life-time the food of the one kind of grain that was omitteḍ The adhvaryu declares thrice after taking the name of the sacrificer 'he, so and so, is samrāṭ' (overlord). Āp. XVIII. 7. 18 says that on performing vājapeya a man is entitled to use the white parasol. After the performance of Vājapeya the sacrificer had to observe certain rules of conduct (vide Lāṭ. VIII. 12. 1-4, Āp. XVIII. 7. 16-17). He should act like a kṣatriya (i. e. he may study and make gifts, but should not teach or accept gifts), he should not rise to receive or do abhivādana or carry ⁶ errands for or sit on the same couch with a person who had not performed that sacrifice. The adhvaryu receives the horses and the chariot in which the sacrificer sat (Āp. XVIII. 3. 10 ) and receives also all the 17 clothes with which the yūpa was envelopeḍ As to other fees, there is some divergence among Āp. XVIII. 3. 4-5, Āśv. IX. 9, 14-17, Kāt. XIV. 2. 29-33 and Lāṭ. VIII. 11. 16-22. Āśv. says that 1700 cows, 17 chariots to which horses are yoked, seventeen horses, seventeen animals which men ride, seventeen draught oxen, seventeen carts, 17 slave-girls decked with golden niṣkas round their necks, 17 elephants with golden girths–these constitute the fee in Vājapeya and Āśv. suggests other alternativeṣ Āp. XVIII. 3. 4 is almost the same but adds seventeen goats and eweṣ Lāṭ (VIII. 11. 16–18) is also practically the same as Āśv. but adds several alternatives about cowṣ In the Kuruvā-japeya (variously explained in the coṃ) cows donated are only 17, in other Vājapeyas 1700 or 17000 cows may be giveṇ Lāṭ further says that the gifts may be equally divided among all the priests, that the chariot occupied by the sacrificer over which yajus mantras were recited and the couch with its coverlet are given to the udgātṛ, the goat-skin with the golden piece is taken by the hotṛ.

It will have been noticed that this sacrifice has several picturesque elements in it. In the race and the drinking bout of seventeen cups there is a popular element. In the climbing to the top of the yūpa by the sacrificer and in the boiled wild rice for Bṛhaspati there is a symbolism of holiness and eminence.

Āśv. IX. 9. 19 says that after performing Vājapeya a king should perform Rājasūya and a brāhmaṇa should perform Bṛhaspatisava, ⁷ while Āp. XVIII. 7. 15 recommends the Sautrāmaṇi after it. Kāt. (XIV. 1. 2–8) states various viewṣ

Jaimini in several adhikaraṇas deals with the śruti texts about Vājapeya. They may be briefly indicated here. In I. 4. 6–8 he shows that in the sentence ‘one desiring to secure overlordship should sacrifice with Vājapeya’ the word Vājapeya is the name of a rite (karmaṇāmadheya) and that that sentence does not lay down some subordinate matter (such as what material is to be used) in the model sacrifice and that the word Vājapeya does not mean gruel or similar substance. In Jai. III. 1. 18 it is said that the text ‘of the Vājapeya the yūpa is 17 aratnis’ means that the yūpa required for the sacrifice of animals in the Vājapeya is to be 17 aratnis high and not that any other thing like the Ṣoḍaśipātra was to be 17 aratniṣ When the Tai. Br. (I. 3. 4 ) says that seventeen animals are to be killed for Prajāpati, they are 17 separate yāgas and not one rite ( karma ). When it is said that caru is prepared in milk in seventeen śarāvas (pots), the method of taking out handfuls of grains (as in darśapūrṇamāsa) is not applicable. Jai. says (in XI. 4. 30) that the vessel (kumbhī), the śūla and the spit for roasting the omentum are the same for all the victims, that the omentum of the victim for Prajāpati is not sprinkled with the ājya remaining after the prayāja offerings are made (IV. 1. 33–39) and that the chariot which was occupied by the sacrificer is to be specially given to adhvaryu and not any one of the seventeen chariots i. e. there is a restrictive rule about the share in chariots for the adhvaryu, while there is none as to the other priests (X. 3. 74–75 ).⁸

The Agniṣṭoma and the other forms of soma sacrifices so far described are ekāha (one day) soma sacrifices i. e. in them soma is offered in cups on one day thrice (in the morning, mid-day and evening). The sūtras (e. g. Aśv. IX. 5–11, Bauḍ XVIII. 1–10, Kāt. XXII), however, mention and describe several other one day soma sacrifices, such as Bṛhaspatisava, Gosava, Śyena, Udbhid, Viśvajit, Vrātyastoma (already described above on pp. 345–347) which are left out for want of space.⁹ The ahina sacrifices¹⁰ are those the duration of which is two to twelve days of soma pressing, which always end with an atirātra and which together with the dīkṣā and upasad days should not extend beyond a month. They should be begun on a Full Moon day. Among them there are groups of sacrifices that last for two days, three days (e. g. Gargarātrira), four days, five days (called pañcarātras of which Pañcaśāradīya is one), ṣaḍahas and so oṇ Among the numerous rites called ahinas, the Aśvamedha and Dvādaśāha deserve notice. The Aśvamedha will be described later oṇ The Dvādaśāha is both an ahina and a sattra (Āśv. X. 5. 2). There are several varieties of Dvādaśāha, one being called Bharata-dvādaśāha (Āśv. X. 5. 8., Ap. XXI. 14. 5). The twelve days of the Dvā-daśāha as a sattra are constituted by the Prayanīya (the com-mencing rite, an Atirātra ), Prṣṭhya Ṣaḍaha¹¹ (6 days), Chan-domas which are Ukthyas (3 days) and a tenth day which is an Atyagnistoma (called Avīvākya, on which no speaking or dispute about errors is allowed) and the Udayanīya (concluding rite, which again is an Atirātra). The principal differences between the Dvādaśāha as an ahīna and a sattra are: (1) a sattra can be performed only by brāhmaṇas, while a dvādaśāha may be performed by any one of the first three varṇas; (2) the sattra may extend over even long periods (such as a year or more), while a dvādaśāha cannot so extend; (3) in the sattra the distinction of yajamāna and priests does not exist but all are yajamānas and all work as priests, while in dvādaśāha that distinction exists; (4) (as a consequence of the above) in a sattra there are no dakṣiṇāṣ Kāt. XII. 1. 4 states that wherever in the vedic texts the words 'upayanti' and 'āsate' occur it is a sign of a ‘sattra’ (and so in that case the rules about sattras will apply) but where the word ‘yajate’ or ‘yājayet’ is used it is a sign of an ahīna. In an ahīna only the last day is an Atirātra, but in a sattra both the first and last days are Atirātras (Kāt. XII. 1. 6).

It is now necessary to say something about a few other striking sacrificeṣ

Rājasūya.—This is strictly not a purely soma sacrifice, but it is a most complex ceremony extending over a very long period (more than two years) and comprising a number of separate iṣṭis (like the one to Anumatī), Soma sacrifices (like Pavitra) and animal sacrifices (Kāt. XV. 1. 3). Even the briefest statement of the several rites will occupy many pageṣ An attempt will be made to indicate only a few salient featureṣ

This ceremony could be performed only ¹² by a kṣatriya. There was a difference of view, some holding that it could be performed only by him who had not celebrated the Vājapeya (Kāt. XV. 1. 2), while others held that it should be celebrated after Vājapeya (Aśv. IX. 9. 19). In the Śat. Br. IX. 3. 4. 8 it is said 'by performing the Rājasūya one becomes a king (rājan) and by the Vājapeya an emperor (samrāṭ) and the position of the king is (obtained) first and thereafter of emperor.' On the first day of the bright half of Phālguna the sacrificer under-goes dīkṣā for a soma sacrifice called Pavitra, which follows the procedure of Agniṣṭoma (Lāṭ. IX. 1. 2, Aśv. IX. 3. 2, Kāṭ. XV. 1. 6). There was difference of opinion as to the number of dīkṣā days (Lāṭ. IX. 1. 8, Kāṭ. XV. 1. 4). The Abhiṣecaniya ceremony which is the principal among the rites of Rājasūya took place exactly a year after the Pavitra sacrifice was commenced (Lāṭ. IX. 1. 4). At the end of the Abhiṣecanīya the sacrificer did not actually enter into water for the final bath (avabhṛtha ), but wearing shoes made of boar-skin he repaired from the sacrificial ground ( devayajana ) to the water, put into the water black antelope horn or the foot portion of a black antelope skin and returned wearing shoes of black antelope skin (Lāṭ. IX. 1. 23–24 ).

There are five offerings commencing the next day after the Pavitra sacrifice, one each on one day. Then on the Full Moon of Phālguna there is an iṣṭi to Anumati ( a purodāśa being offered ). Vide Kāṭ. XV. 1. 9 and Āp. XVIII. 8. 10. There is an offering to Nirṛti prepared from the particles of grains that fall to the west of the śamyā from the mill-stone when the particles are taken in the sruvā and a firebrand being lighted from the dakṣiṇa fire, the offering is made to the south of the vihāra on that fire-brand or on some saltish lanḍ On the full moon day of Phālguna are begun the cāturmāsyas ( i. e. first the Vaiśvadeva, then after four months Varuṇapraghāsas and so on ). This goes on for one year. Between the parvans of the cāturmāsyas, the monthly full moon and new moon sacrifices are performeḍ The cāturmāsyas come to an end with the Sunāsīrīya parva on the first of the bright half of Phālguna. After that several rites follow such as the Pañcavātīya in five fires in the four directions and in the middle ( Āp. XVIII. 9. 10–11, Kāṭ. XV. 1. 20–21 ), the Apāmārga-homa ( Āp. XVIII. 9. 15–20, Kāṭ. XV. 2. 1 ff. ). Then there are twelve offerings called 'ratninām¹³ haviṁṣi' performed on twelve days one after another in the houses of the ‘ratnas’ (jewels) viz. of the sacrificer himself, his queens and state functionaries ( Kāt. XV. 3 and Ap. XVIII. 10). The deity to whom an offering is made is appropriate to the person in whose house the offering is made and the offerings and fees also differ. The twelve persons (according to Kāt.) are the sacrificer, the commander of the army, the purohita, the crowned queen, the sūta (minstrel ?), grāmāṇī (village headman), the kṣattr (chamberlain), saṁgra- hītṛ (treasurer or charioteer ?), akṣāvāpa (superintendent of gambling), govikarta (hunter ?), dūta or pālāgala (courier), parivṛkti (the discarded queen) and the deities respectively are Indra, Agni Anikavat, Bṛhaspati, Aditi, Varuṇa, Maruts, Savitṛ, Aśvins, Rudra (for both akṣāvāpa and govikarta), Agni, Nirṛti (the offering in this case is a caru of black rice husked with the nails). The dakṣiṇās also vary (vide Ap. XVIII. 10. 15-30, Kāt. XV. 3. 16-34). Then follow several offeringṣ Then comes the Abhiṣecanīya rite which is the central ceremony in Rājasūya and which lasts for five days (one day dīkṣā, three days upasads and one sutyā day of soma pressings). The dīkṣā of Abhiṣecanīya (anointing rite) is performed on the first of Caitra. It is performed on the southern part of the sacrificial ground while the Daśapeya is performed on the northern portioṇ In the Abhiṣecanīya and Daśapeya the hotṛ must be of the Bhṛgugotra (Tāṇḍya Br. XVIII. 9. 2, Kāt. XV. 4. 1, Śāṇ XV. 13. 2). The Abhiṣecanīya follows the procedure of the Ukthya. Soma is bought for both Abhiṣecanīya and Daśapeya at the same time, but half of it (for Daśapeya) is deposited, after being carried in a cart, in the house of the brahmā priest. Then there are eight offerings of caru called Devasū-haviṁși viz. to Savitṛ, Agni Gṛhapati, Soma Vanaspati, Bṛhaspati, Indra, Rudra, Mitra, Varuṇa. According to Ap. XVIII. 12. 7-8 after these eight offer- ings the brahmā priest announces to the ‘ratnins’ that the sacrificer is their king and refers to the tribes or people occupying the country. ¹⁴ Vide Kāt. XV. 4. 15-17 also. At the end of iḍā in the case of these caru offerings the priest brings waters of seventeen kinds in seventeen vessels of udumbara wood, viz. of the Sarasvatī river, flowing water of a river, water from ripples produced by the entrance of a man or animal, water from a river drawn against the current, water of the sea, of ocean waves, of whirl-pools, of deep steady reservoirs always exposed to the sun, rain water in sunshine before it falls on the ground, of a lake, of a well, of frost &c. (Kāt. XV. 4. 21-42, Āp. XVIII 13. 1-18). All the waters are poured into a vat of udumbara which is placed near the seat of Maitrāvaruna. After the Marutvatīya cup is offered in the Ukthya rite, he spreads to the east of the vessel of water a tiger skin on the western end of which lead is placeḍ Six homas called Pārtha¹⁵ are offered (Āp. XVIII. 15. 8, Kāt. XV. 5. 34) and then with a gold piece tied in two kuśa blades the water in the big vessel is cleansed (that is utpavana is performed) and is distributed in four vessels made of palāśa, udumbara, nyagrodha and aśvattha. The sacrificer wears a silken garment (tārpya, explained by Kāt. XV. 5. 7-11), a white turban (one end of which hangs from the shoulder) and a mantle. The sacrificer recites the Avid formulae¹⁶ (Āp. XVIII. 14. 10, Kāt. XV. 5. 21, which refers to Vāj. S. X. 9). The adhvaryu gives a strung bow and three arrows to the sacrificer, who puts a copper piece in the mouth of a long haired man (eunuch) for averting evil (from spirits and snakes?); vide Vāj. S. X. 10. The sacrificer treads upon the piece of lead and brushes it away with his foot and stands on the tiger-skin with a gold piece under his foot and has a fillet of gold on his heaḍ The sacrificer holds up his armṣ He strides in the quarterṣ The sacrificer stands facing the east and the adhvaryu, standing in front of him, first sprinkles him with the holy water contained in the vessel of palāśa, the other priests follow viz. the brahmā sprinkles him from the right with water in udumbara vessel and so oṇ Besides, the king’s brother (Kāt. XV. 5. 30) or another kṣatriya (Āp. XVIII. 16. 3) sprinkles him with water from the udumbara vessel, a friendly kṣatriya from the third vessel and a vaiśya from the fourth (Āp. XVIII. 16. 3-5 says a kṣatriya sprinkles water from udumbara vessel, a vaiśya sprinkles from behind the king with water from aśvattha vessel and a friend from the common people sprinkles from the north side with water in the nyagrodha vessel ). These actions are probably symbolic of the consent of all people to the anointing. The sacrificer rubs with the antelope horn over the whole of his body the holy water sprinkled over him ( Kāt. XV. 6. 8 ). According to Kāt. XV. 6. 1–2 at this stage or after the dice play ( to be described later ) the hotṛ priest sitting on a cushion inlaid with gold recites the story of Sunahśepa¹⁷ for the sacrificer’s benefit. Āp. XVIII, 19. 10 places this recital after the dice-play. Āśv. IX. 3. 9 says that the story of Sunahśepa is recited to the anointed king after the marutvatīya śāstra in the Abhiṣecaniya rite ( and before the Niṣkevalya śāstra ), the king being seated on a golden cushion and surrounded by his son and ministerṣ The adhvaryu also sits on a cushion inlaid with gold and utters the responses ( pratigara ) uttering ‘om’ ( as the pratigara ) at the end of each ṛk and ‘tathā’ at the end of each gātha.¹⁸ At the end of the recitation the sacrificer donates a hundred or a thousand cows to the hotṛ and to the adhvaryu and donates also their respective cushionṣ The king takes three strides called Viṣṇukrama on the tiger-hide. All the remnants of the anointing waters are poured in the palāśa vessel and are handed over by the anointed king to his son with the words ‘ May my son continue this my work and this my prowesṣ’ Then two homas are offered ( called nāmavyatiṣañjanīya ) in which at first the son is declared to be the father of his father and then secondly the relationship is rightly put.¹⁹ Vide Āp. XVIII, 16. 14–15, Kāt. XV. 6. 11. Then there is a symbolic march for the plunder of cowṣ As in Vājapeya a chariot is made ready, four horses are stoked to it, the sacrificer ascends it, takes the chariot in the midst of a group of hundred or more cows belonging to his kinsmen collected to the north of the āhavanīya, touches one of them with the string of his bow and says 'I seize these.' Then he restores to the owner as many cows as are collected or more and returns to the sacrificial ground and makes four offerings called Rathavimocanīya. Vide Kāt. XV. 6. 13-23. Lāt. ( IX. 1. 14-22 ) gives a more graphic account that at the time of giving gifts, the king's kinsmen are collected with their wealth, arrows are discharged at them by the sacrificer, they themselves bring back the arrows and declare 'O king, may you be victoriouṣ' One-third of their wealth is distributed among the priests, one-third is given at the time of the Daśāpeya to the worthy brāhmaṇas brought in that rite, one-third is returned to the kinsmen, villages are bestowed on them and they become rājanyas ( king's nobles ) but not worthy of coronatioṇ Before getting down from the chariot he puts on boar-skin shoes, bows to the earth with 'O mother earth! do not injure me nor may I injure thee' ( Vāj. S. X. 23, Tai. S. I. 8. 15. 1). The king then sits on a chair or throne made of khadira that is placed in front of the agnīdhriya shed ( Āp. XVIII. 18. 5-8, Kāt. XV. 7. 1-4). The priests and the 'ratnins' take seats round him; the brāhmā priest ( the purohita or adhvaryu according to Kāt. XV. 7. 11) hands over the sphya to the king, from whom it passes on to several persons viz. the king's brother, sūta, sthapati, village headman, kinsman ( Āp XVIII. 18. 14-16). According to Kāt. (XV. 7. 13) the kinsmen and the pratiprasthātṛ mark out a place for dice play with the sphya (according to Āp. XVIII. 18. 16 the superintendent of gambling does so). On the ground so marked a quadrangular hut or shed is erecteḍ Five dice are handed over to the king who is lightly struck by the priests with sticks of sacrificial treeṣ The king calls as umpires (upadraṣṭṛ) the saṁgrahītṛ, the bhāgadugha ( collector of taxes ) and the kṣattṛ ( Āp. XVIII. 19. 6-8). The play is so arranged that the best throw (of the dice) comes to the king and the worst to his kinsmaṇ²⁰ It appears that the dice play required golden pieces also beyond a hundred or a thousand in number ( Āp. XVIII. 19. 1). According to Kāt. (XV. 7. 25-26) the king actually undergoes the avabhṛtha bath, while Lātyāyana as stated above differṣ After the offering of anubandhyā cow and the performance of the udavasānīyā iṣṭi, a cake prepared from a mixture of rice and barley and baked on twelve potsherds is offered to Indra and Viṣṇu. For ten days after the Abhiṣecaniya he offers successively on each day offerings called 'samṣrpām haviṃși' respectively to Savitr, Sarasvatī, Tvaṣṭr, Pūṣan, Indra, Bṛhaspati, Varuṇa, Agni, Soma, Viṣṇu (Kāt. XV. 8. 1-4, Āp. XVIII. 20. 7 which says they are ten or seven and they begin with Agni; Āśv. IX. 4. 6 speaks of only seven). Each of these is offered in fire set up in a devayajana to the east of the preceding one and the last of the ten is offered in the shed prepared for the Daśapeya rite (Āp. XVIII. 20. 8-10, Kāt. XV. 8. 2-3). On each of the ten (or seven) iṣṭis (of samṣrpām haviṃși) he offers to the priests ordinary or golden lotus flowers and on the tenth day he wears a garland made of those flowerṣ That becomes his consecration (dīkṣā) for the next rite, viz. Daśapeya. Jaimini declares (in XI. 2. 57-62) that though soma is purchas-ed for both Abhiṣecanīya and Daśapeya at the same time (vide p. 1216 above), yet in the two ekāhas the whole procedure of soma sacrifices is repeateḍ A different proposition is stated in Kāt. XV. 8. 10-13 (except as to dīkṣā and avabhṛtha which are repeated in both rites). On the tenth day after the Abhiṣecanīya is finished the Daśapeya is performed (Lāṭ. IX. 2. 1, Kāt. XV. 8. 14 says on the 7th day i. e. on 7th of the bright half of Caitra). This rite is so called because in it each of the ten camasas (cups) of soma are partaken of by ten brāhmaṇas (Āśv. IX. 3. 18, Āp. XVIII. 21. 3). The brāhmaṇas are the ten ṛtviks who ordinarily partake of the soma in camasas plus 90 more (called anupraśarpakas) who possess special qualifications, viz. whose ten ancestors on the father's and mother's sides were masters of Vedic lore, had rigorously performed their duties and were engaged in holy actions and who had no sexual or marital alliances with non-brāhmaṇas²¹ (vide Āśv. IX. 3. 19-21, Śāṅ. XV. 14. 8-11). Kāt. XV. 8. 17 gives an option that one need not investigate whether the ten ancestors of each were soma- drinkers, but the one hundred brāhmaṇas should enter the sadas after reciting Vaj. S. X. 30.

Fees are prescribed at many of the constituent rites in Rājāsūya, but special fees are mentioned in connection with the Abhiṣecaṇīya and Daśapeya (Āśv. IX. 4. 2 ff). At the Abhiṣecaṇīya Āśv. recommends 32000 cows to each of the four principal priests, 16000 to each of the first assistants of the four, 8000 to each of the next four, 4000 to each of the last group of four (Āśv. IX. 4. 3-5). These come to the huge figure of 240000 cowṣ Vide Sāṇ XV. 16. 16-19 also for such large figureṣ At the Daśapeya 1000 cows are the fee and then there are special rewards for the 16 priests (Āśv. IX. 4. 7-20, Āp. XVIII. 21. 6-7, Kāt. XV. 8. 23-27, Lāt. IX. 2. 9-15) viz. a golden chain, a horse, a milch cow ( with calf ), a goat, two golden ear-rings, two silver ear-rings, twelve five year old pregnant cows, a barren cow, a round golden ornament (rukma), a hull, cotton cloth, a thick hempen piece of cloth, a cart full of barley drawn by an ox, an ox, a heifer, a young three year old hull respectively to udgātṛ, his three assistants, adhvaryu, pratiprasthātṛ, brahmā, maitrāvaruņa, hotṛ, brāhmaṇācchaṁsin, potṛ, neṣṭṛ, acchāvāka, āgnīdhra, unnetṛ and grāvastut.

For one year after the avabhṛtha bath in Daśapeya, the king has to keep certain observances ( called devavratas in Lāt. IX. 2. 17 ff) viz. he should not plunge in water for daily bath but should only rub his body with water, should always brush his teeth, pare his nails, should not cut his hair (hut may shave the mustache or beard), should sleep in the sacrificial fire-shed on a tiger-skin with its hair upwards, should daily offer fuel- sticks; his subjects (except brāhmaṇas) should not cut their hair for a year, nor should horses' hair be cut for a year. For a year he should never walk on the ground unless he wears shoes (Kāt. XV. 8. 29).

There are several minor offerings, such as those called pañcābila in four quarters and in the midst ( Kāt. XV. 9. 1-3), twelve prayuj offerings at the interval of a month or on two days (Kāt. XV. 9. 11-14, Āp. XVIII. 22. 5-7).

At the end of a year from the Daśapeya took place the rite called Keśavapanīya²² which followed the procedure of the Atirātra sacrifice (Āśv. IX. 3. 24) and in which hair grown for a year were cut off. About the exact time of the rite there were different viewṣ The coṃ on Āśv. says it was performed on some day in the bright half of Vaiśākha, while the coṃ on Kāt. XV. 9. 20 says that the pressing day of Keśavapaniya fell on the Full moon day of Jyeṣṭha. Vide also Lāt. IX. 3. 1-3. Then follow two rites called Vyuṣṭi-dvirātra (dvirātra for prosperity), which were respectively (first) an Agniṣṭoma and (the 2nd) an Atirātra performed at the interval of one month (Kāt. XV. 9. 21-23, Āśv. IX. 3. 25-26). There were several views about the time of their performance (Lāṭ. IX. 3. 5-9, Āp. XVIII. 22. 14-16). Then one month after the 2nd Vyuṣṭidvirātra (i. e. on Śrāvaṇa Full Moon day) was performed the rite called Kṣatradhṛti (lit. stability of martial power) which followed the procedure of Agniṣṭoma (Āśv. IX. 3. 27, Lāṭ. IX. 3. 13). Śāṅ. (XV. 16. 10-11) refers to the legend that Kurus lost in each battle because they did not offer the Kṣatra-dhṛti rite.²³ According to Śat. Br. V. 5. 6-9 in place of the Udavasānīyā there was the Traidhatavī iṣṭi in which a cake prepared of barley and rice mixed together was offereḍ This finished the Rājasūya, but one month after it in the bright half the Sautrāmaṇī iṣṭi was performeḍ This last is dealt with separately below.

It will have been seen that this complex rite is full of symbolic elements and also popular elements like dice-play.

In the sabhāparva of the Mahābhārata (chap. 33-35) there is a description of the Rājasūya performed by Yudhiṣṭhira, but it is of the vaguest sort and does not go into any detailṣ Vide Jai. IV. 4. 1-4 (the dice-play has no independent fruit and that it, though held for the cow referred to in Āp. XVIII. 19.2, is not an aṅga of the abhiṣecanīya only, but really of the whole Rājasūya), V. 2. 13-15 (in the offerings called Devasūhavīṁsi, which are prepared from several kinds of corn, the mortar is one for pounding all the corns one after another), XI. 4. 1-3, XI. 4. 4-7 (the priests chosen at the beginning should continue to work till the end), XI. 4. 8-10 (about the offerings in the houses of the 'ratnins'), XI. 4. 43 (the mantra recited at the time of beating corn in the mortar has to be repeated in the Devasūhavimṣi) ; II. 3. 3 (holds that the iṣṭi in which puroḍāśas are offered to Agni and others and in which the fees are various such as gold and which is called Aveṣṭi is a separate iṣṭi and that though in the Rājasūya it is performed only by a king, it can be performed independently of Rājasūya by a brāhmaṇa in a somewhat different order of offerings).²⁴