Kathasaritsagara (the Ocean of Story)

by Somadeva | 1924 | 1,023,469 words | ISBN-13: 9789350501351

This is the English translation of the Kathasaritsagara written by Somadeva around 1070. The principle story line revolves around prince Naravāhanadatta and his quest to become the emperor of the Vidhyādharas (‘celestial beings’). The work is one of the adoptations of the now lost Bṛhatkathā, a great Indian epic tale said to have been composed by ...

Note on the Aśvamedha, or horse-sacrifice

Note: this text is extracted from Book VIII, chapter 44.

The aśvamedha, or “horse-sacrifiee,” is without doubt one of the most ancient and important sacrifices in the whole of Indian ritual. Its origin is uncertain, but evidence seems to point to Scythia as its home. We are naturally reminded of the Greek sacrifices of horses to the sea-god. Similar rites have been recorded of the Russians and Chinese (see Frazer, Pausanias, vol. iv, pp. 197-198). There has always been a close connection between horses and the sea-god, and also with the sun. The latter connection is due not merely, I think, to the fact that the horse was the u vehicle” of the sun-god, but because, through its swiftness, strength and activity, it was itself a symbol of the sun.

In Ṛg-Veda days the horse was naturally a much prized animal, and it seems highly probable that horseflesh was eaten only at the aśvamedha, and then not as flesh, but as a means of imparting to the eater the strength and endurance of the horse.

The rite found its way into the Ṛg-Veda at a very early date, and two hymns (i, 162, l6S) describe the sacrifice. The most complete account, however, occurs in the Śatapatha-Brāhmaṇa (iii, 1-5) and the Taittiñya-Brāhmaṇa (iii, 8-9), as well as in certain ritualistic treatises, the Śraulasūtras.

The aśvamedha was the rite by which a king ratified his claim to suzerainty over his neighbours. It was, therefore, only performed by powerful monarchs whose strength, kingdom and wealth warranted such great privileges.

Among such kings may be mentioned Puṣyamitra, Samudragupta, Kumāragupta I, Ādityasena, Rājādhirāja Chola and Śivaskandavarman. In some cases coins were struck to celebrate the event. A reproduction of one of those issued by Samudragupta will be found on the back cover of each volume of the Ocean of Story.

Beginning first as a simple rite of sympathetic magic, the aśvamedha increased in intricate detail until it assumed really huge dimensions, both as regards the time it took to perform and the expense it involved. The benefits resulting from the sacrifice were manifold: undisputed power, success in fresh enterprises, extension of empire, the attainment of all personal wishes and general increase of strength.

Unlike other sacrifices, which were confined to the priesthood, the aśvamedha became a great State function in which the populace took part, and into which were introduced secular and even obscene customs, all of which, however, are of the greatest interest.

Although it is impossible here to give full details of the sacrifice, the following brief account will afford some idea of the main sequence of events.

The most auspicious season for the commencement of the aśvamedha was the spring, about six or seven days before the full moon of the month Phālguna. There were four principal officiating priests—the hotṛ, whose duties usually consisted in reciting verses from the (tig-Veda; the adhvaryu, who did all manual labour connected with the sacrifice; the brahman, who recited verses to Indra, the chief Vedic god of the Aryan warrior, whose chariot was drawn by tawny horses; and the udgātṛ, a singer of the Sāma-Vēda school.

The adhvaryu prepared a kind of rice-porridge ( brahmaudana) sufficient for four persons, which the four priests ate. He then hung a gold ornament on the king who was making the sacrifice, and he, in his turn, presented the priests with four thousand cows and four gold plates of a hundred grains each (*.«. four hundred gold pieces). All these acts had symbolic meanings which helped to assure the success of the sacrifice and the full attainment of all desires of the sacrificer. In attendance on the king were four of his wives adorned with gold ornaments—the consecrated queen, the favourite, a discarded wife and a Pālāgatii.e. low-caste daughter of a courier.

He now entered the hall of the sacrificial fires by the eastern door, and his wives by the southern door. After the evening performance of the agnihōtra (see Vol. II, p. 257) had been completed, the king lay between the legs of his favourite wife, behind the gārhapatya hearth, his head facing the north. He did not, however, enjoy her, so that his restraint might lend weight to a successful reign. The other wives sat behind, and silence was preserved throughout the night. The following morning various offerings were made with full symbolical ritual and appropriate verses.

At this point the horse was led up. It had to be of pure breed, and was specially chosen for its speed, auspicious markings and colouring. Now the symbolical act of tethering to the sacrificial post began. A bridle of special length was anointed with the brahmaudana butter and put on its head, during which appropriate verses were recited. It was then led to a stagnant pool and ceremoniously sprinkled. A low-caste man took a “four-eyed” dog (i.e. with dark patches over each eye), killed it with a club of sidhraka wood, and placing the body on a mat or hoop of rattan let it float under the horse, at the same time pronouncing a formula to ensure the destruction of anyone attempting to hinder the consummation of the sacrifice.

The horse was now led back to the fire, where oblations were offered corresponding to the number of drops falling from the horse in the process of drying. After a long series of ceremonies, including the offering of cakes (purōdāśas) to Savitri and gifts to the priests, on the third day the horse was released in a north-easterly direction. It could roam at its own sweet will for a whole year, and was accompanied by a hundred old horses. A hundred princes of the blood, a hundred high-born sons, and a hundred low-born sons of the officials, all armed according to their rank and fully instructed in their duties, were told off to guard it from any attempt at theft, from bathing in unclean water, from traps, or any connection with mares. Local battles or even wars might result from an attempt to steal the horse (cf. Mahābhārata, XIV, lxxi, 14; and Mālavikāgnimitra, Act V, Tawney’s translation, p. 91). If it got lost or died another had to be taken and part of the previous ceremonies repeated.

During the year of the horse’s wanderings the secular element began to assert itself at home. Daily offerings were made to Savitri, and daily recitals were given by the hotṛ before the king and the three other chief priests, who were seated on golden thrones. Festivities of various kinds were freely indulged in by the people—singing, lute-playing, dramatic entertainments, story-telling, etc. The recitations of the hotṛ and the rites preceding the first appearance of the horse were repeated daily for the year. On its return the main ceremony began.

The dīkṣā, or consecration of the king, took place first. The place of sacrifice must lie to the east, with water in the vicinity. Twenty-one posts were erected, to each of which an animal was tied. The complete ceremony lasted three days. On the first day the animals were sacrificed to Agni-Soma and the heavenly Soma was pressed. On the second day, after singing hymns, the horse was yoked to a golden chariot with three other horses, all decked with gold, and driven to a pool, where it bathed. On its return the first three wives, according to their rank, anointed its fore, middle and hind quarters, at the same time weaving a hundred and one golden ornaments into its mane and tail, accompanied by the necessary formulae. A corn oblation was then offered the horse, which, if not eaten, was thrown into the water.

At this juncture began the famous brahmodya, or asking of poetical riddles. Only the hotṛ and the brahman took part in this. (It is hard to explain the custom of asking riddles at certain times and in certain ceremonies as found in so many parts of the world. Frazer, Golden Bough, vol. ix, p. 121n3, suggests that they might have originally been circumlocutions adopted at times when for certain reasons the speaker was forbidden the use of direct terms.) The horse was now bound with a he-goat to the sacrificial post, and several hundreds of other animals were bound to similar posts.

The horse was then smothered with robes. The corpse was thereupon circumambulated three times from both directions, by the wives, who fanned it. The head queen proceeded to lie down next the horse and was covered with a cloak. In that position she performed a very obscene act with the horse symbolising the transmission to her of its great powers of fertility. Meanwhile the priests and women took part in a series of questions and answers, usually of a very free nature.

On the queen getting up, the horse was cut up, the way of the knife being directed by the three wives with a hundred and one needles each, of gold, silver and copper, according to their respective ranks. Another series of riddle-asking followed, and then came the roasting of the horse and offering it to Prajāpati. The third day was taken up with the purification of the sacrificer, and the giving of large presents, usually captured booty, to the priests.

For further details reference should be made to Eggeling’s translation of the Śatapatha-Brāhmaṇa, Sacred Books of the East, vol. xliv, pp. 15 etseq., and 274-403; Barnett, Antiquities of India, pp. 169-171; K. Geldner, “Aśvamedha,” Hastings’ Ency. Bel. Eth., vol. ii, p. l60; and Hillebrandt, Bituallitteralur, Grundriss der Indo-Arischen Philologie und Altertumskunde, vol. iii, part ii, pp. 149-152.—n.m.p.

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