2. Mistakes in Ritual

In broad sense, expiatory rites are performed for the removal of negative impacts or sinful activities in sacrificial ceremonies.^[1] In the early period, it was believed that any mistake committed knowingly or unknowingly in sacrificial rituals caused certain bad deeds to the sacrificer and the priests. Śatapathabrāhmaṇa gives some information about bad effects of mistakes. If the fires are put out at the time of sacrifice or the vessels are broken in the sacrifice, they are harmful mistakes. In the absence of expiations, it is said that the eldest son of the sacrificer would die. If during the time of sacrifice the Gārhapatya fire is put out, similarly an absence of expiation, the Gṛhapati would die and the family would be destroyed without the inheritor and the sacrificer would go to the yonder world.^[2] Taittarīya-brāhmaṇa gives another information about ritual mistakes, according to which the sacrificial mistakes and its bad deeds simultaneously affect the priest and sacrificer.^[3] Taittarīya-brāhmaṇa considered that in the absence of the expiatory rituals, the sacrifice does not give good results.^[4] It indicates the necessity of expiatory rites. In the age of the Brāhmaṇa texts, it was implicitly considered that all types of mistakes and damages affect the perfection of sacrifice and its good results. Aitareyabrāhmaṇa used to denote the word Chidra indicating ritual mistakes.^[5] The concept of ritual mistakes and its resolutions gradually spread all over India. The Brāhmaṇa texts obviously state that the bad effects affect the sacrificer and priest in the absence of expiatory rituals. These dogmatic ideas progressively affected all levels of people and they were forced to act expiatory rituals. The Karma and Punarjanma concepts momentously affected the concept of ritual mistakes. This Karma concept also induced fear to perform the reparatory rituals. Gradually the priestly class announced the importance of expiatory rituals and began amassing money and land in the way of expiatory Dāna and Dakṣiṇā.

In the Sūtra and Smṛti period, the concept and praxis of expiatory rites attained more powerful position. As a result, the concept of ritual mistakes gradually accomplished added power. The authors of Dharamaśātras laid down various expiations for social mistakes. The concept of ritual mistakes implies its close affinity to the concepts of Pāpa and Puṇya, because the early seers considered that good Karma results in Puṇya and the bad Karma results in Pāpa. Besides, they affirmed that the absence of expiations results in Pāpa. For the emancipation of Pāpa and attainment of Puṇya, the priestly class compulsory follows expiatory rites.