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{{Short description|Horse sacrifice ritual followed by the Śrauta tradition of Vedic religion}} | {{Short description|Horse sacrifice ritual followed by the Śrauta tradition of Vedic religion}} | ||
[[File:Ashwamedha yagna of yudhisthira.jpg |thumb| Ashwamedha yagna of [[Yudhisthira]] ]] | [[File:Ashwamedha yagna of yudhisthira.jpg |thumb| Ashwamedha yagna of [[Yudhisthira]] ]] | ||
The '''Ashvamedha''' ([[Sanskrit]]: {{lang|sa|अश्वमेध}} ''aśvamedhá'')<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Monier-Williams|first1=Monier|title=A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages|last2=Leumann|first2=E.|last3=Cappeller|first3=C.|publisher=Asian Educational Services|year=2005|pages=115}}</ref> was a [[horse sacrifice]] ritual followed by the [[Shrauta|Śrauta]] tradition of [[Historical Vedic religion|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 '''Ashvamedha''' ([[Sanskrit]]: {{lang|sa|अश्वमेध}} ''aśvamedhá'')<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Monier-Williams|first1=Monier|title=A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages|last2=Leumann|first2=E.|last3=Cappeller|first3=C.|publisher=Asian Educational Services|year=2005|pages=115}}</ref> was a [[horse sacrifice]] ritual followed by the [[Shrauta|Śrauta]] tradition of [[Historical Vedic religion|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. | ||
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On the twenty-sixth day,{{Sfn|Bose|2020|p=4}} the king was ritually purified, and the horse was yoked to a gilded [[chariot]], together with three other horses, and [[Rigveda]] (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.{{Sfn|Stutley|1969|p=259}}{{Sfn|Bose|2020|p=40}} They also embellished the horse's head, neck, and tail with golden ornaments and 101 or 109 pearls.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Renou|first=Louis|title=Vedic India|publisher=Susil Gupta|year=1957|pages=108–109|translator-last=Spratt|translator-first=Philip}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Karmakar|first=R. D.|date=1949|title=The Aśvamedha: Its Original Signification|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41784542|journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute|volume=30|pages=333|jstor=41784542|via=JSTOR}}</ref> After this, the horse, a hornless black-necked he-[[goat]], 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]] was attached under the horse's mouth. Two black-bellied he-goats dedicated to the [[Aśvins]] 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]]. Two goats with shaggy thighs were dedicated to [[Tvashtr|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]].{{Sfn|Stutley|1969|p=258}} 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.<ref name="Glucklich, 112" /> | On the twenty-sixth day,{{Sfn|Bose|2020|p=4}} the king was ritually purified, and the horse was yoked to a gilded [[chariot]], together with three other horses, and [[Rigveda]] (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.{{Sfn|Stutley|1969|p=259}}{{Sfn|Bose|2020|p=40}} They also embellished the horse's head, neck, and tail with golden ornaments and 101 or 109 pearls.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Renou|first=Louis|title=Vedic India|publisher=Susil Gupta|year=1957|pages=108–109|translator-last=Spratt|translator-first=Philip}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Karmakar|first=R. D.|date=1949|title=The Aśvamedha: Its Original Signification|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41784542|journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute|volume=30|pages=333|jstor=41784542|via=JSTOR}}</ref> After this, the horse, a hornless black-necked he-[[goat]], 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]] was attached under the horse's mouth. Two black-bellied he-goats dedicated to the [[Aśvins]] 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]]. Two goats with shaggy thighs were dedicated to [[Tvashtr|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]].{{Sfn|Stutley|1969|p=258}} 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.<ref name="Glucklich, 112" /> | ||
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.<ref name=":2" /> 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.<ref name="thomas">{{cite book|title=Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans: A Reconstruction and Historical Analysis of a Proto-Language and Proto-Culture. Part I: The Text. Part II: Bibliography, Indexes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M2aqp2n2mKkC&q=Ashvamedha|pages=402–403|author1=Thomas V. Gamkrelidze|author2= Vjaceslav V. Ivanov|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|year=1995|isbn = 9783110815030}}</ref><ref name=":2" />{{Sfn|Bose|2020|p=4-5}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dalal|first=Roshen|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Hinduism/zrk0AwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=hinduism+dalal+spending+one+night&pg=PT223&printsec=frontcover|title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|year=2014}}</ref> | 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.<ref name=":2" /> 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.<ref name="thomas">{{cite book|title=Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans: A Reconstruction and Historical Analysis of a Proto-Language and Proto-Culture. Part I: The Text. Part II: Bibliography, Indexes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M2aqp2n2mKkC&q=Ashvamedha|pages=402–403|author1=Thomas V. Gamkrelidze|author2= Vjaceslav V. Ivanov|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|year=1995|isbn = 9783110815030}}</ref><ref name=":2" />{{Sfn|Bose|2020|p=4-5}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dalal|first=Roshen|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Hinduism/zrk0AwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=hinduism+dalal+spending+one+night&pg=PT223&printsec=frontcover|title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|year=2014}}</ref> | ||