Introduction

xxii:2 See, for instance, Sat. Br. IV, 1, 4, 2; V, 3, 2, 4; IX, 4, 2, 16; Maitr. S. IV, 5, 8; Taitt. Br. III, 1, 2, 7 (kshatrasya râgâ Varunoऽdhirâgah). xxiii:1 Since all the gods are concerned in the Asvamedha-whence the horse is called 'vaisvadeva'--Indra would of course have a general interest in it. Indra is also associated with the horse in so far as he is said to have first mounted it, Rig-veda I, 163, 2, 9. Indra's two bays (harî) of course belong to a different conception. xxiii:2 Âpo vai Varunah, Maitr. S. IV, 8, 5. xxiv:1 This, no doubt, might possibly be taken to mean 'Pragâpati led away the horse for Varuna,' but Dr. Hillebrandt could hardly have meant it in this sense, since his argument apparently is that the horse (like Varuna himself) represents the aqueous element, and that thus, by taking to himself the horse, Pragâpati incurs dropsy. The exact point which interests us here, viz. the relation between Pragâpati and Varuna as regards the sacrificial horse, lies outside Dr. Hillebrandt's inquiry. xxiv:2 In Dr. Hillebrandt's interpretation, it is also not quite easy to see in what way Pragâpati, by carrying off Varuna's horse, impaired--'griff an,' attacked, assailed--his own godhead. One might possibly refer 'svâm' to the horse, but this would make the construction rather harsh. The verb 'nî' here would seem to refer to the leading up of the sacrificial horse to the offering-ground, either for being set free for a year's roaming, or for sacrifice, for both of which acts the verb 'ud-â-nî'--i.e. to lead up the horse from the water where it was washed--is used (Sat. Br. XIII, 4, 2, 1; 5, 1, 16).

xxv:1 Rig-veda S. I, 162, 2. 'When, held by the mouth (by the bridle)., they lead round the offering of the (horse) covered with rich trappings, the all-coloured he-goat goes bleating in front right eastwards to the dear seat of Indra and Pûshan. 3. This he-goat, fit for all the gods, is led in front of the swift horse as Pûshan's share; like (?) the welcome cake, Tvashtri promotes it, along with the steed, to great glory. 4. When thrice the men duly lead around the horse meet for offering along the way to the gods, then the he-goat walks first, announcing the sacrifice to the gods. . . . 16. The cloth which they spread (for the horse to lie upon) and the upper cloth and the gold, the halter, the steed, the shackle--these they bring up as acceptable to the gods.'--I, 163, 12. 'Forth came the swift steed to the slaughter, musing with reverent mind; his mate, the he-goat, is led in front; and behind go the wise singers.' xxv:2 According to the Taittirîyas, this second he-goat is tied to the cord surrounding the horse's limbs somewhere above the neck of the horse. xxvi:1 See , note 5. xxvi:2 It has even been supposed to be merely a condensed version of a comparatively modern work ascribed to Gaimini, the (Asvamedha-parvan of the) Gaimini-Bhârata. xxvii:1 Vyâsa remarks to Yudhishthira (XIV, 2071), For the Asvamedha, O king of kings, cleanses away all ill-deeds: by performing it thou wilt without doubt become free from sin.' Cf. Sat. Br. XIII, 3, 1, 1, 'Thereby the gods redeem all sin, yea, even the slaying of a Brahman they thereby redeem; and he who performs the Asvamedha redeems all sin, he redeems even the slaying of a Brahman.' As a rule, however, greater stress is laid in the Brâhmana on the efficacy of the ceremonial in ensuring supreme sway to the king, and security of life and property to his subjects.

xxvii:2 The 'rukma' is borne by the Agnikit, or builder of a fire-altar, which is required for the Asvamedha; cf. VI, 7, 1, 1. xxvii:3 It is carefully selected by charioteers and priests, Mahâbh. XIV, 2087. xxvii:4 Whilst, according to the Brâhmana (XIII, 4, 2, 5), the body of 'keepers' is to consist of 100 royal princes clad in armour, 100 noblemen armed with swords, 100 sons of heralds and headmen bearing quivers and arrows, and 100 sons of attendants and charioteers bearing staves; the epic gives no details, except that it states that 'a disciple of Yâgñavalkya, skilled in sacrificial rites, and well-versed in the Veda, went along with the son of Prithâ to perform the propitiatory rites,' and that 'many Brâhmanas conversant with the Veda, and many Kshatriyas followed him at the king's behest.' xxviii:1 That is, real or symbolic, only the domesticated animals being offered, whilst the wild ones are set free after the ceremony of 'paryagnikarana.' Amongst these animals the poet curiously enough also mentions (XIV, 2542) 'vriddhastriyah,' which Pratâpa Chandra Ray translates by 'old women.' This is of course impossible; if it is not a wrong reading, it has doubtless to be taken in the sense of 'old female (kine),' probably the (25) barren cows offered at the end of the Asvamedha to Mitra-Varuna, the Visve Devâh, and Brihaspati (XIII, 5, 4, 25) being intended. In its enumeration of the victims, the Taitt. Samhitâ (V, 6, 21) indeed mentions 'vairâgî purushî,' taken by the commentator to mean 'two human females consecrated to Virâg.' If it be for this or a similar purpose that the 'vriddha-striyah' were intended, we may refer to Taitt. Br. III, 9, 8, where it is distinctly stated that 'the man' and the wild animals are to be released as soon as the 'paryagnikaranam' has been performed on them. But no 'man' being mentioned amongst the victims, Sâyana p. xxix takes the 'purusham' here to refer to the 'vairâgî purushî' mentioned in the Samhitâ. Perhaps, however, this passage has rather a wider sense, referring to human victims generally at any sacrifice.

xxix:1 Draupadî's Asva-upasamvesanam is referred to, but no further particulars are mentioned. xxix:2 The king's object, in performing the sacrifice, was to obtain the birth of a son. Cf. Sat. Br. XIII, 1, 9, 9, 'for from of old a hero was born to him who had performed the (Asvamedha) sacrifice.' xxx:1 Whilst cattle-lifting generally, such as formed the object of the invasion of the land of the Matsyas by the Trigartas (as related in the Virâta-parvan), was probably a practice pretty prevalent from ancient times, the stealing of the sacrificial horse would offer an additional temptation, from the political point of view, on account of the exceptional character of the animal as the symbol of its master's claim to paramountcy. xxx:2 Sat. Br. XIII, 1, 6, 3; Taitt. Br. III, 8, 9, 4. xxx:3 One might feel inclined to take this specification of that month as implying the existence, at the poet's time, of the practice of confining the horse in a pen or shed (made of Asvattha palings) during the last two months, mentioned Taitt. Br. III, 8, 12, 2. xxxi:1 See XIII, I, 5, 1 seqq.; 4, 2, 8 seqq.; Taitt. Br. III, 9, 14. In connection with the revolving legend,' the conductors of bands of lute-players seem to have sung additional stanzas in which the royal Sacrificer was associated with pious kings of old; see XIII, 4, 3, 3. xxxii:1 It is hardly likely that some of the texts mentioned (devaganavidyâ, sarpavidyâ, &c.) refer merely to portions of the Vedic texts.

xxxii:1 It is hardly likely that some of the texts mentioned (devaganavidyâ, sarpavidyâ, &c.) refer merely to portions of the Vedic texts. xxxii:2 The singing of stanzas in honour of the king, by a Brâhmana and a Kshatriya, with the accompaniment of lutes, on the other hand, does form part of the Taittirîya ritual. Taitt. Br. III, 9, 24. xxxiii:1 Whilst the three Samhitâs contain no section relating to the Purushamedha, the Taittirîya-brâhmana (III, 4) enumerates the (symbolic) human victims in much the same way as does the Vâgasaneyi-samhitâ (see the present vol. p. 413 seqq.); and the Âpastamba-sûtra makes the performance similar to what it is in the White Yagus texts. The Vaitâna-sûtra of the Atharva-veda also makes it a five days’ performance. xxxiii:2 Like the chapter on the Asvamedha, that on the Purushamedha is stated to be taken from the Mahâ-Kaushîtaki-brâhmana. xxxiii:3 On this question see especially A. Weber, Zeitsch. d. D. M. G. 18, p. 262 ff., repr. in Indische Streifen, II, p. 54 ff. xxxiv:1 See part iii, p. 95. xxxiv:2 Cf. Max Müller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 108 ff.; M. Hang, Aitareya-brâhmana, II, p. 460 ff.; R. Roth, Weber's Ind. Stud. I, 475 ff.; II, 112 ff. xxxv:1 The earliest reference to the myth or story of Sunahsepa is in Rig-veda I, 24, 11-13; V, 2, 7, where he is apparently alluded to as having been actually p. xxxvi rescued from the stake, or from (three) stakes to which he was bound either for sacrifice, or, as Roth prefers, for torture.

xxxv:1 The earliest reference to the myth or story of Sunahsepa is in Rig-veda I, 24, 11-13; V, 2, 7, where he is apparently alluded to as having been actually p. xxxvi rescued from the stake, or from (three) stakes to which he was bound either for sacrifice, or, as Roth prefers, for torture. xxxvi:1 In the Sabhâparvan of the Mahâbhârata (II, 6275 seqq.),, as was first pointed out by Lassen, Krishna accuses Garâsandha, king of Magadha and Kedi, residing at Mathurâ, of having carried off numerous vanquished kings and princes to his city, and keeping them confined in his mountain stronghold with a view to afterwards sacrificing them (at his Râgasûya) to the lord of Umâ (Rudra); adding subsequently (v. 864) that 'the immolation of men was never seen at any time.' xxxvi:2 His own mime 'Agîgarta,' on the other hand, is taken by the St. Petersburg Dictionary to mean 'one who has nothing to swallow,' and would thus be merely descriptive of his condition of life. xxxvii:1 Viz. in their connection with the Atharva-veda. In Mahâbh. V, 548-51 Aṅgiras praises Indra by means of 'Atharvavedamantraih.' Cf. Weber, Ind. Stud. I, p. 237. xxxvii:2 Both in making the fire-pan (ukhâ) and in laying down the bricks of the fire-altar, the expression 'aṅgirasvat' (as in the case of Aṅgiras) frequently occurs in the formulas; cf. VI, 1, 2, 28; 3, 1, 38 ff.; 4, 1, 1 ff. xxxvii:3 All that is said in the Brâhmana regarding the headless bodies of the five victims is (VI, 2, 1, 7 seqq.) that Pragâpati, having cut off the heads, and put them on (the altar, i.e. on himself), plunged four of the trunks into the water, and brought the sacrifice to a completion by (offering) the he-goat (not a he-goat, as translated), and that he subsequently gathered up the water and mud (clay) in which those corpses had lain, and used them for making bricks for the altar. The view that the other four bodies should likewise he offered is rejected by the author, who rather seems to suggest that they should be allowed to float away on the water.

xxxvii:4 A very similar passage occurs in Ait. Br. VI, 8, on which cp. Max Müller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 420. xxxviii:1 This doubtless is what is meant (cf. Kâty. XVI, 1, 38); and 'atha' at the beginning of VI, 2, 2, 6 ought accordingly to have been taken in the rather unusual sense of 'or' (? 'or rather'), instead of then.' Cf. VI, 2, 2, 15. xxxviii:2 According to Âp. Sr. XVI, 17, 19-20, however, even if there is only one head (that of Vâyu's he-goat) all the formulas are to be pronounced over it. xxxviii:3 The Maitr. Samhitâ, however, does not seem to refer to this particular point in its Brâhmana sections. xxxix:1 Or, according to Âpastamba, for seven beans; the head to be that of a Kshatriya or a Vaisya killed either by an arrow-shot or by lightning, and apparently to be severed from the body at the time of purchase (which, as Professor Weber rightly remarks, is a merely symbolic one). As, however, the particulars given by Âpastamba are not mentioned in the older works, they may not unlikely have been introduced by him to meet some of the objections raised by the Vâgasaneyins to whose views he generally pays some attention. Otherwise the transaction might seem rather suspicious. xxxix:2 Taitt. S. V, 1, 83, indeed, seems to speak of the other four animals being set free after fire has been carried round, so that their sacrificial use would he merely symbolical. Whether in that case only the head of the one animal would be used, or the man's head along with it, seems doubtful.

xxxix:2 Taitt. S. V, 1, 83, indeed, seems to speak of the other four animals being set free after fire has been carried round, so that their sacrificial use would he merely symbolical. Whether in that case only the head of the one animal would be used, or the man's head along with it, seems doubtful. xxxix:3 Cf. Taitt. S. V, 5. xl:1 The compound 'nihshiddhapâpmânah (apagrâmâh) 'may possibly be meant in the sense that the evil deeds of the outcasts are driven out (prevented from troubling the peace of the village); Katy. XX, 8, 17-18, however, states that when the Sacrificer has stepped out (of the water), evil-doers enter (to bathe in the water) without having performed any (other) rites, and that they are then said to be 'purified by the Asvamedha.' xl:2 Besides the description of the ceremony in the present work (XIII, 6, 1-2, 20), only the Taittirîya-brâhmana (III, 4) seems to refer to it, enumerating merely the would-be victims who, according to Âpastamba, as quoted by Sâyana, are eventually set free. Professor Weber's suggestion that they may possibly at one time have been intended to be all of them slaughtered can hardly have been meant seriously. One might as well suppose that, at the Asvamedha, all the 'evil-doers' who, according to Kâtyâyana, are to bathe in the river, were meant to be drowned. xli:1 When the practice became generally recognised that the Sacrificer (and priests) should eat a portion of the offered victim, this alone would, as Professor Weber suggests, have tended to make human sacrifices impracticable.

xli:1 When the practice became generally recognised that the Sacrificer (and priests) should eat a portion of the offered victim, this alone would, as Professor Weber suggests, have tended to make human sacrifices impracticable. xlii:1 The Asvamedha section of the same work begins:--Pragâpati desired, 'May I gain all my desires, may I attain all attainments.' He beheld this three days’ sacrificial performance, the Asvamedha, and took it, and offered with it; and by offering with it he gained all his desires, and attained all attainments. xlii:2 See XIII, 4, 2, 6-17. xlii:3 See p. xxxii. xlii:4 See XIII, 2, 2, 2, seqq. xliii:1 That is, as it would seem, with a view to dissuading her husband from offering himself as a victim. xliv:1 Dr. Garbe, in his translation, makes this and the subsequent rules refer (erroneously I think) to the animal victims of rule 21. xlv:1 On this and other passages referred to the Mahâ-Kaushîtaka, cp. Professor Aufrecht's judicious remarks, Ait. Br., p. v. xlix:1 The Kaushîtaki-brâhmana (VIII, 3), on the other hand, seems to justify the prohibition on the ground that, prior to the first complete Soma-sacrifice, the body of the Sacrifice (and Sacrificer) is incomplete, and therefore not ready to receive its head, in the shape of the Pravargya. Hence also the same work allows the Pravargya to be performed at the first Soma-sacrifice of one who is thoroughly versed in the scriptures, since such a one is himself the body, or self, of the sacrifice. xlix:2 See XI, 1, 6, 10. l:1 Cf. A. Weber, Satapatha-brâhmana, p. xi.