The Horse Sacrifice

Introduction

While going through various episodes of Mahabharata we have come across sacrificial ritual (yajna or yaaga) of various types. The Rajasooya conducted by Yudhishthira, himself, was an example. We have talked about various Yajnas conducted by sages in many of our stories. The horse sacrifice that we are going to witness is one such.

The basic feature of all is the same as is described briefly below. Outwardly, the hutments in which the rituals are held will look alike, though the exact form of the platform (citi) may differ. All will have the basic components like Agni Cayana, Pravargya, Somabhishavanam, Savana and Avabhritha Snana, as discussed below. The Mantras used may differ from one to another. The number of days may also vary from one to a complete year or even more.

The nature of the sacrifice, the animal or animals used, may also differ. Many may not have any animal sacrifice at all. Such sacrifices, the Yajnas, are said to be the highest point in the ritualistic part of Hinduism.

Babhruvahana arrives

The Naga king, Babhruvahana, was one among the early arrivals for the horse sacrifice. Being the son of the Pandava hero, he did not want to miss any part of the ritual and festivities. His step brother, Iravan, born of the Naga princess Uloopi had died fighting against the demon, Alambusha, on the eighth day of the great Mahabharata war. So, Babhruvahana came with his mother, Citrangada and step mother, Uloopi.

The Pandavas gave a warm welcome to their royal relations from the Naga land..The visitors were taken first to the palaces where Kunti, Dhritarashtra and Gandhari lived. Babhruvahana paid his respect to the elders of his father’s family. Next, they were taken to Subhadra, Draupadi and to the other queens of the Pandavas. All received the visitors with great warmth and bestowed them with precious gifts.

Babhruvahana, next went to Krishna and bowed at the feet of his father’s best friend and benefactor. Krishna received him with great love and gave him several valuable gifts.
The Pandavas, on their part, gave a golden chariot to the Naga king.

The main rituals

Vyasa arrived in time with all his famous disciples. He asked Yudhishthira to start the ceremony on the third day.

A triangular Citi (citi) resembling the wings of Garuda, made out of specially made bricks, had been prepared as the platform where all the main rituals were performed. Its perimeter measured eighteen arm lengths.


Agni Cayana

The first step in any important ritual offering to fire is to create fire by brushing two wooden pieces (araNi) against one another. This is technically called Agni Cayana. This was done with the chanting of appropriate Vedic hymns.

Pravargya

One of the important rituals was called the Pravargya, in which milk mixed with ghee was offered to the fire. The mixture helped to raise the flames high in the air, heaven wards. This was done on different occasions of the ritual.

Somaabhishavanam

Another important function was to crush the Soma (soma) vine, gathered ceremoniously in advance, ritually with its stem and leaves, on specially prepared wooden crucibles. The juice so extracted was the celebrated Soma wine, supposed to be the favourite of gods. The Soma was offered with special chanting of Vedic hymns.

Several Savanas (savana), to mark the auspicious occasion of the mornings, noon times and evenings, were performed in between the main rituals. Ghee was the main offering for these rituals.

The Animal Sacrifice

The most important part of the ritual was the killing of the sacrificial animals. Thirty heads of cattle including the sacrificial horse were already tied to individual posts or Yoopas. They were slaughtered in such a way that their born marrow (vapa) was formed for offering to the fire. The Vapa and every other prescribed part of the animal flesh were offered separately, accompanied by the chanting of appropriate Vedic texts. All those who participated in the ceremony, including the spectators, partook of the Soma, and the animal meat that was left over as the blessing (prasaada) of the sacrifice.

The concluding ceremony

The rituals lasted several days. The setting to fire of the hutments by the one conducting the ritual (yajamaana) marked the end of the sacrifice. Then, all those who participated went to the near by river and took the holy bath (avabrutha snaanam)..It is said that the holy bath wiped out all the sins of the Pandavas which they had accumulated by the killing of their kith and kin in the war.

The Festivities

The rituals were conducted in such an auspicious atmosphere and strictly according to the dictum of the scripts that all the celestial beings appeared in the sky to witness the events. The Gandharvas sang in ecstasy and Apsaras danced forgetting themselves. Even sage Narada arrived on the scene at that time playing on his Tamburu and singing divine music of which he was considered to be the master.

The Gifts

All those who had assembled including the Brahmins who performed and the others who watched said unanimously that there was nothing like the horse sacrifice of Yudhishthira that ever happened any where in this world or in others. Veda Vyasa was highly pleased. He suggested that the priests be offered three times the usual gift (dakshiNa) as the ritual was as good as done three times over. The Pandava king gladly obeyed the words of his mentor and grand father.

Yudhishthira was pleased beyond words. As a mark of his gratitude he offered his entire kingdom as gift (dakshiNa) to the sage. Vyasa smiled and said that he had no use of land. He would be willing to accept gold in its place. So, the Pandava king offered gold equivalent in value for all the land he possessed. Vyasa divided that also among all the Brahmins, keeping one part to himself. He, then, offered his share to Kunti, the queen mother of the Pandavas.

As was the custom, the priests also collected all the utensils and other objects used in the rituals as part of their claim.

Valuable gifts were given to all the guests according to their ranks. All started returning to their respective lands highly pleased with the great event. Yudhishthira expressed his gratitude to Krishna and Balarama and saw them off with gifts of priceless jewels.