The Ashvamedha ritual/yajna did not exist in the the goddess based Indus River civilizations, much of Vedic practice does stem from, and is a blend of the ancient goddess practices, but this ritual seems to be purely Aryan, they loved their horses, just as todays guys, love their cars........
From Wikipedia:
The Vedic sacrifice
The Ashvamedha could only be conducted by a king (rājā). Its object was the acquisition of power and glory, the sovereignty over neighbouring provinces, and general prosperity of the kingdom.....
The horse is driven into water and bathed. After this, it is anointed with ghee by the chief queen and two other royal consorts. The chief queen anoints the fore-quarters, and the others the barrel and the hind-quarters. They also embellish the horse's head, neck, and tail with golden ornaments. The sacrificer offers the horse the remains of the night's oblation of grain...
Then the horse is slaughtered (YV VSM 23.15, tr. Griffith)
The chief queen ritually calls on the king's fellow wives for pity. The queens walk around the dead horse reciting mantras. The chief queen then has to mimic copulation with the dead horse, while the other queens ritually utter obscenities.......
...very trippy stuff
......
4/25/2008
LOL! Ancient and Modern Ritual
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5 comments:
Oh my god! I had no idea that THIS is what it is, been hearing about the Ashvameda ritual ever since I was a child...read about it in school so many times, but I never knew all this.
I can't wait to show this blog entry (and the wikipedia link you've put here) to a fellow I know; he' a Ph.D in hinduism & buddhism, and heads an Arya Samaj organisation in New Delhi...
I recently joined this organisation, my entire family has an arya samaj/sanatan dharma background.
(I am not religious by any yardstick - joined the organisation out of curiousity.)
Can't wait to show this to this Arya Samaj head.
Thanks so much for this.
So, for this to work, he'd need to crash his car into a bridge or something?
Hi MD,
I must say the revelations in this blog entry are nothing short of shocking!
My head's been spinning ever since I read it.
I had NO IDEA that this is what Ashwamedha is all about!
I had read a lot about Ashwameda back at school...it was a part of a 2 year long sanskrit elective that I opted for, but they didn't mention this dark side of Ashwamedha in those school level texts, and...I guess I don't blame them!
I was born into a hindu/aryasamaji/sanatan dharma family, but they were never really into religion apart from visits to the temple every now and then, for some family function etc.
A few months back I joined a New Delhi based AryaSamaji group because I quite like the head of the organisation, he is a very well read man...with a Ph.D in Hinduism from a gurukul somewhere in North India. He'll soon be declared a Maha Acharya ... head of all Acharya s belonging to a certain hindu-aryasamaji tradition in north india. There's plenty of maha acharya s arou nd in india, and perhaps elsewhere to o, but still its quite prestigious to be one.
This stuff about Ashwame dha - *my head is still spinning* - I will show this acharya your blog entry, as well as the wikipedia link on Ashwamedha - and ask him to explain what this is all about...and what perspective is correct, while analysing something so shocking.
This aryasamaji acharya - he is a gentle, peaceful, intelligent person, so discussing such controversial stuff will not lead to a futile argument.
Thanks so much for this information. I am indebted.
Hi Vikram,
input and interpretation of Ashwamedha is greatly appreciated, especially experts! The purpose of this blog is to study and explore the roots and many layers of meaning, exoteric and esoteric in these ancient systems and rituals, with understanding we may find applications for use today.....
btw: ancient peoples esoteric connection to the horse can be found in many cultures.... the Irish Enthronement ritual used a mare and the new king.
.... The Celtic tradition is remarkably similar to Vedic tradition, priestly Brahmins became intellectual, priestly caste of Druids..
to ignorant redneck:
Yes, crashing the car or exploding it would be necessary if we wanted to keep with tradition....the fire element is very important...
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