The ritual system
By the tenth to eighth centuries BCE, the ritual system had become especially
complex. Its purpose was several fold: not least important, the sacrifice re-
enacted the creative process and maintained the socio-cosmic contract – that
is, as people did in the social order, the gods were invited to do in the cosmic
order. Their rituals also enacted the reciprocities between brahmans and
other communities; not coincidentally, this also enabled brahmans to retain
considerable hegemony as only they knew the correct formulations for
the rituals. In sum, the ritual enabled the community to affirm its place
in the socio-cosmic order.
There were two main types of rituals. S ́rautaor “corporate” rituals were
public rituals ranging from those done twice a day to those done for specific
seasons and those done for grand occasions. The agnihotra, for example, was
a daily sacrifice but was also done at the new and full moon and every four
months with seasonal change. The agnis.t.omaincluded the offering of soma
(the sap derived from the pressing of somaplants, which was believed to have
transformative power). By at least the eighth century BCEand beyond, large
sacrificial rituals were used in connection with the royal trappings of kings
or would-be kings. The ra ̄jasu ̄ya, for example, was a coronation ritual that
lasted some thirteen months and served to legitimate the role of the king.
In the as ́ vamedha(horse sacrifice), a special horse was maintained for over
a year only to be eventually sacrificed and dismembered; during this ritual,
the queen engaged in verbal intercourse with the dead horse – the entire
ritual was intended to valorize the status and authority of the king and to
assure continuing prosperity.^19
In these fire rituals, symbology was rich. The sacrificial hut, in which public
rituals were performed, became a representation of the universe; the fire
was homologized to the sun (and the somalibation to the moon). The sacri-
fice of animals was eventually replaced by the use of milk, itself symbolically
suggestive – for example, a ritual to bring harm to someone would use
the milk of a sick cow in libation. Numerical symbols were important. A
three-layered sacrificial hut would represent the three layers of the cosmos
and perhaps the three seasons (rain, heat, and harvest); a five-layered arena
offered the three primal layers plus two mid-spaces, etc.;^20 the upper layer
of the cosmos became known as svarga lokaand eventually brahma loka– that
is, bright or heavenly world nearly equal to the Milky Way. The sacrificial
altars were oriented to the east apparently because this upper space was
thought to be accessible by way of the North Star, seen in the east in
Northern India during the winter^21 and also because the rising sun was
thought to be an opening to those upper reaches.
Sources of Indian Religion 23