A. Moore (eds.), A Sourcebook in Indian
Philosophy, 1957.
Ashtavakra
(“eight bends”) In the Mahabharata,
the later of the two great Hindu epics,
Ashtavakra is a sage who is the sonof
Khagodara. According to tradition,
Ashtavakra is an exceptionally preco-
cious child, and this gets him into seri-
ous trouble. While he is still in his
mother’s womb, Ashtavakra corrects his
father’s pronunciation of a certain
mantra. In response his father curses
him to be bent, and when the child is
born he has eight bends in his body.
Despite his unusual appearance,
Ashtavakra becomes a learned sage and
is widely believed to be the author of the
Ashtavakragita(“Song of Ashtavakra”).
This text describes the philosophical
concept of monism, which is the belief
that a single Supreme Reality (named
Brahman) lies behind the entire uni-
verse, and that all things are merely dif-
fering manifestations of this reality.
Ashutosh
(“quickly satisfied”) Epithet of the god
Shiva. This name reflects Shiva’s rela-
tionship with his devotees (bhakta), as
well as his ultimate nature. When his
devotees approach him with sincerity,
he demands neither expensive offerings
nor prolonged worship, and he extends
his favor immediately. See Shiva.
Ashvalayana
Sage and author of one of the Grhya
Sutras, the manuals of domestic rites.
Ashvalayana’s work is one of the earliest to
mention the various life-cycle ceremonies
(samskaras) and is thus an important
source on these rites.
Ashvamedha
(“horse sacrifice”) Vedic sacrifice per-
formed to display and prove royal power.
In this sacrifice a specially consecrated
horse was released to roam as it wished,
followed by an armed band of the king’s
servants. When the horse wandered into a
neighboring ruler’s territory, that king had
two choices: He could either acknowledge
subordinate status to the king who
had released it, or he could attempt to
steal the horse, and do battle with the
king’s servants.
After one year of wandering, the horse
was brought back to the royal capital and
killed by suffocation or strangulation, so
that its bloodwould not be shed. After the
horse had been killed, the chief queen
would lie down next to it and simulate sex-
ual intercourse. When the instructions for
this ritual were first translated in the nine-
teenth century, this simulated intercourse
generated considerable horrified interest
among European scholars, even though it
was clearly a subsidiary part of the ritual.
The rite’s major emphasis was a cele-
bration of royal power, since the king per-
forming it was able to control the territory
covered in a year by a free-roaming horse.
The queen’s role, in contrast, seems aimed
at symbolically assuring the fertility of the
land. Historical records indicate that the
ashvamedha was performed until the
tenth century C.E. As with all other cases of
animal sacrifice, concerns about the
karmic consequences of slaughtering a
living being has been an important factor
in its discontinuation. See also karma.Ashvattha
The sacred fig tree, Ficus religiosa, which
in modern times is more commonly
known as the pipal. The ashvattha is
especially noted for its aerial roots,
which extend downward from some of
the limbs until they touch the ground, at
which point they take root themselves.
Because their roots can become sub-
sidiary trunks, ashvattha trees can
grow to be enormous. They have tradi-
tionally been favored as places for
asceticsto dwell, in part because of their
sacred associations and in part because
their dense foliage provides shelter from
the elements.Ashtavakra