B. Walker's Hindu World

[Prasad Velusamy]

Prof. A. W. Thraser gave the bio-data of Walker:
>Personal Information: Family: Born November 25, 1923, in Calcutta,

However, the Library of Congress and US universities list his year of
birth to be 1913.

Is Walker's azvamedha description correct?

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AUTHOR: Walker, George Benjamin, 1913-
TITLE: The Hindu world; an encyclopedic survey of Hinduism
IMPRINT: New York, Praeger [c1968]

HORSE SACRIFICE, or as is known in Sanskrit, the *asvamedha*, was a
special *soma* rite performed by kings of ancient India for extending
their dominion, obtaining offspring or atoning for a sin. Preparations
for the main sacrifice lasted for over a  year and the attendant
rituals were extremely elaborate.

The first *asvamedha* was said to have been performed by Brahma at
Prayaaga (Allaahaabad) to commemorate his recovery of the Vedas which
had been lost.  At the request of the gods, who were now jealous of
the sanctity accorded to Prayaaga, Brahma performed a second
*asvamedha* with ten horses at a spot in Benaaras named after the
incident the Dasasvamedha Ghaat, thus giving Benaaras greater merit
than Praayaga

The  *aswa* or the sacrificial horse was selected with great care,
and had to be a young male preferably white in colour.  It was bound
and bathed, consecrated with fire and offered different kinds of wheat
cakes for three days.  It was then set free to wander about at will,
accompanied by an escort of princes and retainers.  If the ceremony
was being performed for purporses of aggrandisement the wandersings of
the horse became a ritual feature of aggressive intent.  The king with
his army followed the horse, and all the territory through which the
animal passed was claimed as the king's domain.  If the territory
happened to belong to another ruler that ruler had either to establish
his sovereignty by battle or submit to the invading king.  If all went
well the king returned in triump with horse and army before the
completion of one year.


During their absence the continuity of the ceremonies had to be
maintained in the capital, and on the return of the horse the final
stage of asvamedha began.  In all the subsequent proceedings the
mahishi or chief queen played a significant role.  In the last phase
of the sacrifice was inaugurated with a new-moon rite enacted by the
king; he washed his mouth in a golden bowel, shaved his head and
beard, and seated himself on the lap of the chief queen while a short
mantra (chant) was recited.  After this the king and the chief queen
kept an all-night vigil before the sacred fire, and welcomed the
rising sun at dawn.

On the following day the first three queen entwined pearls or coins
into the horse's mane and tail, and then anointed the animal, the
chief queen the head, the second queen the back and the belly, and the
third the rump and tail.  The fourth queen just looked on, doing
nothing. On the same day a number of animals were sacrifices, fowls,
goats, cows and camel.  Some speak of a wider variety of offerings,
'from the elephant to the bee' (I,p.253); domestic and wild animals,
bird, fish and reptiles, totaling 609 animals in all, perhaps even a
human being.  Then followed the sacrifice of the horse. It is not
clear how this is done or whether a common practice was ever followed.
It was usual for the king and chief queen to assist in the killing of
the animal, which seems to have been hastened by strangling or
'stifling with robes'.

The four queens then walked around the dead animal nine  times,
fanning it with with their garments.  The horse was now identified
with the god Prajaapati, and the chief queen had to go through a
curious ceremony so that she might be impregnated with the deity's
seed.  She lay in the sacrificial pit and both queen and cadaver were
covered with a large sheet.  She then took hold of the horse's member
and went through the motions of union with the animal and performed
other acts of bestiality (III, p.80).  This was followed by a exchange
of obscene dialogue between the chief queen and the other queens and
the priests.  Some texts seem to suggest that four wives had
intercourse with the four officiating priests.  The whole ceremony is
believed to be part of a long-forgotten fertility rite (II, p.80) for
bringing prosperity to the realm.

Thereafter the *mahishi* marked out with metal needle the lines of
dissection on the carcass, the other queens assisting.  The flesh of
the animal was cooked and ritually eaten by the priests and other
participants and  the remainder was burned.  The sacrifice was brought
to an end with the chanting of mantras.

It was believed that the performance of one hundred asvamedhas would
enable a mortal king to become supreme over Indra and all the gods,
and gain mastery over the universe.  But as the proper performance of
each sacrifice took more than a year there is no record of a
historical king having carried out the full century, although some
rulers did sacrifice a hundred horses at a single ceremony.  Among the
historical monarchs who performed the single asvamedha were
Pushyamitra of the Sungas, Khaaravela of the Kalinga, Saatakarni of
the Saatavaahanas, Pravarasena of the Vaakaatakas, Bhavanaaga of the
Bhaarasivas, and the Gupta emperor Samudragupta.  The last asvamedha
was offered by the ruler of Jaipur in Rajputaana in about the middle
of the eighteen century A.D

Reference

I.  Chatterji, S. K. et al.  "The cultural Heritage of
India", Culcautta, Rev. Ed., 1958.

II. Chaudhuri, J. B. "The position of Women in Vedic
Ritual", Calcutta, 2nd Ed., 1956.

III.  Dasgupta, S. B. "Obscure Religious Cults",
Calcutta, 1946.


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