INDIA. PART II. horse ascer Dhaumya. ters the horse. head mounts to heaven of Indra; but I shall go far above Swarga, because HISTORY OF in the present Yaga very many great and distinguished persons, such as Krishna, are here assembled together; and Krishna has not been present at other sacrifices, for which reason I shall go far beyond all other sacrificial horses.'" Then the horse was washed, and the scimitar was brought, Purity of the and Dhaumya put the scimitar into the hands of Bhíma and tained by bade him slay the horse. And Bhíma lifted up the scimitar to give the horse a blow, when Dhaumya said :-" O Bhíma, have patience a minute while I try the horse." So Dhaumya took hold of the horse's ear and squeezed it, when suddenly milk ran out to the astonishment of all present. Dhaumya then said to Bhima :-"I see that this horse is pure, and I am certain that this sacrifice is acceptable and will be accepted: Now strike!" So Bhíma struck a blow, and cut Bhima slaughoff the head of the horse; and no sooner was the head severed from the body, than it mounted towards the sky and The horse's soared out of sight, and the body fell down upon the spot. the sky. Then Krishna, and the other Rajas, and the Rishis, came up and opened the horse's belly; and when they had divided it a light came out of the belly, and no ordure was found therein.” And Krishna said:-"O Raja Yudhishthira, I have never beheld so clean and pure a horse; and I am now assured that this sacrifice of yours has reached the heaven of Vishnu." After Bhíma had opened the belly of the horse, the flesh offering of the began to smell of camphor; and Dhaumya took out the horse to Indra camphor-like flesh with the sacrificial ladles, and cast it upon the fire and made homa of it, and said:-" Indra, take this flesh which has become camphor!" At that moment, Indra, with a crowd of gods, entered the assembly. All present then paid their respects to Indra, who came up to Vyása, and took the remainder of the flesh that was become camphor, and gave a portion of it to each of the gods; and the smoke that arose from that fire was all perfumed. flesh of the and the gods. gratulates Yudhishthira. Then Krishna arose and came forward, and embraced Krishna conRaja Yudhishthira, and gave him joy of his sacrifice, and said::-"Be the sacrifice prosperous; for no one has ever performed the like, and the fame of it will last as long as the HISTORY OF World endures." PART II. the merits of Raja Yudhishthira replied:-" All that INDIA. has come to me has been entirely by your favour." Then Krishna, with all the Rajas and principal Rishis, poured pitchers of water over Yudhishthira and Draupadí, and bathed them. Then all that remained of the medicinal herbs that had been brought to make the homa, was reduced to powder, and a ball of it was given to each of the persons present to Distribution of eat; and by so doing Raja Yudhishthira gave to each one a the Aswamedha. share of the merit of that Aswamedha Yaga; and last of all Raja Yudhishthira partook of it himself. Then all the musical instruments struck up a symphony of rejoicing for the close of the Yaga; and Kuntí with all her maidens and dependents manifested every sign of joy, and bestowed great quantities of effects and goods in gratitude to the gods who had enabled her son to perform so great a Yaga and had accepted the sacrifice. And all the materials for the homa were collected into one place, and the Brahmans uttered blessings over them, and threw them all at once into the fire. General rejoicings. Yudhishthira's apologies to After this, Raja Yudhishthira arose and approached Vyása the sage. Vyása, and said:-"This Yaga, by your exertions and favour, is now brought to a close; how can I make sufficient apologies to you for your trouble?" Vyása replied: —“O Raja, you are my son, and it is my duty to sympathize with you in your concerns; therefore you have no need for making any apologies to me." The Raja then assigned over to Vyása certain estates well inhabited and cultivated, with abundance of goods and chattels; and Vyása transferred the Proportions of whole of them as free gifts to the Bráhmans. Raja Yud Assigns estates to Vyása, who transfers them to the Bráhmans. gifts to the Brahmans. hishthira then gave to each of the Brahmans who had performed the homa, and to each of those who had assisted in the Yaga, a chariot, an elephant, ten horses of the first quality, four maunds of gold, a hundred milch cows with gilded horns, two seers and a half of pearls, and four intelligent slaves, who had learned the Vedas and all other sciences; and to all the other Bráhmans, who had been present but had not taken a part in the ceremony, Raja YudYudhishthira's hishthira gave half as much. And when the Raja had finished bestowing his largesses upon the Brahmans, he apologies to the Rajas. INDIA. PART II. Distribution of turned to the Rajas, and made apologies to each; and he gave HISTORY OF to each of the great Rajas a thousand horses of the first quality, and a hundred war elephants, and one crore of gold coin; and to each of the Raja's wives he gave everything gifts. that was necessary for a bride on her wedding night, including gold and precious jewels and splendid clothes. Yudhishthira then gave to each of the sons, and kinsmen, and Double gifts to friends of Krishna, twice as much as he had given to the family. Rajas; and he went respectfully to Krishna, and said :-" I have nothing worthy of your acceptance; but since the Yaga has been completed under your favour, I make a free offering of all its acquired merits to you." Krishna's the Brálinians. Raja Yudhishthira then said to his brother Bhíma:- Bhima feasts "Take all the Bráhmans and feast them!" So Bhíma feasted all the Bráhmans with the best of victuals and drink in golden trays and vessels; and after the feast he gave the whole of the golden vessels to those Bráhmans. The assem- Departure of bly then broke up, and all the Rajas returned to their own quarters; and the next day Krishna took leave, and set off for Dwáraká; and all the other Rajas took leave in like manner and set off for their respective countries. the Rajas. foregoing de Aswamedha. The foregoing description of the Aswamedha of Review of the Raja Yudhishthira requires but little further com- scription of the ment. The rite of bathing calls for no remark, as it was and is performed at every important ceremony practised by the Hindús, and indeed is especially enjoined as a purifying rite by the Brahmanical law. The rite, in which the Raja ploughed the land set Ploughing the apart for the sacrifice, and the Rání sowed specimens fice a Scythian of all the grains that grew in the Raj, was no doubt an custom. ancient ceremony expressive of sovereignty, and appears to have been of Scythian or Buddhist origin. According to a Scythian tradition preserved by He- Scythian tradirodotus, a golden plough fell from heaven at a remote plough. period, and was for ever afterwards preserved by the place of sacri or Buddhist tion of a golden INDIA. PART II. Description in the Mahawanso of the plough ing of conse crated ground by a Buddhist sovereign. HISTORY OF Royal Tribe as one of the emblems of royalty.20 It is also still more remarkable that a golden plough was used by Buddhist sovereigns at the consecration of a monastery or temple; and a graphic description has been preserved in the Mahawanso of the performance of this ceremony by a monarch who reigned in the third century before the Christian era. The ground was first sprinkled with red sandal-wood, after which two elephants were harnessed to the golden plough, and the Buddhist Raja ploughed along the boundary line, accompanied by the priests and guarded by officials carrying staves of gold and silver. A large company of troops marched in procession, together with beautiful females carrying umbrellas and other decorations, and musicians playing every description of instrument; whilst gorgeous flags tingling with bells were carried in the air, as well as painted vases, glass mirrors, and garlands and baskets of flowers. In this way the Buddhist Raja ploughed the land, passing through many triumphant arches made of plantain trees, whilst a vast multitude waved their handkerchiefs in the air and rent the skies with their enthusiastic acclamations.21 The Buddhist procession. Description of the offering of the homa. To return, however, to the Aswamedha of Raja Yudhishthira. The attempt may now be made to separate those details which appear to belong to the Brahmanical offerings of the homa, from those which seem to refer to the sacrifice of the horse. The homa, consisting chiefly of ghee, was prepared in eight sacrificial pits, and was presented to the gods 20 Herodotus, Book IV. c. 5. It should be remarked that the plough was accompanied by a yoke, or battle-axe, and a drinking-cup. 21 Mahawanso, Turnour's translation, pages 98, 99. The Chinese traveller, Fa Hian, seems to have witnessed a similar ceremony which, like the above, was performed in the island of Ceylon. Travels of Fa Hian, chap. xxxix. INDIA. PART II. medicinal herbs homa. the religious by the homa. in sacrificial ladles through the medium of fire; and HISTORY OF on the present occasion samples of every vegetable, and every medicinal herb growing in the Raj, are Vegetables and said to have been likewise thrown into the homa. thrown into the When the presentation of homa was over, the remaining portion of the medicinal herbs was reduced to powder and formed into balls; and a ball was given to each person present. By this rite the Raja Distribution of was supposed to give to one and all a share of the re- merit acquired ligious merits which had been acquired by the performance of the sacrifice, and which was supposed to wipe off from the account of good and evil deeds, an indefinite number of the evil actions which had been previously committed by the individuals concerned. It should also be remarked that the offering of the Brahmans alone homa was exclusively performed by Bráhmans, under the superintendence of the mythical Vyása, and in the presence of all the Rishis who are famous in Brahmanical tradition. engaged, the sacrifice of or plates em cient times. It will now be seen that the sacrifice of the horse Description of was carried out in a very different fashion; and that the horse. the rite was performed not by Bráhmans, but by two of the Pandavas. The place of sacrifice is said to Golden bricks have been paved with bricks of gold; and this costly ployed in anarrangement was no doubt often carried out when the Aswamedha was performed by a rich and conquering Raja. Solomon overlaid not only the altars but the very temple itself with plates of gold; and amongst the treasures of Croesus were a number of golden bricks which may possibly have been cast for a similar purpose. 22 Round the place of sacrifice The victims tied eight pillars were set up, to which the horse, and perhaps other animals, were tied. The rite was per- Rite performed to pillars. 22 Herodotus, Book I. c. 50. Sahadeva. |