Rajasuya(Sanskrit:राजसूय,romanized:Rājasūya,lit. 'king's sacrifice') is aśrautaritual of theVedic religion.It is ceremony that marks a consecration of a king.[1]According to thePuranas,it refers to a great sacrifice performed by aChakravarti– universal monarch, in which the tributary princes may also take part, at the time of his coronation, as a mark of his undisputed sovereignty.[2]
Description
editThe rajasuya is associated with the consecration of a king[1]and is prescribed as a ritual to establish a king's sovereignty.[3]It is described in the Taittiriya corpus, including ApastambaŚrauta Sutra18.8–25.22.[1]It involvessomapressing, a chariot drive, the king shooting arrows from his bow, and a symbolic "cattle raid":[1]The newly anointed king seizes cattle belonging to his relative, and then gives part of his property to that relative.[4]Also included is a game of throwing dice with theAdhvaryupriest in which the king wins a cow, by which the king is enthroned and the cosmos is regenerated.[1]There is a revealing of the tale ofShunahshepa,a boy who was nearly sacrificed toVarunaon behalf of the sonless kingHarishchandra,which hints at a rejected archaic practice ofhuman sacrifice.[1]
TheShatapatha Brahmanastates that therajasuyawas the means by which aKshatriyamay become a king, and is not suitable for Brahmanas.[5]
Historically, the rajasuya was performed by theIndo-Aryankings, which led to the expansion of their kingdoms during theIron Age.[6]The kings ofTamilakamperformed the rajasuya, attended by monarchs ofLanka;[7]Kharavela,the king ofKalinga,is described to have performed the rajasuya, despite being aJain;[8]and theSatavahanakings performed the ceremony.[9]The sacrifice was performed by kings throughout the subcontinent; records of its performance inSouth Indiaat least date until the time of theVijayanagara Empire.[10]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^abcdef Knipe, David M. (2015).Vedic Voices: Intimate narratives of a living Andhra tradition.Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. p. 237.
- ^"Rajasuya, Rajasūya, Rājasūya, Rajan-suya: 17 definitions".wisdomlib.org.27 June 2012.Retrieved27 November2022.
- ^"Importance of yagna".The Hindu.27 June 2018.ISSN0971-751X.Retrieved1 June2019.
- ^Renou, Louis(1947).Vedic India.Susil Gupta. pp. 107–108.
- ^Raychaudhuri, Hemchandra (2006).Political History of Ancient India: From the accession of Parikshit to the extinction of the Gupta dynasty.Cosmo Publications. p. 136.ISBN978-81-307-0291-9.
- ^Sen, Sailendra Nath (1999).Ancient Indian History and Civilization.New Age International. p. 51.ISBN978-81-224-1198-0.
- ^Kanakasabhai, V. (1904).The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago.Higginbotham. p. 98.
- ^Bandyopadhyaya, Jayantanuja (2007).Class and Religion in Ancient India.Anthem Press. p. 203.ISBN978-1-84331-727-2.
- ^Chakrabarty, Dilip K. (18 October 2010).The Geopolitical Orbits of Ancient India: The geographical frames of the ancient Indian dynasties.Oxford University Press. p. 54.ISBN978-0-19-908832-4.
- ^Simmons, Caleb (3 January 2020).Devotional Sovereignty: Kingship and religion in India.Oxford University Press. p. 228.ISBN978-0-19-008889-7.