Aśvamedhá

Trasádasyu, 8 April 2024

 Introduction
Aśvamedhá is vedic sacrifice in which horse was sacrificed. Literal meaning of the word
Aśvamedhá is áśva = Horse¹and médha = sacrifice².Aśvamedhá is called the king of Sacrifice in
ŚB-M 13.2.2.1.This ritual is done by the king [kṣatriý a only not by brāhmaṇá, vaiś́ ya or
śūdrá(KŚS XX.1.1,ŚB-M XIII.4.1.2)]to consolidate or display his power and for the prosperity
of the kingdom. A person who performs Aśvamedhá(-sacrifice) his all desire gets fulfilled and he
attains all attainments(KŚS XX.1.2,ŚB-M XIII.4.1.1). Aśvamedhá involves letting a stallion
roam at will for a year, accompanied by armed troops who fight the sovereigns of any territory
into which the horse strayscn. When the horse returns at the end of the year, it is sacrificed, along
with numerous other victims (TS V.5.11-24),with due pomp but also with almost unimaginably
outlandish accompanying actions. At the climax of the ritual the chief wife of the king has sex
(or simulated sex) cn with the just-slaughtered horse on the ritual ground, while the other queens
and their female attendants circle around, singing and dancing and trading obscene jokes with the
officiating priests. Two late R̥gvedic hymns (I.162–163) directly treat the Horse Sacrifice,
although the later sexual extravaganza is either unknown to them or, more likely, delicately
omitted from discussion. The first (I.162) describes the (literally) gory details of the sacrifice
itself, while commending the sacrificed horse and all its gear to the gods, while the second
(I.163) lavishly lauds the horse and identifies it with the sun on its journey to the gods.³The
verbal part of the ceremony is extremely explicit, and in fact tested the limits of tolerance of
scholars. Eggeling, for example, resorts to suspension dots or inserts the untranslated saṃskṛtá
(ŚB-MXIII.5.2.2ff.); Keith simply omits TS VII.4.19 d-k in his translation, with the comment
“the next verses are hardly translatable”; while Griffith 1899, omitting VS XXIII.20-31, says
rather huffily: “the . . . stanzas are not reproducible even in the semi obscurity of a learned
European language.” Even Caland opts for Latin when he encounters the root √yabh ‘fuck’.⁴We
know this ritual episode not only from the thorough treatments in the Śrāutá Sū́ tra but also, in
abbreviated fashion, from the epics. When Yudhiṣṭhira holds his Aśvamedhá after the end of the
great war, Draupadī does the honors:

MBh XIV.91.2 tataḥ saṃjñāpya turagaṃ vidhivad yājakarṣabhāḥ upasaṃveśayan

rājaṃstatastāṃ drupadātmajām kalābhistisṛbhī rājan yathāvidhi manasvinīm

When the bulls among priests had made the horse agree [killed it] according to rule,they caused
the wise Draupadī to lie down beside it for three minutes according to rule, o king. Three
minutes sounds about right. For whatever reason, at the Aśvamedhá depicted in the Rāmāyaṇá
a whole night is required.
R 1.13.27 patatriṇā tadā sārdhaṃ susthitena ca cetasā avasad rajanīm ekāṃ kausalyā
dharmakāmyayā
Then with determined mind and desire for dhárma, Kausalyā spent one night with the horse.

Another unusual feature is that the other, lower wives of the

king also mate with the horse:
R 1.13.28 hotādhvaryus tathodgātā hayena samayojayan mahiṣyā parivṛtthyātha vāvātām aparāṃ
tathā

The hótṛ, adhvaryú, and udgātṛ́ had the horse unite with the máhiṣī, the
párivṛktī́ [Avoided Wife], and finally the vāvā́ tā [Favourite Wife].It will be useful now to examine the
Śrāutá Sū́ tra version(s) of the crucial episode, if only to see the unapologetic and unbowdlerizing
fashion in which
the ritual sū́ tras present it. After the horse has been killed, the chief queen ( máhiṣī) is led up to it, usually
accompanied by the other wives with roles in the drama: the ‘favourite’ (vāvā́ tā)
and the ‘rejected wife’ (párivṛktī́), and, in some texts (e.g. ŚB-M, ŚŚS), the fourth, lower-class
wife (pālāgalī)-each accompanied (or not) by a hundred attendants. The following mantra is used
in the ushering in, according to most
texts:107 TS VII.4.19.1ab ámbe ámbāly ámbike ná mā nayati káś caná sasásty aśvakáḥ
O Mummy, Mummikins, little Mummy.
No one is leading me (to matrimony).108
The horsikins is sleeping.The wives then go around the dead horse, fanning and glorifying it, in a
dance-like procession:
ĀpŚSXX.17.13 tā dakṣiṇānkeśapakṣānudgratʰya savyānprasrasya dakṣiṇānūrūnāgʰnānāḥ sigbʰi
rabʰidʰūnvatyastriḥ pradakṣiṇamaśvaṃ pariyantyavantī stʰeti
Tying up the right side of their hair and loosening the left, slapping their right thighs
and fanning with their hems, they go around the horse three times to the right.10'
They reverse the action and go three times to the left, and finish with a final
three rightward circuits. The mantras of praise are extracted from the RV and
exhibit solemn diction and extremely archaic stylistic figures, 110 beginning.The stateliness of the
discourse is meant, I think, to contrast pointedly with
the coarseness to come.
At this point the máhiṣī lies down beside the horse and invites it to stretch
out its forefeet along with hers:
TS VII.4.19.1e táu sahá catúraḥ padáḥ sám prá sārayāvahai
Together let us two stretch forth our four feet.

The activity now becomes very intense, and different texts apportion the accompanying mantras
differently. Following ĀpŚS, the Adhvaryú covers the máhiṣī and the horse with a linen garment
(kṣaumeṇa vāsasā), saying111

TS VII.4.19.1cd súbʰage kā́ mpīlavāsini suvargé loké sám prórṇvātʰām

ā́ hám ajāni garbʰadʰám ā́ tvám ajāsi garbʰadʰám

O lucky one, clothed in kāmpilā-cloth, may you two be entirely covered in the heavenly world. I
will drive the impregnator; you will drive the impregnator.

and further addresses her with

TS VII.4.19.1f vŕ̥ṣā vāṁ retodʰā́ réto dadʰātu

Let the bullish seed-placer of you two place the seed.

The wife now takes the dead horse’s penis and puts it in her vulva or vagina (or, at least, nearby).
It is important to make this clear, because some discussions of this ritual refer to it as a symbolic
copulation (e.g. Puhvel 1970, p.161). It is, of course, symbolic insofar as the horse is dead, but it
is not simply a brief and perfunctory moment under the sheets with the wife squirming as Far
away from the corpse as possible.113 Consider some of the prescriptions in

The ritual texts:

ĀpŚS XX.18.4 prajananena prajananaṃ saṃdʰāyāmbe

Putting (its) generative organ together with (her) generative organ.

KŚS XX.6.16 aśvaśiśnam upastʰe kurute

(The máhiṣī) takes the penis of the horse in her lap.

BŚS XV.29 (234: 9) atʰaiṣā mahiṣy upastʰe śepʰam ādʰatte

Then the máhiṣī places the penis in her lap.

VarŚS III.4.4.15 sam̐hitaprajanayoḥ

When their two generative organs have been put together. . .

SB XIII.5.2.2 ā́ śvasya śiśnam máhiṣyúpastʰe nídʰatte

The máhiṣī puts the penis of the horse in her lap

The mantras now become crude; the abstract, semieuphemistic, and high-toned vocabulary of the
preceding mantras (garbhadhá ‘impregnator’ [lit. ‘embryo-placer’], retodhá ‘seed-placer’) gives
way to racier terms (many of which we do not fully understand). And women’s sexual pleasure is
the theme —a rather startling one in light of what is occurring:

TS VII.4.19.lg-2a út saktʰyòr gr̥dáṃ dʰehy añjím údañjimm ánv aja yá strīṇā́ ṃ jīvabʰójano yá
āsām biladʰā́ vanaḥ priyá strīṇā́ m apīcyàḥ yá āsāṃ kr̥ṣṇé lákṣmaṇi sárdigr̥dim parā́ vadʰīt

Put the penis up between the two thighs.

Drive the sleek one, adorned at the end,¹¹⁶ along (the thighs)Which is the living pleasure-maker
for women,which is their hole-runner/cleaner¹¹⁷The dear secret of women,which has hit¹¹⁸
their sardigaṛdi¹¹⁹ in the black mark.

According to ĀpŚS (XX. 18.5-6) the other wives mock the máhiṣī in chorus with the four verses
we will discuss shortly, in answer to her repetitions of the
Mantra just cited. BŚS(XV.30) also has the wives address the máhiṣī, first individually, one verse
for the vāvā́ tā (Favorite) and one for the párivṛktī́(Avoided Wife), then the entire group (sarve
gaṇāḥ).¹²³

Other texts (e.g. ŚB-M,KŚS,ŚŚS), however, depict a more complex (and, I think, more original)
procedure. The wives engage in individual dialogues with the priests. A priest addresses a wife
with a verse, and she124 replies with a variant of it. Again there is disagreement about the
pairings. Both ŚB-M(XIII.5.2.4-8) and ŚŚS (XVI.4.1-6) include the fourth, low-caste wife
(Pālagalī), and ŚB-M adds a maiden (Kumārī) of uncertain affiliation.¹²⁵
The verses they exchange are clearly erotic, but not in quite as direct a way as those we have just
examined. They are full of bawdy slang and riddling images, so that though the sexual intent is
clear, the precise references are any one’s guess (and were probably meant to be, even at the
time). Let us examine the way such exchanges proceed, as given in the SB, before looking at the

Verses more closely:

ŚB-M XIII.5.2.4 átʰādʰvaryúḥ kumārī́mabʰímetʰati kúmāri háye-haye kúmāri yakā̀ sakaú

śakuntikéti táṃ kumārī́ pratyabʰímetʰatyádʰvaryo háye hayé'dʰvaryo yakò'sakaú śakuntaka iti

Then the Adhvaryú derisively addresses the maiden (with the verse beginning)

“Maiden, hey hey. Maiden! Which little (female) birdikins yonder …” The maiden

Derisively replies to him (with the verse beginning) “Adhvaryú, hey hey. Adhvaryú!Which little
(male) birdikins yonder…”It is worth looking at the verses in detail not only for their erotic
content,Which is rare in Vedic literature, but also for their style, which will allow us to Connect
this whole ritual playlet with material that superficially seems quite distant. We can begin with
the verse whose pratlka we have just seen:126

VS XXIII.22 yakā́ sakáu śakuntikā́ hálag íti váñcati ā́ hanti gabʰé páso nígalgalīti dʰā́ rakā
The little (female) birdikins¹²⁷ yonder, which moves crookedly along saying ‘āhalak’,

Knocks the penis into the slit. The ‘holder’ gulps it down.

The reply:¹²⁸

VS XXIII.23 yakó sakáu śakuntaká āhálag íti váñcati vívakṣata iva te múkʰam ádʰvaryo mā́ nas
tvám abʰí bʰāṣatʰāḥ

The little (male) birdikins yonder that moves crookedly along saying ‘āhalak’—

It’s like your mouth when you want to ‘speak’.¹²⁹ Adhvaryú, don’t you speak to us.

Following the order of the ŚB-M, the next verse is that addressed by the Brahman

To the máhiṣī:¹³⁰
VS XXIII.24 mātā́ ca te pitā́ ca té graṃ vr̥kṣásya rohataḥ prátilāmī́ti te pitā́ gabʰé muṣṭím
atam̐sayat

Your mother and your father climb to the top of the tree.(Saying) “I am passing over,” your
father shuttled his ‘fist’ back and forth in the slit.

Her reply (VS XXIII.25) is identical in the first half-verse, but with krīḍataḥ ‘they two play’ for
rohataḥ ; the second half-verse is essentially that of verse23, with address to the Brahman rather
than the Adhvaryú.

Next the udgātṛ́ to the vāvā́ tā:131

VS XXIII.26 ūrdʰvám enām úc cʰrāpaya giráu bʰārám̐ hárann iva átʰāsyai mádʰyam edʰatām̐ śīté
vā́ te punánn iva

Prop her up, like one carrying a burden up a mountain.¹³²

Then let her middle thrive, like one winnowing in a cool breeze.The verse may be especially
appropriate for the vāvā́ tā because, as we will see,She has charge of the middle of the sacrificed
horse. The vāvā́ tā’s reply (VSXXIII.27) changes the genders: “prop him up,” “his middle,” and
in the thirdpada substitutes the phonologically similar verb ejatu for edhātam. The result is, of
course, gender appropriate: “let his middle stir.”These last few verses have kept their erotic tone
coy. Though their sexual nature is fairly clear, the references are veiled. But the next pair, the
exchange between párivṛktī́ and hótṛ (ŚŚS udgātṛ)́ , is raw, though the style is still Riddling ¹³³

VS XXIII.28 yád asyā am̐húbʰédyāḥ kr̥dʰú stʰūlám upā́ tasat muṣkā́ v asyā ejato gośapʰé śakulā́ v
iva

When the stunted, thick (penis) has shuttled from her narrow slit,

Her two balls¹³⁴ stir like the two splinters (/ fish) in a cow’s hoof (?).¹³⁵
VS XXIII.29 yád devā́ so lalā́ maguṃ prá viṣṭīmínam ā́ viṣuḥ saktʰnā́ dediśyate nā́ rī
satyásyākṣibʰúvo yátʰā

When the gods have favored the (man) with a star-marked, stiffened (penis),the woman displays
with her thigh, like eye-witnesses to the truth (?).¹³⁶
The last exchange in the ŚB-M (XIII.5.2.8), between Pālāgalī and kṣattar (ŚŚS Adhvaryú),137 is
by contrast fairly innocuous, though still erotic in nature. It clearly makes reference to the lower-
class origins of this wife:

VS XXIII.30 yád dʰariṇó yávam átti ná puṣṭáṃ paśú mányate śūdrā́ yád áryajārā ná póṣāya
dʰanāyati
When the deer eats grain, it does not consider the nourished beast (or, does not consider itself a
nourished beast?)¹³⁸

When a śūdrā́ woman has an ā́ rya for a lover, she ( / he?) does not need riches to thrive.
The reply (VS XXIII.31) basically switches the genders.

Finally the máhiṣī is allowed to get up, and they all do the equivalent of washing out their
mouths with soap.

BSS XV.30 (235: 3) dadʰikrāvṇo akāriṣam iti sarvāḥ surabʰimatīm r̥caṃ vadanti

All those who say impure (speech) in the ritual then mutter the ‘fragrant, four-part verse “ I have
commemorated Dadhikrāvan.”

The recital of this verse, RV IV.39.6, accomplishes two goals. It is called ‘fragrant’ (surabhi-
mant) because its third pada,

RV IV.39.6 surabʰí no múkʰā karat

He will make our mouths fragrant,