Asvamedha Yagya: Ritual to prove imperial sovereignty
What is Asvamedha Yagya?
We often heard about this ritual in our Hindu Scriptures and moreover we watched it in Mahabharat or Ramayan. What is it actually mean? Let’s get the information in detail.
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| Ashwamedha Yagna in Mahabharata |
The Asvamedha Yagya was a Horse
sacrificial ritual followed in Vedic Religion. It was used by Ancient Kings to
prove their Imperial Sovereignty in which a horse is accompanied by king’s
warrior and would be released to wander for a period of one year. Whichever
territory the horse was passing through, if the horse and warriors were not
disputed by the rivals, the rival will accept the Kings sovereignty.
After one year if no body managed to
kill the horse or the warriors accompanied them, the horse would be guided back
to the king’s capital. It would be then sacrificed and the king would be
declared as an undisputed sovereign.
The best text in our religion describing
the Asvamedha Yagya is Asvamedhika Parva, or the book of Horse Sacrifice.
It is fourteenth of the eighteen books of the Great Indian Epic Poem “Mahabharat”.
‘Samrat Yudhisthir’ was advised by Shri Krishna and Sage Vyasa to perform
the Asvamedha yagya.
In our Indian history, this ritual
was performed by number of kings but apparently in the last thousand years it was
performed only twice. Most recently it was performed by Maharaj Jai Singh II of
Jaipur in 1741.
The Asvamedha Yagya can only be
performed by powerful victorious king. The objective of this ritual was the acquisition
of power and glory, the sovereignty over neighbour provinces, seeking progeny
and general prosperity of the kingdom.
The horse to be sacrificed must be a
white stallion with black spots. This ritual needs a special sacrificial house
and a fire altar. When horse returned after a year after wandering wherever it
wanted. A number of sacrificial rituals were done before the Horse was sacrificed.
