Horse sacrifice ritual followed by the Śrauta tradition of Vedic religion
Ashvamedha yajna of Yudhisthira
The Ashvamedha (Sanskrit: अश्वमेध, romanized: aśvamedha)[1] was a horse sacrifice ritual followed by the Śrauta tradition of Vedic religion. It was used by ancient Indian kings to prove their imperial sovereignty: a horse accompanied by the king's warriors would be released to wander for a year. In the territory traversed by the horse, any rival could dispute the king's authority by challenging the warriors accompanying it. After one year, if no enemy had managed to kill or capture the horse, the animal 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 ritual is recorded as being held by many ancient rulers, but apparently only by two in the last thousand years. The most recent ritual was in 1741, the second one held by Maharajah Jai Singh II of Jaipur.[citation needed]
The original Vedic religion had evidently included many animal sacrifices, as had the various folk religions of India. Brahminical Hinduism had evolved opposing animal sacrifices, which have not been the norm in most forms of Hinduism for many centuries. The great prestige and political role of the Ashvamedha perhaps kept it alive for longer.
^Monier-Williams, Monier; Leumann, E.; Cappeller, C. (2005). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages. Asian Educational Services. p. 115.
The Ashvamedha (Sanskrit: अश्वमेध, romanized: aśvamedha) was a horse sacrifice ritual followed by the Śrauta tradition of Vedic religion. It was used by...
probably refers to his friendly relations with them. He performed the Ashvamedha sacrifice to prove his imperial sovereignty and remained undefeated in...
own kith and kin during the war. On the advice of sages, he conducted Ashvamedha yagna, where a decorated horse would be sent across the kingdom and wherever...
the ashvamedha ceremony of Yudhishthira. Chandrahasa anoints his son Makaraksha as the king and accompanies the army of Arjuna to help the ashvamedha. The...
patronage of the Pandavas and received the kingdom of Anga. Before the ashvamedha yajna of Yudhishthira, he took part in Arjuna's battles against a number...
Arjuna, with the help of Krishna, decapitated him. Later, during the Ashvamedha sacrifice, the horse of the Pandavas came to Sindhu, which was then ruled...
"Death" takes the shape of a horse, and includes an identification of the Ashvamedha horse sacrifice with the Sun: Then he became a horse (ashva), because...
of India. Pulakeshin established the city of Vatapi, and performed the Ashvamedha sacrifice to assert his sovereign status. The dynasty established by him...
credited with successfully completing his grandfather Pushyamitra Shunga's Ashvamedha Yajna and for defeating forces of the Indo-Greek Kingdom along the banks...
education, and marriage are described. He participates in the hundredth ashvamedha sacrifice of his father, fighting Indra, who steals the sacrificial horse...
Vajapeya and Ashvamedha. These descriptions are corroborated by archaeological discoveries, including those of Chamtamula's Ashvamedha-type coins, a...
mention of general Pushyamitra and his descendant Dhana–, his use of Vedic Ashvamedha horse to assert the range of his empire, and the building of a temple...
The Indian Telly Awards. In 2010, Bapat appeared in the show Seven- The Ashvamedha Prophecy, an Indian supernatural television series that aired on Sony...
Ambarisha was once engaged in a Ashvamedha Yagna at his capital Ayodhya. During this ceremony, the horse of Ashvamedha was stolen by Indra. The priest...
Shailodhava king Madhavaraja II in his inscriptions state that he performed the ashvamedha sacrifices to assert his independence from Gupta Empire which indicates...
the birth of Vyasa. The astika version would add the sarpasattra and ashvamedha material from Brahmanical literature, introduce the name Mahābhārata,...
as the dwarf Brahmin avatar, Vamana. While Mahabali was performing the ashvamedha sacrifice to celebrate his victories and giving away gifts to everyone...
Majoris). The valid avatar's clan is supposed to be named after their ashvamedha. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saptarishi. Nachiketa Dhruva Apkallu...
commemorate Parikshit's son Janamejaya as a great conqueror who performed the ashvamedha (horse-sacrifice). These two Kuru kings played a decisive role in the...
example, the Brihadaranyaka interprets the practice of horse-sacrifice or ashvamedha allegorically. It states that the over-lordship of the earth may be acquired...
relationships, respect, work, etc. In the Ashvamedha Parva, when Bhima arrived in Dvaraka to give the invitation of an ashvamedha to Krishna, Krishna was served...
King Sagara, the great-grandfather of Bhagiratha, once performed the ashvamedha sacrifice, but the sacrificial horse was stolen by Indra. The deity had...
only practiced in ancient Non-Vedic Era is opposed by instances like Ashvamedha and other rituals that are rooted in Vedas. Both the Itihasas and the...
He possessed many virtuous qualities, and after performing a thousand Ashvamedha Yagnas and a hundred Rajasuya Yagnas (to qualify as emperor), he had attained...
'y' in the manuscripts. Pushyamitra is recorded to have performed the Ashvamedha ritual to legitimize his right to rule. Inscriptions of the Shungas have...
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