"இதுதான் அஸ்வமேத யாகம்"
குதிரையின் ஆண்குறி அரசியின் பெண்குறிக்குள் புகுந்தால் அஸ்வமேத யாகம்!
अश्वमेध"horse sacrifice"
ஆம்.எழுதுவதற்கே சிறிது கடினம் தான். சில முட்டாள் ஜன்மங்கள் மனுனீதியை
புகழும் பொழுது முழுக்கதையையும் சொல்லித்தான் ஆகவேண்டும்!
ஒரு பட்டத்து அரசி ஒரு பெரிய யாகத்தால் பலி கொடுக்கப்பட்ட ஆண்குதிரையின்
குறியை தன் பெண்குறிக்குள் வைத்து பிராமணர்களின் வேத கோசங்களோடு
புணர்வதுதான் மாபெரும் யாகமான அசுவத மேத யாகம் என்ற கண்றாவி
கருமாந்திரம்...
முழு விளக்கம் கீழே:
The Ashvamedha could only be conducted by a king. Its object was the
acquisition of power and glory, the sovereignty over neighbouring
provinces, and general prosperity of the kingdom.
The horse to be sacrificed must be a stallion, more than 24, but less
than 100 years old. The horse is sprinkled with water, and the
Adhvaryu and the sacrificer whisper formulas into its ear.
Anyone who should stop the horse is ritually cursed, and a dog is
killed symbolic of the punishment for the sinners. The horse is then
set loose towards the North-East, to roam around wherever it chooses,
for the period of one year (or half a year, according to some
commentators). The horse is associated with the Sun, and its yearly
course. If the horse wanders into neighbouring provinces hostile to
the sacrificer, they must be subjugated. The wandering horse is
attended by a hundred young men, sons of princes or high court
officials, charged with guarding the horse from all dangers and
inconvenience.
During the absence of the horse, an uninterrupted series of ceremonies
is performed in the sacrificer's home. After the return of the horse,
more ceremonies are performed. The horse is yoked to a gilded chariot,
together with three other horses, and RV 1.6.1,2 (YV 23.5,6) is
recited. The horse is then driven into water and bathed.
After this, it is anointed with ghee by the chief queen and two other
royal consorts. The chief queen anoints the fore-quarters, and the
others the barrel and the hind-quarters. They also entwine the horse's
head, neck, and tail with golden ornaments.
The sacrificer offers the horse the remains of the night's oblation of
grain. After this, the horse, a hornless he-goat, a wild ox (go-mrga,
Bos Gavaeus) are bound to sacrificial stakes near the fire, and
seventeen other animals are attached to the horse. A great number of
animals, both tame and wild, are tied to other stakes, according to a
commentator 609 in total (YV 24 consists of an exact enumeration).
Then the horse is slaughtered (YV 23.15, tr. Griffith) Steed, from thy
body, of thyself, sacrifice and accept thyself. Thy greatness can be
gained by none but thee.
The chief queen ritually calls on her fellow wives for pity. The three
queens walk around the dead horse reciting formulas. The chief queen
then has to mimic copulation with the dead horse, while the other
queens ritually utter obscenities.
On the next morning, the priests raise the queen from the place where
she has spent the night with the horse. With the Dadhikra verse (RV
4.39.6, YV 23.32), a verse used as a purifier after obscene language.
The three queens with a hundred golden, silver and copper needles
indicate the lines on the horse's body along which it will be
dissected. The horse is dissected, and its flesh roasted. Various
parts are offered to a host of deities and personified concepts with
cries of svaha "all-hail".
The Ashvastuti or Eulogy of the Horse follows (RV 1.162, YV 24.24–45),
concluding with: May this Steed bring us all-sustaining riches, wealth
in good kine, good horses, manly offspring Freedom from sin may Aditi
vouchsafe usl the Steed with our oblations gain us lordship! The
priests performing the sacrifice were recompensed with a part of the
booty won during the wandering of the horse.
According to a commentator, the spoils from the east was given to the
Hotar, while the Adhvaryu a maiden (a daughter of the sacrificer) and
the sacrificer's fourth wife. This part of the ritual also caused
considerable consternation among the scholars first editing the
Yajurveda. Griffith (1899) omits verses 23.20–31 (the ritual
obscenities), protesting that they are "not reproducible even in the
semi-obscurity of a learned European language" (alluding to other
instances where he renders explicit scenes in Latin rather than
English).
Today, there are full published translations of the passages, for
example Rangacharya (1999) and Shastri (2003) in Telugu. An
unexpurgated translation in modern English of the corresponding
passage in the TS (7.4.19) is given below.
[The wives of the king surround the slain horse]
1.The Queen, grieves thus: [7.4.19b] "O mother, no-one has taken me.
The little horsie is asleep".
கருத்துகள் இல்லை:
கருத்துரையிடுக