Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 554

SACRIFICE OF THE HORSE
514
gods themselves, and also the giants, during the wars
which they waged against each other, seldom failed to
perform this religious ceremony, of which one of the least
remarkable results was to procure a certain victory over
was usual, when the solemnities of the
over, for the prince on whose behalf it had
been celebrated to seat himself on a high throne for the
space of forty-eight minutes, and during that time the
Brahmins present were permitted to ask him for anything
they pleased. And the prince, on his part, was bound to
the enemy.
It
yagnam were
demands, however extravagant, even had they
extended to demanding his kingdom, his wife, and every-
thing he most highly esteemed. If he failed to satisfy
a single one of these numerous requests, the sacrifice would
have been of no avail.
A king of the olden times, says a Hindu chronicler,
having caused the grand yagnam to be performed before
setting out for a war which he was planning against a
neighbouring potentate, presented a bushel of pearls to
each of the Brahmins present, who were thirty thousand
in number.
Four kinds of victims might be offered in sacrifice,
namely, a horse, a cow, an elephant, or a man. The first
was called asvamedha, the second gomedha, the third
But they commonly
rajasuya, and the fourth naramedha.
and hence the sacrifice is generally
sacrificed a horse
designated by the name of asvamedha (sacrifice of a horse).
The victim was chosen before its birth and when the
mare, its mother, had foaled, her offspring was reared for
Con-
three years with extraordinary care and trouble.
tinual sacrifices were made to Indra, that he might watch
to Yama, that he might preserve
over the young animal
to Varuna, the god of
it from death and every accident
water, and also to the clouds, that they might cause a
satisfy their
;
;
;
;
and plenty of grass to grow for its
Similar requests were also made to a number
fertilizing rain to fall
nourishment.
of other gods.
The victim was afterwards
freely over a
wide stretch
let loose
of country,
and allowed to roam
it was followed
though
everywhere by numerous attendants to prevent
stolen.
The
its
being
gods, or the giants, or the princes against