Rajasuya

King Yudhishthira Performs the Rajasuya Sacrifice

Rajasuya (Imperial Sacrifice or the king's inauguration sacrifice) is a Śrauta ritual of the Vedic religion. It is a consecration of a king.[1] It is described in the Taittiriya corpus, including Apastamba Srauta Sutra 18.8–25.22.[1] It involves soma pressing, a chariot drive, the king shooting arrows from his bow, and a brief cattle “raid.”[1] There is a telling of the tale of Shunahshepa, a boy who was nearly sacrificed to Varuna on behalf of the sonless king Harishchandra.[1] Also included is a game of throwing dice by which the king is enthroned and the cosmos is regenerated.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Knipe 2015, p. 237.

Sources

  • Knipe, David M. (2015), Vedic Voices: Intimate Narratives of a Living Andhra Tradition, Oxford: Oxford University Press 
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