20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

The importance of myths in search of the significance of the saumikī dīkṣā 639Again at 37.5 it is said:When the kṣatriya sacrificer pays homage to the holy power saying namobrahmaṇe thrice, the kṣatra or the lordly power comes under the controlof the brāhmaṇa or the holy power, and then his kingdom prospers andhas heroes born in it.It seems that the same rivalry is at work when the kṣatriya sacrificer isdenied the rite of drinking the remnants of the Soma offered. Instead he isgiven the juice of some roots and surā, a kind of beer, stating that it is hisown drink.Also, if he is considered to be born as a brāhmaṇa then the problemof his gotra would arise. Maybe, to avoid that problem he is maintained asembryo and is announced by his priest’s gotra or family.Conclusions1. Thus it becomes clear that the myths play a very important role inunderstanding the exact nature of the ritual. For example in present contextin the absence of the cited myth the significance of the saumikī dīkṣā wouldnot at all have been understood.2. From the above discussion it can be concluded that in the beginningyajana and yājana were not only a duty but also a right exclusively of abrāhmaṇa. Nobody else could perform a sacrifice. In due course, however,the kṣatriyas might have become powerful and influential, and insistedon having the right of performing a sacrifice. Due to their increasedimportance, it might have been inevitable for the brāhmaṇas to deprivethem of that right. Hence, finally they were granted the right to perform it.However, as it is seen, it is not the performance of an ordinary iṣṭi that thekṣatriya is intent on. It is the ritual which can be performed exclusively fora kṣatriya. Therefore, it would be better to say that the rites of the kṣatriyaswere elevated and accepted in the Vedic pantheon. The employment ofsurā in the Vedic ritual also points towards it.3. Even though the kṣatriyas were sanctioned the right to sacrifice, thebrāhmaṇas, to maintain their supremacy and distinctiveness did not allowthem the right of partaking of the remnants of the sacrificial oblations. Henceeven though they might be drinking Soma otherwise, they were denied theright of partaking the remnants of Soma-offerings in the sacrifice. Insteadthey were given the juice of the roots of banyan tree, the fruit of the figtree, etc.