Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c9.s10.66

c9.s10.66

The **Vājapeya** rites³ include a race of 17 chariots, in which the sacrificer is allowed to carry off the palm, and from which, according to Eggeling, the ceremony perhaps derives its name. Professor Hillebrandt would claim for this feature of the sacrifice the character of a relic of an old national festival, a kind of Indian Olympic games. After the chariot race the next interesting item is the mounting of a pole, having a wheaten ring or wheel⁴ on the top, by the sacrificer and his wife, from which homage is made to the mother earth. The *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa* says, "Truly he who gains a seat in the air gains a seat above others.''⁵ The royal sacrificer having descended from the pole, is offered a throne-seat with a goatskin spread thereon and addressed by the *Adhvaryu* (priest) in the following words: "Thou art the ruler, the ruling lord (*yantṛi*, *yamana*)—thou art firm and steadfast (*dhruva*, *dharuṇa*)—(here I seat) thee for the tilling, for peaceful dwelling (*kshema*), for wealth (*rayi*), for prosperity (*posha*), *i.e.*, for the welfare of the people, the common weal."¹