History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c41.s12.1

v3.c41.s12.1

But occasional sacrifices must then have been performed as now such as at the time of upanayana or of marriage. The ceremony of the gift of land appears in this sub-period to have always been performed accompanied by a sacrifice in fire. Indeed inscriptions of this sub-period recording grants of land always mention the elaborate religious ceremonies which were performed on such sacred and ceremonious occasions. The descriptions are indeed very interesting and show how all over India, Hinduism was practically a blend of Vedic and Puranic worships. The grantor king bathes in some sacred river at a well-known Ghatta or Ghat, offers Tarpana water to gods, mortals and the manes (a ritual enjoined in Vedic Sūtras), praises the sun (also a Vedic worship), then worships Śiva and Viṣṇu (Puranic deities) and finally offers oblations of ghee into the sacred fire (Vedic worship again); and then pours water on the hand of the donee consecrating the gift.* This ceremony shows that the Rājput kings were not only orthodox Hindus but attached importance to and actually exercised the right of, performing Vedic sacrifices. But these sacrifices were always performed with ghee offerings as is often specially mentioned. It is remarkable that even Jains accepted gifts after such Vedic sacrifices for the greater validity of these gifts by Hindu kings.