The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c10.28

c10.28

At this point, it may be useful to summarize briefly the nature and development of Vedic sacrifice by taking as an example a particular sacrificial ritual. This example is the *agnihotra*, which is both the simplest and the most widespread Vedic ritual.³¹ It has, moreover, the advantage that it came to epitomize Vedic sacrifice and thus offered a starting point for ritualistic speculations that found their way into the Upaniṣads. In many respects, the agnihotra is the hub of Vedic ritualism.