The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c10.39

c10.39

How did the problem arise in the first place? The kṣatriya's impurity is not a very convincing ground for his exclusion, for, as we saw, it does not exclude him from the Soma ritual. The interesting point is that the reference to the kṣatriya as a Soma sacrificer appears to hold the key to the origin of the contradiction. This requires a short excursus on the Soma ritual: Some time before the actual Soma sacrifice, when the Soma beverage will be prepared, offered in the fire, and drunk, the sacrificer undergoes the consecration (*dīkṣā*). The consecrated *dīkṣita* starts on a begging tour that should help him to collect the necessities for the sacrifice (*saniyācana*). Although this begging tour is a rather marginal and perfectly harmless rite, its original character is easily recognizable. The *dīkṣita* sets out as a warrior on a war or racing chariot.⁴⁶ Clearly, the original purpose of this pomp and circumstance is to obtain the goods for sacrifice at the sacrificial contests organized by others or perhaps, less ceremonially, by way of a razzia. We have already come across such warrior *dīkṣitas*, and we could notice that the dividing line between razzia and sacrificial contest is disconcertingly thin, if there is one at all. It is this keenness on prize and plunder that marks the *dīkṣita*—like the kṣatriya—as impure.⁴⁷ It is only afterward, when his warrior prowess has won him the property—especially cattle—needed for sacrifice, that he can set himself up as a liberal host and sacrificer. Incidentally, he is then of course entitled to the agnihotra.