The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c6.s1.10

c6.s1.10

The cooperation between the two opposed parties seems to have been characterized by rivalry. Indeed, the classical ritual still contains, though under a stylized form, many contests, especially chariot races and verbal contests (e.g., in the *mahāvrata*, the *vājapeya*, the *rājasūya*, the *aśvamedha*).¹⁵ It is typical of the classical ritual that these contests are very much pushed into the background or transformed into liturgical operations in which there is no real contest any more. But the texts still do indicate that rivalry originally took up a far more important place in the ritual.¹⁶ Thus we read of competing Soma pressings, *saṃsava*.¹⁷ Of course in the classical system, the saṃsava is a ritual fault consisting in lack of spatial separation between two Soma sacrifices taking place at the same time, a fault that calls for expiation. But it is characteristic that the form this "expiation" assumes is that of a contest: one must overcome the rival ritual by a greater sacrifice than that of the adversary.¹⁸ That ritual competition was a normal phenomenon is indicated by the fact that the full- and new-moon sacrifices are characterized as *saṃṛtayajña*, "competing sacrifice."¹⁹ We are reminded here of the rivalry between devas and asuras, who in the brāhmaṇa texts are often described as competing in the ritual. Their (competitive) exchanges of food and gifts suggested by some passages seem to fit very well into their continuous rivalry.²⁰