History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c53.s1.6
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c53.s1.6
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Various rules are stated about the horse's colour and other qualities (Śat. Br. XIII. 4. 2. 4, Kāt. XX. 1. 29-35, Lāṭ. IX. 9. 4). The horse must be all white with dark circular spots and of great speed, or the front part of its body may be dark and the rest of the body white, or it may have a tuft of dark blue hair. The horse is sprinkled with holy water by the four principal priests standing in the four directions (from the east), each surrounded respectively by a hundred princes, a hundred ugras who are not kings, by sūtas and village headmen, and by chamberlains and saṁgrahītṛs (Āp. XX. 4, Śat. XIV. 1. 31). A dog with four eyes (i. e. having two natural eyes and two depressions in the skin above the eyes) is killed by a man of the āyogava caste or by a voluptuary with the pestle of sidhraka wood. The horse is made to enter water and the corpse of the dog is with a loop of reeds made to float under the horse (Āp. XX. 3. 6-13, Kāt. XX. 1. 38 ff., Śat. XIV. 1. 30-34). The horse is brought near the fire and offerings are made in the fire till the water ceases to drip down from the horse's body (Kāt. XX. 2. 3-5). A girdle made of muñja grass or of darbhas 12 or 13 aratnis long and smeared with the ājya that remains after being poured over the brahmaudana is invoked with the mantra ‘imām—agṛbhṇan raśanām ṛtasya’ (Tai. S. IV. I. 2. 1, Vāj. S. 22. 2) and the horse is bound with it after taking the permission of the brahmā priest.
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The horse, having water sprinkled over it with mantras and after the sacrificer repeats into its right ear the several appellations for a horse (Āp. XX. 5. 1–9), is let off to roam over the country accompanied by four hundred guards with the mantra ‘O gods, the guardians of quarters, protect this horse &c.’ (Vāj. S. XXII. 19, Tai. S. VII. 1. 12. 1). The guards include one hundred princes deserving to be seated on couches in the presence of the king, wearing armour and the other guards are armed with swords, arrows and thick clubs according to their rank (Tai. Br. III. 8. 9, Āp. XX. 5. 10–14, Kāt. XX. 2. 11). The horse is allowed to roam for a year where it likes and is not made to turn back, but it is prevented from associating with mares or plunging into water for a bath (Kāt. XX. 2. 12–13). While doing their duty of guarding the horse, the guards are to subsist by demanding food from brāhmaṇas who do not know the procedure of Aśvamedha (or depriving them of it) or on cooked food taken from all brāhmaṇas; they may stay in the houses of chariot-makers (Āp. XX. 5. 15–18, Kāt. XX. 2. 15–16). Every day during the year that the horse is absent, three iṣṭis are offered to Savitṛ in the morning, mid-day and evening, when Savitṛ is respectively addressed as Satyaprasava, Prasavitṛ and Āsavitṛ; (Āśv. X. 6. 8, Lāṭ. IX. 9. 10, Kāt. XX. 2. 6).
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When the prayāja offerings are made a brāhmaṇa (other than the priests) with a vīṇā chants three laudatory gāthās in honour of the king composed by himself stating ‘you donated this, you performed such and such a sacrifice, you cooked food for distribution’ (Āp. XX. 6. 5, Kāt. XX. 2. 7). This singing took place thrice a day after the iṣṭi to Savitṛ (Śat. Br. XIII. 4. 2. 8–14, Tai. Br. III. 9. 14). A kṣatriya lute player also sang three laudatory songs (Śat. Br. XIII. 1. 5. 6, Āp. XX. 6. 14) referring to the battles fought and victories won by the sacrificer. Every day for a year after the iṣṭi to Savitṛ is finished the hotṛ sitting on a golden cushion to the south of the āhavanīya fire recites to the crowned king surrounded by his sons and ministers the narratives called ‘Pāriplava’ (revolving or recurring legends). When about to commence the Pāriplava the hotṛ makes the summons ‘adhvaryo3’ and the adhvaryu seated on a golden seat (with four legs) responds with ‘ho hotar' (Āśv. X. 6. 10–13).²⁶⁶⁹ The other priests also sit down on cushions or boards and bands of singers holding lutes sit down to the south and sing of the good deeds of the king along with those of his ancestors (Āp. XX. 6. 13). As the king is thus engaged in sacrifices and in listening to the Pāriplava²⁶⁷⁰ and to the songs, Āp. (XX. 3. 1–2) notes that, till the Aśvamedha is performed, the adhvaryu becomes the king, as the sacrificer (the crowned king) declares 'O brāhmaṇas and nobles!
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this adhvaryu is your king. Whatever honour you (usually pay to me) should be paid to him. May whatever he does be regarded as done by you.' Āśv. (X. 7. 1–10) sets out what the Pāriplava is. Śat. Br. XIII. 4. 3 and Śāṅ. XVI. 2 also deal at length with the Pāriplava and they agree with Āśv. in most places. For ten days one after another different texts are recited and this goes on for a year in narrative cycles of ten days. On the first day the hotṛ says 'Manu was the son of Vivasvat, men are his subjects' and points at the house-holders sitting down in the sacrificial hall with 'they (men as subjects of Manu) are here sitting down' and then recites some one hymn of the Ṛgveda saying 'to-day the Veda is that of ṛks.' On the second day he says 'Yama is the son of Vivasvat, the pitṛs are his subjects' and points to the old men assembled and recites one anuvāka from the Yajurveda. On the 3rd day Varuṇa and the gandharvas (as his subjects identified with fine looking young men) are mentioned and some hymn from the Atharva-veda dealing with diseases and their cure was narrated. On the 4th day the narration relates to Soma, son of Viṣṇu and Apsarases (identified with beautiful young women), and some hymn containing magic spells from the Āṅgirasa Veda; on the 5th the narration relates to Arbuda Kādraveya and serpents (identified with visitors who know serpent lore and poison lore);
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on the 6th day to Kubera Vaiśravaṇa, his subjects the Rakṣases (identified with evil doing selagas and the lore of Piśāca Veda (?). On the 7th the narration relates to Asita Dhānvana, his subjects the Asuras and usurers and some illusion (a trick) from Asura lore, on the 8th day to Matsya Sāmada, his subjects aquatic animals, Puñjiṣṭhas (fishermen) from Matsya country and some Purāṇa passage from the Purāṇa-veda, on the 9th to Tārkṣya, son of Vipaścit, his subjects the birds and brahmacārins and some narrative (itihāsa) from the itihāsaveda; on the 10th day Dharma Indra, his subjects the gods and the young śrotriyas who accept no gifts, and some sāman from the Sāmaveda. Every day for a year in the evening four oblations called Dhṛti were made in the āhavanīya (Kāt. XX. 3. 4). On the first day 49 homas called Prakramas were made in the dakṣiṇa fire with Vāj. S. XXII. 7-8 (beginning with 'hiṁkārāya svāhā'). Vide Śat. Br. XIII. 1. 3. 5, Tai. S. VII. 1. 19. In this way the Sāvitrī iṣṭis, singing, listening to Pāriplava and Dhṛti offerings went on for a year. For a year the sacrificer kept observances as in the Rājasūya (Lāṭ. IX. 9. 14). Large fees were given to the hotṛ and adhvaryu (Lāṭ. IX. 9. 12-13 and 16) and to the singers (Kāt. XX. 3. 7).