Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s10.188

v2.c4.s10.188

Hotṛ is the name of one of the oldest and most important priests of the Vedic ritual, the counterpart of the Zaotar of the Avestan priesthood.¹ The word must be derived from hu, ‘sacrifice,’ as was held by Aurnavābha ;² this indicates a time when the Hotṛ was at once sacrificer (the later Adhvaryu) and singer. But the functions were already clearly divided in the Rigveda, where the Hotṛ’s chief duty was the recitation of the Śastras. He was also in the older period often the Purohita of the king, an office later filled by the Brahman priest.