The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c30.s13.3

v2.c30.s13.3

The name of the offering is explained by tradition as ‘food and drink’, by Oldenberg¹ as ‘the drink of strength’, and by Weber as ‘the protection of strength’. The last rendering is clearly to be rejected: the drink which Weber denies to be seen in the offering is the Soma, and we cannot assume that the name is older than the use of Soma in the rite. It is important to note that the rite could, it is clear from scattered notices, be used by a Vaiçya and not merely by a Brahman or a Kṣatriya, but it is also clear that the offering was connected with the attainment of high prosperity, and it may well be that it was intended to be offered only by one who was in the technical sense a *gataçrī*, ‘who had attained prosperity’, and so could aspire to highest things. Moreover, this is indicated by the fact that the person who performs this offering is not expected to take notice of persons who have not done so, go behind them, or share a bed with them. The nature of the rites is clearly on the one hand that of the attainment of victory and power by the symbolic acts of winning, of being hailed as victor, and anointing: references to fertility are obvious also, and the sun spell of the wheel is noteworthy. It is accordingly impossible to lay down precisely the original character of the rite:² it was not merely the feast of victory of the winner in a chariot race, such as might be paralleled in Greek ritual, nor was it solely an agricultural rite: it has been blended by a mixture of many elements to form a general offering available for any successful person.