The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c30.s15.13

v2.c30.s15.13

The meaning of the sacrifice is in the former view of Oldenberg ⁴ the offering to Indra, the god of the warriors, of a swift strong steed from which the sacrificer would thus derive magic power, whether directly or indirectly through the fact that Indra would thus be made strong to aid him. The slaying of the dog he thinks intended as the destruction of hostile powers, or perhaps in origin as providing the horse with a guardian; such a function is sometimes given to a four-eyed dog in the Avesta. The relation of the queen and the horse is clearly a fertility spell, while the obscene language, he thinks, might be explained in the same sense, or as an amusement of the gods, or a magic; the horse embodies royalty, and by its consecration is made especially sacred so that its slaughter gives strength to the sacrificer. He observes, however, that in RV. x. 56 a horse sacrifice to the dead occurs, which may be the imitation of the horse sacrifice or its prototype.