Daśaratha’s Horse Sacrifice in the Rāmāyaṇa
This article discusses Daśaratha’s horse sacrifice at 1.8–16 in Vālmīki’s Rāmāyaṇa. Daśaratha’s rite seems to be a horse sacrifice, then a son-producing rite, then a porridge-eating rite. The text has been seen as composite, but it works as a unit, using poetic registers and narrative symbols alive...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Department of Linguistics and Philology, Uppsala University
2020-02-01
|
| Series: | Orientalia Suecana |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.uu.se/orientaliasuecana/article/view/526 |
| _version_ | 1797193930563911680 |
|---|---|
| author | Simon Brodbeck |
| author_facet | Simon Brodbeck |
| author_sort | Simon Brodbeck |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
This article discusses Daśaratha’s horse sacrifice at 1.8–16 in Vālmīki’s Rāmāyaṇa. Daśaratha’s rite seems to be a horse sacrifice, then a son-producing rite, then a porridge-eating rite. The text has been seen as composite, but it works as a unit, using poetic registers and narrative symbols alive in the textual world of its historical location – that is, in the Rāmāyaṇa alongside the Mahābhārata, Harivaṃśa, and earlier texts such as the Upaniṣads. The brahmin Ṛśyaśṛṅga, key officiant at Daśaratha’s rite, is predisposed, by the narration, to inseminate Daśaratha’s wives. This article discusses Daśaratha’s rite gradually, with digressions and examples. Topics include Draupadī’s conception, the putrikā or ‘appointed daughter’, the horse sacrifice and the human sacrifice, the niyoga or ‘appointment’ (of a man to inseminate a woman), the ways in which the texts present sex, semen, and the masculinity of the inseminator, and the ways in which they present gods taking human form.
|
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T05:48:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b1e1ddf01ae54db9a2676aba78f378e3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2001-7324 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T05:48:13Z |
| publishDate | 2020-02-01 |
| publisher | Department of Linguistics and Philology, Uppsala University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Orientalia Suecana |
| spelling | doaj.art-b1e1ddf01ae54db9a2676aba78f378e32024-04-23T13:11:21ZengDepartment of Linguistics and Philology, Uppsala UniversityOrientalia Suecana2001-73242020-02-0169Daśaratha’s Horse Sacrifice in the RāmāyaṇaSimon Brodbeck0Department of Religious and Theological Studies, Cardiff University This article discusses Daśaratha’s horse sacrifice at 1.8–16 in Vālmīki’s Rāmāyaṇa. Daśaratha’s rite seems to be a horse sacrifice, then a son-producing rite, then a porridge-eating rite. The text has been seen as composite, but it works as a unit, using poetic registers and narrative symbols alive in the textual world of its historical location – that is, in the Rāmāyaṇa alongside the Mahābhārata, Harivaṃśa, and earlier texts such as the Upaniṣads. The brahmin Ṛśyaśṛṅga, key officiant at Daśaratha’s rite, is predisposed, by the narration, to inseminate Daśaratha’s wives. This article discusses Daśaratha’s rite gradually, with digressions and examples. Topics include Draupadī’s conception, the putrikā or ‘appointed daughter’, the horse sacrifice and the human sacrifice, the niyoga or ‘appointment’ (of a man to inseminate a woman), the ways in which the texts present sex, semen, and the masculinity of the inseminator, and the ways in which they present gods taking human form. https://journals.uu.se/orientaliasuecana/article/view/526Harivaṃśahorse sacrificehuman sacrificeinseminationMahābhāratamasculinity |
| spellingShingle | Simon Brodbeck Daśaratha’s Horse Sacrifice in the Rāmāyaṇa Orientalia Suecana Harivaṃśa horse sacrifice human sacrifice insemination Mahābhārata masculinity |
| title | Daśaratha’s Horse Sacrifice in the Rāmāyaṇa |
| title_full | Daśaratha’s Horse Sacrifice in the Rāmāyaṇa |
| title_fullStr | Daśaratha’s Horse Sacrifice in the Rāmāyaṇa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Daśaratha’s Horse Sacrifice in the Rāmāyaṇa |
| title_short | Daśaratha’s Horse Sacrifice in the Rāmāyaṇa |
| title_sort | dasaratha s horse sacrifice in the ramayana |
| topic | Harivaṃśa horse sacrifice human sacrifice insemination Mahābhārata masculinity |
| url | https://journals.uu.se/orientaliasuecana/article/view/526 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT simonbrodbeck dasarathashorsesacrificeintheramayana |