Rajasuya

Rajasuya (Sanskrit: राजसूय, romanized: Rājasūya, lit. ‘king’s sacrifice’) is a Śrauta ritual of the Vedic religion. It is ceremony that marks a consecration of a king.[1] According to the Puranas, it refers to a great sacrifice performed by a Chakravarti – universal monarch, in which the tributary princes may also take part, at the time of his coronation, as a mark of his undisputed sovereignty.[2] Description [edit] 15 languages
King Yudhishthira, a character in the Mahabharata, performs the rajasuya sacrifice
The rajasuya is associated with the consecration
of a king[1] and is prescribed as a means to
establish a king’s sovereignty.[3] It is described in
the Taittiriya corpus, including Apastamba Srauta
Sutra 18.8–25.22.[1] It involves soma pressing, a
chariot drive, the king shooting arrows from his
bow, and a brief “cattle raid”.[1] The newly anointed king seizes cattle belonging to his relative, and then gives part of his property to that relative.[4] There is a telling of the tale of Shunahshepa, a boy who was nearly sacrificed to Varuna on behalf of the sonless king Harishchandra.[1] Also included is a game of throwing dice with the Adhvaryu priest in which the king wins a cow, by which the king is enthroned and the cosmos is regenerated.[1] The Shatapatha Brahmana states that the rajasuya was the means by which a Kshatriya may become a king, and is not suitable for Brahmanas.[5] Historically, the rajasuya was performed by the Indo-Aryan kings, which led to the expansion of their kingdoms during the Iron Age.[6] The kings of Tamilakam performed the rajasuya, attended by monarchs of Lanka.[7] Kharavela, the king of Kalinga, is described to have performed the rajasuya, despite being a Jain.[8] The Satavahana kings performed the ceremony.[9] The sacrifice was performed by kings throughout the subcontinent, recorded to have been performed in South India at least until the time of the Vijayanagara Empire.[10] Seealso [edit] Rājyābhiṣeka
Ashvamedha

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