1910.] HOPKINS— MAGIC OBSERVANCES IN HINDU EPIC. 27 



or of the enemy, " on the sacrificial fire " medlidgni, that is, it is 

 a magical fire-ceremony, 5.126.2; 9. 41. 12. In the horse-sacrifice, 

 the head is cut ofif and set on the fire-altar, 7. 143. 71, that the chief 

 part of the rivals may be destroyed. Even the demons fade away 

 when the domestic priest of the gods " puts meat on the fire with 

 a view to their abolition," 9.41.30. 



The sacrifice of a hundred conquered and captured kings to 

 Siva (Rudra) intended by the victor, king Jarasandha, calls forth 

 the remark in 2.22.1 1 that "no one ever saw^ the slaughter of 

 men " ; but the entirely casual statement that " there is just as 

 much merit in going to the holy well of Nandini as there is in 

 sacrificing human beings," 3.84.155, seems to show (since the 

 speaker's object is merely to exploit this Tirtha) that human sacri- 

 fice was regarded as something actual, and rarely beneficial. In 

 10.7.56 a man " sacrifices himself as an offering," and being accepted 

 by the god comes out alive with divine power. 



Many of the sacrifices made by the epic heroes, however, are 

 simple offerings of "words, water, and fruit," 3.36.45; 41.47. 

 Sacrifice is a means of purification : " By various sacrifices cleansing 

 ofl^ the sin committed let us go to heaven" (pdpam avadJiTiya) , 

 3.52.20. The usual sacrifices ofifered by those dwelling in the 

 woods are isti, pitrydni, and kriyas, 3.25.3. A royal list may be 

 illustrated by those offered by Yudhisthira, to wit, " vaisvadeva, 

 isti, pasuhandhu, kdmyanaimittika, pdkayajfia, asvamcdha, rdjasuya, 

 and gosavas," 3.30. I4f.^ There is also a quasi sacrifice of feeding 

 a white bull till it can eat no more, by making offerings to it as to 

 something sacred, anaduhc sddhave sddhiivdhine . . . sduhityaddndt 

 (to satiety), 3.35.34. 



Only a king may ofifer a royal sacrifice, but there is another 

 "just as good" (as efificacious) which an ambitious prince may 

 offer. Its present interest lies in the fact that it is something quite 

 new. "You cannot have the Rajasuya while the king lives," says the 

 priest to the ambitious prince, " but there is another great sacrificial 



^ In 7.68.10, ukthyas, asvamcdha. agnistoma, atiratra, visvajit vajapeya; 

 ib. 66.7, darsapurnamasau, agrayana, caturmasyas, etc. Compare also 7.63.1 f. 

 which adds pundankas, and remarks that the king gave "all the property 

 of those not Brahmans to the Brahmanas." 



