Vedic Sacrifices: Early Nature (In 2 Volumes)

The book is meant to mark the state of ritual as found in the Samhita and Brahmana texts. This is much before the Srautasutras, which in later times codified every matter of the then developed elaborate ritual. The glimpses from the Rgveda do not correspond to the details of the ritual found in these later texts. With the Brahmanas, the so-called Srauta type of Vedic ritual was almost fixed, though the Srautasutras at some places show changes-omissions or additions. Even at the Samhita-Brahmana period, the institution of Vedic sacrifices evolved to such a level as to make a labyrinth of rules, options and explanatory myths. Without the knowledge of ritual of this stage, the picture of the ritual got from the Srautasutras would remain incomplete. The present book is meant for both scholars and those elite readers, who are interested in knowing the main sacrifices without getting lost in the net of rites.