Royal Horse Sacrifice (Asvamedha) in Wider Sight: A Study across the Themes (Ritual, Thought, Literature)

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23520074
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Indian philosophy/Buddhist studies
• Research Institution: Kyoto Bunkyo University
• Principal Investigator: TESHIMA Hideki 京都文教大学, 公私立大学の部局等, 准教授 (30388178)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-28 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: インド思想 / インド文学 / ウパニシャッド / 馬 / マハーバーラタ / ラーマーヤナ / カーリダーサ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The Asvamedha, royal horse sacrifice, is well known as one of the most large-scaled ritual in the history of India. Its scene was first described in the Rgveda I 162-163 and numerous follower texts in the Veda. Further it has been taken in the story as an important motive in various texts, such as Mhabharata, Ramayana and classical Kavyas. So this ritual has widely influenced the culture and society in India.
In spite of its importance, however, the Asvamedha "in a wider sight" had been investigated very little. Therefore this project aimed to promote a comparative study across three fields, namely ritual, philosophical thought and literature. From this investigation we got significant viewpoints which enable us to understand India's culture nad society more deeply than before.

Free Research Field

印度学