Page:History of India Vol 1.djvu/209

Rh was performed only once every four months. The Agnishtoma was a Soma sacrifice, and the Sautramani was originally an expiation for overindulgence in Soma. The Rajasuya was the imperial coronation sacrifice which was performed by great kings after they had established their prowess and fame by conquests, and the Asvamedha was the celebrated horse-sacrifice which was also performed after great wars and conquests. Humbler than these, but far more important for our purpose, was the Agnyadhana, or setting up of the sacrificial fires, which had an important bearing on the life of every Hindu, and which deserves a few words in explanation.

The monarch Asvapati boasted that in his kingdom there was no thief, no miser, no drunkard, no ignorant person, no adulterer or adulteress, and "no man without an altar in his house." In those days, to keep the sacred fire in the altar was a duty incumbent on every householder, and the breach of this rule was regarded as the deepest impiety. The student who had returned home from his teacher or his Parishad married in due time and then set up the sacrificial fires. This was generally done on the first day of the waxing moon, but sometimes also at full moon, probably to enable the newly married couple to enter on the sacred duties as early as possible. The performance of the Agnyadhana, or the establishment of the sacred fires, generally required two days. The sacrificer chose his four priests, the Brahman, the Hotri, the Adhvaryu, and the Agnidhra, and erected two sheds or fire-houses, for the