Rājasūya Yajña (Mahābhārata)
The Rājasūya is the royal consecration yajña (fire ritual) that makes a king a sāmrāṭ (emperor). Yudhishṭhira performed it at Indraprastha, after the Pāṇḍava digvijaya (conquest of the directions) and the death of Jarāsandha. Kings from every part of Bhārata came with tribute, and the ṛtvij-s (ritual priests) were among the greatest of the age.
The yajña reached its high point in the agra-pūjā, the honour of first worship. Bhīshma named Śrī Kṛshṇa for it. This led to Śiśupāla’s protest and his end.
Preparation
The four Pāṇḍava brothers returned from their digvijayas with tribute from every direction. Kṛshṇa and Nārada advised Yudhishṭhira to begin the Rājasūya without delay. Yudhishṭhira sent Nakula to Hastināpura with a formal invitation. Bhīshma, Droṇa, Dhṛtarāshṭra, Vidura, Kṛpa and all the Kaurava princes were to be invited with full honour.
The Pāṇḍavas chose their ṛtvij-s with great care:
- Brahman, the presiding priest who oversees the whole yajña in silence: Kṛshṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa
- Udgātā, the chanter of Sāmaveda hymns: Susāma
- Adhvaryu, who carries out the ritual actions and knows the Yajurveda: Yājñavalkya
- Hotā, who invokes the devas and knows the Ṛgveda: Paila and Dhaumya
These four posts, brahman, udgātā, adhvaryu and hotā, stand for the four Vedas in the yajña. Vyāsa himself served as brahman.
Arrival of the kings
Kings from across Bhārata came to Indraprastha with tribute and goodwill.
From the Kuru side came Bhīshma, Droṇa, Dhṛtarāshṭra, Vidura, Kṛpa, Aśvatthāman, Jayadratha, Bāhlīka, Somadatta, Bhūriśravas, Duryodhana, Karṇa, Śakuni and all the Kaurava princes.
From Kṛshṇa’s family came Balarāma, Pradyumna, Sāmba and Aniruddha.
Allied kings came too: Virāṭa, Drupada, Bhagadatta, Śalya, Śiśupāla of Cedī, Bhīshmaka (father of Rukmiṇī), Rukmi, Pauṇḍraka Vāsudeva of Vaṅga, Kuntibhoja, and hundreds more.
Some of these kings were loyal, some were there only from duty, and some were openly hostile to Kṛshṇa. All were now in one place. The Kurukshetra War came later.
The yajña
The yajña went on for several days with the full Vedic rites of a sāmrājya-abhisheka (emperor’s consecration). Six ritual fires of the Rājasūya were kindled:
- Ārambhaṇīya, the fire of commencement
- Katra, the kshatriya fire
- Dhṛti, the fire of resolve
- Vyushi, the fire of illumination
- Dvīrātra, the two-night fire
- Daśapeya, the ten-drink fire
These six fires make up the most distinctive rites of the Rājasūya and set it apart from all other yajñas. The yajña ends with the royal consecration, the abhishecanīya. The king is bathed with waters from all the sacred rivers and crowned sāmrāṭ.
All four varṇas were satisfied in their own ways. Brāhmaṇas received dakshiṇā (gifts) and food in plenty. Kshatriyas received honour and recognition of their strength. Vaiśyas were satisfied through trade and commerce. Śūdras were fed and clothed. The whole kingdom was in festival.
The day of the consecration
On the day of the royal bath and crowning, the great sabhā (assembly hall) was filled beyond its already huge size. Devarshis sat beside rājarshis. Nārada was present. The company of kings, ṛshis and divine beings was said to equal even Indra’s Sudharmā at its fullest.
Then the question of the agra-pūjā arose.
Bhīshma names Kṛshṇa
Yudhishṭhira asked who should receive the first honour, the arghya-pūjā that opens the rites. Bhīshma rose and, with the weight of his age and wisdom, answered without hesitation: “Kṛshṇa, Vāsudeva, deserves the agra-pūjā. He is not only the greatest king present. He is the very foundation of all existence, the cause of all causes. To worship anyone else first in his presence would be to mistake a river for the ocean.”
Sahadeva at once rose and carried the golden vessel of arghya to Kṛshṇa.
Śiśupāla’s protest and death
Śiśupāla, king of Cedī, could not hold himself back. He rose in the assembly and spoke long and bitterly against the choice. He made fourteen arguments, one after another, against Kṛshṇa’s worthiness for this honour. Several kings who shared his enmity toward Kṛshṇa rose and walked out with him.
Bhīshma answered with a full stuti (praise) of Kṛshṇa, telling of his cosmic nature, his history of avatāras, and how no one could be found more worthy. Then Kṛshṇa himself rose.
Kṛshṇa had promised Śiśupāla’s mother, his own aunt, that he would forgive one hundred offences of Śiśupāla before acting. Śiśupāla went on with his abuse, and his insults now ran into the hundreds. Kṛshṇa raised his hand, and the Sudarśana Cakra flashed through the air and cut off Śiśupāla’s head in an instant.
A bright light rose from Śiśupāla’s body. It was the jīvātman (the individual self) of the one who had been Kṛshṇa’s enemy across several births, as Hiraṇyakaśipu, then Rāvaṇa, then Śiśupāla. It entered Kṛshṇa and reached moksha, complete union with Bhagavān Kṛshṇa.
Conclusion
The arghya was completed and the Rājasūya was ended in full. Yudhishṭhira was now sāmrāṭ, emperor of Bhārata. All the kings had submitted, the fires of the yajña were satisfied, and dharma seemed to reign.
Duryodhana had seen the splendour of the Māyā Sabhā and the submission of all these kings to Yudhishṭhira. He returned to Hastināpura full of envy. That envy led to the invitation to the dice game, and through a bitter chain of events to the Kurukshetra War.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Chapter 33 (preparation and the choice of ṛtvij-s)
- Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Chapter 34 (arrival of the kings)
- Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Chapter 35 (the yajña and the six fires)
- Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Chapter 36 (the day of the consecration and Bhīshma’s choice)
- Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Chapters 36–38 (Śiśupāla’s protest and death)
- Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Chapter 38 (conclusion)
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa (a related account of the Rājasūya)