Rājasūya
Rājasūya · rāja-sūya, “the royal consecration”
The Rājasūya (from rāja, “king”, and sūya, “sacrifice” or “pressing”) is the yajña (sacred fire offering) of royal consecration. Through it a king claimed, and was given, the title of samrāṭ, emperor of Bhārata. It was the highest yajña a kshatriya (warrior) king could perform, greater even than the Aśvamedha (horse sacrifice) in its political and cosmic reach. Before it could be completed, every rival king in the four directions had to be defeated or had to submit of his own will. So performing a Rājasūya was both a ritual act and a political and military achievement. The Vāmana Purāṇa tells of King Gaya, who performed a thousand Rājasūyas, and names the tīrthas of Kurukshetra whose bath gives the fruit of a Rājasūya; and it promises the same fruit to one who hears the Purāṇa itself. The Agni Purāṇa tells that Pṛthu was the first king consecrated after performing the Rājasūya, that Soma gave away the rule of the three worlds as its dakshiṇā, and that one who hears the Agni Purāṇa in the rainy season gains the fruit of the Rājasūya.
The most famous Rājasūya in the Mahābhārata is that of Yudhishṭhira at Indraprastha. It included the Jarāsandha Vadha (the slaying of Jarāsandha) and the Pāṇḍava Digvijaya (the Pāṇḍavas‘ conquest of the four directions), and it ended with the Śiśupāla Vadha (the slaying of Śiśupāla) and Bhīshma‘s great stuti (hymn of praise) to Kṛshṇa.
What Had to Come First
Only a king who truly ruled over all the major kings of the four directions could perform the Rājasūya. That rule could be won by conquest (digvijaya) or by the others submitting willingly. No king could perform a Rājasūya while another powerful, independent king stood unconquered in his land. This meant that simply deciding to perform a Rājasūya was a declaration that one meant to win complete sovereignty.
In Yudhishṭhira‘s case, Kṛshṇa advised that the first obstacle was Jarāsandha of Magadha. He was the most powerful king in Bhārata, and he held eighty-six princes captive for a great sacrifice he planned to perform. Until Jarāsandha was dealt with, no Rājasūya could succeed, because he would never submit. The answer was a wrestling challenge. Kṛshṇa, Bhīma and Arjuna went to him in disguise, and this led to a fourteen-day fight between Bhīma and Jarāsandha, and to Jarāsandha’s death.
How the Yajña Was Arranged
The Rājasūya was a long sequence of rites carried out over many days.
The six sacred fires. The Rājasūya was marked by six special fires:
- Ārambhaṇīya: the fire of beginning
- Katra: the kshatriya fire
- Dhṛti: the fire of resolve
- Vyushi: the fire of illumination
- Dvīrātra: the two-night fire
- Daśapeya: the ten-drink fire
The ṛtvijs (officiating brāhmaṇas). Four specialists were needed, one for each Veda:
- Brahman (the overseer, Ṛgveda): the most senior ṛshi
- Udgātā: the chanter of the Sāmaveda
- Adhvaryu: the Yajurveda specialist who carries out the rites
- Hotā: the Ṛgveda caller who invokes the devas
At Yudhishṭhira‘s Rājasūya, Vyāsa served as Brahman, Susāma as Udgātā, Yājñavalkya as Adhvaryu, and Paila together with Dhaumya as Hotā.
The Abhishecanīya. This was the royal bath at the height of the rite. The king was bathed with sacred waters from all the rivers and crowned as samrāṭ. At Yudhishṭhira’s Rājasūya, this was the moment of the dispute over the agra-pūjā, the “first honour” given to the most worthy guest.
Its Political and Cosmic Meaning
The Rājasūya was not just a political ceremony. In the Vedic view, when a righteous king performed the Rājasūya and won sovereignty over all, the dharmic order of the age was confirmed and renewed. The earth flourished, all the varṇas (social orders) were content, and the kingdom became a model of divine order on earth.
On the other hand, a Rājasūya performed by an unworthy king, or one left incomplete, was thought dangerous for the whole world. Duryodhana saw Yudhishṭhira‘s Rājasūya in all its splendour and was eaten up by envy. He went on to start the game of dice that destroyed dharma. This is itself read as the shadow of the Rājasūya falling across the age.
Yudhishṭhira’s Rājasūya
The most fully told Rājasūya in the Sanskrit tradition is Yudhishṭhira‘s at Indraprastha (Sabhā Parva, Chapters 11–38). Its main events are:
- Nārada‘s visit and his wise counsel, which set out the plan
- Kṛshṇa‘s advice to deal with Jarāsandha first
- The slaying of Jarāsandha, which freed eighty-six kings
- The digvijaya of the four directions by the four younger Pāṇḍavas
- The arrival of all the kings at Indraprastha with tribute
- The choice of Bhīshma as praśāstā (chief counsellor)
- The abhishecanīya and the dispute over the agra-pūjā
- Śiśupāla‘s attack in words, and his death
- Bhīshma’s stuti of Kṛshṇa as Nārāyaṇa
- Duryodhana’s envy at the splendour of the Māyā Sabhā (the assembly hall built by Maya)
Per Vāmana Purāṇa
The Vāmana Purāṇa names the Rājasūya as the measure of great puṇya (merit).
King Gaya‘s thousand Rājasūyas. When Indra, having lost his place through the pāpa of bhrūṇahatyā, came down to bhūloka on the counsel of Brahmā, Kaśyapa and Vasishṭha, he came to the holy kshetra north of Kāliñjara, south of the Himavat, east of Kuśasthalī and west of Vasupura. In that kshetra the former great king Gaya had performed, with dakshiṇā, a hundred aśvamedha yajñas, a hundred thousand naramedha yajñas and a thousand Rājasūya yāgas, and also the Mahāmedha, hard to accomplish even for devas and asuras. There Bhagavān Vishṇu, the crusher of Mura, manifested as Gadādhara. (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 50)
Tīrthas that give the fruit of the Rājasūya. In the Saro Māhātmya, three tīrthas of Kurukshetra give the fruit of the Rājasūya:
- Soma tīrtha, where Candra performed tapas and was freed of disease: one who plunges in it and has darśana of Someśvara Svāmī gains the phala of the Rājasūya yāga; diseases and all doshas leave him, and he dwells for a long time in Candraloka. (Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 13)
- Pāṇikhāta tīrtha: one who bathes there and offers pitṛ-tarpaṇa (water offered to the ancestors) gains the phala of performing a Rājasūya, and sāṅkhya and yoga are accomplished for him. (Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 15)
- Soma tīrtha on the bank of the Sarasvatī: one who immerses in it gains the phala of the Rājasūya yāga. (Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 20)
The fruit of hearing the Purāṇa. At the close of the Purāṇa, Pulastya Maharshi tells Nārada: “Now hear my own firm conviction: by hearing this Mahāpurāṇa one gains the fruit of performing the Rājasūya yāga.” (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 69)
Per Agni Purāṇa
Pṛthu, the first consecrated. The Agni Purāṇa tells that when the munis churned the right hand of King Vena, Pṛthu Cakravartī was born, the forefather of the kshatriyas, blazing with tejas (radiant power), bearing bow and armour, and protecting all the people. He was the first of those who were consecrated (abhisheka) after performing the Rājasūya yāga. (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 18)
Soma’s Rājasūya. Soma, the son of Atri, who was the son of Brahmā, performed the Rājasūya yāga and gave away the rule of the three worlds as dakshiṇā. Its close was marked by the avabhṛtha snāna, the closing bath of the yajña. (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 274)
Yudhishṭhira‘s Rājasūya. After the Pāṇḍavas had conquered the four quarters, Yudhishṭhira ruled and performed the Rājasūya yāga with great gifts of gold. Duryodhana could not bear all this, and, urged by Duḥśāsana, Karṇa and Śakuni, he invited Yudhishṭhira to the game of dice. (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 13)
The fruit of hearing the Purāṇa. At the close of the Purāṇa, Agni Deva gives the fruit of hearing it season by season, after pūjā to the book with sandal paste, flowers and the like. One who hears it in Varsha, the rainy season, gains the fruit of the Rājasūya. (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 383)
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Chapters 11–38
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 50, 69
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapters 13, 15, 20
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 13, 18, 274, 383