Ṛtvij

Ṛtvij, “officiating priest of the yajña”

Yajña has other meanings too: see all meanings of Yajña. Dakshiṇā has other meanings too: see all meanings of Dakshiṇā.

Grammar: masculine noun (also ṛtvik; plural ṛtvijas, ṛtviks).

Meaning: an officiating priest of a yajña, chosen by the yajamāna to perform the rite for him. The four chief ṛtviks are the hotā, who recites from the Ṛgveda, the adhvaryu, who carries out the acts of the rite, the udgātā, who sings the Sāma, and the brahmā; others, such as the āgnīdhra and the prastotā, help them.

In the Bhāgavata Purāṇa:

The four ṛtviks. Sūta tells Śaunaka that Vedavyāsa Maharshi, seeing that the Vedic karma performed by the four ṛtviks, the hotṛ, the adhvaryu, the udgātṛ and the brahmā, purifies people’s antaḥkaraṇa, divided the one Veda into four so that such yajñas would continue without a break (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 4). Maitreya tells Vidura that with the Vedas from the faces of Brahmā came the karmas of the four ṛtviks, Hotā, Udgātā, Adhvaryu and Brahmā: from the eastern face the śastra, the Hotā’s praise of the devatās from the Ṛgveda, and from the western face the stutistoma, the Udgātā’s chant from the Sāma (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 12). In the stuti to Bhagavān Varāha, whose form is yajña, the work of the four ṛtviks is in his feet (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 13). Hiraṇyakaśipu, praising Brahmā, says the Veda sets forth the yajñas done by the four ṛtviks (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 7, Chapter 3); and in the Rudra-gīta Agnideva is the very means of the agnihotra performed by the four ṛtvijas (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 24). Agni, praising Śrī Hari at Daksha‘s yajña, explains that Āgnīdhra, Adhvaryu and Hotā are names of ṛtvijas, and that ye yajāmahe is the word with which the hotṛ group recites the yājyā mantras (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 7).

At Daksha’s yajña. When the dust of Rudra‘s armies rose in the north, the ṛtvijas, Daksha, the brāhmaṇas of the assembly and their wives wondered at it; then the ṛtvijas, the assembly and the devatās fled, and Rudra’s followers pelted them with stones (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 5). Rudra’s armies struck the devas, the ṛtvijas and the sadasyas with śūlas, swords, gadās, iron clubs and sledge-hammers; with their limbs cut and broken they went in fear to Brahmā, who asked Bhagavān Śiva to heal at once the broken limbs of the devas and the ṛtvijas (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 6). Bhagavān Śiva said that the adhvaryus and ṛtvijas who had lost their hands should do their work with the arms of the Aśvins and the hands of Pūshā. At Brahmā’s command Daksha, with the upādhyāya and the ṛtvijas, kindled the fires and carried on the yajña; and when Śrī Hari appeared, the ṛtvijas praised him: “Though you appear as the ātmā in many bodies, their faults do not touch you. Because of the śāpa of Nandīśvara our understanding holds only to karma, and we do not know your true nature. This yajña, taught by the three Vedas, which sets people on dharma, is your form; for the yajña’s success you appear as Indra and the devas.” At the end Daksha took the avabhṛtha snāna with the ṛtvijas (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 7).

At the yajñas of kings.

  • When the devas did not come to Aṅga‘s aśvamedha, the ṛtvijas told him that they had offered the havis without fault and used the mantras without error; at the sadasyas’ word they offered the puroḍāśa to Śrī Hari for a son (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 13).
  • Pṛthu entered his palace as the ṛtvijas recited Veda mantras; and when he addressed his people, the pitṛdevatās, the devatās, the ṛtvijas and the sādhus praised him, saying “Well said!” (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 21).
  • At Nābhi‘s yajña the ṛtvijas, the sadasyas and Nābhi saw the four-armed Purushottama (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 3). Ṛshabhadeva, with ṛtvijas, completed every kind of kratu a hundred times (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 4). The four kinds of ṛtvijas, the hotā, udgātā, adhvaryu and brahmā, helped Bharata in his yāgas (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 7).
  • In the Payovrata Kaśyapa teaches Aditi to please the learned ācārya and the ṛtvijas with garments, ornaments and cows, and to give them dakshiṇā, each as he deserves; that is the ārādhana of Śrī Hari (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 8, Chapter 16). The ṛtvijas of the Bhṛgu line had Bali perform his great yajña on the north bank of the Narmadā (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 8, Chapter 18); Bali, with the ṛtvijas, Śukra and the assembly, saw the infinite body of Śrī Hari (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 8, Chapter 20); and Śukrācārya, seated near Vāmana among the ṛtvijas, with the ṛtvijas and the maharshis corrected the defect and completed Bali’s yajña (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 8, Chapter 23).
  • At Ambarīsha‘s yajñas the assembly, the ṛtvijas and the people, in fine clothes and unblinking, looked like devatās (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 9, Chapter 4).
  • Śrī Rāma, after his yajñas, gave the east to the hotā, the south to the brahmā, the west to the adhvaryu and the north to the udgātā who sings the Sāma, and the middle land to the ācārya. The ṛtvijas, melted with love, gave the land back to him, saying that he alone is Jagannātha: “What is there that you have not given us? For you enter our hearts and drive away the darkness” (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 9, Chapter 11). Nimi chose Vasishṭha as his ṛtvik; when Vasishṭha went first to Indra’s yajña, Nimi began his satra-yāga with other ṛtvijas, and they preserved his body in fragrant oil (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 9, Chapter 13).
  • Paraśurāma gave the directions to the ṛtvijas in the same way, and the intermediate directions to the other ṛtvijas beginning with the prastotā (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 9, Chapter 16).

The yajñas of the Pāṇḍavas and of Vasudeva. Śrī Kṛshṇa had Dharmarāja perform three aśvamedha yajñas with the best materials and ṛtvijas (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 8). For the Rājasūya, Dharmarāja, with Śrī Kṛshṇa’s leave, chose as ṛtvijas, at the fit time, brāhmaṇas who knew the Vedas, thirty in the text’s order: Vedavyāsa, Bharadvāja, Sumantu, Gautama, Asita, Vasishṭha, Cyavana, Kaṇva, Maitreya, Kavasha, Trita, Viśvāmitra, Vāmadeva, Sumati, Jaimini, Kratu, Paila, Parāśara, Garga, Vaiśampāyana, Atharvan, Kaśyapa, Dhaumya, Paraśurāma, Śukrācārya, Āsuri, Vītihotra, Madhucchandas, Vīrasena and Akṛtavraṇa. They ploughed the yajña-ground with golden ploughs, gave Dharmarāja the yajña-dīkshā, and, radiant as devas, had him perform the Rājasūya as the devas had Varuṇa perform his (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 74). At its end the ṛtvijas, the members of the assembly, the scholars, friends and relatives were honoured with sweet words and dakshiṇās (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 75). At Samantapañcaka kshetra Vasudeva bowed to the maharshis, pleased them and chose them as his ṛtviks; they performed his abhisheka according to rule, shone in gem-set silk with the sadasyas as at the yajña of Indra who slew Vṛtrāsura, and at the end Vasudeva adorned them and gave them dakshiṇā, with adorned cows, land and maidens and much wealth (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 84).

Janamejaya‘s satra. When Takshaka, in fear of the sarpa-satra, took refuge with Indra, Janamejaya asked the ṛtvijas why they did not throw Takshaka into the fire together with Indra. The knowers of the Veda invoked him: “O Takshaka, fall at once into this fire-pit together with Indra and the hosts of the Maruts!”, and when they uttered the drawing mantras, Indra was shaken from his place together with Takshaka (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 12, Chapter 6).

The ṛtvijas as forms of Śrī Hari. Śuka says that the substances such as puroḍāśa, the mantra, the vidhi, the yajña, the yajamāna, the ṛtvijas, dharma, place and time are all the form of Śrī Hari (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 9, Chapter 6); and in the account of the yājñika brāhmaṇas, the place and time of the yajña, its materials, mantras and method, the ṛtvijas, the fires, the devatās, the yajamāna, the yajña and its puṇya are all forms of Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 23). The gopīs, in their grief at parting, say that ṛtvijas leave the yajamāna once he has given the dakshiṇā (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 47).

Related terms: Yajña · Yajamāna · Sadasya · Hotā · Adhvaryu · Udgātā · Dakshiṇā · Purohita

Sources

  • Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapters 4, 8; Skandha 3, Chapters 12–13; Skandha 4, Chapters 5–7, 13, 21, 24; Skandha 5, Chapters 3–4, 7; Skandha 7, Chapter 3; Skandha 8, Chapters 16, 18, 20, 23; Skandha 9, Chapters 4, 6, 11, 13, 16; Skandha 10, Chapters 23, 47, 74–75, 84; Skandha 12, Chapter 6