Pravargya


Originating in historical Vedic religion, 'Pravargya', also known as 'Ashvina-pravaya', is an introductory or preliminary ceremony to the Soma Yajña.
In the Pravargya Yajña, an earthen pot is fashioned from clay dug up from the ground, placed on a fire-altar, and used to boil milk which is offered to the Ashvins, the twin Rigvedic gods of Ayurvedic medicine.
As with all Vedic Period sacrificial ceremonies, the Pravargya Yajña is mystical in nature insofar as items, positions, actions, and words have indirect, symbolic meanings, rather than direct literal meanings. It is also typical in that numerous and complex rules must be strictly followed by participants to the smallest detail.
Although explanations of and instructions for the performance of the Pravargya Yagya are provided by various Vedic literature such as the Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Shrautasutras, those provided by the Shatapatha Brahmana of the White Yajurveda are particularly notable in Vaishnavism as the likely origin of the Varaha avatar of the Rigvedic God Vishnu.

Nomenclature and etymology

Pravargya

'Pravargya' means ' a ceremony introductory to the Soma Yagya '. It is also similarly defined as a 'ceremony preliminary to the Soma Yagya'. The term seems to be derived from 'Pravarga', which means 'a large earthenware pot '. 'Pravargya' also means 'distinguished' and 'eminent'. Both words seem to be formed from the roots:
  • '√pra', meaning 'forward, in front, on, forth'.
  • '√vrj', meaning 'to twist off, pull up, pluck, gather', or 'to avert, remove'.

    Mahāvīra Pot

According to A.B. Keith and A.A. Macdonell 'Mahāvīra' 'is the name in the later Samhitās and the Brāmaṇas of a large earthenware pot which could be placed on the fire, and which was especially employed at the introductory Soma ceremony called Pravargya'.
'Mahāvīra' literally translates to 'great hero', 'thunderbolt', and 'white horse'. It also translates to 'archer', which is particularly notable as two legends relating to this pot in the Pravargya ceremony concerns Makha and Vishnu respectively being decapitated by their bows.

Makha

According to the Monier-Williams Sanskrit Dictionary, 'Makha' means 'cheerful, sprightly, vigorous, active, restless', or ' a feast, festival, any occasion of joy or festivity', or 'a Yajña, sacrificial oblation'. Makha is also the name of a nakshatra.

Varna

The class or 'Varna' system also influenced the proceedings of the Pravargya ceremony. According to the Monier-Williams Sanskrit dictionary, 'Varna' has many different meanings. Generally, it is used to refer to the forms, shapes, appearances, categorisations and arrangements of things. This includes of physical objects, living beings, letters, words, sounds, musical notes, and arrangements of songs and poems. A more specific definition given by the dictionary is also 'class of men, tribe, order, caste... properly applicable to the four principal classes described in Manu's code, viz. Brāhmans, Kshatriyas, Vaiśyas, and Sūdras ; the more modern word for 'caste' being jāti'. The relation between the varna and caste systems is discussed in more detail below.

Key deities mentioned

Vishnu

Vishnu, stated to be synonymous with the Yagya, is decapitated in a legend relating to the Mahāvīra earthen Pot used in the Pravargya Yagya.
Synonymous with Krishna, Vishnu is the "preserver" in the Hindu triad and is revered as the supreme being In Vaishnavism. Also stated to be synonymous with the Yagya, Vishnu is particularly notable for adopting various incarnations, time to time in every Yug to preserve and protect dharmic principles whenever the world is threatened with evil, chaos, and destructive forces.

The Ashvins

In the Pravargya ceremony, a Mahāvīra earthen pot is made and used to boil milk as an oblation to the Ashvins.
W.J. Wilkins states that the 'Asvins are regarded as the physicians of the gods; and are declared to be able to restore to health, the sick, the lame, and the emaciated amongst mortals. They are the special guardians of the slow and backward; the devoted friends of elderly women who are unmarried. They are said to preside over love and marriage, and are implored to being together hearts that love... the Asvins are invoked for "offspring, wealth, victory, destruction of enemies, the preservation of the worshippers themselves, of their houses and cattle'.
In the legend of Vishnu's decapitation, the Yagya is stated to have begun without the Ashvins. Wilkins relates another legend in the Shatapatha Brahmana that leads to the Ashvins joining the Yagya, and as physicians, using their power to replace the head of Vishnu/Makha as the head of the Yagya. Their request to the gods for this was to be granted oblations at the Yagya, which was accepted. The story related by Wilkins is that after attempting and failing twice to take away Sukanya, the young wife of an elderly Rishi called Chyavana, she tells the Ashvins one of the reasons she won't leave her husband for them is because they are imperfect, but will only tell them why after they make her husband young again. They agree, and so she 'tells the Asvins that they are imperfect because they have not been invited to join the other gods in a great Yagya that was to be celebrated at Kurukshetra. The Asvins proceed to this Yagya, and, asking to be allowed to join in it, are told they cannot do so, because they have wandered familiarly among men, performing cures. In reply to this, the Asvins declared that the gods were making a headless Yajña. The gods inquiring how this can be, the Asvins reply, "Invite us to join you, and we will tell you." To this the gods consented'.

Indra

Just as in the Rigveda, Indra is stated to become 'Makhavan', in the Shatapatha Brahmana it is also stated that Indra 'became Makhavat ' in a legend relating to the Mahāvīra earthen pot made in the Parvargya Yajña. Indra is also stated to be the 'slayer of Makha' in the Taittiriya Samhita of the Black Yajurveda. Should the Mahāvīra be broken during the Yajña, Indra is invoked for atonement.
In the Vedas, Indra is the king of Svarga and the Devas. He is the deity of the heavens, lightning, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. Indra is the most referred to deity in the Rigveda. He is celebrated for his powers, and the one who kills the great symbolic evil named Vritra who obstructs human prosperity and happiness. Indra destroys Vritra and his "deceiving forces", and thereby brings rains and the sunshine as the friend of mankind.

Makha

In the Parvargya Yajña, the Mahāvīra earthen pot made from clay is referred to as 'Makha'. In a legend relating to the Mahāvīra, Makha or Makha-Vishnu is decapitated. The pot is referred to as Makha's head, which at the end of the ceremony is used as the symbolic head of a man's body.
The above quote from the Taittiriya Samhita concerns a Soma Yajña to Rudra. Other references to the head of Makha are all in the Taittiriya Samhita, and all seem to be in relation to Agni, the fire god.
A.A. Macdonell states that 'Makha appears to designate a person in two passages of the Rigveda , but in neither passage does the context explain who he was. Probably a demon of some kind is meant. In the later Samhitas mention is also made of the 'head of Makha,' an expression which has become unintelligible to the Brahmanas .
In regards to this ambiguity, S. Shrava states that 'Innumerable manuscripts of the valuable literature have been lost due to atrocities of the rulers and invaders, ravages of time, and utter disregard and negligence. These factors contributed to the loss of hundreds of manuscripts. Once their number was more than a few hundred. Had these been available today the ambiguity in the interpretation of Vedic hymns could not have crept in'.

Brihat Parasara Hora Sastra

Notably, according to the Brihat Parasara Hora Sastra, Makha is a nakshatra. The presiding deity of that star is also stated to be the Sun, which is notable given the sun is regarded as the 'soul of all', and the severed head of Vishnu in various Brahmanic legends is stated to become the sun.

Summary of the ritual

Somayaga

R.L. Kashyap states that 'Somayaga is a general name for those Yagya in which libations of the soma juice are offered in the duly consecrated fire. There are seven types of Soma Yajnas namely, agnishtoma, atyagnishtoma, ukthya, shodashi, vajapeya, atirata and aptoryama... Agnishtoma is a typical Somayaga, forming the prakriti or model for other Soma Yagya'. Kashyap also details the 5-day Agnishtoma rite, in which the Pravargya ceremony within it is performed on the third and fourth days.
The Somyagyas are still performed. Here is the list of various somyagyas held in recent time.

Pravargya

The Pravargya rite is complex and involves following numerous strict rules in regards to timing, objects used, placements, movements, actions, and what is said. The summaries given below are very much simplified. Kashyap states that 'The Pravargya must be commenced on the day of the new or full moon, or on a day in the wane when the moon is in an auspicious nakshatra'.
U.M. Vesci states that the Pravargya ritual has two distinct parts:
  1. At its beginning, the Mahāvīra earthen pots are prepared, and the milk boiled in them are offered to the Ashvins. This is repeated in the evening for three consecutive days.
  2. At its conclusion, the implements used in this ritual, particularly the Mahāvīra are carried in procession to the fire-altar and buried there.
A.B. Keith states that from 'clay chosen from a pit east of the Ahavaniya fire, to which a horse leads the way, a Mahavira pot is made, a span high, two spare pots, and various other utensiles. A stool of Munja grass is also made as a throne for the pot. The pot is heated, the milk of a cow and a goat is poured in. Finally, the hot drink is offered to the Asvins, and two Rauhina'' cakes are also offered in the morning to the day, in the evening to the night. At the outset of the ceremony the wife of the conductor is made to cover her head, but she joins with the rest at the close in the finale of the Saman which is sung. At the end the offering utensils are arranged so as to make up the semblance of a man, the three Mahavira vessels marking the head, and so on... The pot is covered with a golden plate, which can be nothing else than a symbol of fire or the sun, the pot glows, the milk, which in its whiteness is a sun symbol, boils with heat. The Yagya by drinking as usual a share of the milk thus gains power at the same time as the sun is strengthened'.
S. Ketkat agrees, elaborating that at the Pravargya ceremony 'a cauldron is made red-hot on the sacrificial fire, to represent symbolically the sun; in this cauldron milk is then boiled and offered to the Asvins. The whole celebration is regarded as a great mystery. At the end of it the sacrificial utensils are so arranged that they represent a man: the milk-pots are the head, on which a tuft of sacred grass represents the hair; two milking-pails represent the ears, two little gold leaves the eyes, two cups the heels, the flour sprinkled over the whole the marrow, a mixture of milk and honey the blood, and so on. The prayers and formulae naturally correspond with the mysterious ceremonies'.