Kṣāttra Rites - 4

(3) Jaya, Abhyātāna, and Rāṣṭrabhṛt

The Jaya, Abhyātāna, and Rāṣṭrabhṛt offerings are offerings given in Somayāgas. They are optional in the Vājapēya, Rājasūya, and Aśvamēdha. Kumārila-bhaṭṭa, however, opines that the above three homas are to be performed as a subsidiary to Darśapūrṇamāsa and similar śrauta rites^[1].

They are also performed as an obligatory rite by the Yajurvēdins during the marriage ceremony, as mentioned by both Baudhāyana^[2] and Āpastamba^[3]. According to the sage Pāraskara, it is an optional rite. These three homas, along with their meanings, are probably one of the best regarding kṣāttra spirit.

The injunctions for these homas are found in Taittirīya-samhitā 3.4.6 along with the arthavādas – यद्रा᳚ष्ट्र॒भृद्भी॑ रा॒ष्ट्रमाऽद॑दत॒ तद्रा᳚ष्ट्र॒भृताꣳ॑ राष्ट्रभृ॒त्त्वं ते दे॒वा अ॑भ्याता॒नैरसु॑रान॒भ्यात॑न्वत॒ जयै॑रजयन्राष्ट्र॒भृद्भी॑ रा॒ष्ट्रमाऽद॑दत॒ यद्दे॒वा अ॑भ्याता॒नैरसु॑रान॒भ्यात॑न्वत॒ तद॑भ्याता॒नाना॑मभ्यातान॒त्वं यज्जयै॒रज॑यं॒ तज्जया॑नां जय॒त्वं यद्रा᳚ष्ट्र॒भृद्भी॑ रा॒ष्ट्रमाऽद॑दत॒ तद्रा᳚ष्ट्र॒भृताꣳ॑ राष्ट्रभृ॒त्त्वं ततो॑ दे॒वा अभ॑व॒न्पराऽसु॑रा॒ यो भ्रातृ॑व्यवा॒न्थ्स्याथ्स ए॒तान् जु॑हुयादभ्याता॒नैरे॒व भ्रातृ॑व्यान॒भ्यात॑नुते॒ जयै᳚र्जयति राष्ट्र॒भृद्भी॑ रा॒ष्ट्रमा द॑त्ते॒ भव॑त्या॒त्मना॒ परा᳚ऽस्य॒ भ्रातृ॑व्यो भवति ॥^[4]

Jaya-homa

The Jaya-homa, as stated in the injunction, is named so because it brought victory to the Devas when they performed the homa against the Asuras. The Vedas themselves give the derivation of the word Jaya - यज्जयै॒रज॑यं॒ तज्जया॑नां जय॒त्वम् i.e. by performing the Jaya-homa, the Dēvas conquered the Asuras, that is why the Jayas have their name. Therefore, the Jaya-homa is performed to secure victory against the enemy. The mantras for the Jaya-homa are found in the Taittirīya-samhitā 3.4.4. In the mantras, it is stated that Indra himself approached Prajāpati Brahmā and obtained the Jaya-mantras to obtain victory against his adversaries^[5].

Abhyātāna-homa

Sāyaṇācāraya, while explaining the word Abhyātāna, says ‘The Devas overpowered the Asuras’^[6], rendering the meaning of Abhyātāna as overpowering or subduing. The Vedas also derive the word Abhyātāna as यद्दे॒वा अ॑भ्याता॒नैरसु॑रान॒भ्यात॑न्वत॒ तद॑भ्याता॒नाना॑मभ्यातान॒त्वम् i.e. The Devas overpowered the Asuras with the Abhyātānas, that is why the Abhyātānas have their name. The Abhyātāna mantras are devotional verses seeking protection from various Devas and manes. Gaining protection from them, one gains the strength to overpower his opponents. The Abhyātāna-mantras are – अ॒ग्निर्भू॒ताना॒मधि॑पतिः॒ स मा॑ऽव॒त्विन्द्रो᳚ ज्ये॒ष्ठानां᳚ यँ॒मः पृ॑थि॒व्या वा॒युर॒न्तरि॑क्षस्य॒ सूर्यो॑दि॒वश्च॒न्द्रमा॒ नक्ष॑त्राणां॒ बृह॒स्पति॒र्ब्रह्म॑णो मि॒त्रः स॒त्यानां॒ वरु॑णो॒ऽपाꣳ स॑मु॒द्रः स्रो॒त्याना॒मन्न॒ꣳ॒ साम्रा᳚ज्याना॒मधि॑पति॒ तन्मा॑ऽवतु॒ सोम॒ ओष॑धीनाꣳ सवि॒ता प्र॑स॒वानाꣳ॑ रु॒द्रः प॑शू॒नां त्वष्टा॑ रू॒पाणां॒ विष्णुः॒ पर्व॑तानां म॒रुतो॑ ग॒णाना॒मधि॑पतय॒स्ते मा॑वन्तु॒ पित॑रः पितामहाः परेऽवरे॒ तता᳚स्ततामहा इ॒ह मा॑ऽवत । अ॒स्मिन्ब्रह्म॑न्न॒स्मिन् क्ष॒त्रे᳚ऽस्यामा॒शिष्य॒स्यां पु॑रो॒धाया॑म॒स्मिन् कर्म॑न्न॒स्यां दे॒वहू᳚त्याम् ॥^[7]

Here ‘अधि॑पतिः स मा॑ऽवतु॒ स्वाहा᳚’ should be added at the end of each yajus, for example ‘रु॒द्रः प॑शू॒नामधि॑पतिः स मा॑ऽवतु॒ स्वाहा᳚’. Hence a total of sixteen oblations are offered in the Abhyātāna-homa.

Rāṣṭrabhṛt-homa

Among the three homas, the Rāṣṭrabhṛt-homa is widely used on both śrauta and gṛhya rituals. The Rāṣṭrabhṛt is an obligatory oblation performed during the Agnicayana rite^[8]. It is also an obligatory rite performed in Udaksaśānti, a ritual performed by all Kṛṣṇa-yajurvēdins before the performance of the sixteen saṁskāras.

The Veda derive it as यद्रा᳚ष्ट्र॒भृद्भी॑ रा॒ष्ट्रमाऽद॑दत॒ तद्रा᳚ष्ट्र॒भृताꣳ॑ राष्ट्रभृ॒त्त्वम् i.e. The Devas won the kingdom of the Asuras with the Rāṣṭrabhṛts, that is why the Rāṣṭrabhṛts have their name. Similarly, Sāyaṇācārya also derives Rāṣṭrabhṛt as राष्ट्रं भ्रियते स्वीक्रियत एभिरिति राष्ट्रभृत्त्वम्.

The mantras of the Rāṣṭrabhṛt-homa are present in the Taittirīya-samhitā 3.4.7. There are twenty-two libations offered in eleven rounds in the Rāṣṭrabhṛt-homa. Each round consists of two libations.^[9] The mantras mainly seek blessings and protection from various Devatās. The Rāṣṭrabhṛt mantras also need to be recited with ‘इ॒दं ब्रह्म॑क्ष॒त्रं पा॑तु तस्मै॒ स्वाहा᳚’^[10] while each libation is poured. For example, a single round consisting of two libations – ऋ॒ता॒षाडृ॒तधा॑मा॒ग्निर्ग॑न्ध॒र्वः स इ॒दं ब्रह्म॑क्ष॒त्रं पा॑तु तस्मै॒ स्वाहा᳚ । तस्यौष॑धयोऽप्स॒रस॒ ऊर्जो॒ नाम॒ ता इ॒दं ब्रह्म॑क्ष॒त्रं पा᳚न्तु ताभ्यः॒ स्वाहा᳚ ।

A profound concept of Rāṣṭrabhṛt is found in the Taittirīya-saṁhitā (3.4.8), which declares: "Verily the Rāṣṭrabhṛts are the nation, people are the nation, animals are the nation"^[11] This verse beautifully conveys that both the citizens and even the animals within a kingdom are integral parts of the nation. When a king ascends to power, it becomes his sacred duty to protect and care for all beings—human and non-human—within his realm. The idea of Rāṣṭrabhṛt is thus not merely poetic, but an essential principle for true leadership.