Scriptures & Spiritual Texts  Yajurveda FAQs  FAQ

Which principal yajnas (sacrificial rituals) are detailed in the Yajurveda?

Within the Yajurvedic tradition, the sacrificial corpus centers on a set of principal śrauta rites that structure both ritual time and social order. Among the most fundamental are the **Agnihotra**, the daily fire offering at sunrise and sunset, and the **Darśa–Pūrṇamāsa** sacrifices, performed at the new and full moons. These are complemented by the **Cāturmāsya** or seasonal rites, which punctuate the ritual year, and by **Agnyādheya/Agnyadhāna**, the establishment of the sacred fires that undergird the entire sacrificial system. Together, these fire rituals form the rhythmic backbone of Vedic life, sustaining an ongoing relationship between sacrificer, cosmos, and the sacred fires themselves.

Alongside these stand the great **Soma sacrifices**, which the Yajurveda details with particular care. The foundational rite here is **Agniṣṭoma**, the basic one-day Soma sacrifice, from which many other forms are derived. Variants and extensions include **Ukthya**, **Ṣoḍaśin (Shodashin)**, **Atirātra**, **Aptoryāma**, and related forms such as **Atyagniṣṭoma**, each elaborating the structure of praise, offering, and cosmic symbolism. These Soma rituals are not merely technical procedures; they articulate a vision in which properly ordered sound, offering, and intention sustain the very fabric of reality.

The Yajurveda also preserves instructions for several grand royal and public sacrifices, in which political sovereignty and cosmic order are woven together. **Vājapeya** appears as a distinguished Soma rite associated with eminence and strength, while **Rājasūya** functions as a royal consecration, ritually affirming the king’s legitimacy. At the apex of this hierarchy stands the **Aśvamedha**, the horse sacrifice, portrayed as an expansive and highly charged rite linked with imperial power. These rituals reveal how kingship itself is framed as a sacrificial office, dependent on correct performance and alignment with the sacred word.

Equally striking is the attention given to complex fire constructions and auxiliary rites. The **Agnicayana (Agniciti)**, the piling of the fire altar, is treated as a highly elaborate undertaking, and is closely connected with the broader theology of fire and immortality. Preliminary and ancillary rites such as **Pravargya**, involving heated milk, and the **Sautrāmaṇi**, employing fermented drinks, further refine the sacrificial sequence. The tradition also speaks of **Purushamedha**, a symbolic human sacrifice, and acknowledges various domestic and ancestral offerings, though these are framed within the same overarching sacrificial vision. Through this intricate network of yajñas, the Yajurveda presents sacrifice as a disciplined art of aligning human life with a cosmic order that is at once ritual, ethical, and metaphysical.