Vedic influence in Rome Sautramani Sacrifice:

The suovetaurilia was one of the most sacred and traditional rites of Roman religion: the sacrifice of a pig (sus), a sheep (ovis) and a bull (taurus) to the deity Mars to bless and purify land . It has been said to be derived from the Sautramani yagna.

Sautramani-yajna - a particular sacrifice in honor of Indra which is described in the Yajur Veda. It is said that by performing this yajna, one obtains a place in the heavenly planets.

This yagna is also said to be associated with drinking of wine (soma) by the Brahmanas.

The Sautramani sacrifice is associated with the Pravagya rite and is one of the many soma sacrifices. Three animals a ram, bull and a boar are sacrificed during the Sautramani ceremony.

The origin of the Sautramani sacrifice is told in the story about the birth of Indra.

Indra is born to Tvastar; his mother is Saraswati. The entire rite is performed to relieve Indra from the effects of drinking too much Soma. Indra cuts of the head of Tvastar to get control over soma. Tvastar is the Sun (Tvastar means fashioner or creator and refers to the Sun during summer time), Saraswati is dawn (She is also known as Vak and is the consort of creator Brahma). Indra who is referred to as the son of Tvastar and Saraswati is the summer rays of the Sun.

To get control of Soma, he cuts of the head of Tvastar. This can be seen as the Orion-Sacrifice when the Sun is in conjunction. The head of Tvastar can be compared to the head of Orion or Mrigasiras. The belt stars are the home to the moon called as Soma. At dawn, Soma merges in the light of the young rays of Sun as if he is giving himself to the young Sun Indra who is said to drink too much Soma juice. The whole myth revolves around the Self-Sacrifice made by the moon.

In another myth, Indra cuts off the head of Rishi Dadhichi because the rishi imparted the knowledge about Soma juice to the Aswins. The Aswins are associated with dawn and once again the soma juice refers to the moon’s sacrifice when it is seen to give up its light to the morning Sun. The cutting of the Rishi’s head is a reference to Orion sacrifice. The soma juice or the “honey” obtained by the Aswins is the knowledge of the self or atman sacrificing itself as oblation to the Supreme Self. Indra is said to have fashioned himself the vajra weapon from the bones of Dadhichi. The bones of Dadhichi refer to the belt stars of Orion. Indra is said to have killed Vrita with this weapon. This refers to the Sun as Indra killing the darkness of winter when he comes in conjunction with the belt stars.

In another myth the Devas gathered together at Kurukshetra to perform a sacrifice. They wanted to attain fame, prosperity and eat food. They said that whoever amongst them through toil, austerity or faith comprehends the issue of sacrifice will become the most eminent amongst them. This was attained by Vishnu. He stood with his bow resting his head on the bow. Indra turned himself into white ants and chewed the bow string which broke-off from the bow and cut off Vishnu’s head. Vishnu’s head became the Sun Adithya. The bow is the word “om”. The white ants refer to the atman and the colour white refers to knowledge or knowledge about Brahman. Using the syllable “ Om ”, the atman should turn into an arrow and aim for the supreme Brahman which is referred to as the head of Vishnu in this myth. The colour white is also a reference to the moon or Soma. Vishnu is also said in other myths to have become a ram and Indra cuts off the ram’s head.

The esoteric meaning of the Soma Sacrifice imparts to us the knowledge to reach Supreme Brahman. The sacrifice of the three animals mentioned reaffirms the Soma Sacrifice and also tells us about the Self-Sacrifice made by the Supreme Brahman to create us.

Prajapati who is synonymous with the creator became the ram and offered his omentum in the fire. This is the sacrifice of the ram. This teaches us pranayama. When pranayama is done properly, our omentum will fall into the stomach cavity which is the fire.

Esoterically, Prajapati sacrificed himself to enter into every created being. The sacrifice of the Ram is symbolic. Actual ram is not sacrificed. The ritual is performed by substituting plant matter for a ram. The ritual is performed to make the sacrifice understand the self-sacrifice performed by Prajapati.

The Mount Meru is said to have three peaks which is a reference to the belt stars of Orion. Mount Meru is also called as Vrishaba or bull. When the sun Indra is at conjunction with the belt stars, he sees the belt as obstruction. The belts stars on new moon day offer their light to the Sun and bow down. This is the self sacrifice of the belt stars also known as the bull. Indra is also said to kill the bull which would again occur when the sun is in conjunction with the belt stars.

Regarding the boar sacrifice it is said that Vishnu turned himself into a boar and stole the food of Indra. The boar was pursued by Indra and was shot by him. Indra is once again the Sun. The Orion Sacrifice is the boar referred to in this verse. In winter Orion moves away from the sun and this is shown as the boar running away. Indra pursues the boar throughout the year and at conjunction shoots the boar. Indra as the Sun is seen as the creator of all summer life forms. Vishnu is the sacrifice as well as the sacrificer; the sacrificer is Indra . In order for the summer creation to take place, the boar is shot by Indra i.e Vishnu sacrifices himself for the sake of creation.

This is the esoteric meaning of the Soma sacrifice and of the Sautramani sacrifice. The Asvins performed the Sautramani ritual to cure Indra from the effects of drinking too much Soma. The Asvins show through the sacrifice the self-sacrifice made by the Supreme Brahman. We are urged to do a self-sacrifice as well in which we offer our self as oblation to the Supreme Brahman.

The Sautramani ritual would also indicate the yearly circuit of the Sun which would release the moon during winter as it moves away from the conjunction.

The Romans took the literal meaning of the sacrifice and performed the suovetaurilia sacrifice in which they sacrificed a pig, a ram and a bull.

🙏 Jayatu Indra 🙏

🙏 Namo Narasiṁha 🙏