Pravargya

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The parvargya rite is an exalted vedic sacrifice performed by an Arya to the ashvins and offers a glimpse of the fusion of the two ancient ritual streams of the pre-Rigvedic past. One component of it is the ancient gharma rite to the Ashvins instituted by the Bhrigus under the great atharvan chyavAna. ChyavAna was revived from decrepitude and disease by the ashvins and went on to win sukanya the daughter of shAryAti and accordingly in their honor offered the great sacrifice of congealed milk (tereti pAl in Dravidian). Then the bhArgava dadhichi, gained secreted vidyas from the ashvins who had fixed on him the head of the horse, hence he worshipped them as the gods of medicine. These ancient memories resulted in the atharvans instituting a sacrificial pouring for the Ashvins with the mantra AV 7.73 (Shaunaka SaMhita of AV, samiddhoagnir...). Simultaneously in the Vedic stream of the bhAratas, the school of the prAjapatya vAishvAmitras instituted a rite to commemorate the twelve month year also known as prajapati, with a twelve day pouring two the deities: savitA, agni, mAtarishvAn, the Adityas, the nakshatras, the R^ita, dhAtA, bR^ihaspati, mitra, varuNa, indra and soma. The end of the year was marked symbolically by the beheading of prajapati by rudra. The restoration of his head in the new year was through the surgery of the ashvins.

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