Heat & sacrifice in the vedas/ Uma Marina Vesci

PART I
THE CREATIVITY OF RITUAL HEAT IN
THE VEDIC SACRIFICE (SRAUTA YAJNA)
ACCORDING TO THE HYMNS (MANTRAS)
Chapter One: Preliminary Perspectives on the
Problem
1. The Importance of the Sacrificial 'Means' and
the Role of Fire with respect to the Divine in
the Mediterranean Religions and in India
2. The Role of Ritual Cooking in the Vedic
Sacrifice
3. Etymology and Semantics of the words de
noting Heat in the Vedas
Chapter Two: Ritual Heat as a Source of Energy
IN the Rgveda
1. The Texts
(fl) The Soma Sacrifice {somayajna)
(i) The Horse Sacrifice
{c ) The Funeral Rite
2. Some Historico-religious Parallels
3. First Consequences of Ritual Cooking as an
Agent of Transformation
4. The Role of Sacred Heat in the Divine World
CHAPTbR Three: Ritual Heat as a Source of Energy
IN THE AtHARVAVEDA
1. Sacred Heat in the Rite
2. Divinization and 'Cosmicization' of the
Offering
3. Prajapati
Chapter Four: Ritual Heat AS a Source of Energy in
THE YaJURVEDA AND IN ITS BrAHMANAS
1. General Premises Regarding the Effects
Obtained by the Sublimation of Ritual Heat
2. In the Rite
(a) In General
{b) Difference in the Amount of Heat amounting to'
difference of obtainrnent
3. Conclusion
PART n
THE CREATIVITY OF RITUAL HEAT IN
SOME VEDIC RITES ACCORDING TO
THE BRAHMAIjIAS
Chapter Five : Animal Sacrifice
(Pa^uyajna or Pa^ubandha)
1. Circumambulatioh of Agni (paryagni)
2. The Torch
3. Blood
4. Omentum {vapd)
5. The Sacrificial Cake {paSupuro^dia)
6. The Cooked Offering (havis)
Chapter Six: The First Kindling of the Sacrificial
Fire by the Head of the Family
(Aonyadhana or Agnyadheya) ,
1. Gathering of the Material {sambhara)
2. Preparation of the Fireplaces and Preliminary
Rites
3. Kindling of the Sacred Fire
Chapter Seven : Construction of the Fire-Altar (Agni-
CAYANA OR AgNICITi)
1. The'Foundation Sacrifice' and Baking of the
Brick 'Earth'
(a) The Myth
(b) The Foundation Sacrifice
(c) Making the Brick 'Earth'
(d) Baking the Brick
(e) Agnicayana, half m urti and half altar
2. Making and Baking the Ukhd
(a) Gathering of the Material
{b) Making the Ukka
(c) The Putting of the Ukha into the Furnace
(d) The Fumigation of the Ukhd
(e) Baking
3. The Use of the Ukhd during the Initiatory
Period (diksd)
(a) The Transfer of the Fire
(b) The Use of the Ukhd during the Diksd
(c) The Rite of the Steps of Visnu {visnukramdh)
and other Rites
Chapter Eight: Ritual Heat in the Pravargya
1. The History of Pravargya
(a) The Myth
(b) The Interpretation
2. The Intermediate Initiation (avdntaradiksd)
3. Mahdvira and How to Make and Bake it
4. Heating of Mahdvira and Its Place in the
Rite
(a) Preliminaries of the Rite
(b) Kindling of the Sacred Fire
(c) Stirring the Sacred Fire
{d) Hierophany
(e) Adoration
(f) The Sacrificial Offering as a Sacramental
Meal
(g) Sacrificial Creation Through the Three
Phases of the Boiling Process
5. Pramrgya as Mystery about to Surpass
the Ritual
6. Other Rites in Pravargya
Conclusion : Brahmanic Cosmology
1. Transformation of the Divine
2. Transformation of Man: His Immortalization
and Divinization