pra-vargyà-, pari-vargyà-, vāsudeva-várgya-

Abstract

The Vedic Pravargya is a ritual that is optiionally performed in connection with a Soma sacrifice. It is a unique Indo-Aryan development, without parallels in Iran or in areas of Indo-Europeans, and it can be traced back as far as 1500 B.C.E. (cf. Houben 2000a and b). The central object in the ritual is an earthenware pot that is placed on a fire until it is burning hot. At that moment the pot is identified with the sun, but also with the inner light of the inspired Vedic poet. As I argued recently (Houben 2006), the myths associated with the Pravargya do have Indo-European parallels, especially in Celtic stories on a magic cauldron (continued in the legend of the Holy Grail). (...)