Cannibalism in the dīkṣā Chapter of the Maitrāyaṇī Saṁhitā

Abstract

This paper contributes to the ongoing discourse on human sacrifice and cannibalism in the Vedas by examining newly discovered descriptions in the Maitrāyaṇī Saṁhitā III 6.6. This passage appears to contain fairly specific points that ancient practitioners were meant to consider when engaging in cannibalism, points that are not found elsewhere. Maitrāyaṇī Saṁhitā III 6 is a chapter about the purification (dīkṣā) of the sacrificer before the soma ritual, repeatedly emphasizing sacrificer’s transformation into a suitable sacrificial victim. By compiling and examining such descriptions, the paper demonstrates how concerns related to human sacrifice were deeply embedded in the dīkṣā rite of the Maitrāyaṇī Saṁhitā.