Aims and Functions of Vrātyastoma Performances. A Historical Appraisal

The authors examine a large survey of Vedic sources which deal with the Vrātyaṣṭomas. On the basis of texts which are apparently clear testimonies of a secondary Brāhmanically reformed tradition, the article proposes a tentative reading between the lines, in order to highlight an earlier stage of the Vrātyastoma. Accordingly, this rite might have been intended –on the speculative background of a special heroic scope for having access to heaven as gods – not only to forge an alliance between the members of the vrātya-brotherhood (and to appoint a leader), but also to redistribute the booty at the end of expeditions