Abstract
As already observed by one of my predecessors, the ordinary or most usual, and probably also oldest or originalkṛcchra, penance or rite of atonement or expiation (prāyaścitta), consisting in bodily mortifications, was in course of time given another name, viz.prājāpatya. The close relation to the creator god Prajāpati suggested by this name was explained by a reference to the Indian tradition according to which this god had as the first “produced his sindestroying secret”, which came to be the model for thousands of other purificatory rites (BDh4, 8, 5). However, a thorough investigation of the relevant Vedic texts sheds new light upon atonement and expiation as objects of Prajāpati's concern.
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