La scena sacrificale in India. Lo yajña tra ritualità antica e reinterpretazioni contemporanee e il caso del gavāmayana

Abstract

In Vedic India, śrauta-type sacrifices constituted the sacred scene par excellence on which the religious, political, and social dynamics and aspirations of the time were represented. Between historical reconstruction and religious reconstructionism, the scholar reflecting on today's performance of these ancient rituals is confronted with several problematic issues. They raise not only Indological and historical-religious interests but also a series of questions revolving around the meaning and objectives of their revival in contemporary India. On the one hand, the assertion of their authenticity serves as an instrument of legitimation that sanctions the authority of those who perform and finance them; on the other hand, decontextualised with regard to the ancient belief system, these performances feed the rhetoric of identity assertion and nationalistic political propaganda that would like to redefine the Vedic tradition as the foundation on which to base the cultural orientation of contemporary Indian society.