Word

Ashvamedha

Sanskrit

अश्वमेध

IAST

aśvamedha

In General

A yaga. Only Kings used to conduct this Yajna in order to get absolved of all sins. A horse carrying the flag of the king is allowed to roam about freely is part of Yajna. If anybody stops the horse and ties it, the King should go and defeat him in battle and bring back the horse. If one do a hundred such yagas he can become Indra.

Veda

Ashva represent vital energy. By Ashvamedha development of life energy is meant. Even in the practice of Bahya yajna killing of horse is not told anywhere in the Vedic literature including Brahmanas and Srautha sastra. Killing of an animal is not part of Vedic culture, however killing of horse was practiced during some periods where Hinduism was in decline or misinterpreted.

Purana

King Sagara, Bhojaraja, Sri Rama and Yudhisthira had practiced this Yajna with lot of participation of rishies and royal family members from far and near.