The purpose of the present thesis is to investigate and interpret the position and meaning of the remnant of oblation (ucchiṣṭa, śeṣa, or vāstu) in the system of classical Vedic mythology and ritual. The inquiries begin by a brief survey of used primary sources, secondary literature and methodology. Afterwards, the terminology used for the leftover is examined together with its mythical connotations found in Brāhmaṇas. The pivot of the thesis is its central part which treats the manipulation of the phenomenon of the leftover in the Vedic ritual literature describing the system of solemn (śrauta) rituals, non-sanguinary oblations (iṣṭi) and ancestor worship (piṇḍapitṛyajña). The last chapter is dedicated to the interpretation of the phenomenon. Following the analysis of primary sources, the thesis claims that the remnant of the offering is not a ritual waste but a creative element of the ritual action. It is interpreted as one of the framing ritual acts which surround the central ritual performance and which are understood as associated with the household, its fertility and continuity. The domestic sphere is also a theme of the myths in which is found the phenomenon of the remnant. Based on the discussion on the mythology and ritual manipulation of the phenomenon, the leftover of the offering is...

The Roman festival of the Lupercalia is one of the most discussed issues in the field of pre-Christian Roman religion. Hardly a year goes by without an article on the subject appearing in a major Classics journal. But the festival presents a range of issues that individual articles cannot address. This thesis is an attempt to present a modern analysis of the phenomenon of the Lupercalia as a whole, including literary, archaeological and historical evidence on the subject. The first section presents the ancient sources on the Lupercalia, and is divided into five chapters, each analysing a particular aspect of the festival: fertility, purification, the importance of the wolf and the foundation myth, the mythology of Arcadian origins, and Caesar's involvement with the Lupercalia of 44 BC. The second section places the Lupercalia in a wider context, discussing the festival's topography and the course of the running Luperci, its relationship to other lustration rituals, and its position in the Roman calendar, ending with an appraisal of the changes it underwent in late Antiquity. The third section employs methods from linguistics, anthropology and comparative religion to show that the Lupercalia involved a ritual of initiation, which was also reflected in the Roman foundation myth. The central chapter of this section discusses the methodology used in comparative Indo-European mythology, and offers a case study that parallels the god of the festival (Faunus) with Rudra of Vedic Hinduism. The last chapter considers other parallels with Indian religion, especially the relationship between flamen and brahmin. The thesis challenges a number of established theories on the subject and offers new evidence to show that the festival has Indo-European origins, but also that it played an important role throughout Roman history.

千年以來，梵（bráhman）的概念和意涵就一直是印度宗教和哲學討論的重心，也一直是印度教徒個人宗教追尋的目標，在印度教內，儘管各教派彼此之間常在學說論理、儀式行動、或者神祇崇拜上有著很大的差異，但吾人若細究其精神底蘊，會發現，這些教派往往都是殊途而同歸於對一個宇宙統一體，或者說一個唯一精神，也就是抽象來說—梵這個概念原則的追求，然後由此對梵的認同與追求，才再接續開展出印度宗教與哲學的另一重要課題—解脫（mokṣa）。然而在印度宗教哲學發展上，這樣一種對梵這個抽象概念的追求卻似乎是一種人們對自然萬物、宇宙萬象抽象深思反省下的思想結晶，而與印度早期吠陀宗教中的那種向諸神獻祭，以求現世回報的宗教活動不同，因此這其中是否有發展上的關連，抑或兩者是各自獨立、甚至彼此競爭的發展？ 在本論文中，筆者即試圖從儀式活動和神觀等方面，從歷史的縱度論述梵這個抽象概念其實原本即是源於吠陀宗教那種嚴格、繁瑣的獻祭儀式中。筆者認為，尤其在吠陀宗教由do ut des（我付出，為的是你付出）這一種獻祭理念轉型成do ut possis dare（我付出，所以你才有能力付出）這一種獻祭理念之後，在do ut possis dare這一種獻祭理念影響下，吠陀宗教更是從神觀和儀式活動等各方面，積極開展出梵這個抽象概念來。 / For thousands of years, the meaning of the word bráhman has been the heart of the discussion in Indian religion and philosophy. It also has been the ultimate concern of a Hinduist. Although there are always variations in theories, rituals and idols among different Hinduism sects, we found that when we carefully review the spirit of these variations, they are all related to the quest for the absolute essence of the universe. Further, bráhman is indeed the abstraction of it. Based on the recognition of bráhman and the chase of it, another significant subject of Indian religion and philosophy had developed, named liberation (mokṣa). In the history of Indian religion and philosophy, the will of seeking for the abstraction bráhman seems to result from human’s deep reflection on the universe. Nevertheless, the result of this reflection is totally different from the sacrifice for gods existing in earlier vedic period. Therefore, it is doubtful if bráhman comes from vedic sacrifice or if bráhman and vedic sacrifice develop separately and even compete with each other? In this paper, I want to state that according to the idea of ritual and god, the abstraction bráhman definitely develops from the complicated ritual process in vedic religion. I assume that after the vedic sacrificial idea transfers from do ut des to do ut possis dare, and then this do ut possis dare idea influenced the development of abstraction bráhman.