A king obtains praise on account of being associated with sacrifice, and the paraphernalia of war for their association with the king.
Of these, the chariot comes first.
Ratha is derived from ramh, meaning to speed, or from sthir (to be at rest) by metathesis (sthira thara and by metathesis ratha). One sits in a chariot with joy; or from ram (to chatter or from ras to make a soul).
(Trans. Laksman Swarupa) Thus the derivative meaning of 'ratha' speaks of its use for sports primarily. Further Amarakosa a dictionary of 7/8th century enumerates various uses of ratha.
yane cakrini yuddharthe satahgah syandano rathah // ii.8.51
As it is quite evident that Sanskrit synonyms have different connotations, the meaning of ratha is exposed here in the commentary of Ramasrami. Yana by which one goes, cakrin that has wheels, yuddharthe that is meant for warfare, iatamahgant having hundred parts, syandana constant movement jatha by which man enjoys a pleasure trip, and pusparathah, a car for festive occasion etc. This quite naturally extends the scope of function and use of ratha. It is needless to say that gods have made chariots for these uses. The meaning is further extended in the Amarakosa for Garuda being the Visnuratha, the chariot of Visnu. In the Upanisad like/(atha the allegory of ratha drives away the meaning that is far from its focus, atmanarh rathinam viddhi sari ram ratham eva tu I-134.
In this context the concept of ratha is gradually mystified while the allegory is connected with soul. Sankara in his commentary holds: yah upadhikrtah samsari vidyavidyayor adhikrto moksagamanaya sarhsaragamanaya ca tasya tadubhayagamane rathah kalpyah.tatra atmanama-mrtopamam samsarinam rathinam rathasvaminam viddhi janihi'l s'arirarh ratham eva tu rathabaddhahaya-sthcinlyair indriyair akrsyamanatvat sarirasya I buddhim tu adhyavasaya-laksanarh sarathim
viddhi, buddhinetrtvapradhanatvi' sarirasya sarathi- netrtva-pradhana iva rathah /......etc.
The human body is conceived as ratha and the soul is the rider and accordingly the horses of the chariot are the sensory and motor organs etc.
The chariot6 as a vehicle of war disappeared soon after the commencement of the Christian era. In the Vedic period it was the major fighting aid and it retained this importance in the Epic stories. The Arthasastra and other evidences show that by Mauryan times it was still widely used in war and early sculpture. Aterracotta plaque from Ahic-chatra, UP, C 6th century A.D. depicts few fighting chariots; but by Gupta times the chariot of the Vedic period carrying only a driver and a warrior, developed into a large and more cumbrous vehicle. Four-horsed chariots are mentioned by classical sources and one depicted at Sanchi and elsewhere, with horses yoked abreast and carrying four men.
Jaina Car Festival:
The Jaina tradition speaks of the festivals where the Jaina images are carried -en big chariots. The Maha'vira Caritam of Hemachandra7states that the king Kuma'rapala of Gujarat caused the images of Arhats to be taken in procession in wooden cars, in all the villages and towns of his kingdom. The Gujariyatra referred to in con¬nection with the worship oiShantinatha in a Jaina temple inscription of VS 1233 (1176 A.D.) was also probably a procession of this god taken out on some auspicious occasion in the Marwar region. A similar procession was also taken out every year at Mount Abu on the eighth day of the dark half of Chaitra to celebrate the birthday of Risab-hanatha, the first Tirthahkara. Similar Yatras might have held for other Tirthakaras also. But the most striking event is their celebration of rathayatra. There is reference to a celebration of rathayatra by Santuka, the Governor of king Jayasirhha Siddharaja of Gujarat at Vada Udaya (Vadodara/Baroda) mentioned by Devabhadra Suri in his Sreyarh-sinatha carita. This holy event is also referred to by Vijayasimha Suri in Jambudvipa samasaTika. The Aksanaka Tirthahkara Manikosa has also mentioned such Yatra held in honour of the Jaina in Gujarat in the eleventh century.
Buddhist Festival :
The huge designed wooden chariots are used only in festive occasions to remind the great tradition of ratha being the vehicle.Fa-Hien. the famous Chinese Traveller who visited India in the birthday ceremony of lord Buddha says : "The Buddhists of Pataliputra" carried an image of Buddha on a chariot in a procession to the accompaniment of music and athletic feats etc. A great poet and polymath Ksemendra who flourished in the eleventh century in Kasmir says in his Avadanakal-palata that during his time, the birthday of Buddha was observed with great ceremony in the valley.
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