Vedic priesthood

Chief priests

The older references uniformly indicate hotṛ as the presiding priest, with perhaps only the adhvaryu as his assistant in the earliest times. The phrase "seven hotars" is found more than once in the Rigveda. Rigveda 2.1.2 states it as follows,

The above verse enumerates the priests as the hōtr̥, pōtr̥, nēṣṭr̥, agnīdʰ, praśāstr̥ and adʰvaryu.

Rigveda 10.71.11 describes the specialized tasks of the four types of 'companions' in a sacrifice:

Vedic (Shrauta) yajnas are typically performed by four priests of the Vedic priesthood: the hota, the adhvaryu, the udgata and the Brahma. The functions associated with the priests are:

• The Hotri recites invocations and litanies drawn from the Rigveda.These invocations could consist of single verses (ṛca), strophes (triples called tṛca or pairs called pragātha), or entire hymns (sukta). Hota uses three Rig verses, the introductory verse, the accompanying verse and benediction as the third.
• The Adhvaryu is the priest's assistant and is in charge of the physical details of the ritual (in particular the adhvara, a term for the Somayajna) like measuring the ground, building the altar explained in the Yajurveda. The adhvaryu offers oblations. Each action is accompanied by supplicative or benedictive formulas (yajus), drawn from the yajurveda. Over time, the role of the adhvaryu grew in importance, and many verses of the ṛgveda were incorporated, either intact or adapted, into the texts of the yajurveda.
• The Udgata (udgātṛi) is the chanter of hymns set to melodies and music (sāman) drawn from the Samaveda. The udgatar, like the hota, chants the introductory, accompanying and benediction hymns. This is a specialized role in the major soma sacrifices: a characteristic function of the udgātṛ is to sing hymns in praise of the invigorating properties of soma pavamāna, the freshly pressed juice of the soma plant.
• The Brahman is the superintendent of the entire performance, and is responsible for correcting mistakes by means of supplementary verses taken from the Atharva Veda.

The term Brahman in the above hymn 2.1.2 refers to deity Agni of hymn 2.1.1.

The rgvedic Brahmanas, Aitareya and Kausitaki, specify seven hotrakas to recite shastras (litanies): hotṛ, brāhmanācchamsin, maitrāvaruna, potṛ, neṣṭṛ, agnīdh and acchāvāka. They also carry a legend to explain the origin of the offices of the subrahmanya and the grāvastut.

Purohita

The requirements of the fully developed ritual were rigorous enough that only professional priests could perform them adequately. Thus, whereas in the earliest times, the true sacrificer, or intended beneficiary of the rite, might have been a direct participant, in Vedic times he was only a sponsor, the yajamāna, with the hotṛ or brahman taking his stead in the ritual. In this seconding lay the origins of the growing importance of the purohita (literally, "one who is placed in front"). It was not unusual for a purohita to be the hotṛ or brahman at a sacrifice for his master, besides conducting other more domestic (gṛhya) rituals for him also. In latter days, with the disappearance of Vedic ritual practice, purohita has become a generic term for "priest".