Tribes in Ancient India c7.2

c7.2

The Kurus form one of the most ancient and prominent of the Indo-Aryan Kṣatriya tribes. In one of the verses of a Rigvedic hymn (X, 33, 4) occurs the word, Kuruśravaṇa, which is interpreted by some scholars either as ‘the glory of the Kurus’, or as ‘the hearer of the praises of the Kurus’; but is more generally taken to be the name of a particular king, a ruler of the Kuru tribe. In the hymn which follows this one, the charities of the prince Kuruśravaṇa are praised, and there can be no doubt that ‘Kuruśravaṇa’ is here the name of a particular sovereign, especially as some of his ancestors are also mentioned (see Ṛgveda, X, 33, 1 and 4-9; Wilson, Ṛgveda, Vol. VI, pp. 89-90). The seer mourns the death of his generous donor, and, in the last four verses, it seems that he consoles Upamaśravas, the son of Kuruśravaṇa, and mentions Mitrātithi, grandfather of Upamaśravas. But the Bṛhaddevatā (supported by Kātyāyana’s Sarvānukramaṇī) states that it was for the death of his grandfather Mitrātithi that Upamaśravas is being consoled in these verses.