A History of Sanskrit Literature c9.18

c9.18

Somewhat similar is the position of the elephant. It is explicitly referred to in only two passages of the *Rigveda*, and the form of the name applied to it, "the beast (*mṛiga*) with a hand (*hastin*)," shows that the Rishis still regarded it as a strange creature. One passage seems to indicate that by the end of the Rigvedic period attempts were made to catch the animal. That the capture of wild elephants had in any case become a regular practice by 300 b.c. is proved by the evidence of Megasthenes. To the *Atharva-* and the *Yajur-vedas* the elephant is quite familiar, for it is not only frequently mentioned, but the adjective *hastin*, "possessing a hand" (*i.e.* trunk), has become sufficiently distinctive to be used by itself to designate the animal. The regular home of the elephant in Northern India is the Terai or lowland jungle at the foot of the Himālaya, extending eastward from about the longitude of Cawnpore.