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The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c19.s5: Chapter Four

The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c19.s5

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English

Chapter Four

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1. See M. Winternitz, “Die Flutsagen des Altertums und der Naturvölker,” *Mittheilungen der Anthropologie Geschichte in Wien* 31 (1901): 305–33. Winternitz observes: “In zahlreichen Sagen wird gar keine Ursache angegeben, sondern einfach konstatiert, dass eine Überschwemmung hereinbrach” (315). Man’s sinfulness seems to be a prominent motif in a minority of seventy-three flood stories listed by Winternitz.
2. *ŚB* 1. 8. 1. 1–11. See A. Weber *Indische Studien* 1 (1850): 161ff. H. Usener, *Die Sintflutsagen* (Bonn 1899), 25–28; A. Hohenberger, *Die Indische Flutsage und das Matsyapurāṇa* (Leipzig, 1930), 4–6; S. Lévi, *La Doctrine du sacrifice dans les brāhmaṇas*, reprinted. (Paris, 1966), 115–17.
3. Cf. Winternitz, *Die Flutsagen*, 327. For Manu’s being instructed to take seeds on board his ark see *Mbh* 3. 187. 32; *Matsyapurāṇa* 2. 11; *Agnipurāṇa* 2. 12; *Bhāgavatapurāṇa* 8. 24. 34; *Daśāvatāracarita* 1.32.
4. As Eggeling observes *iḍayā carati* has the double meaning of proceeding with the Iḍā ceremony and of living with Iḍā *SB* 1.8 1. 11).
5. *KS* 11. 2: 146. 6–8; see W. Caland, *Altindische Zauberei: Darstellung der altindischen Wunschopfer* (Amsterdan, 1908), 117 (no. 170), for the sacrifice for which the story should account.
6. See, e.g., *RV* 4. 42. 4; 7. 86. 1; cf. also *RV* 1. 103. 2; 2. 11. 7; 2. 15. 2. *RV* 10. 31. 6 (“This benefactor’s favor having spread out with [to the extent of], the earth became the primordial cow”) may contain a hidden reference to Iḍā or, as suggested by Geldner, the *dakṣiṇā* cow (the two are intimately connected). Such conflation of different themes is proper to the rhetoric of the *Ṛgveda* but in order to be rhetorically effective the themes have to be different. For the cosmogonic scenario involving the *instabilis terra*, its riveting and spreading, see F. B. J. Kuiper, “Cosmogony and Conception: A Query,” *History of Religions* 10 (1970): 91–138, esp. 107–10.
7. *KS* 29. 3: 171. 14.
8. See A. Hillebrandt, *Vedische Mythologie* (Breslau, 1927), 2: 145–53, on Agni’s flight and hiding place in the waters.
9. W. Caland, “Vierte Mitteilung über das Vādhūlasūtra,” *Acta Orientalia* 6 (1927): 110–20. The ritual context is the offering cake for Agni, made of rice or barley.
10. For a similar succession of immolations of the *medha*, see *ŚB* 1. 2. 3. 5–7.
11. Caland, *Altindische Zauberei*, 119.
12. See M. Defourny, “Note sur le symbolisme de la corne dans le Mahābhārata et la mythologie brahmanique classique,” *Indo-Iranian Journal* 18 (1976): 17–23. Insofar as the fishes in both cases can be put on a par, Vādhūla seems to lend credibility to Defourny’s suggestions, but the possible associations of the horm seem too diverse to allow a confident identification. If Defourny is right, it would make Manu the victim attached to the *yūpa*. This is in itself not impossible, the sacrificer (represented by the sacrificial victim) being, ideologically, himself the victim. But the *Śatapatha*’s telling of the flood story in no way supports this consequence. At any rate, the fish in the flood story does indeed seem to represent, if not sacrifice itself, at least the life-creating force that is inherent in sacrifice.
13. See W. Caland and V. Henry, *L’Agniṣṭoma* (Paris, 1906), 397 (no. 254d).
14. Ibid., 406–9.
15. Cf. *ŚB* 1. 1. 1. 12; 3. 1. 4. 15; *TB* 3. 2. 4. 1; *MS* 4. 1. 4: 6. 1; *AB* 2. 20. 11; *KB* 12. 1.
16. For the invocation (*iḍopahvāna*), see *ŚāṅkhŚS* 1. 11–12. For the complex of rites involved in the Iḍā ceremony, see A. Hillebrandt, *Das altindische Neu- und Vollmondsopfer* (Jena, 1880), 122–130; *ĀpŚS* 3. 1. 6–3. 1.
17. See J. C. Heesterman, “Reflections on the Significance of the *dakṣiṇā*,” *Indo-Iranian Journal* 3 (1959): 241–58.

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18. *TS* 2. 6. 7. 1. The verb *karoti* in this passage is rendered by Keith as “to produce,” by Caland (*ĀpŚS* 3. 1. 7) as *verwenden*, “to utilize.” The expression is rather cryptic and possibly goes back to a sacrificial riddle. In this connection, it may be mentioned that *karoti* can, in the context of the ritual, occur in the sense of “to kill.” In that case, the passage may originally have referred to the miraculous capacities of the cow as a sacrificial victim. As will be argued, this may be relevant for the goddess Iḍā.

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19. Cf. *MS* 4. 2. 13: 36. 3–7, where Mitra and Varuṇa fashion the (Iḍā) cow out of an *indigesta moles* produced by the gods (see below).

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20. Cf. *RV* 1. 128. 1; 2. 10. 1; 3. 23. 4; 3. 29. 4; 6. 1. 2; 10. 1. 6; 10. 70. 1; 10. 191. 1; *TS* 3. 5. 11. 1(d). For the ghee-footed goddess Iḍā, see *RV* 10. 70. 3. For “the head of the earth,” on which the ghee libation is made, as the archetypal place of sacrifice, see *TS* 6. 1. 8. 2.

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21. Cf. *RV* 3. 29. 3 and 6. 52. 16. Also A. Bergaigne, *La Religion Védique*, reprinted. (Paris, 1963), 2: 11.

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22. See W. Caland and V. Henry, *L’Agniṣṭoma*, 37–40 (no. 31).

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23. Cf. *ŚB* 3. 3. 1. 12.

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24. See *Indo-Iranian Journal* 3 (1959): 254.

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25. *MS* 4. 2. 1: 21. 11–12.

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26. *MS* 4. 2. 13.

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27. See Caland and Henry, *L’Agniṣṭoma*, 36f. (no. 30). For the mantras see *TS* 1. 2. 4f–o.

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28. Cf. Lévi *Doctrine du sacrifice*, 118–20. In most versions, the wife is let off, but according to *ŚB* 1. 1. 4. 14–17, she is immolated without scruple.

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29. *ŚB* 11. 4. 3. 1–2.

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30. Cf. *ĀpŚS* 8. 11. 12. This sacrifice is part of the autumnal *sākamedha*.

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31. Cf. *ĀpŚS* 5. 19. 4. For many cows being slaughtered, see *BaudhŚS* 2. 15: 57. 12–15. Significantly, the cow staked in the gambling may be replaced by a (vegetal) rice mess (*odana*).

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32. *TS* 1. 2. 5d–e.

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33. *MS* 4. 2. 3: 24. 16–25. 5.

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34. For the rivalry of gods and asuras for the Iḍā (and cattle), see *TS* 1. 7. 1. 3. In connection with violent conflict, one might also adduce Rudra’s shooting at and fatally wounding Prajāpati to punish him for his incestuous behavior toward his daughter. This theme is associated with the “foreportion” (*prāśitra*) of the sacrificial cake given to the brahman priest. Though relevant to our argument, it is mythologically kept apart from the Iḍā theme and dealt with separately in the ritual.

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35. See *TS* 1. 7. 1. 4; 2. 6. 8. 2; *ŚB* 1. 7. 4. 19.

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36. *TS* 1. 7. 1. 1.

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