History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c37.6.4

v3.c37.6.4

Scholars are sharply divided in opinion about the meaning of the word¹⁶⁹¹ '*śiśnadeva*'. Some hold that it denotes people who were worshippers of the phallus (*vide* Vedic Index, vol. II. p. 382). Others hold that the word is used in a secondary or metaphorical sense for those who are immersed in sexual gratification and do not recognize anything else (as worthy of pursuit). Yāska in his Nirukta (IV. 19) quotes Ṛg. VII. 21. 5 and explains that the word means 'those who do not observe rules of *brahmacarya* (celibacy)'. The preponderance of authority and evidence is in favour of the second view. In Ṛg. VII. 104. 14(= Atharva VIII. 4. 14), the poet pleads 'if I be addicted to falsehood, O fire, or if I call upon the gods in vain (then you may injure me), but (not being so) why are you angry with me? May those whose speech is false incur slaughter at your hands'. Here 'anṛta-devāḥ' is practically the same as 'drogba-vācaḥ' in the fourth pāda. In the Tai. Up. I. 11. 2 we have the words 'mātṛdevo bhava, pitṛdevo bhava', where all that is meant is that 'one should be devoted to the parents'. Therefore 'śiśna-deva' could hardly mean 'those who worship phallus as god'. In Ṛg.¹⁶⁹² X. 87. 2 Agni is invoked as follows 'with thy tongue reach the *mūradevas*, in thy mouth envelope the eaters of raw flesh after cutting them into bits' and in Ṛg. VII. 104.