Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s1.292

v1.c3.s1.292

Āsaṅga Plāyogi is a king who appears in a Dānastuti (‘Praise of Gifts’) in the Rigveda¹ as a generous patron. Owing, however, to the addition of a curious phallic verse to the hymn, and its early misunderstanding,² a legend was invented that he lost his manhood and became a woman, but by the intercession of Medhyātithi was transformed into a man, much to the delight of his wife, Śaśvatī, whose existence is based on a misunderstanding of the phrase ‘every woman’ (śaśvatī nārī) in the added verse.³ Another misunderstanding of the Dānastuti⁴ gives him a son Svanad-ratha, really a mere epithet, and makes him a descendant of Yadu.