Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s11.1058

v1.c3.s11.1058

Kṣattr is a word of frequent occurrence in the later Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas, denoting a member of the royal entourage, but the sense is somewhat uncertain. In the Rigveda¹ it is used of a god as the ‘distributor’ of good things to his worshippers; the same sense seems to be found in the Atharvaveda² and elsewhere.³ In one passage of the Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā⁴ the interpretation ‘doorkeeper’ is given by the commentator Mahīdhara, a sense which seems possible in other passages,⁵ while Sāyaṇa ascribes to it in one passage of the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa⁶ the more dignified meaning of antaḥpurādhyakṣa, ‘a chamberlain.’ In other passages,⁷ again, the sense of ‘charioteer’ is not unlikely. Later the Kṣattr was regarded as a man of mixed caste.⁸ 1. Kṣatra, in the general sense of ‘dominion,’ ‘rule,’ ‘power,’ as exercised by gods and men, occurs frequently from the Rigveda¹ onwards. The word is also found in the concrete sense of ‘rulers’ in the Rigveda ² and later;³ but in no case does it in the Rigveda certainly⁴ mean what it regularly denotes in the later Saṃhitās,⁵ the ruling class as opposed to the priests (Brahman), the subject people (Viś, Vaiśya), and the servile class (Śūdra). See also Kṣatriya. A Kṣatra-pati is several times mentioned⁶ as an equivalent of ‘king.’