Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s11.1179

v1.c3.s11.1179

Kṣetriya is a disease which is mentioned several times in the Atharvaveda, and against which three hymns are specially directed.¹ It is also mentioned in the Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā² and the Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa.³ The commentators on the Atharvaveda agree in taking it to be a hereditary disease. The word may mean ‘organic,’⁴ or possibly ‘produced in the field,’ as a theory of its origin. What disease is really intended is quite uncertain. Weber⁵ considered that the aim of the Atharvan hymns was to drive away injury threatening the fields, but this is improbable. Bloomfield⁶ suggests ‘scrofula’ or ‘syphilis.’ The remedies mentioned throw no light on the symptoms.