Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s11.197

v1.c3.s11.197

Kavaṣa is mentioned in a hymn of the Rigveda¹ as one of those whom, together with the Druhyu king, Indra overthrew for the Tṛtsus. The Anukramaṇī (Index) also attributes to him the authorship of several hymns of the Rigveda, including two (x. 32. 33) that deal with a prince Kuruśravaṇa and his descendant Upamaśravas. There seems no reason to doubt this attribution, which is accepted by both Zimmer² and Geldner.³ The former holds that Kavaṣa was the Purohita of the joint tribes named Vaikarṇa, in whom he sees the Kuru-Krivi (Pañcāla) peoples, and that Kavaṣa in that capacity is mentioned in the Rigveda as representative of those peoples. He also suggests that the language of Rigveda x. 33, 4 is best explained by the reduced position in which the Kuru-Krivis found themselves on their defeat by the Tṛtsus. Ludwig,⁴ on the other hand, thinks that Kavaṣa was the priest of the five peoples. Geldner⁵ holds that Kavaṣa was the Purohita of Kuruśravaṇa, by whose son, Upamaśravas, he was ill-treated, and that he composed Rigveda x. 33 to deprecate the anger of his royal master. Hopkins⁶ thinks that he was a king.