Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s11.510

v1.c3.s11.510

Kurīrin (‘having a Kurīra’) is a word occurring in an ambiguous passage of the Atharvaveda,¹ in which it may be taken either as a noun meaning a ‘crested animal,’ perhaps as Zimmer² suggests the ‘peacock,’ or as an epithet of the word Aja, ‘goat,’ in which case it might mean ‘horned.’ But even in the latter alternative a metaphorical application of the word seems sufficient, just as in the Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa³ Opaśa is used of the horns of cattle, and thus renders unnecessary the adoption of Geldner’s⁴ view that the original meaning of Kurīra is ‘horn.’