Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s11.888

v1.c3.s11.888

Kosala is the name of a people not occurring in the earliest Vedic literature. In the story of the spread of Āryan culture told in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa,¹ the Kosala-Videhas, as the offspring of Videgha Māthava, appear as falling later than the Kuru-Pañcālas under the influence of Brahminism. The same passage gives the Sadānīrā as the boundary of the two peoples—Kosala and Videha. Elsewhere² the Kausalya, or Kosala king, Para Āṭṇāra Hairaṇyanābha, is described as having performed the great Aśvamedha, or horse sacrifice. Connexion with Kāśi and Videha appears also from a passage of the Śāṅkhāyana Śrauta Sūtra.³ Weber⁴ points out that Āśvalāyana, who was very probably a descendant of Aśvala, the Hotṛ priest of Videha, is called a Kosala in the Praśna Upaniṣad.⁵ The later distinction of North and South Kosala is unknown to both Vedic and Buddhist literature.⁶