Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s18.445

v1.c3.s18.445

Dīrgha-tamas (‘long darkness’) Māmateya (‘son of Mamatā’) Aucathya (‘son of Ucatha’) is mentioned as a singer in one hymn of the Rigveda,¹ and is referred to in several passages ² by his metronymic, Māmateya, alone. He is said, both in the Rigveda¹ and in the Śāṅkhāyana Āraṇyaka,³ to have attained the tenth decade of life. In the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa⁴ he appears as the priest of Bharata. The Bṛhaddevatā⁵ contains a preposterous legend made up of fragments of the Rigveda,⁶ according to which Dīrghatamas was born blind, but recovered his sight; in old age he was thrown into a river by his servants, one of whom, Traitana, attacked him, but killed himself instead. Carried down by the stream, he was cast up in the Aṅga country, where he married Uśij, a slave girl, and begot Kakṣīvant. The two legends here combined are not even consistent, for the second ignores Dīrghatamas’ recovery of sight. To attach any historical importance to them, as does Pargiter,⁷ would seem to be unwise.