Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s18.716

v1.c3.s18.716

Dru-ghaṇa is found in the Mudgala hymn of the Rigveda¹ and in the Atharvaveda.² The sense is uncertain. Yāska³ renders it as a ‘ghana made of wood,’ probably, as Roth⁴ takes it, meaning a ‘club of wood.’ Geldner⁵ thinks that it was a wooden bull used by Mudgala as a substitute for a second bull when he wanted to join in a race. But this interpretation of the legend is very improbable.⁶ Whitney⁷ translates the word as ‘tree-smiter’ in the Atharvaveda, quoting Sāyaṇa, who explains it as a ‘cutting instrument,’ so called because trees are struck with it.