Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s19: Dh

Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s19

Language
English

Dh

v1.c3.s19.1

Dhana, ‘prize,’ is often found in the Rigveda,¹ probably the prize in racing rather than the ‘booty’ in battle. It also denotes² the ‘stake’ at dicing. In some passages it possibly means the ‘contest’ itself.³ More generally it denotes ‘wealth’ or ‘gift.’⁴ But it sometimes expresses ‘booty,’⁵ probably from the notion of ‘wealth’ rather than of ‘prize.’

v1.c3.s19.2

¹ Rv. i. 81, 3; vi. 45, 2; viii. 80, 8; ix. 53, 2; 109, 10. Cf. Geldner, *Vedische Studien*, i, 120; Pischel, *ibid.*, i, 171.

v1.c3.s19.3

² Rv. x. 34, 10; Av. iv. 38, 3.

v1.c3.s19.4

³ Rv. i. 31, 6; v. 35, 7; vii. 38, 8; viii. 5, 26; 8, 21; 49, 9; 50, 9; x. 48, 5, etc.

v1.c3.s19.5

⁴ Rv. i. 42, 6; x. 18, 2; 84, 7; Av. i. 15, 3; ii. 7, 4; iii. 15, 2; v. 19, 9; vi. 81, 1; vii. 81, 4; viii. 5, 16, etc.

v1.c3.s19.6

⁵ Rv. i. 74, 3; 157, 2, etc.

v1.c3.s19.7

Dhana-dhānī, a ‘treasure house,’ is mentioned in the Taittirīya Āraṇyaka (x. 67).

v1.c3.s19.8

Dhaniṣṭhā (‘very rich’), used in the plural, is the later name¹ of the lunar mansion (Nakṣatra) Śraviṣṭhā.

v1.c3.s19.9

¹ Sāntikalpa, 13; Śāṅkhāyana Gṛhya Sūtra, i. 26.

v1.c3.s19.10

Dhanu (fem.), ‘sandbank,’ occurs several times in the Rigveda,¹ but only metaphorically of the clouds in the atmosphere. Dhanū is found in the Atharvaveda,² where it seems to denote a sandbag used to prevent bleeding.³ *Cf.* Dhanvan.

v1.c3.s19.11

¹ i. 33, 4; 144, 5; viii. 3, 19; x. 4, 3; 27, 17.

v1.c3.s19.12

² ii. 17, 4.

v1.c3.s19.13

³ Weber, *Indische Studien*, 4, 411; Whitney, *Translation of the Atharvaveda*, 18; Bloomfield, *Hymns of the Atharvaveda*, 259, 260.

v1.c3.s19.14

Dhanus, the ‘bow,’ frequently mentioned in the Rigveda¹ and later,² was the chief weapon of the Vedic Indian.³ The last act of the funeral rite included the removal of the bow from the right hand of the dead man.⁴ The weapon was composed of a stout staff bent into a curved shape (*vakra*),⁵ and of a bowstring (*Jyā*) made of a strip of cowhide⁶ which joined the ends. The tips of the bow, when the string was fastened, were called Ārtnī. Relaxed when not in actual use, the bow was specially strung up when needed for shooting.⁷ The stages of the process are given in detail in the Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā:⁸ the stringing (*ā-tan*) of the bow, the placing (*prati-dhā*) of the arrow, the bending (*ā-yam*) of the bow, and the shooting (*as*). The arrow was discharged from the ear,⁹ and is hence called *karṇa-yoni*,¹⁰ ‘having the ear as its point of origin.’¹⁰ The making of bows was a regular profession (*dhanuṣ-kāra*,¹¹ *dhanuṣ-kṛt*).¹² For the arrow see Iṣu, and for the handguard Hastaghna.

v1.c3.s19.15

¹ viii. 72, 4; 77, 11; ix. 99, 1; x. 18, 9; 125, 6.

v1.c3.s19.16

² Av. iv. 4, 6; 6, 6; v. 18, 8; vii. 50, 9; Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xvi. 10; Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa, vii. 5, 6; Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, vii. 14; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, i. 5, 4, 6; v. 3, 1, 11, etc.

v1.c3.s19.17

³ Rv. vi. 75, 2. Practically no other weapon plays any substantial part in Vedic warfare.

v1.c3.s19.18

⁴ Rv. x. 18, 9.

v1.c3.s19.19

⁵ Av. iv. 6, 4.

v1.c3.s19.20

⁶ Rv. vi. 75, 11; Av. i. 2, 3.

v1.c3.s19.21

⁷ Rv. x. 166, 3; Av. vi. 42, 1.

v1.c3.s19.22

⁸ xvi. 22.

v1.c3.s19.23

⁹ Rv. vi. 75, 2 *et seq.* So also in the Epic, Hopkins, *Journal of the American Oriental Society*, 13, 271. The Homeric method is to draw to the breast—*e.g.*, *Iliad*, iv. 123.

v1.c3.s19.24

¹⁰ Rv. ii. 24, 8.

v1.c3.s19.25

¹¹ xxx. 7.

v1.c3.s19.26

¹² xvi. 46. Cf. Zimmer, *Altindisches Leben*, 298, 299; Hopkins, *op. cit.*, 13, 270 *et seq.* The Epic bow is about 5½ feet, and the arrow 3 feet in length.

v1.c3.s19.27

1. Dhanvan, ‘bow,’ is found frequently in the Rigveda¹ and later.² It also occurs in the compounds *iṣu-dhanva*, ‘bow and arrow,’³ *ājya-dhanva*,⁴ ‘having clarified butter for its bow,’⁵ *adhijya-dhanva*, ‘bow with string fixed,’ etc. Cf. Dhanus.

v1.c3.s19.28

¹ ii. 24, 8; 33, 10; vi. 59, 7; 75, 2; viii. 20, 2; ix. 69, 1; Nirukta, ix. 17.

v1.c3.s19.29

² Av. i. 3, 9; iv. 4, 7; xi. 9, 1, etc.; Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xvi. 9, etc.

v1.c3.s19.30

³ Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, vii. 19; *iṣu-dhanvin*, Taittirīya Saṃhitā, v. 1, 2.

v1.c3.s19.31

⁴ Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, i. 25.

v1.c3.s19.32

⁵ Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, ix. 1, 1, 6.

v1.c3.s19.33

2. Dhanvan, ‘desert,’ is repeatedly mentioned in the Rigveda¹ and later.² Death from thirst in the desert was not rare,³ and the value of a spring in the desert was fully appreciated.⁴ The great desert east of the Sindhu (Indus) and the Śutudrī (Sutlej) is possibly referred to in one hymn of the Rigveda.⁵

v1.c3.s19.34

¹ ii. 38, 7; iii. 45, 1; iv. 17, 2; 19, 7; 33, 7; v. 53, 6; 83, 10, etc. In i. 116, 4, the strand of the ocean (*Samudra*) is mentioned.

v1.c3.s19.35

² Av. v. 13, 1; vi. 100, 1; vii. 41, 1, etc.

v1.c3.s19.36

³ Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, ii. 19.

v1.c3.s19.37

⁴ Rv. x. 4, 1. Cf. vi. 34, 4, etc.; Av. i. 6, 4; xix. 2, 2. Cf. Zimmer, *Altindisches Leben*, 47, 48.

v1.c3.s19.38

⁵ x. 86, 20.

v1.c3.s19.39

Dhamani, ‘reed,’ appears to denote ‘pipe’ in a passage of the Rigveda¹ and in a citation appearing in the Nirukta.² In the Atharvaveda³ it denotes, perhaps, ‘artery’ or ‘vein,’ or more generally ‘intestinal channel,’ being coupled in some passages⁴ with Hirā.

v1.c3.s19.40

¹ ii. 11, 8.

v1.c3.s19.41

² vi. 24.

v1.c3.s19.42

³ i. 17, 23; ii. 33, 6; vi. 90, 2; vii. 35, 2. Cf. Chāndogya Upaniṣad, iii. 19, 2.

v1.c3.s19.43

⁴ i. 17, 3; vii. 35, 2. Cf. Bloomfield, *Hymns of the Atharvaveda*, 259, 546.

v1.c3.s19.44

Dharuṇa in one passage of the Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā (viii. 51) denotes a ‘sucking calf.’

v1.c3.s19.45

Dharma,¹ Dharman,² are the regular words, the latter in the Rigveda,¹ and both later,² for ‘law’ or ‘custom.’ But there is very little evidence in the early literature as to the administration of justice or the code of law followed. On the other hand, the Dharma Sūtras³ contain full particulars.

v1.c3.s19.46

¹ i. 22, 18; 164, 43. 50; iii. 3, 1; 17, 1; 60, 6; v. 26, 6; 63, 7; 72, 2, etc.; Av. xiv. 1, 51; Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, x. 29, etc. Cf. Geldner, *Rigveda, Glossar*, 90.

v1.c3.s19.47

² Dharma is found in Av. xi. 7, 17; xii. 5, 7; xviii. 3, 1; Taittirīya Saṃhitā, iii. 5, 2, 2; Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xv. 6; xx. 9; xxx. 6, etc.

v1.c3.s19.48

³ See Jolly, *Recht und Sitte*; Foy, *Die königliche Gewalt nach den altindischen Rechtsbüchern*; Bühler, *Sacred Books of the East*, 2 and 14.

v1.c3.s19.49

(1) Criminal Law.—The crimes recognized in Vedic literature vary greatly in importance, while there is no distinction adopted in principle between real crimes and what now are regarded as fanciful bodily defects or infringements of merely conventional practices.⁴ The crimes enumerated include the slaying of an embryo (*bhrūṇa*),⁵ the slaying of a man (*vīra*),⁶ and the slaying of a Brahmin,⁷ a much more serious crime. Treachery is mentioned in the Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa⁸ as being punishable by death, as it was punished later.⁹ But there is no trace of an organized criminal justice vested either in the king or in the people. There still seems to have prevailed the system of wergeld (Vaira), which indicates that criminal justice remained in the hands of those who were wronged. In the Sūtras,¹⁰ on the other hand, the king's peace is recognized as infringed by crimes, a penalty being paid to him, or, according to the Brahminical textbooks, to the Brahmins. It may therefore reasonably be conjectured that the royal power of jurisdiction steadily increased; the references in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa to the king as wielding punishment (Daṇḍa) confirm this supposition. Whether, as the analogy of other systems suggests, the king was assisted in his judicial duties, as he undoubtedly was later, by assessors, presumably of the Brahmin caste, cannot be made out clearly.¹¹

v1.c3.s19.50

⁴ Compare the list in Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā, iv. 1, 9; Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, xxxi. 7; Kapiṣṭhala Saṃhitā, xlvii. 7; and Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, iii. 2, 8, 11 (see Delbrück, *Die indogermanischen Verwandtschaftsnamen*, 579 et seq.), where bodily defects (bad nails and discoloured teeth), marrying a younger daughter when her elder sister was unmarried, are coupled with murder, though not equated with it. See also Chāndogya Upaniṣad, v. 11, 5, where Aśvapati's list of sinners includes a drinker of intoxicating liquor, a thief, and one who does not maintain a sacrificial fire. Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa, xiii. 3, 12, where the death of a boy by careless driving is mentioned, and the king is reproached for it by his Purohita. They dispute as to the guilt, and, according to one version (see Sieg, *Die Sagenstoffe des Rgveda*, 66, 67), the Ikṣvākus decide that the action was sinful, and required expiation.

v1.c3.s19.51

⁵ Taittirīya Saṃhitā, vi. 5, 10, 2; Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, xxvii. 9; xxxi. 7; Kapiṣṭhala Saṃhitā, xli. 7; Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā, iv. 1, 9; Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, iii. 2, 8, 12; Taittirīya Āraṇyaka, ii. 7, 8; 8, 3; Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, iii. 1. *Cf.* Av. vi. 112, 3; 113, 2; Weber, *Indische Studien*, 9, 481; 10, 66; Bloomfield, *Hymns of the Atharvaveda*, 522; *American Journal of Philology*, 17, 430.

v1.c3.s19.52

⁶ Kāṭhaka, xxxi. 7; Kapiṣṭhala, *loc. cit.*; Maitrāyaṇī, *loc. cit.*; Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, *loc. cit.*; Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xxx. 5, and *cf.* Vaira. For cases of justifiable homicide, see, e.g., Vasiṣṭha Dharma Sūtra, iii. 15-18. *Cf.* also the story of Vṛśa Jāna in

v1.c3.s19.53

⁷ Taittirīya Saṃhitā, ii. 5, 1, 2; v. 3, 12, 1; vi. 5, 10, 2; Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, xxxi. 7 (where the Kapiṣṭhala has *brahma-jya*, 'oppressor of a Brahmin'); Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, iii. 2, 8, 12. The Taittirīya Āraṇyaka, x. 38, declares that the slaying of a Brahmin alone is truly murder, and the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, xiii. 3, 1, 1 *et seq.*, states that the sin of murdering a Brahmin can be expiated only by the performance of an *Aśvamedha*, or 'horse sacrifice'—the *ne plus ultra* of human generosity to Brahmins. See also Nirukta, vi. 27. The later tradition also interprets *bhrūṇa* as Brahmin (see Saṅkara, cited in Weber, *Indische Studien*, i, 410, n.; Keith, *Śāṅkhāyana Āraṇyaka*, 30, n. 5; Konow, *Sāmavidhāna Brāhmaṇa*, 46, n. 1, and *cf.* Vasiṣṭha Dharma Sūtra, xx. 23).

v1.c3.s19.54

⁸ xiv. 6, 8, the story of Kutsa.

v1.c3.s19.55

⁹ Jolly, *op. cit.*, 127.

v1.c3.s19.56

¹⁰ See references in Bühler, *Sacred Books of the East*, 14, 345.

v1.c3.s19.57

¹¹ Compare the story of the death of the child killed by Tryaruṇa, and the decision of the Ikṣvākus referred to in n. 6 above, and the notice in Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, xxvii. 4, that a Rājanya is adhyakṣa, when a Śūdra is punished (han).

v1.c3.s19.58

The procedure adopted in deciding cases is quite uncertain. In the Chāndogya Upaniṣad¹² the ordeal of the red-hot axe is mentioned as applied in an accusation of theft. It must apparently be understood to have been inflicted by the direction of the king. But no other judicial ordeal is known to Vedic literature (see Divya). The punishment of theft was in some cases at least death, probably when the thief was taken red-handed;¹³ in other cases binding to posts was the penalty,¹⁴ presumably accompanied by the return of the stolen goods. In the Chāndogya Upaniṣad¹⁵ the list of sins given as apparently equal in wickedness is stealing gold, drinking spirits, defiling a Guru’s bed, and the murder of a Brahmin.

v1.c3.s19.59

¹² vi. 16. *Cf.* Weber, *Indian Literature*, 72, 73.

v1.c3.s19.60

¹³ Gautama Dharma Sūtra, xii. 43; Āpastamba Dharma Sūtra, i. 9, 25, 4.

v1.c3.s19.61

¹⁴ See Av. xix. 47, 9; 50, 1, and Taskara.

v1.c3.s19.62

¹⁵ v. 10, 9. Another list is given in Taittirīya Āraṇyaka, x. 65, which includes slaying a Brahmin, defiling a Guru’s bed, stealing a cow, drinking Surā, and killing an embryo, along with irregularities in offering a Śrāddha, ‘water offering to the dead.’ *Cf.* also Nirukta, vi. 27, for a list of seven. Many more appear in the Sāmavidhāna Brāhmaṇa, but that work cannot claim to be a Brāhmaṇa proper.

v1.c3.s19.63

(2) Civil Law.—There is little recorded as to civil law in Vedic literature. The relations of the family and the question of family property are dealt with under Urvarā, Kṣetra, Pati; succession and partition of property are treated under Dāya. As regards the transfer of chattels—for land as transferable *inter vivos* is hardly yet recognized, save exceptionally as a sacrificial fee (Dakṣiṇā), and then disapproved¹⁶—the recognized modes are gift (Dāna) and barter or sale (Kraya), which includes exchange. Original acquisition of land was no doubt brought about by occupation and apportionment among the tribesmen,¹⁷ while chattels were acquired by taking possession of them, provided that they were found on one’s own land or on unoccupied land, and did not belong to any other person originally. The Sūtras¹⁸ contain rules for the disposal of lost property, which tend to give it to the king, with the deduction of a percentage for the finder, unless the latter is a Brahmin, who keeps it all. As for contract, save in regard to money-lending (for which see Ṛṇa), practically nothing is to be gathered from Vedic literature, doubtless because of the primitive conditions prevailing in that early period. Much of the labour, which would in a more developed society have been done by workers for hire, would be performed by slaves (cf. Dāsa, Śūdra), while the technical workers of the village—of whom long lists are given in the Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā¹⁹ and the Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa²⁰—may have been recompensed not by any sum based on each piece of work done, but by fixed allowances, much as the village servants are in modern times.²¹ But this must remain a matter of conjecture, and it is uncertain what exact status the carpenter or smith held in the village. Similarly it is impossible to trace in the early literature any legal theory or practice as to torts, but rules as to penalties for insults appear in the Sūtras.²²

v1.c3.s19.64

¹⁶ Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, xiii. 7, 1, 13.

v1.c3.s19.65

¹⁷ Cf. Cæsar, Bellum Gallicum, iv. 1; vi. 22; Tacitus, Germania, 26, for Germany; Mommsen, Römisches Staatsrecht, 3, 1, 21, for the Roman hortus; and the Greek κλῆρος, Lang, Homer and the Epic, 236-241; Ridgeway, Journal of Hellenic Studies, 6, 319 et seq.; Grote, History of Greece, 2, 36, 37. See also Pollock and Maitland, History of English Law, 2, 337 et seq.; Baden Powell, Village Communities in India, 6 et seq.; 131.

v1.c3.s19.66

¹⁸ Gautama Dharma Sūtra, x. 36 et seq.

v1.c3.s19.67

¹⁹ xxx.

v1.c3.s19.68

²⁰ iii. 4. See Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 426 et seq.; Weber, Indische Streifen, 1, 75 et seq.

v1.c3.s19.69

²¹ Cf. Maine, Village Communities, 127, 175; Baden Powell, op. cit., 124 et seq.; Grote, History of Greece, 2, 36, n. 2.

v1.c3.s19.70

²² Cf. Jolly, op. cit., 126-128.

v1.c3.s19.71

Very little is recorded as to procedure. The list²³ of victims at the Puruṣamedha, or ‘horse sacrifice,’ includes a praśnin, an abhi-praśnin, and a praśna-vivāka, in whom it is not unreasonable to see the plaintiff, the defendant, and the arbitrator or judge: the terms may refer to what is probably an early form of judicial procedure, a voluntary arbitration. The same idea may be conveyed by the word *madhyama-śī*, ‘lying in the midst,’ which occurs in the Rigveda,²⁴ and which Roth,²⁵ followed by Zimmer,²⁶ understood to mean an arbitrator or judge, the expression being derived from the judge acting with other judicial persons,²⁷ and being surrounded by the assembly of the people. But this interpretation is uncertain; Whitney²⁸ thinks that the word merely alludes to a chief round whom his men encamp. The king is later the chief civil judge, and may presumably have been so earlier, no doubt in conjunction with the elders of the tribe, but for this we are reduced to conjecture.²⁹

v1.c3.s19.72

²³ Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xxx. 10; Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, iii. 4, 6, 1.

v1.c3.s19.73

²⁴ x. 97, 12 = Av. iv. 9, 4 = Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xii. 86. Madhyamaśīvan, in the Jaiminīya Brāhmaṇa, ii. 408, is of quite doubtful sense.

v1.c3.s19.74

²⁵ *Siebenzig Lieder*, 174. This fact renders doubtful Lanman's view (Whitney, *Translation of the Atharvaveda*, 159) that the St. Petersburg Dictionary, in giving intercessor as the interpretation, did not mean ‘mediator,’ but ‘adversary.’

v1.c3.s19.75

²⁶ *Altindisches Leben*, 180.

v1.c3.s19.76

²⁷ As, apparently, in early Germany. See Cæsar, *Bellum Gallicum*, vi. 23; Tacitus, *Germania*, 11. 12; Coulanges, *Recherches sur quelques problèmes d'histoire*, 361 *et seq.*

v1.c3.s19.77

²⁸ See n. 25.

v1.c3.s19.78

²⁹ Cf. the later Pariṣad, Gautama Dharma Sūtra, xxviii. 48. 49; Baudhāyana Dharma Sūtra, i. 1, 7-16; Vasiṣṭha Dharma Sūtra, xi. 5-7, 20; Jolly, *op. cit.*, 132 *et seq.* The parallels from other Āryan peoples suggest the use of assessors, as in the Anglo-Saxon courts of the shire and hundred. Cf. Sohm, *Altdeutsches Reichs- und Gerichtsverfassung*, 6 *et seq.*

v1.c3.s19.79

The use of witnesses as evidence is uncertain (see Jñātṛ), and the ordeal is not recorded as deciding any civil matter except the dispute between Vatsa and his rival as to the true Brahminical descent of the former, which was settled by his walking unharmed through the flame of a fire.³⁰ But it is probable on analogy that the ordeal may have been used for the purpose of deciding disputes. Whether the oath was so used cannot be certainly shown. It appears, however, that a Brahmin was preferred in legal matters to a non-Brahmin.³¹

v1.c3.s19.80

³⁰ Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa, xiv. 6, 6.

v1.c3.s19.81

³¹ Taittirīya Saṃhitā, ii. 5, 11, 9, which seems to refer either to giving evidence for or passing judgment on a case when both a Brahmin and a non-Brahmin are engaged.

v1.c3.s19.82

There are very few references to police officials: no doubt the king employed some of his dependents to execute sentences and arrest offenders (see Ugra, Jīvagṛbh).

v1.c3.s19.83

(3) *Morality.*—It is convenient to notice under this head several points bearing on the moral condition of the people: (a) the exposure of children; (b) the exposure of the aged; (c) prostitution; (d) adultery; (e) incest.

v1.c3.s19.84

(a) The exposure of girl infants is asserted by Zimmer³² on the strength of a passage in the Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā,³³ but it seems clear that the passage has been misunderstood,³⁴ and that it refers merely to laying the child aside, not exposing it, while a boy was lifted up. It is, however, true that the birth of a girl was not at all popular, not an unnatural sentiment in an early society, and paralleled among other Āryan peoples.³⁵

v1.c3.s19.85

³² Altindisches Leben, 319, 320. Cf. also Weber, Indische Studien, 5, 54, 260; Kaegi, Der Rigveda, n. 49; Schrader, Prehistoric Antiquities, 389, 390; Ludwig, Translation of the Rigveda, 6, 142; Pischel, Vedische Studien, 2, 48.

v1.c3.s19.86

³³ xxvii. 9. Cf. Taittirīya Saṃhitā, vi. 5, 10, 3; Śāṅkhāyana Śrauta Sūtra, xv. 17, 12; Nirukta iii. 4.

v1.c3.s19.87

³⁴ Böhtlingk, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 44, 494-496. The traditional rendering of the passages is not that it refers to exposure, but to getting rid of a daughter on her marriage.

v1.c3.s19.88

³⁵ Av. viii. 6, 25; Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, vii. 15; Max Müller, Ancient Sanskrit Literature, 409; Zimmer, op. cit., 320; Schrader, op. cit., 390.

v1.c3.s19.89

(b) The exposure of the aged is also inferred by Zimmer³⁶ from a passage of the Rigveda,³⁷ and from the mention of persons exposed (ud-hitāḥ) in the Atharvaveda.³⁸ The latter passage may well refer merely to the bodies being exposed after death to the elements (as is done by the Parsīs). The former passage merely refers to the individual case of some person who may have been cast out, and proves absolutely nothing as to a habitual or recognized custom, nor can such a custom be inferred from, e.g., the legend of Cyavāna.

v1.c3.s19.90

³⁶ Op. cit., 327, 328. Strabo, pp. 513, 517, 520, reports the practice as prevailing in Iran, Bactria, and the Massagetae; it prevailed among the Norsemen, Weinhold, Altnordisches Leben, 473, and conceivably among the early Romans (depontani senes, Cicero, Pro Roscio, 100; but this and other cases may be really instances of the ritual casting into water of the worn-out vegetation spirit for the purpose of reviving it). See Kaegi, op. cit., n. 50; Schrader, op. cit., 379, n.

v1.c3.s19.91

³⁷ viii. 51, 2.

v1.c3.s19.92

³⁸ xviii. 2, 34. See Anagnidagdha.

v1.c3.s19.93

(c) That prostitution existed in Rigvedic times is certain, but its extent is disputed. Brotherless girls were frequently reduced to becoming prostitutes;³⁹ the putting away of an illegitimate child is referred to in the Rigveda;⁴⁰ besides the terms *pumścalī*⁴¹ and *mahānagnī*,⁴² which undoubtedly mean ‘harlot,’ there are other clear references to prostitution;⁴³ and expressions like *kumārī-putra*, ‘son of a maiden,’⁴⁴ and the ‘son of an unmarried girl’ (*agrū*), spoken of in the Rigveda⁴⁵ as exposed and attacked by animals, point in the same direction. The Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā⁴⁶ seems to recognize prostitution as a profession. Pischel⁴⁷ sees many references to Hetairai in the Rigveda, which as Geldner⁴⁸ insists reflects in its imagery the court life of Indian princes. But the correctness of the view of these two scholars on this point is not by any means certain.⁴⁹

v1.c3.s19.94

³⁹ Rv. i. 124, 7; iv. 5; Av. i. 17, 1; and cf. Ayogū.

v1.c3.s19.95

⁴⁰ ii. 29, 1. Cf. Max Müller, op. cit., 26.

v1.c3.s19.96

⁴¹ Av. xv. 2, etc.

v1.c3.s19.97

⁴² Av. xiv. 1, 36; xx. 136, 5 et seq.; Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, i. 27. Cf. *nagnā* in Av. v. 7, 8.

v1.c3.s19.98

⁴³ Rv. i. 167, 4 (Wilson, Translation of the Rigveda, 2, xvii), can hardly be so interpreted; see Zimmer, *op. cit.*, 332, n. Max Müller, *Sacred Books of the East*, 32, 277, interprets it as a reference to polyandry, but this is still more doubtful; but see Rv. viii. 17, 7.

v1.c3.s19.99

⁴⁴ Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xxx. 6; Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, iii. 4, 2, 1.

v1.c3.s19.100

⁴⁵ iv. 19, 9; 30, 16. 19; ii. 13, 12; 15, 17; Zimmer, *op. cit.*, 334, 335.

v1.c3.s19.101

⁴⁶ Apparently this is meant by the epithets *aṭiṣkadvari* (*apaskadvari* in the Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, iii. 4, 11, 1), *atiṭvari*, *vijarjarā*, in the Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xxx. 15.

v1.c3.s19.102

⁴⁷ Vedische Studien, i, xxv; 196, 275, 299, 309, etc.; 2, 120.

v1.c3.s19.103

⁴⁸ Ibid., 2, 154.

v1.c3.s19.104

⁴⁹ Cf. Winternitz, *Geschichte der indischen Litteratur*, i, 60; Jolly, *op. cit.*, 48.

v1.c3.s19.105

(d) Adultery was generally regarded among Āryan peoples as a serious offence against the husband of the woman affected. We accordingly find in the legal literature of India traces of the rule that an adulterer can be slain with impunity if taken in the act.⁵⁰ Weber,⁵¹ however, has adduced some material indicating an indifference to these matters in Vedic times, and Ludwig⁵² has adopted the same view. But, as Delbrück⁵³ has clearly shown, the evidence is not convincing; the cited prescriptions⁵⁴ forbidding connexion with another man’s wife during a certain rite do not imply that such connexion would otherwise be allowed: the ritual of the Varuṇa-praghāsas,⁵⁵ when a wife names her lover or lovers, seems originally to have been a solemn means of banishing the evil brought on a family by a wife’s fall; Yājñavalkya’s famous saying⁵⁶ that no one cares whether a wife is ‘unchaste’ (*paraḥ-puṃsā*) or not is a mere mistranslation,⁵⁷ the expression *paraḥ-puṃsā* really meaning ‘removed from the male persons.’ And the uncertainty asserted in some passages⁵⁸ as to origin from a Ṛṣi is not a sign of doubtful descent, but is due to the fact that Ṛṣihood was a difficult matter to ascertain. None the less woman’s position was lowered by the prevalence of polygamy, and such stories as that of Ahalyā and Indra⁵⁹ are not compatible with a very high standard of morality. A similar conclusion is pointed to by references in the Yajurveda⁶⁰ to relations between the Ārya man and the Śūdrā woman, and by a spell given in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad⁶¹ to expiate relations with the wife of a Śrotriya (Brahmin theologian).

v1.c3.s19.106

⁵⁰ Leist, *Altarisches Jus Gentium*, 276 et seq., 309.

v1.c3.s19.107

⁵¹ *Indische Studien*, 10, 83 et seq.

v1.c3.s19.108

⁵² *Op. cit.*, 5, 573.

v1.c3.s19.109

⁵³ *Die indogermanischen Verwandtschaftsnamen*, 545 et seq.

v1.c3.s19.110

⁵⁴ Taittirīya Saṃhitā, v. 6, 8, 3; Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā, iii. 4, 7.

v1.c3.s19.111

⁵⁵ Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā, i. 10, 11; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, ii. 5, 2, 20.

v1.c3.s19.112

⁵⁶ Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, i. 3, 1, 21.

v1.c3.s19.113

⁵⁷ So Böhtlingk, Dictionary, s.v. ; Delbrück, *op. cit.*, 548.

v1.c3.s19.114

⁵⁸ Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā, i. 4, 11; Gopatha Brāhmaṇa, cited in Ludwig, *loc. cit.*

v1.c3.s19.115

⁵⁹ *Cf.* Macdonell, *Vedic Mythology*, p. 65.

v1.c3.s19.116

⁶⁰ Taittirīya Saṃhitā, vii. 4, 19, 2. 3; Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xxiii. 30. 31.

v1.c3.s19.117

⁶¹ vi. 4, 11.

v1.c3.s19.118

(e) Incest was recognized in the marriage of brother and sister as appears from the legend of Yama and Yamī in the Rigveda,⁶² which clearly shows that such a marriage was not approved by the feeling of the Vedic age. There is also another hymn⁶³ in which reference to such intercourse appears to be made. Mention is further made in the Rigveda⁶⁴ to the wedlock of Prajāpati and his daughter, which is, however, interpreted mythologically in the Brāhmaṇas,⁶⁵ an interpretation which may be correct. That incest, however, actually did take place is clear from the Atharvaveda;⁶⁶ but even though the mythological interpretation of the passage were not justified, no conclusion could be drawn from the hymn as to the normal occurrence of such relations.

v1.c3.s19.119

⁶² x. 10.

v1.c3.s19.120

⁶³ x. 162, 5.

v1.c3.s19.121

⁶⁴ x. 61, 5-7.

v1.c3.s19.122

⁶⁵ Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, iii. 33; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, i. 7. 4, 1; Muir, *Sanskrit Texts*, 4, 46, 47; Max Müller, *op. cit.*, 529, 530.

v1.c3.s19.123

⁶⁶ viii. 6, 7.

v1.c3.s19.124

1. Dhava is the name of a tree (*Grislea tomentosa*) mentioned, together with the Plakṣa, Aśvattha, and Khādira, in the Atharvaveda.¹ 2. Dhava, ‘man,’ is not found before the Nirukta.¹ The word clearly owes its existence merely to vidhavā, ‘widow,’ wrongly interpreted as vi-dhavā, ‘without a husband.’

v1.c3.s19.125

¹ v. 5, 5; xx. 137, 11. *Cf.* Zimmer, *Altindisches Leben*, 62.

v1.c3.s19.126

¹ iii. 15. Cf. Naighaṇṭuka, ii. 3.

v1.c3.s19.127

Dhavitra, occurring in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa¹ and the Taittirīya Āraṇyaka,² denotes a ‘fan’ of hide or leather for blowing the sacrificial fire.

v1.c3.s19.128

¹ xiv. 1, 3, 30; 3, 1, 21.

v1.c3.s19.129

² v. 4, 33.

v1.c3.s19.130

Dhānam-jayya, ‘descendant of Dhanam-jaya,’ is the patronymic of Amśu in the Vamśa Brāhmaṇa.¹

v1.c3.s19.131

¹ *Indische Studien*, 4, 373. Under this patronymic he is frequently named by Lāṭyāyana Śrauta Sūtra, i. 1, 25; ii. 1, 2; 9, 10, etc. (misread Dhānam-japya in many manuscripts). Cf. Weber, *Indian Literature*, 76, 77, 82.

v1.c3.s19.132

Dhānā, always used in the plural, and frequently referred to in the Rigveda¹ and later,² means ‘grains of corn.’ They were sometimes parched (bhrjj),³ and were regularly mixed with Soma.⁴

v1.c3.s19.133

¹ i. 16, 2; iii. 35, 3; 52, 5; vi. 29, 4, etc.

v1.c3.s19.134

² Av. xviii. 3, 69; 4, 32. 34; Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xix. 21. 22; Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, i. 5, 11, 2, etc.

v1.c3.s19.135

³ Rv. iv. 24, 7.

v1.c3.s19.136

⁴ Rv. iii. 43, 4; 52, 1; viii. 91, 2; Taittirīya Saṃhitā, iii. 1, 10, 2; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, iv. 4, 3, 9. Cf. Schrader, *Prehistoric Antiquities*, 283.

v1.c3.s19.137

Dhānya (neut.), a derivative from the preceding word,¹ denotes ‘grain’ in general. It is found in the Rigveda² and later.³ According to the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad,⁴ there are ten cultivated (grāmyāṇi) kinds of grain: rice and barley (vrīhi-yavāḥ), sesamum and beans (tila-māṣāḥ), Panicum Miliaceum and Italicum (aṇu-priyaṅgavaḥ), maize (godhūmāḥ), lentils (masūrāḥ), Khalvāḥ and Dolichos uniflorus (khala-kulāḥ). The horse is called ‘corn-eating’ (*dhānyāda*) in the Aitareya⁵ and Śatapatha⁶ Brāhmaṇas, and men are mentioned as ‘purifying corn’ (*dhānyā-kṛt*) in the Rigveda.⁸

v1.c3.s19.138

¹ Primarily as an adjective, ‘consisting of grain.’ Kauṣitaki Brāhmaṇa, xi. 8; Ṣaḍviṃśa Brāhmaṇa, v. 5, etc.

v1.c3.s19.139

² vi. 13, 4.

v1.c3.s19.140

³ Av. iii. 24, 2. 4; v. 29, 7; vi. 50, 1; vi. 3, 22 (Mādhyamdina=13 Kāṇva).

v1.c3.s19.141

⁴ vi. 3, 22 (Mādhyamdina=13 Kāṇva).

v1.c3.s19.142

⁵ viii. 21.

v1.c3.s19.143

⁶ xiii. 5, 4, 2.

v1.c3.s19.144

⁷ Lit., ‘preparing corn.’

v1.c3.s19.145

⁸ x. 94, 13.

v1.c3.s19.146

Dhānva is the patronymic of Asita in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa.¹ In the Śaṅkhāyana Śrauta Sūtra² the form of the name is Dhānvana.

v1.c3.s19.147

¹ xiii. 4, 3, 11; Āśvalāyana Śrauta Sūtra, x. 7.

v1.c3.s19.148

² xvi. 2, 20.

v1.c3.s19.149

Dhāman denotes in the Rigveda¹ and later² ‘dwelling’ and ‘house,’ or sometimes³ its inmates. The word is also⁴ found in the sense of ‘ordinance,’ ‘law,’ expressing much the same as Dharman, especially in conjunction⁵ with Rta, ‘eternal order.’ Hillebrandt⁶ sees in one passage⁷ the sense of Nakṣatra.

v1.c3.s19.150

¹ i. 144, 1; ii. 3, 2; iii. 55, 10; vii. 61, 4; 87, 2; x. 13, 1, etc.

v1.c3.s19.151

² Av. iv. 25, 7; vii. 68, 1; xii. 1, 52; Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, iv. 34; Taittirīya Āraṇyaka, ii. 7, 2.

v1.c3.s19.152

³ Rv. viii. 101, 6; ix. 63, 14; x. 82, 3; Av. ii. 14, 6. Many of the examples given in the St. Petersburg Dictionary, s.v., C, are doubtful.

v1.c3.s19.153

⁴ Rv. iv. 55, 2; vi. 21, 3; vii. 63, 3; viii. 41, 10; x. 48, 11.

v1.c3.s19.154

⁵ Rv. i. 123, 9; iv. 7, 7; vii. 36, 5; x. 124, 3.

v1.c3.s19.155

⁶ Vedische Mythologie, I, 446.

v1.c3.s19.156

⁷ Rv. ix. 66, 2. Cf. Geldner, Rigveda, Glossar, 92, 93.

v1.c3.s19.157

Dhārā denotes the ‘edge’ of a weapon,¹ as of an axe (*svadhiti*),² or of a razor (*kṣura*).³ See also Asi.

v1.c3.s19.158

¹ Rv. vi. 3, 5; 47, 10. Cf. viii. 73, 9; Taittirīya Āraṇyaka, iv. 38, 1, for metaphorical applications.

v1.c3.s19.159

² Kauśika Sūtra, 44.

v1.c3.s19.160

³ Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, iii. 3, 2.

v1.c3.s19.161

Dhiṣaṇā, according to the St. Petersburg Dictionary, denotes¹ an implement used in preparing the Soma, ‘bowl’ or ‘vat,’ and by metonymy also the Soma draught itself.² The dual, by a metaphor,³ also expresses the ‘two worlds,’ heaven and earth.⁴ Hillebrandt,⁵ however, thinks that the word properly means earth,⁶ in the dual heaven and earth,⁷ in the plural the triad, earth, atmosphere, and heaven,⁸ while in some passages⁹ Dhiṣaṇā denotes the Vedi, the excavated ground used as an altar. This is not, however, certain, while it seems clear that the Vājasaneyi¹⁰ and Taittirīya¹¹ Saṃhitās understand the Dhiṣaṇās (dual) to be the planks over which the pressing of the Soma took place (adhiṣavaṇa-phalake).¹² Pischel¹³ sees in Dhiṣaṇā a goddess of wealth akin to Aditi and the earth.

v1.c3.s19.162

¹ Rv. i. 96, 1; 102, 1; 109, 3. 4; iii. 49, 1; iv. 34, 1; 36, 8; viii. 61, 9; ix. 59, 2; x. 17, 12; 30, 6; Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, i. 19; vi. 26. 35, etc.

v1.c3.s19.163

² Rv. i. 102, 7; iii. 32, 14; 49, 4; vi. 19, 2; vii. 90, 3; viii. 15, 7; x. 96, 10, etc.

v1.c3.s19.164

³ Like Camū.

v1.c3.s19.165

⁴ Rv. i. 160, 1; vi. 8, 3; 50, 3; 70, 3; x. 44, 8; in the plural, ‘the three worlds,’ Rv. v. 69, 2. In other passages, Rv. i. 22, 10; iii. 56, 6; v. 41, 8; vi. 11, 3; x. 35, 7, the sense of ‘a genius of prosperity’ was assigned to Dhiṣaṇā by Roth.

v1.c3.s19.166

⁵ Vedische Mythologie, 1, 175-181.

v1.c3.s19.167

⁶ Rv. i. 22, 10; 96, 1; 102, 1; iii. 31, 13; 56, 6; vi. 19, 2; vii. 90, 3; viii. 15, 7; x. 30, 6; 35, 7; 96, 10.

v1.c3.s19.168

⁷ See n. 3; also Rv. viii. 61, 2; nivid in Sāṅkhāyana Śrauta Sūtra, viii. 19, 4.

v1.c3.s19.169

⁸ Rv. iv. 36, 8; v. 69, 2; ix. 59, 2.

v1.c3.s19.170

⁹ Rv. i. 109, 3. 4; iii. 2, 1; 49, 4 (or perhaps ‘earth’); iv. 34, 1; v. 41, 8; vi. 11, 3; x. 17, 12.

v1.c3.s19.171

¹⁰ vii. 26.

v1.c3.s19.172

¹¹ iii. 1, 10, 1.

v1.c3.s19.173

¹² Mahīdhara on Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, vii. 26; Sāyaṇa on Taittirīya Saṃhitā, loc. cit.

v1.c3.s19.174

¹³ Vedische Studien, 2, 82-87. Cf. Macdonell, Vedic Mythology, p. 124; Oldenberg, Sacred Books of the East, 46, 120-122.

v1.c3.s19.175

Dhī, ‘thought,’ is used several times in the Rigveda¹ to denote the ‘prayer’ or ‘hymn of praise’ of the singer. One poet speaks of himself as ‘weaving’ such a prayer,² while another refers to his ‘ancient ancestral hymn,’ which he refurbishes presumably for use.³

v1.c3.s19.176

¹ i. 3, 5; 135, 5; 151, 6; 185, 8; ii. 3, 8 (where it is connected with Sarasvatī); 40, 5, etc.

v1.c3.s19.177

² Rv. ii. 28, 5.

v1.c3.s19.178

³ Rv. iii. 39, 2. Cf. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 338.

v1.c3.s19.179

Dhīti has in several passages of the Rigveda¹ practically the same sense as Dhī, ‘prayer,’ or ‘hymn of praise.’

v1.c3.s19.180

¹ i. 110, 1; iii. 12, 7; 52, 6; v. 25, 3; 53, 11; vi. 15, 9, etc.; Nirukta, ii. 24.

v1.c3.s19.181

Dhīra Śāta-parṇeya (‘descendant of Śataparṇa’) is mentioned in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa (x. 3, 3, 1) as a pupil of Mahāśāla.

v1.c3.s19.182

Dhīvan occurs in the Atharvaveda,¹ where it may either be taken with Roth,² Bloomfield,³ and Whitney⁴ as an epithet of ‘chariot-builders’ (*ratha-kārāḥ*), meaning ‘clever,’ or be construed with the scholiast as denoting ‘fishermen’ (*dhīvara*). The Paippalāda recension has *takṣāṇaḥ*, ‘carpenters.’

v1.c3.s19.183

¹ iii. 5, 6.

v1.c3.s19.184

² St. Petersburg Dictionary, *s.v.*

v1.c3.s19.185

³ *Hymns of the Atharvaveda*, 114.

v1.c3.s19.186

⁴ *Translation of the Atharvaveda*, 114. Cf. Weber, *Indische Studien*, 17, 194 et seq.; Zimmer, *Altindisches Leben*, 252.

v1.c3.s19.187

Dhuṅkṣā is the name of some sort of bird in the list of victims at the Aśvamedha, or ‘horse sacrifice,’ in the Yajurveda Saṃhitās.¹ See also Dhūṅkṣṇā and Dhvāṅkṣa.

v1.c3.s19.188

¹ Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā, iii. 14, 12; Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xxiv. 31. *Cf.* Zimmer, *Altindisches Leben*, 93.

v1.c3.s19.189

Dhuni is the name of a foe of Indra, normally mentioned along with Cumuri in the Rigveda.¹ He and Cumuri seem to have been opposed to Dabhīti.² His name is probably that of an aboriginal chief.³

v1.c3.s19.190

¹ ii. 15, 9; vi. 18, 8; 20, 13; vii. 19, 4.

v1.c3.s19.191

² Rv. x. 113, 9.

v1.c3.s19.192

³ Wackernagel, *Altindische Grammatik*, I, xxii; Macdonell, *Vedic Mythology*, p. 162. *Cf.* Oldenberg, *Religion des Veda*, 157, 158.

v1.c3.s19.193

Dhur in the Rigveda¹ and later² denotes, according to the St. Petersburg Dictionary, that part of the yoke which is placed on the shoulders of the animals drawing the chariot or cart, whence they are called *dhūr-ṣāḥ*, ‘yoke-bearing,’ in the Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā.³ In one passage of the Rigveda⁴ the sense is uncertain: Roth⁵ takes it to mean the pin at either end of the axle (*Akṣa*) which goes through the nave of the wheel, and would thus be equivalent to Aṇi, and Oldenberg⁶ seems to adopt the same view. Monier Williams⁷ seems to think that ‘load’ is meant, but this is not probable. It is possible that Dhur has the sense of ‘pole,’⁸ and then more generally still the pole and the axle together regarded as the drawing part of the chariot: this might explain the use in the doubtful passage of the Rigveda.

v1.c3.s19.194

¹ i. 84, 16; 100, 16; 134, 3; 164, 19; ii. 18, 7; iii. 35, 2; v. 55, 6; vii. 34, 4, etc.

v1.c3.s19.195

² Av. v. 17, 18; Aitareya Brāhmaṇa vi. 18; Satapatha Brāhmaṇa, i. 1, 2 10; 4, 4, 13, etc.; Aitareya Āraṇyaka i. 5, 2 (the Dhur is the end), etc.

v1.c3.s19.196

³ iv. 33. *Cf.* Usra.

v1.c3.s19.197

⁴ v. 43, 8.

v1.c3.s19.198

⁵ St. Petersburg Dictionary, *s.v.*, 2.

v1.c3.s19.199

⁶ *Rgveda - Noten*, I, 339; Griffith, *Hymns of the Rigveda*, I, 508. The akṣa-dhurau are mentioned in the Āpastamba Srauta Sūtra, xi. 6, 5; Kātyāyana Srauta Sūtra, viii. 3, 22. *Cf.* Caland and Henry, *L’Agniṣṭoma*, 81.

v1.c3.s19.200

⁷ Dictionary, s.v.

First 200 of 309 passages. Read on

Linked texts (39)