Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s21.120

v1.c3.s21.120

Paḍbīśa, the ‘foot-fetter’ of a horse in five passages, two in the Rigveda,¹ and one each in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad,² the Chāndogya Upaniṣad,³ and the Śāṅkhāyana Āraṇyaka.⁴ Elsewhere⁵ its uses are metaphorical. According to Roth,⁶ the literal sense is ‘foot-fastening’ (pad being = pad, ‘foot,’ and bīśa, written vīśa in the Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, being connected with the Latin vincire, ‘bind’). Pischel⁷ objects that the sense of ‘foot-fastening’ involves the absurdity, in the Upaniṣad passages, of a fine horse from the Sindhu (Indus) being spoken of as tearing up the peg to which it is fastened. He suggests instead the meaning of ‘hobble,’ which must be right.⁸