Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s21.133

v1.c3.s21.133

Paṇi in the Rigveda appears to denote a person who is rich, but who does not give offerings to the gods, or bestow Dakṣiṇās on the priests, and who is therefore an object of intense dislike to the composers of the Saṃhitā.¹ Hence the gods are asked to attack the Paṇis, who are also referred to as being defeated with slaughter.² The Paṇi is opposed to the pious sacrificer as a niggard,³ and is spoken of as a wolf,⁴ the symbol of enmity. In some passages⁵ the Paṇis definitely appear as mythological figures, demons who withhold the cows or waters of heaven, and to whom Saramā goes on a mission from Indra.⁶ Among the Paṇis Bṛbu was apparently important. In one passage of the Rigveda⁷ they are described as Beka-nāṭas, or ‘usurers’ (?). In another⁸ they are called Dasyus, and styled mṛdhra-vāc, probably ‘of hostile speech,’ and grathin, a word of uncertain meaning. Hillebrandt⁹ thinks that the latter epithet refers to the continuous flow of a speech which is not understood, and that mṛdhra-vāc means ‘speaking an enemy’s speech,’ though not necessarily with reference to non-Āryans.¹⁰ In two passages¹¹ the Paṇis appear as Dāsas, and in one¹² a Paṇi is mentioned in connexion with wergeld (Vaira), being apparently regarded as equal to a man merely in the price put on his life, but in other respects as inferior.