[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [Vedic Index of Names and Subjects](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912) › v1.c3.s21.532 # Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s21.532 Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s21.532 - **Language:** English ### [v1.c3.s21.532](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v1.c3.s21.532) Parṇaka is the name of a man included in the list of victims at the Puruṣamedha (‘human sacrifice’) in the Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā¹ and the Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa.² According to Mahīdhara,³ a Bhilla is meant—i.e., presumably a wild hillman, for he glosses Niṣāda in the same way.⁴ Sāyaṇa⁵ explains the word as meaning ‘one who catches fish by putting over the water a parṇa with poison,’ but this is apparently a mere etymological guess. Weber’s⁶ rendering of the term as referring to a savage ‘wearing feathers’ is ingenious, but uncertain. - [Previous: v1.c3.s21.531](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v1.c3.s21.531) - [Next: v1.c3.s21.533](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v1.c3.s21.533) - [Up: v1.c3.s21](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v1.c3.s21) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v1.c3.s21.532](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v1.c3.s21.532) · Pramāṇa