Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s4.192

v1.c3.s4.192

Upa-śrī, Upa-śraya, are two readings of the same term. The former is found in one recension of the Kauṣītaki Upaniṣad,¹ while the latter is probably the reading of the other recension of the Upaniṣad,² and certainly the reading in one passage of the Atharvaveda,³ though the text has apaśrayaḥ, which is accepted as possible by Roth.⁴ In both cases the term clearly means something connected with a couch (Āsandī in the Atharvaveda, Paryaṅka in the Kauṣītaki Upaniṣad). Aufrecht,⁵ Roth,⁶ and Max Müller⁷ render it as ‘coverlet’ or ‘cushion,’ but Whitney⁸ seems evidently right in holding that it must mean a ‘support’ or something similar.