[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.s4.238 # Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s4.238 Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s4.238 - **Language:** English ### [v1.c3.s4.238](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v1.c3.s4.238) Ubhayā-dant, ‘having incisors in both jaws,’ is an expression employed to distinguish, among domestic animals, the horse, the ass, etc., from the goat, the sheep, and cattle. The distinction occurs in a late hymn of the Rigveda,¹ and is several times alluded to in the later Saṃhitās² and the Brāhmaṇas.³ In one passage of the Taittirīya Saṃhitā⁴ man is classed with the horse as \*ubhayā-dant\*. The opposite is \*anyato-dant\*, ‘having incisors in one jaw only,’ a term regularly applied to cattle,⁵ the eight incisors of which are, in fact, limited to the lower jaw. The ass is styled \*ubhayā-dant\* in the Atharvaveda.⁶ In one passage of the Atharvaveda,⁷ however, the epithet is applied to a ram; but the sense here is that a marvel occurs, just as in the Rigveda⁸ a ram destroys a lioness. Bloomfield⁹ suggests in the Atharvaveda passage another reading which would mean ‘horse.’ A parallel division of animals is that of the Taittirīya¹⁰ and Vājasaneyi Saṃhitās¹¹ into ‘whole-hoofed’ (\*eka-śapha\*) and ‘small’ (\*kṣudra\*). - [Previous: v1.c3.s4.237](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v1.c3.s4.237) - [Next: v1.c3.s4.239](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v1.c3.s4.239) - [Up: v1.c3.s4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v1.c3.s4) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v1.c3.s4.238](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v1.c3.s4.238) · Pramāṇa