[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) › v2.c4.s5 # Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s5: R Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s5 - **Language:** English ### R ### [v2.c4.s5.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.1) Rakṣitṛ, ‘protector,’ ‘guardian,’ occurs in the Rigveda¹ and later,² usually in a metaphorical sense. ### [v2.c4.s5.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.2) ¹ i. 89, 1. 5; ii. 39, 6; guardian of Soma, vi. 7, 7; of the dogs of Yama, x. 14, 11, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.3) ² Av. iii. 27, 1; xii. 3. 55; xix. 15, 3; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, xiii. 4, 2, 5, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.4) Raghat occurs once in the plural in the Atharvaveda,¹ where the Paippalāda recension reads vaghaṭaḥ. Roth² once conjectured raghavaḥ, ‘swift,’ as the correct reading. Bloomfield,³ who in his translation explains the word as ‘falcons,’ in his notes inclines to think Roth’s conjecture likely. Ludwig⁴ suggests ‘bees’ as the meaning. Possibly some kind of bird may be intended.⁵ ### [v2.c4.s5.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.5) ¹ viii. 7, 24. ### [v2.c4.s5.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.6) ² St. Petersburg Dictionary, s.v., 1a. ### [v2.c4.s5.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.7) ³ Hymns of the Atharvaveda, 580. ### [v2.c4.s5.8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.8) ⁴ Translation of the Rigveda, 3, 504. ### [v2.c4.s5.9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.9) ⁵ Böhtlingk, Dictionary, s.v. Cf. Whitney, Translation of the Atharvaveda, 501. ### [v2.c4.s5.10](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.10) Rajata as an adjective with Hiraṇya¹ designates ‘silver,’ and ornaments (Rukma),² dishes (Pātra),³ and coins (Niṣka)⁴ ‘made of silver’ are mentioned. The word is also used alone as a substantive to denote ‘silver.’⁵ ### [v2.c4.s5.11](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.11) ¹ Taittirīya Saṃhitā, i. 5, 1, 2; Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, x. 4; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, xii. 4, 4, 7; xiii. 4, 2, 10; xiv. 1, 3, 4, etc. Brāhmaṇa, vii. 12, 2; Chāndogya Upaniṣad, iv. 17, 7; Jaiminīya Upaniṣad Brāhmaṇa, iii. 17, 3; Ṣaḍviṃśa Brāhmaṇa, vi. 6. ### [v2.c4.s5.12](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.12) ² Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, xii. 8, 3, 11. Cf. Schrader, Prehistoric Antiquities, 180; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 56; Macdonell, Sanskrit Literature, 151, 152; Vincent Smith, Indian Antiquary, 34, 230. ### [v2.c4.s5.13](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.13) ³ Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, ii. 2, 9, 7; iii. 9, 6, 5. ### [v2.c4.s5.14](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.14) ⁴ Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa, xvii. 1, 14. ### [v2.c4.s5.15](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.15) ⁵ Av. v. 28, 1; xiii. 4, 51; Aitareya ### [v2.c4.s5.16](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.16) Rajana Koṇeya, or Kauṇeya, is the name of a teacher mentioned in the Yajurveda Saṃhitās.¹ It is said in the Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā² that Kratujit Jānaki successfully sacrificed for him when he desired to obtain eyesight. He is also mentioned in the Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa,³ where the name of his son, Ugradeva Rājani, also occurs.⁴ ### [v2.c4.s5.17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.17) ¹ Taittirīya Saṃhitā, ii. 3, 8, 1; Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, xxvii. 2 (Indische Studien, 3, 474). ### [v2.c4.s5.18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.18) ² xi. 1 (Indische Studien, 3, 474). ### [v2.c4.s5.19](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.19) ³ xiii. 4, 11. Cf. Hopkins, Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, 15, 58, n. 2. ### [v2.c4.s5.20](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.20) ⁴ He was a leper, and the Rajanī is used against leprosy, Bloomfield, Hymns of the Atharvaveda, 266. ### [v2.c4.s5.21](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.21) Rajanī is found in one passage of the Atharvaveda,¹ where it denotes some sort of plant, probably so called because of its power of ‘colouring’ (from rañj, ‘to colour’). The species cannot be identified owing to the untrustworthiness of the later authorities who attempt its identification. ### [v2.c4.s5.22](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.22) ¹ i. 23, 1. Cf. Roth in Whitney’s Translation of the Atharvaveda, 24; Bloomfield, Hymns of the Atharvaveda, 267. ### [v2.c4.s5.23](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.23) Rajayitrī, a ‘female dyer,’ is included in the list of victims at the Puruṣamedha (‘human sacrifice’) in the Yajurveda.¹ ### [v2.c4.s5.24](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.24) ¹ Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xxx. 12; Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, iii. 4, 7, 1. ### [v2.c4.s5.25](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.25) 1. Rajas denotes the region of the atmosphere between heaven and earth in the Rigveda¹ and later.² The atmosphere, like the sky (Div), is divided into three regions,³ but more normally into two, the ‘earthly’ (\*pārthiva\*)⁴ and the ‘heavenly’ (\*divya\* or \*divaḥ\*).⁵ In some passages⁶ the word refers in the plural to the dusty fields on earth. ### [v2.c4.s5.26](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.26) ¹ i. 56, 5; 62, 5; 84, 1; 124, 5; 168, 6; 187, 4; ii. 40, 3; vi. 62, 9, etc. In Rv. i. 164, 6, six ‘regions’ are mentioned. ### [v2.c4.s5.27](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.27) ² Av. iv. 25, 2; vii. 25, 1; 41, 1; x. 3, 9; xiii. 2, 8. 43; Taittirīya Saṃhitā, iii. 5, 4, 2; Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xiii. 44, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.28](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.28) ³ Rv. iv. 53, 5; v. 69, 1; ix. 74, 6; x. 45, 3; 123, 8; Av. xiii. 1, 11, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.29](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.29) ⁴ Rv. i. 81, 5; 90, 7; 154, 1; vi. 49, 3; viii. 88, 5; ix. 72, 8, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.30](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.30) ⁵ Rv. iv. 53, 3; i. 110, 6. Cf. Macdonell, Vedic Mythology, p. 10; St. Petersburg Dictionary, s.v. ### [v2.c4.s5.31](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.31) ⁶ Rv. i. 166, 3; iii. 62, 16; x. 75, 7. ### [v2.c4.s5.32](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.32) 2. Rajas in one passage of the Yajurveda Saṃhitās¹ clearly means ‘silver,’ like Rajata. It is also taken in this sense in one passage of the Rigveda² by Zimmer,³ but this interpretation is doubtful. ### [v2.c4.s5.33](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.33) ¹ Rajaḥ-śaya, Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, i. 23, 2); Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā, i. 2, 7; v. 8; rajāśaya, Taittirīya Saṃhitā, i. 2, 11, 2 (Sāyaṇa on Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, ii. 8. ### [v2.c4.s5.34](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.34) ² x. 105, 7. ### [v2.c4.s5.35](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.35) ³ Altindisches Leben, 55, 56. ### [v2.c4.s5.36](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.36) Rajasa occurs once in the Atharvaveda,¹ apparently as the name of a kind of ‘fish.’ Roth,² however, understood it as an adjective meaning ‘impure.’ ### [v2.c4.s5.37](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.37) ¹ x. 2, 25. ### [v2.c4.s5.38](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.38) ² St. Petersburg Dictionary, s.v. Cf. Bloomfield, Hymns of the Atharvaveda, 621; Whitney, Translation of the Atharvaveda, 624. ### [v2.c4.s5.39](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.39) Raji occurs in the Rigveda¹ seemingly as the name of a king, or perhaps demon, slain by Indra for Piṭhīnas. ### [v2.c4.s5.40](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.40) ¹ vi. 26, 6. Cf. Ludwig, Translation of the Rigveda, 3, 156; St. Petersburg Dictionary, s.v., where Roth compares a conjecture in Av. xx. 128, 13. ### [v2.c4.s5.41](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.41) Rajjavya in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa (vi. 7, 1, 28) denotes a ‘cord’ or ‘rope.’ ### [v2.c4.s5.42](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.42) Rajju in the Rigveda¹ and later² denotes ‘rope.’ In the Atharvaveda³ the serpent is called the ‘toothed rope’ (rajju datvatī). ### [v2.c4.s5.43](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.43) ¹ i. 162, 8 (śirṣaṇyā raśanā rajjuḥ, referring to the horse presumably means the head harness). ### [v2.c4.s5.44](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.44) ² Av. iii. 11, 8; vi. 121, 2; Taittirīya Saṃhitā, ii. 5, 1, 7; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, i. 3, 1, 14; x. 2, 3, 8; xi. 3, 1, 1, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.45](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.45) ³ iv. 3, 2; xix. 47, 7. 8; Bloomfield, Hymns of the Atharvaveda, 368. ### [v2.c4.s5.46](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.46) Rajju-dāla is the name of a tree (Cordia myxa or latifolia) in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa.¹ ### [v2.c4.s5.47](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.47) ¹ xiii. 4, 4, 6. Cf. Eggeling, Sacred Books of the East, 44, 373, n. 2. ### [v2.c4.s5.48](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.48) Rajju-sarja, ‘rope-maker,’ is one of the victims at the Puruṣamedha (‘human sacrifice’) in the Yajurveda.¹ ### [v2.c4.s5.49](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.49) ¹ Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xxx. 7; Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, iii. 4, 3, 1. ### [v2.c4.s5.50](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.50) Rana denotes properly the ‘joy’ of battle, then ‘battle,’ ‘combat’ itself in the Rigveda¹ and later.² ### [v2.c4.s5.51](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.51) ¹ i. 61, 1. 9; 74, 3; 119, 3; vi. 16, 15, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.52](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.52) ² Av. v. 2, 4, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.53](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.53) Ratna in the Rigveda¹ and later² denotes a precious object, not specifically a ‘jewel,’ as in post-Vedic literature. ### [v2.c4.s5.54](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.54) ¹ i. 20, 7; 35, 8; 41, 6; 125, 1; 140, 11; 141, 10; ii. 38, 1, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.55](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.55) ² Av. v. 1, 7; vii. 14, 4; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, v. 3, 1, 1. ### [v2.c4.s5.56](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.56) Ratni, ‘ell,’ occurring in the Ṣaḍviṃśa Brāhmaṇa (iv. 4) is a corruption of Aratni. ### [v2.c4.s5.57](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.57) Ratnin, ‘receiving gifts,’ is the term applied to those people of the royal entourage in whose houses the Ratna-havis, a special rite, was performed in the course of the Rājasūya or ‘royal consecration.’ The list given in the Taittirīya Saṃhitā¹ and the Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa² consists of the Brahman (i.e., the Purohita), the Rājanya, the Mahiṣī (the first wife of the king), the Vāvāta (the favourite wife of the king), the Parivṛktī (the discarded wife), the Senānī, ‘commander of the army’; the Sūta, ‘charioteer’; the Grāmaṇī, ‘village headman’; the Kṣattṛ, ‘chamberlain’; the Saṃgrahītṛ, ‘charioteer’ or ‘treasurer’; the Bhāgadugha, ‘collector of taxes’ or ‘divider of food’; and the Akṣāvāpa, ‘superintender of dicing’ or ‘thrower of dice.’ In the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa³ the order is Senānī; Purohita; Mahiṣī; Sūta; Grāmaṇī; Kṣattṛ; Saṃgrahītṛ; Bhāgadugha; Akṣāvāpa; Go-nikartana, ‘slayer of cows’ or ‘huntsman’; and Pālāgala, ‘courier’; the ‘discarded wife’ being mentioned as forbidden to stay at home⁴ on the day of the ceremony of offering a pap for Nirṛti in her house. In the Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā⁵ the list is Brahman (i.e., Purohita); Rājan; Mahiṣī; Parivṛktī; Senānī; Saṃgrahītṛ; Kṣattṛ; Sūta; Vaiśyagrāmaṇī; Bhāgadugha; Takṣa-Rathakārau, ‘carpenter and chariot-maker’; Akṣāvāpa; and Go-vikarta. The Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā⁶ substitutes Go-vyacha for Govikarta, and omits Takṣa-Rathakārau. ### [v2.c4.s5.58](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.58) ¹ i. 8, 9, 1 et seq. ### [v2.c4.s5.59](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.59) ² i. 7, 3, 1 et seq. ### [v2.c4.s5.60](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.60) ³ v. 3, 1, 1 et seq. ### [v2.c4.s5.61](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.61) ⁴ According to Kātyāyana Śrauta Sūtra, xv. 3, 35, she goes to a Brahmin’s house, where she shares his inviolability and exemption from jurisdiction. ### [v2.c4.s5.62](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.62) ⁵ ii. 6, 5; iv. 3, 8. ### [v2.c4.s5.63](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.63) ⁶ xv. 4. ### [v2.c4.s5.64](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.64) It will be seen that the list is essentially that of the royal household, and of the king’s servants in the administration of the country, though the exact sense of Saṃgrahītṛ, Bhāgadugha, Sūta, Grāmaṇī, Kṣattṛ, is open to reasonable doubt, mainly as to whether public officers or private servants⁷ are meant, for the names are of uncertain significance. A briefer list of eight Vīras, ‘heroes,’ as among the friends of the king, is given in the Pañcavimśa Brāhmaṇa:⁸ brother, son, Purohita, Mahiṣī, Sūta, Grāmaṇī, Kṣattṛ, and Saṃgrahītṛ. ### [v2.c4.s5.65](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.65) ⁷ Similarly Akṣāvāpa is either the man who dices for the king—i.e., a professional dicer who plays with the king or watches his play—or a public officer who superintends the gambling halls of the state and collects the revenue, as was regularly done later on. Early English history shows similar evolution of household officers into ministers of state. ### [v2.c4.s5.66](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.66) ⁸ xix. I, 4. Cf. Weber, \*Indische Studien\*, 17, 200; \*Über den Rājasūya\*, 4; Hopkins, \*Journal of the American Oriental Society\*, 13, 128; Eggeling, \*Sacred Books of the East\*, 41, 58-65; Hopkins, \*Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences\*, 15, 30, n. 2. ### [v2.c4.s5.67](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.67) Ratha in the Rigveda¹ and later² denotes ‘chariot’ as opposed to Anas, ‘cart,’ though the distinction is not absolute. Of differences in the structure of the two we have no information, except that the Kha, or nave hole, in the wheel of the chariot was greater than in that of the cart.³ ### [v2.c4.s5.68](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.68) ¹ i. 20, 3; iii. 15, 5; iv. 4, 10; 16, 20; 36, 2; 43, 25, etc. 58, 5; viii. 20, 14; 77, 3; x. 78, 4; Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, x. 4, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.69](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.69) ² Av. v. 14. 5; x. 1, 8: Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, vii. 12, 3, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.70](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.70) ³ viii. 91, 7, with Sāyaṇa's note; \*Vedische Studien\*, 2, 333. ### [v2.c4.s5.71](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.71) The chariot has, as a rule, two wheels (Cakra), to which reference is frequently made.⁴ The wheel consisted of a rim (Pavi), a felly (Pradhi), spokes (Ara),⁵ and a nave (Nabhya). The rim and the felly together constitute the Nemi. The hole in the nave is called Kha: into it the end of the axle was inserted; but there is some uncertainty whether Āṇi denotes the extremity of the axle that was inserted in the nave, or the lynch-pin used to keep that extremity in the wheel. Sometimes a solid wheel was used.⁶ ### [v2.c4.s5.72](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.72) ⁴ Cf. Chāndogya Upaniṣad, iv. 16, 5; Jaiminīya Upaniṣad Brāhmaṇa, iii. 16, 7; Kauṣītaki Upaniṣad, i. 4. ### [v2.c4.s5.73](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.73) ⁵ Cf. Rv. i. 32, 15; 141, 9; v. 13, 6; ### [v2.c4.s5.74](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.74) ⁶ Cf. Pradhi. ### [v2.c4.s5.75](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.75) The axle (Akṣa) was, in some cases, made of Araṭu wood;⁷ round its ends the wheels revolved. To the axle was attached the body of the chariot (Kośa). This part is also denoted by the word Vandhura, which more precisely means the ‘seat’ of the chariot. The epithet tri-vandhura is used of the chariot of the Aśvins, seemingly to correspond with another of its epithets, tri-cakra: perhaps, as Weber⁸ thinks, a chariot with three seats and three wheels was a real form of vehicle; but Zimmer⁹ considers that the vehicle was purely mythical. Garta also denotes the seat of the warrior. ### [v2.c4.s5.76](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.76) ⁷ Rv. viii. 46, 27; Zimmer, \*Altindisches Leben\*, 247, n. ### [v2.c4.s5.77](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.77) ⁸ \*Proceedings of the Berlin Academy\*, 1898, 564; Virchow, \*Zeitschrift für Ethnologie\*, 5, 200. Cf. note 21. ### [v2.c4.s5.78](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.78) ⁹ \*Op. cit.\*, viii. ### [v2.c4.s5.79](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.79) At right angles to the axle was the pole of the chariot (Iṣā, Praüga). Normally there was, it seems, one pole, on either side of which the horses were harnessed, a yoke (Yuga) being laid across their necks; the pole was passed through the hole in the yoke (called Kha¹⁰ or Tardman¹¹), the yoke and the pole then being tied together.¹² ### [v2.c4.s5.80](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.80) ¹⁰ This seems to be the sense of Rv. viii. 91, 7; but it has also been taken as the opening in the yoke through which the ox’s head passed (the Homeric ζεύγλη). See Cowell’s note on Wilson’s translation; Griffith, Hymns of the Rigveda, 2, 237, n. ### [v2.c4.s5.81](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.81) ¹¹ Av. xiv. 1, 40. ### [v2.c4.s5.82](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.82) ¹² Rv. iii. 6, 6; v. 56, 4; x. 60, 8. ### [v2.c4.s5.83](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.83) The horses were tied by the neck (grīvā), where the yoke was placed, and also at the shoulder, presumably by traces fastened to a bar of wood at right angles to the pole, or fastened to the ends of the pole, if that is to be regarded, as it probably should, as of triangular shape, wide at the foot and coming to a point at the tip.¹³ The traces seem to be denoted by Raśmi and Raśanā. These words also denote the ‘reins,’ which were fastened to the bit (perhaps śiprā) in the horse’s mouth. The driver controlled the horses by reins, and urged them on with a whip (Kaśā).¹⁴ The girths of the horse were called Kakṣyā.¹⁵ ### [v2.c4.s5.84](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.84) ¹³ Zimmer, op. cit., 249, thinks that vāṇī in Rv. i. 119, 5, denotes the two bars of wood to which the traces were fastened. This is also the view of Roth, St. Petersburg Dictionary, s.v., Böhtlingk’s Lexicon, and Grassmann. The word may mean ‘two voices’ (Griffith, Hymns of the Rigveda, 1, 162). ### [v2.c4.s5.85](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.85) ¹⁴ Rv. v. 83, 3; vi. 75, 6. ### [v2.c4.s5.86](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.86) ¹⁵ Rv. x. 10, 13; kakṣya-prā, ‘filling out the girths’ (i.e., ‘well fed’), is an epithet of Indra’s horses, i. 10, 3. ### [v2.c4.s5.87](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.87) The normal number of horses seems to have been two, but three or four¹⁶ were often used. It is uncertain whether, in these cases, the extra horse was attached in front or at the side; possibly both modes were in use. Even five steeds could be employed.¹⁷ Horses were normally used for chariots, but the ass (gardabha)¹⁸ or mule (aśvatari)¹⁹ are also mentioned. The ox was employed for drawing carts, and in fact derived its name, Anaḍvāh, from this use. Sometimes a poor man had to be content with a single steed, which then ran between two shafts.²⁰ ### [v2.c4.s5.88](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.88) ¹⁶ Three horses are mentioned in Rv. x. 33, 5, and Praṣti in Rv. i. 39, 6; viii. 7, 28, etc., may have the sense of ‘third horse.’ See also Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, v. 1, 4, 11; 2, 4, 9, etc.; Pañcavimśa Brāhmaṇa, xvi. 13, 12. For four horses, cf. Rv. ii. 18, 1; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, v. 4, 3, 17; i, 4, 11; Eggeling, Sacred Books of the East, 41, 21, n. 1. ### [v2.c4.s5.89](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.89) ¹⁷ Rathaḥ pañcavahī, Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, xv. 2; Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā, ii. 6, 3. In the parallel passage the Taittirīya Saṃhitā, i. 8, 7, 2, has praṣṭivāhī. ### [v2.c4.s5.90](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.90) ¹⁸ Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, iv. 9, 4. ### [v2.c4.s5.91](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.91) ¹⁹ Chāndogya Upaniṣad, iv. 2, 1; v. 13, 2; Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, iv. 9, 1. ### [v2.c4.s5.92](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.92) ²⁰ Rv. x. 101, 11; 131, 3, and vi. 15, 19; Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa, xvi. 13, 12; xxi. 13, 8, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.93](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.93) In the chariot the driver stood on the right, while the warrior was on the left, as indicated by his name, Savyeṣṭha or Savyaṣṭhā.²¹ He could also sit when he wanted, for the chariot had seats, and an archer would naturally prefer to sit while shooting his arrows. ### [v2.c4.s5.94](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.94) ²¹ This is the case in Av. viii. 8, 23, with Savyaṣṭhā, and in the Taittirīya Saṃhitā, i. 7, 9, 1, savyeṣṭha-sāvathi occurs as a compound where the sense is certainly ‘the warrior and the charioteer.’ See also Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, v. 3, 1, 8, and Eggeling, Sacred Books of the East, 41, 62, n. 1. The Greek notices speak of two warriors and a charioteer. Cf. the Aśvins’ car with its three seats. See von Schroeder, Indiens Literatur und Cultur, 435. ### [v2.c4.s5.95](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.95) The dimensions of the chariot are given in the Śulba Sūtra²² of Āpastamba at 188 Aṅgulis (finger-breadths) for the pole, 104 for the axle, and 86 for the yoke. The material used in its construction was wood, except for the rim of the wheel.²³ ### [v2.c4.s5.96](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.96) ²² vi. 5 (Bürk, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 56, 344. 345). ### [v2.c4.s5.97](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.97) ²³ Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, v. 4, 3, 16. The chariot used at the bridal procession was made of Śalmali wood, Rv. x. 85, 20. For the chariot in the Epic, see Hopkins, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 13, 235-262; and cf. Schrader, Prehistoric Antiquities, 338, 339; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 245-252; Hopkins, Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, 15, 38, n. 1. ### [v2.c4.s5.98](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.98) Many other parts of the chariot are mentioned, their names being often obscure in meaning: see Aṅka, Nyaṅka, Uddhi, Pakṣas, Pātalya, Bhurij, Rathopastha, Rathavāhana. ### [v2.c4.s5.99](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.99) Ratha-kāra, ‘chariot-maker,’ is mentioned in the Atharvaveda¹ as one of those who are to be subject to the king, seeming to stand generally as an example of the industrial population. He is also referred to in the Yajurveda Saṃhitās² and in the Brāhmaṇas:³ in all these passages, as well as probably in the Atharvaveda also, the Rathakāra already forms a caste. The later system⁴ regards the Rathakāra as the offspring of a Māhiṣya (the son of a Kṣatriya husband and a Vaiśya wife) and a Karaṇī (the daughter of a Vaiśya husband and a Śūdra wife), but it is unreasonable to suppose that such an origin is historically accurate. The Rathakāras must rather be deemed to have been a functional caste. Hillebrandt⁵ suggests that the Anu tribe formed the basis of the Rathakāra caste, referring to their worship of the Ṛbhus, who are, of course, the chariot-makers \*par excellence\*. But there is little ground for this view. ### [v2.c4.s5.100](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.100) ¹ iii. 5, 6. ### [v2.c4.s5.101](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.101) ² Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, xvii. 13; Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā, ii. 9, 5; Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xvi. 17; xxx. 6. ### [v2.c4.s5.102](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.102) ³ Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, i. 1, 4, 8; iii. 4, 2, 1; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, xiii. 4. 2, 17. ### [v2.c4.s5.103](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.103) ⁴ Yājñavalkya, i. 95. On the special position, in the later ritual, of the Rathakāra as a caste below the Vaiśya, but superior to the Śūdra, \*cf.\* Weber, \*Indische Studien\*, 10, 12, 13, and \*cf.\* Varṇa; see also Fick, \*Die sociale Gliederung\*, 209, 210. ### [v2.c4.s5.104](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.104) ⁵ \*Vedische Mythologie\*, 3, 152, 153. \*Cf.\* Weber, \*Indische Studien\*, 17, 196 et seq. ### [v2.c4.s5.105](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.105) Ratha-gṛtsa in the Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā (xv. 15) and the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa (iii. 48, 9) denotes a ‘skilled charioteer.’¹ ### [v2.c4.s5.106](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.106) ¹ \*Cf.\* Taittirīya Saṃhitā, iv. 4, 3, 1; °kṛtsna, Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā, ii. 8, 10; °kṛtsa, Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, xvii. 9. ### [v2.c4.s5.107](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.107) Ratha-cakra, ‘chariot wheel,’ is often mentioned in the Brāhmaṇas.¹ See Ratha and Cakra. ### [v2.c4.s5.108](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.108) ¹ Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, iii. 43, 4; Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, i. 1, 6, 8; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, ii. 3, 3, 12; v. 1, 5, 2; xi. 8, 1, 11, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.109](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.109) Ratha-carṣaṇa occurs once in the Rigveda,¹ where the sense is doubtful. Roth² thought that some part of the chariot was meant, but the sense is perhaps only the ‘pathway of the chariot.’³ ### [v2.c4.s5.110](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.110) ¹ viii. 5, 19. ### [v2.c4.s5.111](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.111) ² St. Petersburg Dictionary, \*s.v.\* ### [v2.c4.s5.112](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.112) ³ \*Cf.\* also the citation and explanation in Durga’s commentary on the Nirukta, v. 12. ### [v2.c4.s5.113](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.113) Ratha-jūti in the Atharvaveda (xix. 44, 3) is either an adjective meaning ‘driving swiftly in a chariot,’¹ or a proper name, as Roth in the St. Petersburg Dictionary suggests. ### [v2.c4.s5.114](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.114) ¹ ‘Of chariot-swiftness’ according to Whitney, \*Translation of the Atharvaveda\*, 967. \*Cf.\* his note on the passage. ### [v2.c4.s5.115](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.115) Ratha-nābhi, the ‘nave of the chariot-wheel,’ is mentioned in the Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā¹ and in the Upaniṣads.² ### [v2.c4.s5.116](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.116) ¹ xxxiv. 5. ### [v2.c4.s5.117](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.117) ² Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, ii. 5 5; Aitareya Āraṇyaka, iii. 2, 4; Kauṣītaki Upaniṣad, iii. 8; Chāndogya Upaniṣad, vii. 15, 1, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.118](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.118) Ratha-prota Dārbhya (‘descendant of Darbha’) is mentioned in the Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā (ii. 1, 3) perhaps as a king, but possibly as a priest. ### [v2.c4.s5.119](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.119) Ratha-proṣṭha occurs as the name of a princely family in the Rigveda (x. 60, 5). See Subandhu. ### [v2.c4.s5.120](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.120) Ratha-mukha in the later Saṃhitās¹ denotes the fore-part of a chariot. \*Cf.\* Rathaśīrṣa. ### [v2.c4.s5.121](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.121) ¹ Av. viii. 8, 23; Taittirīya Saṃhitā, iii. 4, 8, 2; v. 4, 9, 3, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.122](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.122) Ratharvī is the name of a snake in the Atharvaveda (x. 4, 5). ### [v2.c4.s5.123](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.123) Ratha-vāhana is the name in the Rigveda¹ and later² for a movable stand to hold the chariot. According to Roth,³ it corresponds to the Greek βωμός, on which the chariot rested when out of use. The word Rathavāhana-vāha is employed in the sense of the two horses that draw the stand.⁴ Weber⁵ thinks it was used to convey the war chariot to the scene of action. ### [v2.c4.s5.124](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.124) ¹ vi. 75, 8. ### [v2.c4.s5.125](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.125) ² Av. iii. 17, 3 = Taittirīya Saṃhitā, iv. 2, 5, 5 = Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, xvi. 11 = Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā, ii. 7, 12 = Vāsiṣṭha Dharma Sūtra, ii. 34. 35. See also Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, xxi. 10; Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, i. 7, 9, 6; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, v. 4, 3, 23 \*et seq.\* ### [v2.c4.s5.126](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.126) ³ \*Festgruss an Böhtlingk\*, 95 \*et seq.\*; Whitney, Translation of the Atharvaveda, 116. ### [v2.c4.s5.127](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.127) ⁴ Taittirīya Saṃhitā, i. 8, 20, 1; Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, i. 8, 4, 3; Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, xv. 9; Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā, ii. 2, 1. ### [v2.c4.s5.128](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.128) ⁵ \*Über den Vājapeya\*, 27, n. 2, followed by Geldner, \*Vedische Studien\*, 2, 275. Weber, however, admits that the Rathavāhana may at times have served as a mere stand, like the Homeric βωμός, while Geldner expresses the opinion that it never has that sense. The use of the term Rathavāhanavāha shows that the stand was movable. ### [v2.c4.s5.129](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.129) Rathavīti Dārbhya (‘descendant of Darbha’) is mentioned once in the Rigveda¹ as residing in places abounding in kine (\*gomatī anu\*) far away among the hills, possibly the Himālayas, and as the patron of the singer of the hymn. Later the tradition² makes him the king, whose daughter Śyāsvāśva won for his wife by his father’s and the Maruts’ aid. ### [v2.c4.s5.130](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.130) ¹ v. 61, 17. 19. in Oldenberg, \*Ṛgveda-Noten\*, I, 353, 354; ### [v2.c4.s5.131](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.131) ² See Sieg, \*Die Sagenstoffe des Rgveda\*, 50 et seq., 62, n. 2, and the criticism Max Müller, \*Sacred Books of the East\*, 32, 359, 362. ### [v2.c4.s5.132](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.132) Ratha-śīrṣa, the ‘head of the chariot’—that is, its fore-part—is mentioned in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa (ix. 4. 1, 13). ### [v2.c4.s5.133](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.133) Ratha-saṅga in the Rigveda (ix. 53, 2) denotes the hostile encounter of chariots. ### [v2.c4.s5.134](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.134) Rathākṣa in the Yajurveda Saṃhitās¹ denotes the ‘axle of the chariot.’ Its length is given by the scholiast on the Kātyāyana Śrauta Sūtra² as 104 Aṅgulas (‘finger-breadths’), which agrees with the statement in the Āpastamba Śulba Sūtra.³ See Ratha. ### [v2.c4.s5.135](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.135) ¹ Taittirīya Saṃhitā, vi. 6, 4, 1; Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, xxix. 8. ### [v2.c4.s5.136](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.136) ² viii. 8, 6. ### [v2.c4.s5.137](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.137) ³ vi. 5 (Bürk, \*Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft\*, 56, 344, 345). ### [v2.c4.s5.138](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.138) Rathāhnya in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa (xii. 2, 3, 12) denotes a ‘day’s journey by chariot.’ ### [v2.c4.s5.139](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.139) Rathin and Rathī in the Rigveda¹ and later² denote ‘one who goes in a chariot,’ an expression which includes both the driver and the warrior who accompanied him. ### [v2.c4.s5.140](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.140) ¹ Rathin, i. 122, 8; v. 83, 3; vi. 47, 31; viii. 4, 9; x. 40, 5; 51, 6; Rathī, i. 25, 3; ii. 39, 2; iii. 3, 6; v. 87, 8; vii. 39, 1, etc. 73, 1; xi. 10, 24; Taittirīya Saṃhitā, v. 2, 2, 3; Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xvi. 26; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, viii. 7, 3, 7, etc.; Rathī, Taittirīya Saṃhitā, iv. 7, 15, 3. ### [v2.c4.s5.141](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.141) ² Rathin, Av. iv. 34, 4; vii. 62, 1; Cf. Zimmer, \*Altindisches Leben\*, 296. ### [v2.c4.s5.142](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.142) Rathītara (‘good charioteer’) is the name of a teacher mentioned in the Baudhāyana Śrauta Sūtra¹ and the Bṛhad-devatā.² ### [v2.c4.s5.143](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.143) ¹ xxii. 11. ### [v2.c4.s5.144](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.144) ² i. 26; iii. 40; vii. 145 (ed. Macdonell). ### [v2.c4.s5.145](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.145) Rathe-ṣṭhā, ‘standing on the chariot,’ denotes in the Rig-veda¹ the warrior who fights from the chariot, ‘car-fighter.’ ### [v2.c4.s5.146](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.146) ¹ i. 173, 4. 5; ii. 17, 3; vi. 21, 1; ix. 97, 49; Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xxii. 32 22, 5; 29, 1; viii. 4, 13; 33, 14; Cf. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 296. ### [v2.c4.s5.147](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.147) Rathopastha, ‘lap of the chariot,’ in the Atharvaveda¹ and the Brāhmaṇas² seems to denote the ‘bottom’ or lower part on which the driver and the fighter stand. ### [v2.c4.s5.148](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.148) ¹ viii. 8, 23. ### [v2.c4.s5.149](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.149) ² Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, viii. 10, 2; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, ii. 3, 3, 12, etc. Cf. Hopkins, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 13, 238, n. ### [v2.c4.s5.150](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.150) Randhra seems, in the phrase Ukṣṇo Randhra occurring in one passage of the Rigveda (viii. 7, 26), to be the name of a place, but the sense is very doubtful. In the Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa (xiii. 9, 13) Ukṣṇo randhra is the name of a man. ### [v2.c4.s5.151](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.151) Rabhi, occurring once in the Rigveda (viii. 5, 29), designates some part of the chariot. The term perhaps means ‘supporting shaft.’ ### [v2.c4.s5.152](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.152) Rambha seems to mean a ‘staff’ or ‘support’ in one passage of the Rigveda (viii. 45, 20). In another place (ii. 15, 9) a man is described as Rambhin, apparently as carrying a staff to support himself in old age; Sāyaṇa explains this word as ‘door-keeper’ (like one of the senses of daṇḍin, ‘staff-bearer,’ in later Sanskrit). ### [v2.c4.s5.153](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.153) Rambhiṇī occurs in one passage of the Rigveda¹ as being on the shoulders of the Maruts. A ‘spear’ seems to be meant, perhaps conceived as clinging (rambh = rabh, ‘clasp’) to the shoulders of a man. ### [v2.c4.s5.154](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.154) ¹ i. 168, 3. Cf. i. 167, 3, and see Max Müller, Sacred Books of the East, 32, 283. ### [v2.c4.s5.155](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.155) Rayi is the common word for ‘wealth’ in the Rigveda¹ and later.² Special mention is often made of wealth in ‘heroes’ (\*vīra\*)—i.e., in ‘good sons,’³ in horses,⁴ in cattle,⁵ etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.156](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.156) ¹ i. 73, 1; 159, 4; ii. 21, 6; iii. 1, 19; iv. 2, 7; 34, 10; 36, 9; vi. 6, 7; 31, 1, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.157](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.157) ² Av. iii. 14, 1; vi. 33, 3; vii. 80, 2; Taittirīya Saṃhitā, vii. 1, 72; Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, ix. 22; xiv. 22; xxvii. 6, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.158](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.158) ³ Rv. ii. 11, 13; 30, 11; iv. 51, 10, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.159](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.159) ⁴ Rv. v. 41, 5; viii. 6, 9, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.160](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.160) ⁵ Rv. v. 4, 11, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.161](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.161) Raśanā means generally ‘cord’ or ‘rope.’ In the Rigveda the word ofter refers to various fastenings of a horse. In one passage¹ the expression \*śīrṣaṇyā raśanā\*, ‘head rope,’ perhaps means not so much ‘reins’ as ‘headstall.’ In others² the sense of ‘traces’ seems certain, though sometimes³ ‘reins’ or ‘traces’ may equally well be intended. Elsewhere the more general sense of ‘rope’ for stening is meant.⁴ ### [v2.c4.s5.162](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.162) ¹ i. 162, 8. \*Cf.\* Rajju. ### [v2.c4.s5.163](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.163) ² Rv. i. 163, 2. 5; x. 79, 7. ### [v2.c4.s5.164](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.164) ³ Rv. iv. 1, 9; ix. 87, 1; x. 18, 14. \*Cf.\* Taittirīya Saṃhitā, i. 6, 4, 3. ### [v2.c4.s5.165](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.165) ⁴ Rv. ii. 28, 5; Av. viii. 78, 1; x. 9, 2; Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xxi. 46; xxii. 2; xxviii. 33; Taittirīya Saṃhitā, vi. 6, 4, 3; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, iii. 6, 3, 10, etc. \*Cf.\* the use of Raśanā as equivalent to ‘finger’ in Rv. x. 4, 6. \*Cf.\* Zimmer, \*Altindisches Leben\*, 249. ### [v2.c4.s5.166](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.166) 1. Raśmi is not rarely found in the sense of ‘rope’¹ generally; but more usually it denotes either the ‘reins’ or the ‘traces’² of a chariot, either sense being equally good in most passages. ### [v2.c4.s5.167](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.167) ¹ Rv. i. 28, 4; iv. 22, 8; viii. 25, 18, etc.; Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, iv. 19, 3, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.168](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.168) ² Rv. viii. 7, 8; x. 130, 7, etc.; Taittirīya Saṃhitā, i. 6, 4, 3; Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xxiii. 14; Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, i. 2, 4, 2, etc. In Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, ii. 37, 1, the two inner (\*antarau\*) reins or traces of the chariot are mentioned. \*Cf.\* Zimmer, \*Altindisches Leben\*, 249. ### [v2.c4.s5.169](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.169) 2. Raśmi in the Rigveda¹ and later² regularly denotes a ‘ray’ of the sun. ### [v2.c4.s5.170](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.170) ¹ i. 35, 7; iv. 52, 7; vii. 36, 1; 77, 3, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.171](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.171) ² Av. ii. 32, 1; xii. 1, 15; Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, iii. 1, 1, 1; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, ix. 2, 3, 14, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.172](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.172) Rasā is found in three passages of the Rigveda,¹ clearly as the name of a real stream in the extreme north-west of the Vedic territory. Elsewhere² it is the name of a mythic stream at the ends of the earth, which as well as the atmosphere it encompasses. It is reasonable to assume that, as in the case of the Sarasvatī, the literal is the older sense, and to see in the river a genuine stream, perhaps originally the Araxes or Jaxartes, because the Vendidad mentions the Raṅhā, the Avestan form of Rasā. But the word seems originally to allude merely to the ‘sap’ or ‘flavour’ of the waters,³ and so could be applied to every river, like Sarasvatī. ### [v2.c4.s5.173](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.173) ¹ i. 112, 12; v. 53, 9; x. 75, 6. In v. 53, 9, the phrase \*rasānitabhā\* is found. Ludwig, \*Translation of the Rigveda\*, 3, 202, is inclined to regard \*anitabhā\* as an epithet of Rasā, perhaps for \*amitabhā\*, ‘of unmeasured splendour,’ but this is hardly probable. It seems better to take \*Anitabhā\* as the name of an otherwise unknown river. Cf. Max Müller, \*India\*, 166, 173, n. ### [v2.c4.s5.174](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.174) ² Rv. v. 41, 15; ix. 41, 6; x. 108, 1. 2 (cf. Jaiminīya Brāhmaṇa, ii. 348; \*Journal of the American Oriental Society\*, 19, 100 et seq.); 121, 4. ### [v2.c4.s5.175](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.175) ³ Rv. iv. 43, 6; viii. 72, 13. Cf. Zimmer, \*Altindisches Leben\*, 15, 16; Max Müller, \*Sacred Books of the East\*, 32, 323; Brunnhofer, \*Iran und Turan\*, 86; Weber, \*Proceedings of the Berlin Academy\*, 1898, 567-569. ### [v2.c4.s5.176](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.176) Rasāśīr as an epithet of Soma in the Rigveda¹ means ‘mixed with juice’—\*i.e.\*, with milk. ### [v2.c4.s5.177](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.177) ¹ iii. 48, 1, where Sāyaṇa explains \*rasa\* as ‘milk.’ Cf. Hillebrandt, \*Vedische Mythologie\*, I, 211, n. 5. ### [v2.c4.s5.178](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.178) Raha-sū, ‘bearing in secret,’ is a term applied in one passage of the Rigveda (ii. 29, 1) to an unmarried mother. Cf. Pati and Dharma. ### [v2.c4.s5.179](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.179) Rahasyu Deva-malimlue is the name, in the Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa (xiv. 4, 7), of a mythical person who at Munimaraṇa slew the saintly Vaikhānases. ### [v2.c4.s5.180](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.180) Rahū-gaṇa is the name of a family mentioned in the plural in one passage of the Rigveda.¹ According to Ludwig,² they were connected with the Gotamas, as is shown by the name Gotama Rāhūgaṇa. ### [v2.c4.s5.181](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.181) ¹ i. 78, 5. ### [v2.c4.s5.182](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.182) ² Translation of the Rigveda, 3, 110. Cf. Oldenberg, \*Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft\*, 42, 236, n. 1. ### [v2.c4.s5.183](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.183) Rākā in the Rigveda¹ and later² denotes the full moon day as a personification. Cf. Candramās. ### [v2.c4.s5.184](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.184) ¹ ii. 32, 4; v. 42, 12. ### [v2.c4.s5.185](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.185) ² Taittirīya Saṃhitā, i. 8, 8, 1; iii. 4, 9, 1. 6; Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, xii. 8; Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, iii. 37, 2. 6; 47, 4, etc.; Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa, xvi. 13, 1, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.186](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.186) Rāja-kartṛ,¹ or Rāja-kṛt,² ‘king-maker,’ is the term applied in the Atharvaveda and the Brāhmaṇas to those who, ‘not themselves kings,’³ aid in the consecration of the king. In the Śatapatha² the persons meant and specified are the Sūta, ‘charioteer,’ and the Grāmaṇī, ‘village chief,’ probably a representative chief from the village nearest to the place of consecration, as Eggeling⁴ suggests. In the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa,¹ according to the commentator’s explanation, the father, brother, etc., are meant; in the Atharvaveda,² also, the meaning of the expression is not stated in the text. ### [v2.c4.s5.187](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.187) ¹ Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, viii. 17, 5. ### [v2.c4.s5.188](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.188) ² Av. iii. 5, 7; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, iii. 4, 1, 7; xiii. 2, 2, 18. ### [v2.c4.s5.189](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.189) ³ Loc. cit. ### [v2.c4.s5.190](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.190) ⁴ Sacred Books of the East, 41, 60, n. Cf. Weber, Indische Studien, 17, 199 et seq. ### [v2.c4.s5.191](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.191) Rāja-kula, a ‘kingly family,’ is mentioned in the Jaiminīya Upaniṣad Brāhmaṇa (iii. 28, 4), where, it is to be noted, such a family is ranked after, not before, a Brāhmaṇa Kula, a ‘Brahmin family.’ ### [v2.c4.s5.192](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.192) 1. Rājan, ‘king,’ is a term repeatedly occurring in the Rigveda¹ and the later literature.² It is quite clear that the normal, though not universal form of government, in early India was that by kings, as might be expected in view of the fact that the Āryan Indians were invaders in a hostile territory: a situation which, as in the case of the Āryan invaders of Greece and of the German invaders of England, resulted almost necessarily in strengthening the monarchic element of the constitution.³ The mere patriarchal organization of society is not sufficient, as Zimmer⁴ assumes, to explain the Vedic kingship. ### [v2.c4.s5.193](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.193) ¹ iii. 43, 5; v. 54, 7, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.194](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.194) ² Av. iv. 22, 3. 5; viii. 7, 16, etc. ### [v2.c4.s5.195](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.195) ³ Cf. Stubbs, Constitutional History of England, 59 et seq. ### [v2.c4.s5.196](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.196) ⁴ Altindisches Leben, 162. ### [v2.c4.s5.197](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.197) \*Tenure of Monarchy.\*—Zimmer⁵ is of opinion that while the Vedic monarchy was sometimes hereditary, as is indeed shown by several cases where the descent can be traced,⁶ yet in others the monarchy was elective, though it is not clear whether the selection by the people was between the members of the royal family only or extended to members of the noble clans. It must, however, be admitted that the evidence for the elective monarchy is not strong. As Geldner⁷ argues, all the passages cited⁸ can be regarded not as choice by the cantons (\*Viś\*), but as acceptance by the subjects (\*viś\*): this seems the more probable sense. Of course this is no proof that the monarchy was not sometimes elective: the practice of selecting one member of the family to the exclusion of another less well qualified is exemplified by the legend in Yāska⁹ of the Kuru brothers, Devāpi and Śantanu, the value of which, as evidence of contemporary views, is not seriously affected by the legend itself being of dubious character and validity. ### [v2.c4.s5.198](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.198) ⁵ \*Op. cit.\*, 162 \*et seq.\* So Weber, \*Indische Studien\*, 17, 188; Bloomfield, \*Hymns of the Atharvaveda\*, 336. ### [v2.c4.s5.199](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.199) ⁶ E.g., Vadhryaśva, Divodāsa, Pijavana, Sudās; or Purukutsa, Trasadasyu, Mitrātithi, Kuruśravaṇa, Upamaśravas, etc.; Lanman, \*Sanskrit Reader\*, 386. So a ‘kingdom of ten generations’ (Daśapuruṣarājya) is mentioned in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, xii. 9, 3, 3; and \*cf.\* v. 4, 2, 8; Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, viii. 12. 17. ### [v2.c4.s5.200](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5.200) ⁷ \*Vedische Studien\*, 2, 303. _First 200 of 426 passages. [Read on](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5)_ --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s5) · Pramāṇa