Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s7: V

Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s7

Language: English

V

v2.c4.s7.1

1. Vamśa, denoting the ‘rafters’ or ‘beams’ of the house as made of bamboo cane, is found in this sense from the Rigveda¹ onwards.² Cf. Tiraścīnavamśa, Prācīnavamśa, and see Gṛha.

² Av. iii. 12, 6; ix. 3, 4; Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā, iv. 8, 10; Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, i. 2, 3, 1; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, ix. 1, 2, 25; śālā-vamśa, Aitareya Āraṇyaka, iii. 2, 1; Śāṅkhāyana Āraṇyaka, viii. 1, where perhaps the main beam of the house is meant. Cf. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 71, 153; Bloomfield, Hymns of the Atharvaveda, 346.

v2.c4.s7.4

2. Vamśa (lit. ‘bamboo’) in the sense of ‘spiritual genealogy,’¹ ‘list of teachers,’ is found in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa,² the Vamśa Brāhmaṇa,³ and the Śāṅkhāyana Āraṇyaka.⁴

v2.c4.s7.5

¹ From the analogy of the successive joints of the bamboo. Cf. ‘family-tree.’

v2.c4.s7.6

² x. 6, 5, 9; Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, vi. 3, 14.

v2.c4.s7.7

³ Indische Studien, 4, 374.

v2.c4.s7.8

⁴ xv. 1.

v2.c4.s7.9

Vamśa-nartin is mentioned as one of the victims at the Puruṣamedha (‘human sacrifice’) in the Yajurveda.¹ A ‘pole-dancer’ or ‘acrobat’ seems to be meant.

v2.c4.s7.10

¹ Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xxx. 21; Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, iii. 4, 17, 1. Cf. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 290.

v2.c4.s7.11

Vamsaga is in the Rigveda¹ a common name of the ‘bull’ that leads the herds.

v2.c4.s7.12

¹ i. 7, 8; 55, 1; 58, 4; v. 36, 1, etc.; Av. xviii. 3, 36.

v2.c4.s7.13

Vaka Dālbhya (‘descendant of Dalbha’) is the name of a teacher in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad.¹ According to the Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā,² he was engaged in a ritual dispute with Dhṛtarāṣṭra.

v2.c4.s7.14

¹ i. 2, 13; 12, 1.

v2.c4.s7.15

² xxx. 2 (Indische Studien, 3, 471).

v2.c4.s7.16

Vakala denotes in the Brāhmaṇas¹ the ‘inner bark’ of a tree, ‘bast.’

v2.c4.s7.17

¹ Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, iii. 7, 4, 2; Kauṣitaki Brāhmaṇa, x. 2.

v2.c4.s7.18

Vakṣaṇā, fem. plur., denotes in one passage of the Rigveda¹ the bed of a stream.

v2.c4.s7.19

¹ iii. 33, 12. Cf. Pischel, *Vedische Studien*, i, 175-181.

v2.c4.s7.20

Vaghā is the name of a noxious animal in the Atharvaveda.¹

v2.c4.s7.21

¹ vi. 50, 3; ix. 2, 22. Cf. Zimmer, *Altindisches Leben*, 98.

v2.c4.s7.22

Vaṅga, the designation of Bengal proper, is not found in the earlier Vedic literature unless it is to be recognized in the curious word Vaṅgāvagadhāḥ, which occurs in the Aitareya Āraṇyaka,¹ and which suggests amendment to Vaṅga-Magadhāḥ, ‘the Vaṅgas and the Magadhas,’ two neighbouring peoples. The name is certainly found in the Baudhāyana Dharma Sūtra.²

v2.c4.s7.23

¹ ii. 1, 1. Cf. Keith, *Aitareya Āraṇyaka*, 200; Magadha-Vaṅga-Matsyāḥ occurs in the Atharvaveda Pariśiṣṭas (i. 7, 7), but that is very late.

v2.c4.s7.24

² i. 1, 14. Cf. Oldenberg, *Buddha*, 394, n.; Caland, *Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft*, 56, 553.

v2.c4.s7.25

Vaṅgṛda is the name of a demon or a human foe in the Rigveda.¹

v2.c4.s7.26

¹ i. 53. 8. Cf. Ludwig, *Translation of the Rigveda*, 3. 149.

v2.c4.s7.27

Vajra in the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa¹ denotes, according to Geldner,² the ‘handle,’ while Kūṭa means the ‘head’ of the hammer.

v2.c4.s7.28

¹ vi. 24, 1.

v2.c4.s7.29

² *Vedische Studien*, i, 138.

v2.c4.s7.30

Vaḍavā is a common name for a ‘mare’ in the later Saṃhitās and the Brāhmaṇas.¹

v2.c4.s7.31

¹ Taittirīya Saṃhitā, vii. 1, 1, 2; 19, etc. A derivative of this word is the masculine Vaḍava, Taittirīya Saṃhitā, ii. 1, 8, 3. Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, i. 8, 6, 3; iii. 8, 22, 3; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, vi. 5, 2,

v2.c4.s7.32

Vaṇij denotes ‘merchant’ in the Rigveda¹ and later.² See Paṇi and Kraya; *cf.* also Vāṇija.

v2.c4.s7.33

¹ i. 112, 11; v. 45, 6.

v2.c4.s7.34

² Av. iii. 15, 1, etc. Cf. Zimmer, *Altindisches Leben*, 257.

v2.c4.s7.35

Vaṇijyā in the Brāhmaṇas¹ denotes the business of a merchant (Vaṇij) ‘trade.’

v2.c4.s7.36

¹ Satapatha Brāhmaṇa, i. 6, 4, 21; Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa, xvii. 1, 2.

v2.c4.s7.37

1. Vatsa is often found in the Rigveda¹ and later² in the sense of ‘calf.’ Reference is made to the use of a calf to induce the cow to give milk,³ and to the separation of the cows from the calves at certain times.⁴

v2.c4.s7.38

¹ iii. 33, 3; iv. 18, 10, etc.

v2.c4.s7.39

² Av. iv. 18, 2; xii. 4, 7 (wolves kill them); Taittirīya Saṃhitā, vi. 4, 11, 4 (the cow caresses the calf on birth), etc.

v2.c4.s7.40

³ Taittirīya Saṃhitā, ii. 3, 6, 2; Jaiminīya Upaniṣad Brāhmaṇa, ii. 13, 2.

v2.c4.s7.41

⁴ Rv. v. 30, 10; viii. 88, 1. See Geldner, Vedische Studien, 3, 114.

v2.c4.s7.42

2. Vatsa occurs several times in the Rigveda¹ as the name of a singer, a son or descendant of Kaṇva. In the Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa² he is said to have passed successfully through a fire ordeal to which he resorted for the purpose of proving to his rival, Medhātithi, the purity of his descent. He is also mentioned in the Śāṅkhāyana Śrauta Sūtra³ as the recipient of bounty from Tirindara Pāraśavya.

v2.c4.s7.43

¹ viii. 6, 1; 8, 8; 9, 1; 11, 7.

v2.c4.s7.44

² xiv. 6, 6.

v2.c4.s7.45

³ xvi. 11, 20. He also occurs in Āpastamba Śrauta Sūtra, xxiv. 5, 11. Cf. Ludwig, Translation of the Rigveda, 3, 105; Weber, Episches im vedischen Ritual, 36-38.

v2.c4.s7.46

Vatsatara, Vatsatarī, denotes a ‘young calf’ in the later Saṃhitās and the Brāhmaṇas.¹

v2.c4.s7.47

¹ Taittirīya Saṃhitā, i. 8, 17, 1; Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, xxiv. 2; Aitareya 18, 1; Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xxiv. 5; Brāhmaṇa, i. 27, 2, etc.

v2.c4.s7.48

Vatsa-napāt Bābhrava (‘descendant of Babhru’) is the name of a teacher, a pupil of Pathin Saubhara, in the first two Vamśas (lists of teachers) of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad.¹

v2.c4.s7.49

¹ ii. 5, 22; iv. 5, 28 (Mādhyamdina = ii. 6, 3; iv. 6, 3 Kāṇva).

v2.c4.s7.50

Vatsa-prī Bhālandana (‘descendant of Bhalandana’) is the name of a sage who ‘saw’ the Vātsapra Sāman (chant). He is mentioned in the later Saṃhitās¹ and the Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa.²

v2.c4.s7.51

¹ Taittirīya Saṃhitā, v. 2, 1, 6; Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, xix. 12 (Indische Studien, 3. 470); Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā, iii. 2, 2.

v2.c4.s7.52

² xii. 11, 25. Cf. Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, vi. 7, 4, 1.

v2.c4.s7.53

Vadhaka is the name of some sort of ‘reed’ in the Atharvaveda¹ and the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa.²

v2.c4.s7.54

¹ viii. 8, 3.

v2.c4.s7.55

² v. 4, 5, 14. Cf. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 72; St. Petersburg Dictionary, s.v.

v2.c4.s7.56

Vadhar means a ‘weapon’ generally; it is used not merely of a divine,¹ but also of a human² weapon in the Rigveda.

v2.c4.s7.57

¹ i. 32, 9, etc.

v2.c4.s7.58

² Rv. iv. 22, 9; viii. 22, 8; 24, 27. Cf. Schrader, Prehistoric Antiquities, 221.

v2.c4.s7.59

1. Vadhū is a frequent word for ‘woman’ in the Rigveda¹ and later.² It denotes, according to Delbrück,³ the woman as either married or as seeking a husband, or as a bride in the wedding ceremony. The word appears to be derived from a form of the root vah, ‘to carry,’ as is vahatu, ‘the bridal procession,’ thus meaning ‘she who is to be or has been conducted home.’ Zimmer,⁴ however, objects to this explanation, regarding vadhū as a derivative from a different root meaning ‘to marry.’

v2.c4.s7.60

¹ v. 37, 3; 47, 6; vii. 69, 3; viii. 26, 13; x. 27, 12; 85, 30; 107, 9.

v2.c4.s7.61

² Av. i. 14, 2; iv. 20, 3; x. 1, 1; xiv. 2, 9. 41, etc.

v2.c4.s7.62

³ Die indogermanischen Verwandtschaftsnamen, 414, 439.

v2.c4.s7.63

⁴ Altindisches Leben, 108.

v2.c4.s7.64

2. Vadhū is in one passage of the Rigveda¹ taken by Roth² to denote a ‘female animal,’ while Zimmer³ urges that it means a ‘female slave.’ As far as the use of Vadhū goes, either meaning is abnormal, for if Vadhū never elsewhere means a female animal (from *vah*, to ‘draw’ a cart), neither does it denote a slave: as the passage refers to a gift of fifty Vadhūs by Trasadasyu Paurukutsya to the singer, the latter must have been a polygamist of an advanced type to require fifty wives. The same doubt arises in the case of *vadhūmant*, which is used in the Rigveda and Atharvaveda as an epithet of the chariot (Ratha),⁴ of horses (Aśva),⁵ and of buffaloes (Uṣṭra).⁶ Zimmer sees in all cases a reference to slaves in the chariots or with the horses: this interpretation has the support of the Bṛhaddevatā.⁷ Roth’s version of the references to horses or buffaloes as ‘suitable for draught’ is not very happy; if *vadhū* is really a female animal *vadhūmant* means rather ‘together with mares,’ or ‘together with female buffaloes,’ which makes reasonable sense.⁸

v2.c4.s7.65

¹ viii. 19, 36. Cf. also v. 47, 6, as taken by Pischel, Vedische Studien, 2, 319.

v2.c4.s7.66

² St. Petersburg Dictionary, s.v. 3.

v2.c4.s7.67

³ Altindisches Leben, 108, 109.

v2.c4.s7.68

⁴ i. 126, 3; vii. 18, 22.

v2.c4.s7.69

⁵ viii. 68, 17. Cf. vi. 27, 8.

v2.c4.s7.70

⁶ Av. xx. 127, 2.

v2.c4.s7.71

⁷ iii. 147 *et seq.*, with Macdonell’s notes.

v2.c4.s7.72

⁸ *Cf.* Bloomfield, *Hymns of the Atharvaveda*, 197; Pischel, *Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft*, 35, 712 *et seq.*; Böhtlingk, *Dictionary*, s.v.

v2.c4.s7.73

Vadhrimatī, ‘having an impotent man as a husband,’ seems in the Rigveda¹ to be the name of a woman who owed the restoration of her husband’s virility to the Aśvins, and obtained a son, Hiraṇyahasta. The word is, however, possibly only descriptive.

v2.c4.s7.74

¹ i. 116, 13; 117, 24; vi. 62, 7; x. 39, 7; 65, 12.

v2.c4.s7.75

1. Vadhry-aśva, ‘having castrated horses,’ is the name in the Rigveda¹ of a prince, the father of Divodāsa, and an energetic supporter of the fire cult, as was his son after him. He is mentioned in a long list of names in the Atharvaveda.²

v2.c4.s7.76

¹ vi. 61, 1; x. 69, 1 *et seq.* Sumitra, in the latter hymn, can hardly be a name of his.

v2.c4.s7.77

² iv. 29, 4. *Cf.* Āpastamba Śrauta Sūtra, xxiv. 6, 6. *Cf.* Hillebrandt, *Vedische Mythologie*, i, 97.

v2.c4.s7.78

2. Vadhry-aśva Ānūpa (‘descendant of Anūpa’) is the name of the seer of a Sāman, or chant, in the Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa (xiii. 3, 17).

v2.c4.s7.79

Vana in the Rigveda¹ and later² denotes the ‘forest,’ not necessarily of trees only, but, like Araṇya, the wild uninhabited land.³ It also means ‘wooden cup’ used in the Soma ritual,⁴ and in one passage perhaps a part of the chariot.⁵

v2.c4.s7.80

¹ i. 54, 1; 65, 8; iii. 51, 5; v. 41, 11, etc.

v2.c4.s7.81

² Kauśika Sūtra, lxxvi. 3, etc.

v2.c4.s7.82

³ Rv. vii. 1, 19 (opposed to dama, ‘home’).

v2.c4.s7.83

⁴ Rv. i. 55, 4; ii. 14, 9, etc. See Hillebrandt, Vedische Mythologie, i, 163, 166, 193.

v2.c4.s7.84

⁵ viii. 34, 18.

v2.c4.s7.85

Vana-pa, ‘forest-guardian,’ is included in the list of victims at the Puruṣamedha (‘human sacrifice’) in the Yajurveda.¹ Cf. Dāvapa.

v2.c4.s7.86

¹ Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xxx. 19; Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, iii. 4, 11, 1.

v2.c4.s7.87

Vanar-gu, ‘forest-goer,’ is used in the Rigveda¹ and the Atharvaveda² to designate robbers who haunt the forests. In the Sāmaveda³ the term is more generally opposed to civilized men (kavayaḥ, ‘sages’; vanargavaḥ, ‘savages’).

v2.c4.s7.88

¹ x. 4, 6.

v2.c4.s7.89

² iv. 36, 7.

v2.c4.s7.90

³ Araṇya Saṃhitā, iv. 9. Cf. St. Petersburg Dictionary, s.v.

v2.c4.s7.91

Vanas-pati, ‘lord of the forest,’ primarily denotes ‘tree,’¹ and then ‘post’ or ‘pole.’² In some passages it is applied either to a part of the chariot or to the chariot as a whole.³ It also means a ‘wooden drum’⁴ and a ‘wooden amulet,’⁵ while in some passages⁶ it denotes the plant par excellence, Soma.

v2.c4.s7.92

¹ Rv. i. 166, 5; iii. 34, 10; v. 7, 4; 41, 8, etc.; Av. xi. 6, 1 (distinguished from Virudh and Oṣadhi); 9, 24, etc.

v2.c4.s7.93

² Taittirīya Saṃhitā, vi. 2, 8, 4; Av. ix. 3, 11, etc.

v2.c4.s7.94

³ Rv. ii. 37, 3; iii. 53, 20; vi. 47, 26; Nirukta, ix. 11. See Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 251.

v2.c4.s7.95

⁴ Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, ix. 12. Cf. Av. xii. 3, 15.

v2.c4.s7.96

⁵ Av. vi. 85, 1; x. 3, 8. 11.

v2.c4.s7.97

⁶ Rv. i. 91, 6; Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, x. 23, etc.

v2.c4.s7.98

1. Vandana is mentioned in the Rigveda¹ as the name of a disease, apparently some sort of eruption spreading over the body.

v2.c4.s7.99

¹ vii. 50, 2. Cf. 21, 5; Av. vii. 115, 2; tṛṣṭa-vandanā, ‘having a rough eruption,’ vii. 113, 1; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 391; Bloomfield, Hymns of the Atharvaveda, 564, 565; Whitney, Translation of the Atharvaveda, 469.

v2.c4.s7.100

2. Vandana is the name of a protégé of the Aśvins in the Rigveda.¹

v2.c4.s7.101

¹ i. 112, 5; 116, 11; 117, 5; 118, 8; x. 39, 8. Cf. Baunack, *Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft*, 50, 263 et seq.; Oldenberg, *Ṛgveda-Noten*, 1, 109.

v2.c4.s7.102

Vandhura denotes in the Rigveda¹ and later² the ‘seat’ of the chariot. See Ratha.

v2.c4.s7.103

¹ i. 139, 4; iii. 14, 3; vi. 47, 9, etc.

v2.c4.s7.104

² Av. x. 4, 2. The Aśvins’ car is *tri-vandhura*, ‘having three seats,’ because the Aśvins are a pair, and the charioteer makes a third. *Cf.* Rv. i. 47, 2; 118, 1. 2; 157, 3; 183, 1; vii. 69, 2; 71, 4; viii. 22, 5; and *cf.* ix. 62, 17. See Zimmer, *Altindisches Leben*, viii, 247; Weber, *Proceedings of the Berlin Academy*, 1898, 564; Muir, *Sanskrit Texts*, 5, 241, n. 371.

v2.c4.s7.105

Vapa, ‘sower,’ is mentioned in the list of victims at the Puruṣamedha (‘human sacrifice’) in the Yajurveda.¹

v2.c4.s7.106

¹ Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xxx. 7; Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, iii. 4, 3, 1.

v2.c4.s7.107

Vapana in the Brāhmaṇas¹ denotes the process of ‘shaving.’ Cf. Kṣura and Keśa.

v2.c4.s7.108

¹ Taittirīya Saṃhitā, ii. 7, 17, 1; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, iii. 1, 2, 1.

v2.c4.s7.109

Vapā in the later Saṃhitās and the Brāhmaṇas¹ denotes an ant-hill.

v2.c4.s7.110

¹ Taittirīya Saṃhitā, v. 1, 2, 5; Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, i. 1, 3, 4; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, vi. 3, 3, 5.

v2.c4.s7.111

Vaptr in the Rigveda¹ and later² denotes a ‘shaver,’ ‘barber.’

v2.c4.s7.112

¹ x. 142, 4.

v2.c4.s7.113

² Av. viii. 2, 17; Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, i. 5, 6, 3. Cf. Zimmer, *Altindisches Leben*, 266; Max Müller, *Sacred Books of the East*, 32, 235, n. 4.

v2.c4.s7.114

Vapra, ‘rampart,’ is a conjectural reading in the Atharvaveda.¹ 1. Vamra,¹ Vamrī,² are the names of the male and female ‘ant’ in the Rigveda and later. *Cf.* Vapā.

v2.c4.s7.115

¹ vii. 71, 1. See Whitney, Translation of the Atharvaveda, 435, 436.

v2.c4.s7.116

¹ Rv. i. 51, 9; viii. 102, 21.

v2.c4.s7.117

² Rv. iv. 19, 9 (where the son of an unmarried maiden is exposed to be eaten by ants); Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xxxvii. 4; Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, i. 2, 1, 3; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, xiv. 1, 1, 8. 14, etc. *Cf.* Zimmer, *Altindisches Leben*, 97.

v2.c4.s7.118

2. Vamra is the name of a Ṛṣi in the Rigveda.¹ *Cf.* Vamraka.

v2.c4.s7.119

¹ i. 51, 9; 112, 15; x. 99, 5.

v2.c4.s7.120

Vamraka is mentioned in one passage of the Rigveda,¹ where Roth² thinks that an ‘ant’ is meant. But Pischel,³ with more probability, thinks that it is a proper name, perhaps equivalent to Vamra, and denoting the child of a maiden who was saved from being devoured by ants.⁴

v2.c4.s7.121

¹ x. 99, 12.

v2.c4.s7.122

² St. Petersburg Dictionary, *s.v.*

v2.c4.s7.123

³ *Vedische Studien*, i, 238, 239.

v2.c4.s7.124

⁴ Rv. iv. 19, 9; 30, 16.

v2.c4.s7.125

1. Vayas is a common name for ‘bird’ in the Atharvaveda¹ and later.²

v2.c4.s7.126

¹ iii. 21, 2; vi. 59, 1; vii. 96, 1; viii. 7, 24, etc.

v2.c4.s7.127

² Taittirīya Saṃhitā, iii. 1, 1, 1; v. 2, 5, 1; 5, 3, 2, etc.

v2.c4.s7.128

2. Vayas denotes in the Atharvaveda¹ and later² the ‘age’ of animals or men.

v2.c4.s7.129

¹ xii. 3, 1.

v2.c4.s7.130

² Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, xi. 2; Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, iii. 12, 5, 9; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, iii. 1, 2, 21; 3, 3, etc.

v2.c4.s7.131

Vayā in the Rigveda¹ denotes the ‘branch’ of a tree.

v2.c4.s7.132

¹ ii. 5, 4; v. 1, 1; vi. 7, 6; 13, 1; viii. 13, 6. 17, etc.

v2.c4.s7.133

Vayitrī in the Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa (i. 8, 9) denotes a ‘female weaver.’

v2.c4.s7.134

Vayya occurs in several passages of the Rigveda¹ in connexion with Turvīti, of whom the word is, according to Sāyaṇa,² a patronymic in one passage. Roth³ is inclined to think that the sense of ‘companion’ would suit all passages.

v2.c4.s7.135

¹ i. 54, 6; 112, 6 (where Turvīti does not occur); ii. 13, 12; iv. 19, 6.

v2.c4.s7.136

² On Rv. i. 54, 6.

v2.c4.s7.137

³ St. Petersburg Dictionary, s.v., quoting ix. 68, 8, as a clear case.

v2.c4.s7.138

Vara in the Rigveda¹ and later² regularly denotes a ‘wooer.’

v2.c4.s7.139

¹ i. 83, 2; v. 60, 4; ix. 101, 14; x. 85, 8. 9.

v2.c4.s7.140

² Av. ii. 36, 1. 5. 6; xi. 8, 1; Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, iv. 7, 1, etc.

v2.c4.s7.141

Varaṇa is the name of a tree (Crataeva Roxburghii) in the Atharvaveda¹ and the Brāhmaṇas.²

v2.c4.s7.142

¹ vi. 85, 1; x. 3, 1, etc.; xix. 32, 9.

v2.c4.s7.143

² Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa, v. 3, 9. 10; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, xiii. 8, 4, 1. Cf. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 60, 61; Bloomfield, Hymns of the Atharvaveda, 505.

v2.c4.s7.144

Varaṇāvatī is found in one passage of the Atharvaveda.¹ It seems to be, as Roth² thought, the name of a stream, and is regarded by Ludwig³ as the Ganges. Bloomfield,⁴ while considering that a plant may, as Sāyaṇa thinks, be meant, yet regards a reference to a river as probable. Cf. Kāśī.

v2.c4.s7.145

¹ iv. 7, 1.

v2.c4.s7.146

² St. Petersburg Dictionary, s.v.

v2.c4.s7.147

³ Translation of the Rigveda, 3, 201. Cf. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 20.

v2.c4.s7.148

⁴ Hymns of the Atharvaveda, 376. Cf. Weber, Indische Studien, 18, 26, 27; Whitney, Translation of the Atharvaveda, 154.

v2.c4.s7.149

Varatrā in the Rigveda¹ and later² denotes a ‘thong’ or ‘strap.’ It was used to fasten the oxen to the yoke,³ or perhaps to fasten the yoke to the pole.⁴ Or, again, it denotes⁵ the strap which was used in drawing up water from the well (Avata).

v2.c4.s7.150

¹ iv. 57, 4 (of the plough), etc.

v2.c4.s7.151

² Av. xi. 3, 10; xx. 135, 13.

v2.c4.s7.152

³ Rv. x. 60, 8; 102, 8; Geldner, Vedische Studien, 2, 13.

v2.c4.s7.153

⁴ This suits x. 60, 8, rather more naturally, and is so taken by Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 248, 249.

v2.c4.s7.154

⁵ Rv. x. 106, 5; Zimmer, op. cit., 156.

v2.c4.s7.155

Varaśikha is the name of a leader whose tribe is mentioned in the Rigveda¹ as being defeated by Abhyāvartin Cāyamāna.

v2.c4.s7.156

¹ vi. 27, 4. 5. *Cf.* Ludwig, Translation of the Rigveda, 3, 156; Hillebrandt, *Vedische Mythologie*, 1, 105; Zimmer, *Altindisches Leben*, 133, who thinks that Varaśikha was the leader of the Turvaśa-Vṛcīvants, but this is conjectural, and not very probable. *Cf.* Pārthava. In the Bṛhaddevatā, v. 124 et seq., the form of the name is Vāraśikha (descendant of Varaśikha), occurring in the plural only.

v2.c4.s7.157

Varāha, ‘boar,’ is found in the Rigveda¹ and later.² The god Rudra is described as the ‘boar of heaven.’³ The use of dogs to hunt the boar is once alluded to.⁴ The variant form of the word, Varāhu, is not used except metaphorically of divinities.⁵

v2.c4.s7.158

¹ i. 61, 7; viii. 77, 10; ix. 97, 7; x. 28, 4 (cf. Krostr), etc.

v2.c4.s7.159

² Av. viii. 7, 23; xii. 1, 48; Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, viii. 2; xxv. 2, etc.; Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā, iii. 14. 19, etc.

v2.c4.s7.160

³ Rv. i. 114, 5. *Cf.* Taittirīya Saṃhitā, vi. 2, 4, 2; vii. 1, 5, 1, etc.

v2.c4.s7.161

⁴ Rv. x. 86, 4, an obscure passage.

v2.c4.s7.162

⁵ Rv. i. 88, 5; 121, 11; Taittirīya Āraṇyaka, i. 9, 4. *Cf.* Zimmer, *Altindisches Leben*, 81, 82; Hopkins, *Journal of the American Oriental Society*, 17, 67, who points out that, even in the Rigveda, its use is predominantly metaphorical, x. 28, 4, and x. 86, 4, being the only clear instances of the real sense, and of these x. 86, 4, is doubtful. See also Geldner, *Vedische Studien*, 3, 66 et seq.

v2.c4.s7.163

Varu is held by Sāyaṇa to be a proper name in several passages of the Rigveda,¹ where it is accented as a vocative followed by suṣāmṇe. Roth² considers that the name must be Varosuṣāman, despite its doubtful formation.

v2.c4.s7.164

¹ viii. 23, 28; 24, 28; 26, 2.

v2.c4.s7.165

² St. Petersburg Dictionary, s.v. *Cf.* Oldenberg, *Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft*, 39, 84, 85.

v2.c4.s7.166

Varuṇa-gṛhīta, ‘seized by Varuṇa,’ is found in several passages¹ as a description of a man afflicted with dropsy, which is the disease sent by Varuṇa as a punishment for sin.²

v2.c4.s7.167

¹ Taittirīya Saṃhitā, ii. 1, 2, 1; vi. 4, 2, 3; Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, xii. 4; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, iv. 4, 5, 11; Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, i. 6, 4, 1, etc.

v2.c4.s7.168

² Rv. vi. 74, 4; vii. 88, 7; Av. ii. 10, 1; iv. 16, 6. 7; xiv. 1, 57; 2, 49, etc. *Cf.* Oldenberg, *Religion des Veda*, 203; Macdonell, *Vedic Mythology*, p. 29, n. 16.

v2.c4.s7.169

Varcin is the name of a foe of Indra in the Rigveda.¹ Being called a Dāsa,² and coupled with Śambara, he is probably to be regarded as a terrestrial foe, though he is also spoken of as an Asura.³ He may possibly have been connected with the Vṛcīvants.

v2.c4.s7.170

¹ ii. 14, 6; iv. 30, 14. 15; vi. 47, 21; vii. 99, 5.

v2.c4.s7.171

² Rv. iv. 30, 15; vi. 47, 21.

v2.c4.s7.172

³ Rv. vii. 99, 5. Cf. Ludwig, Translation of the Rigveda, 3, 152; Hillebrandt, Vedische Mythologie, 1, 103, n. 3; 3, 273; Macdonell, Vedic Mythology, p. 162 (F).

v2.c4.s7.173

1. Varṇa, ‘colour,’ is a common word in the Rigveda¹ and later.² A large number of colours are enumerated in Vedic literature, but it is not possible to deduce any clear information as to the accuracy with which the Vedic Indian distinguished colours, or as to the principle on which his distinctions were based. The Rigveda seems to show that red or yellow colours were the most noticed, but this may be accidental.³ ‘Black’ or ‘dark’ is denoted by kṛṣṇa, ‘white’ or ‘light-coloured’ by śukla or śveta. ‘Black’ seems to be meant in one passage of the Rigveda⁴ by śyenī also. ‘Dark-grey’ or ‘dusky’ is expressed by śyāma.⁵ The sense of nīla⁶ is doubtful, perhaps ‘dark-blue,’ ‘bluish-black.’ The series of words hari, hariṇa, harit, harita, seems, on the whole, to denote ‘yellow,’ but ‘green’ is also a possible rendering, since the epithet is used of the frog.⁷ ‘Brown’ is certainly the meaning of babhru, which is used of the Vibhītaka nut (see Akṣa). ‘Reddish-brown’ seems to be the tinge implied by kapila⁸ (‘monkey-coloured’), while piṅgala appears to denote a shade of brown in which yellow predominates, ‘tawny.’⁹ ‘Yellow’ is expressed by pīta as well as pāṇḍu.¹⁰ A garment of saffron (mahārājana) is mentioned in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad.¹¹ Rudhira and lohita are red, while aruṇa is ‘ruddy.’ Kalmāṣa means ‘spotted,’¹² and śilpa ‘dappled,’¹³ while mingled shades like aruṇa-piśaṅga, ‘reddish brown,’ also occur.¹⁴

v2.c4.s7.174

¹ i. 73, 7; 96, 5; 113, 2; iv. 5, 13; ix. 97, 15; 104, 4; 105, 1; x. 3, 3, etc.

v2.c4.s7.175

² Av. i. 22, 1. 2; 23, 2; xi. 8, 16; Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, iv. 2, 26, etc.

v2.c4.s7.176

³ Cf. Hopkins, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 11, cxxi et seq.

v2.c4.s7.177

⁴ i. 140, 9. Cf. Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā, iv. 3, 8; Geldner, Vedische Studien, 2, 250, 251.

v2.c4.s7.178

⁵ Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, v. 1, 3, 7.

v2.c4.s7.179

⁶ The nīla of the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, viii. 6, 1, is replaced by kṛṣṇa in the Kauṣītaki Upaniṣad, iv. 19. Cf. Rv. viii. 19, 31. In the post-Vedic language nīla describes the colour of dark blue objects, such as indigo, sapphire, etc. That the word already had some such sense in the Rigveda is suggested by its use in allusions to the smoke of Agni.

v2.c4.s7.180

⁷ Rv. vii. 103, 6, and cf. iii. 44, 3; Griffith, Hymns of the Rigveda, 1, 365, n.

v2.c4.s7.181

⁸ Rv. x. 27, 16; Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, vi. 4, 14.

v2.c4.s7.182

⁹ Av. xi. 5, 26; Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, xv. 1; Taittirīya Saṃhitā, vii. 1, 6, 2; Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, vi. 4, 14.

v2.c4.s7.183

¹⁰ Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, ii. 3, 6.

v2.c4.s7.184

¹¹ Loc. cit.

v2.c4.s7.185

¹² Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xxix. 58.

v2.c4.s7.186

¹³ Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xxiv. 5; xxix. 58; Taittirīya Saṃhitā, v. 5, 22, 1; 6, 13, 1; 20, 1.

v2.c4.s7.187

¹⁴ Taittirīya Saṃhitā vi. 6, 11, 6. Cf. Schrader, Prehistoric Antiquities, 119 et seq.

v2.c4.s7.188

2. Varṇa (lit. ‘colour’) in the Rigveda¹ is applied to denote classes of men, the Dāsa and the Āryan Varṇa being contrasted, as other passages² show, on account of colour. But this use is confined to distinguishing two colours: in this respect the Rigveda differs fundamentally from the later Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas,³ where the four castes (varṇāḥ) are already fully recognized.

v2.c4.s7.189

¹ Dāsa, Rv. ii. 12, 4; ārya varṇa as against dasyu, iii. 34, 9; varṇa itself opposed to dāsa, i. 104, 2. Cf. ii. 3, 5. Cf. a verse in Śāṅkhāyana Śrauta Sūtra, viii. 25, 2; Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa, v. 5, 14. Roth, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 48, 113, reads varṇaśeṣas in Rv. v. 65, 5.

v2.c4.s7.190

² See Dasyu, Dāsa; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 113, 114. There is no trace in Vedic literature of any real distinction of colour save this main one. In the Gopatha Brāhmaṇa, i. 1, 23, the Brahman’s colour is white (śukla); the Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, xi. 6, calls the Vaiśya ‘white’ (śukla), the Rājanya ‘swarthy’ (dhūmra); and the later view makes the four castes black, yellow (pīta), red (rakta), and white respectively. See Weber, Indische Studien, 10, 10, 11; Muir, Sanskrit Texts, i², 153, etc., 176. Cf. also Av. iii. 4, 6, where Whitney, Translation of the Atharvaveda, 90, with hesitation suggests the reading varṇaiḥ, ‘castes.’

v2.c4.s7.191

³ Catvāro varṇāḥ, ‘four castes,’ Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, v. 5, 4, 9; vi. 4, 4, 13; śaudra varṇa, ‘Śūdra caste,’ ibid., vi. 4, 4, 9; Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, i. 2, 25; Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, viii. 4. Cf. also ārya varṇa opposed to Śūdra, Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, xxxiv. 5; Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa, v. 5, 17, and see Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, i. 2, 6, 7. Varṇa appears in this sense sometimes in Pāli. See Fick, Die sociale Gliederung, 22, n. 4; Rhys Davids, Buddhist India, 53.

v2.c4.s7.192

(a) Caste in the Rigveda.—The use of the term Varṇa is not, of course, conclusive for the question whether caste existed in the Rigveda. In one sense it must be admitted to have existed: the Puruṣa-sūkta, ‘hymn of man,’ in the tenth Maṇḍala⁴ clearly contemplates the division of mankind into four classes—the Brāhmaṇa, Rājanya, Vaiśya, and Śūdra. But the hymn being admittedly late,⁵ its evidence is not cogent for the bulk of the Rigveda. Zimmer⁶ has with great force combatted the view that the Rigveda was produced in a society that knew the caste system. He points out that the Brāhmaṇas⁷ show us the Vedic Indians on the Indus as unbrahminized, and not under the caste system; he argues that the Rigveda was the product of tribes living in the Indus region and the Panjab; later on a part of this people, who had wandered farther east, developed the peculiar civilization of the caste system. He adopts the arguments of Muir,⁸ derived from the study of the data of the Rigveda, viz.: that (a) the four castes appear only in the late Puruṣasūkta; (b) the term Varṇa, as shown above, covers the three highest castes of later times, and is only contrasted with Dāsa; (c) that Brāhmaṇa is rare in the Rigveda, Kṣatriya occurs seldom,⁹ Rājanya only in the Puruṣasūkta, where too, alone, Vaiśya and Śūdra are found; (d) that Brahman denotes at first ‘poet,’ ‘sage,’ and then ‘officiating priest,’ or still later a special class of priest; (e) that in some only of the passages¹⁰ where it occurs does Brahman denote a ‘priest by profession,’ while in others it denotes something peculiar to the individual, designating a person distinguished for genius or virtue, or specially chosen to receive divine inspiration.¹¹ Brāhmaṇa, on the other hand, as Muir admits,¹² already denotes a hereditary professional priesthood.