Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s8.6

v2.c4.s8.6

Śaka-dhūma is found in one hymn of the Atharvaveda,¹ where it is celebrated as the king of the asterisms. The word seems to mean the ‘smoke of (burning) cow-dung,’ or else the ‘smoke (rising) from (fresh) cow-dung’: it may well be, as Weber² thinks, that this was deemed to be significant of the weather. Bloomfield,³ however, considers that the word is to be rendered as ‘weather prophet,’ that is, one who foretells the weather by means of the smoke of a fire. Whitney⁴ objects to this view with reason. It is not at all improbable that, as Roth⁵ believed, an asterism of some sort is meant, probably the ‘milky way.’