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Vedic Mythology c6.s8: § 58. A. Kutsa

Vedic Mythology c6.s8

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§ 58. A. Kutsa

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This warlike hero belonging to the Indra myth is mentioned nearly forty times in the RV. The name occurs only once in the plural as a designation of a family of singers who address a hymn to Indra (7, 25⁵). Kutsa is four times called by the patronymic Ārjuneya, son of Arjuna (1, 112²³ &c.). Mention is made of a son of his, whom Indra aided in fight against a Dasyu (10, 105¹¹). Kutsa is young and brilliant (1, 63³). He is a seer, who called upon Indra for aid when plunged in a pit (1, 106⁶). Kutsa rides on the same car as Indra (4, 16¹¹; 5, 29⁹), who wafts him (5, 31⁸; 8, 1¹¹) or takes him as his charioteer (2, 19⁶; 6, 20⁵). Kutsa is similar to Indra (4, 16¹⁰) and is even invoked with him in a dual compound as *Indrākutsā*, the pair being besought to come on their car (5, 31⁹).

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The foe against whom Kutsa is associated with Indra is Śuṣṇa. Indra smote Śuṣṇa for Kutsa (1, 63³. 121⁹; 4, 16¹²; 6, 26³), aided Kutsa against Śuṣṇa (1, 51⁶), subjected Śuṣṇa to him (7, 19²), or, associated with Kutsa and the gods, vanquished Śuṣṇa (5, 29⁹). Indra is invoked to fight with Kutsa against Śuṣṇa (6, 31³) or to bring Kutsa as a slayer of Śuṣṇa (1, 175⁴). Indra fights for Kutsa even against the gods (4, 30²⁻⁵) or against Gandharva (8, 1¹¹). The conflict with Śuṣṇa results in the stealing of the wheel of the sun (1, 175⁴; 6, 31³). For Kutsa pressed by his foes Indra tore off the wheel of the sun (4, 30⁴) while the other he gave to Kutsa to drive on with (5, 29¹⁰). This miracle of stopping the sun (cp. 1, 121¹⁰; 10, 138³) seems to be a transference of the myth of Indra gaining the sun for human happiness, to the reminiscence of a semi-historical battle. In winning the sun Indra is said to have made wide space for his charioteer Kutsa (6, 20⁵). He is invoked to crush the fiends with Kutsa and to roll forward the wheel of the sun (4, 16¹²). In one passage Indra is said to have subjected other foes than Śuṣṇa to Kutsa, viz. Tugra, Smadibha, and the Vetasus (10, 49⁴).

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Kutsa, whom Indra aided and loved (1, 33¹⁴), nevertheless sometimes appears as his enemy. Thus Indra struck down the heroes of Kutsa, Āyu, and Atithigva (2, 14⁷), harassed Āyu, Kutsa, and Atithigva (Vāl. 5²), delivered these three into the hand of the young king Tūrvayāṇa (1, 53¹⁰), or smote them to the earth for him (6, 18¹³). This seems to indicate the historical character of Kutsa. For a deity of light would naturally have been regarded by the Vedic poets as always a friend, and a demon of darkness always as a foe. Tradition also attributes a number of the hymns of the first and ninth book of the RV. to a seer Kutsa of the family of the Aṅgirases. Bergaigne, however, thinks that Kutsa is purely mythical, originally a form of Agni (or Soma), sometimes seeming to represent the sun. In the Naighaṇṭuka (2, 20) *kutsa* appears as one of the synonyms of thunderbolt (*vajra*).

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B. Kāvya Uśanā². The ancient seer Uśanā is mentioned eleven times in the RV. He is twice called a sage (*kavi*) and five times receives the epithet Kāvya. He is characteristically wise; for Soma uttering wisdom is compared (9, 97⁷) and, owing to his wisdom, is identified with Uśanā (9, 87³). Kāvya Uśanā established Agni as the *hotṛ* of sacrifice (8, 23¹⁷). He is said to have driven hither the cows, in the same verse in which Atharvan, the institutor of sacrifice, is referred to as having prepared the path of the sun (1, 83⁵). He was a protégé of Indra (6, 20¹¹), who rejoiced with him (1, 51¹¹) and who is represented as identifying himself with Uśanā as well as Kutsa and others (4, 26¹). He was associated with Indra when the latter, along with Kutsa, vanquished Śuṣṇa (5, 29⁹). Uśanā also fashioned for Indra the bolt for slaying Vṛtra (1, 121¹²; 5, 34² cp. 1, 51¹⁰).

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² BRV. 2, 338—41; Sp.AP. 281—7. —

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C. Several other ancient seers of a historical or semi-historical character are mentioned in the RV. Such are Gotama, Viśvāmitra, Vāmadeva, Bharadvāja and Vasiṣṭha³ to whom, or to whose families, the composition of the second, third, fourth, sixth, and seventh books are respectively attributed. Agastya is another seer mentioned several times in the RV.⁴. More or less historical warriors of the olden time are king Sudās, Purukutsa and his son Trasadasyu, as well as Divodāsa Atithigva⁵.

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³ Cp. BRV. 1, 50—2; Oldenberg, ZDMG. 42, 203 ff.; Oertel, JAOS. 18, 47—8. —

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⁴ Cp. ZDMG. 34, 589 ff.; 39, 65—8. —

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⁵ Oldenberg, ZDMG. 42, 199—247; HRI. 111. —

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Even the most mythical of the ancestors of man or of particular families treated of in this chapter seem, with perhaps two or three exceptions, to have been either actual men of bygone days or to have been projected into the past to represent the first progenitors of actually living men. The deeds attributed to them are partly historical reminiscences, partly aetiological myths, and partly poetical creations. By association with the gods they are often drawn into participation in the mythological actions, such as the winning of the sun, on which the order of nature is founded. Most of what is told about the priestly ancestors, is intended to furnish evidence of sacerdotal art and power, which are therefore treated supernaturally. It is not likely that they represent powers of nature and are faded gods come down to earth⁶.

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⁶ Cp. Gruppe, Die griechischen Culte 1, 298 ff.; ORV. 273—4.

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