Vedic Mythology c7.s2: § 60. The Horse. — A. Dadhikrā

Vedic Mythology c7.s2

Language: English

§ 60. The Horse. — A. Dadhikrā

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Besides the celestial horses which draw the cars of the gods, various individual divine steeds occur in Vedic mythology. One of the most notable of these is Dadhikrā, who is celebrated in four rather late² hymns of the RV. (4, 38—40; 7, 44). The name is mentioned there twelve times, interchanging with the extended form Dadhikrāvan, which is found ten times. The name hardly ever occurs in other Vedic texts. Dadhikrā is so characteristically a steed that the word is given in the Nighaṇṭuka (1, 14) as a synonym of horse. He is swift (4, 38²· ⁹. 39¹), being the first steed at the head of chariots (7, 44⁴) and a vanquisher of chariots (*rathatur*), who speeds like the wind (4, 38³). The people praise his swiftness and every Pūru praises him as he runs on a precipice as it were (ib. ⁹·³). He bounds along the curves of the paths (4, 40⁴). He is also conceived as winged. For he is called bird-like, his wing being compared with that of a bird and of a speeding eagle (4, 40²· ³). He is likened to a swooping eagle and even directly called an eagle (4, 38⁵· ²). In one passage (4, 40⁵) he is spoken of as the swan (*haṃsa*) dwelling in light, as well as the Vasu in the air, the priest at the altar, the guest in the house — all epithets appropriate to various forms of Agni.

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Dadhikrā is a hero, smites the Dasyus, and is victorious (4, 38¹⁻³· ⁷). His adversaries fear him as the thunder of heaven, when he fights against a thousand; he wins booty in combats and the tribes cry after him in contests (ib. ⁸· ⁵· ⁴). Making himself (*kṛṇvāna*) a garland, he tosses the dust and scatters it from his brows (ib. ⁶· ⁷). He belongs to all the tribes, pervades the five tribes with his power, as Sūrya the waters with his light, and observes the assemblies (ib. ²· ¹⁰· ⁴). Mitra-Varuṇa gave him, the victorious steed, like shining Agni, to the Pūrus (4, 39² cp. 38¹· ²); they gave us the horse Dadhikrā as a blessing for the mortal (ib. ⁵).

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The steed Dadhikrāvan is praised when Agni is kindled at the dawning of Uṣas (4, 39³). He is invoked with the Dawns (ib.¹. 40¹), who are prayed to turn to the sacrifice like Dadhikrāvan (7, 41⁶). He is regularly invoked with Uṣas, nearly as often with Agni, less frequently with the Aśvins and Sūrya, sometimes with other deities also (3, 20¹· ⁵; 7, 44¹⁻⁴; 10, 101¹); but Dadhikrā is invoked first (7, 44¹).

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The etymological meaning, being uncertain³, cannot be said to throw any additional light on the original nature of Dadhikrā. The second part of the compound may be a by-form of the root *kṛ*, ‘to scatter’, and the word would then mean ‘scattering curdled milk’, in allusion to the dew or rime appearing at sunrise, according to Roth and Grassmann⁴, who both think that Dadhikrā represents in the form of a steed the circling ball of the sun. This view is supported by the fact that the deity with whom Dadhikrā is most closely connected is Uṣas, that the sun is often conceived as a steed or bird (p. 31) and that he is sometimes regarded as warlike (ib.). The statement that Dadhikrā was given by Mitra and Varuṇa might be connected with the notion of the sun being the eye of those deities. Bergaigne thinks that the name of Dadhikrā refers rather to lightning, but that he represents Agni in general, including his solar and lightning forms⁵. Ludwig⁶, Pischel⁷, v. Bradke⁸, and Oldenberg⁹, however, agree in the opinion that Dadhikrā was not a deity, but an actual horse, famous as a racer or charger, which received divine honours.

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It has already been remarked (p. 142) that Dadhyañc is allied to Dadhikrā in name, and possibly in nature, since he is spoken of as having a horse’s head.

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B. Tārkṣya. Nearly related to Dadhikrā is Tārkṣya, whose name is mentioned only twice in the RV. (1, 89⁶; 10, 178¹). One late hymn, consisting of three stanzas (10, 178), is devoted to his praise. He is there described as a god-impelled mighty steed (*vājin*), a vanquisher of chariots (cp. 6, 44⁴), swift, and speeding to battle. He is invoked as a gift of Indra. In the identical words applied to Dadhikrā (4, 38¹⁰), he is said to have pervaded the five tribes with his power, as Sūrya the waters with his light. That he was primarily conceived as a steed is shown (v. ²; 1, 89⁶) by his epithet *ariṣṭanemi*, ‘whose fellies are intact’ (which in VS. 15, 18 appears as an independent name beside Tārkṣya and Garuḍa). In the Naighaṇṭuka (1, 14) the word *tārkṣya* occurs as a synonym of ‘horse’. In one or two later Vedic texts Tārkṣya is, however, referred to as a bird; and in the Epic and subsequent literature, he is identical with the swift bird Garuḍa, the vehicle of Viṣṇu. It seems on the whole probable that Tārkṣya originally represented the sun in the form of a divine steed¹⁰. The word seems to be derived from Tṛkṣi, the name of a man, with the patronymic Trāsadasyava, once mentioned in the RV. (8, 22⁷). This derivation leads Foy¹¹ to believe that Tārkṣya was an actual race horse (like Dadhikrā), belonging to Tṛkṣi of the family of Trasadasyu.

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C. Paidva. Another mythical steed is that which the Aśvins are said to have brought to Pedu (1, 119¹⁰; 7, 71⁵) and which is therefore called Paidva (1, 116⁶; 9, 88⁴). The object of the gift was to replace an inferior horse, as may be inferred from the description of Pedu as *aghāśva*, ‘he who has a bad horse’ (1, 116⁶). This steed is several times spoken of as ‘white’, *śveta* (1, 116⁶, &c.). He is praiseworthy (1, 119¹⁰; 10, 39¹⁰; cp. 4, 38²) and is to be invoked (1, 116⁶) by men, like Bhaga (10, 39¹⁰). He is compared with Indra (1, 119¹⁰) and is called a ‘dragon-slayer’, *ahihan* (1, 117⁹. 118⁹ cp. 9, 88⁴), an epithet otherwise peculiar to Indra. He is a conqueror invincible in battles, seeking heaven (1, 119¹⁰). Here again the evidence, as far as it goes, appears to favour the interpretation of the steed of Pedu as symbolical of the sun¹².

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D. Etaśa. The word *etaśa*, which occurs a few times as an adjective meaning ‘swift’, more frequently signifies ‘steed’ in the RV. In the plural it designates the horses of the sun (7, 62²; 10, 37³. 49⁷). It occurs about a dozen times as a proper name in the singular, always connected with the sun, often with reference to the wheel of the sun. Savitṛ is the steed (*etaśa*) who measured out the terrestrial regions (5, 81³). The swift god Etaśa draws the bright form of the sun (7, 66¹⁴). Yoked to the pole, Etaśa moves the wheel of the sun (7, 63²); he brought the wheel of the sun (1, 121¹³; 5, 31¹¹). Indra urged on the steed (*etaśa*) of the sun (8, 1¹¹ cp. 9, 63⁸). Indra helped Etaśa contending in a race with Sūrya (1, 61¹⁵). It may be gathered from stray references to this mythical contest, that Etaśa being at first behind takes up the lost wheel of the sun and fixes it to the car of Sūrya; he has now gained the lead, and in the end Sūrya seems to concede to him the place of honour before his own car¹³. It appears to be impossible to suggest any satisfactory interpretation of this myth. It can, however, hardly be doubted that Etaśa represents the steed of the sun.

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⁷ PVS. 1, 124; cp. Hillebrandt, Vedainterpretation 17—18.

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⁸ ZDMG. 42, 447—9. 462—3.

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¹¹ KZ. 34, 366—7.

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¹³ BRV. 2, 330 — 3; ORV. 169 f.; cp. PVS. 1, 42; GVS. 2, 161 ff.

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E. The Horse symbolical of Sun and Fire. That the horse is symbolical of the sun, is indicated by a passage of the RV. in which Dawn is said to lead a white steed (7, 77³), and is suggested by another (1, 163²) in which the sacrificial steed is said to have been fashioned by the gods out of the sun¹⁴. In a particular form of the Soma ritual, the horse also appears to be symbolical of the sun¹⁵.

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² E. V. Arnold, KZ. 34, 303.

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³ Cp. Wackernagel, Altind. Gr. p. 15.

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¹⁴ Cp. AB. 6, 35 &c.; KHF. 52; Weber, IS. 13, 247, n. 3; Die Nakṣatra 2, 270.

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¹⁵ ORV. 81.

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Agni, the swift and agile god, is often, as has been shown (p. 89), spoken of as a steed. In the ritual the horse is symbolical of Agni. A horse is stationed so as to look at the place where fire is produced by friction. When the fire is borne towards the east, it is deposited in the track of the horse which goes in front¹⁶. In the ceremony of piling the fire-altar, the horse is addressed with the verse: 'In heaven is thy highest birth, in air thy navel, on earth thy home' (VS. 11, 12). Such a rite is explained in the ŚB. as bringing Agni together with himself¹⁷. The same Brāhmaṇa speaks of lightning as a horse descended from the waters or the clouds (ŚB. 5, 1, 4⁵; 7, 5, 2¹⁸).

Linked texts (4)

Ṛgvedasaṃhitā — Sanskrit
Vājasaneyisaṃhitā — Sanskrit
Aitareyabrāhmaṇa — Mahidāsa Aitareya, Sanskrit
Śatapathabrāhmaṇa — Yājñavalkya & Śāṇḍilya (Vedic teacher), Sanskrit