Vedic pr̥dākusānu
Lubotsky, A.M.
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Lubotsky, A. M. (2004). Vedic pr̥dākusānu. Indo-Iranian Journal, 47, 1-6. Retrieved from
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VEDIC PR´. D ¯AKUS ¯
ANU-The final prag¯atha of the Indra hymn RV 8.171reads as follows: 14. v´¯astos. pate dhruv´¯a sth´¯un.¯a- -ám. satram. somiy´¯an¯aam /
drapsó bhett´¯a pur´¯aam. ´sá´svat¯ın¯aam índro mún¯ın¯aam. sákh¯a //
15. p´r.d¯akus¯anur yajató gavés.an.a ékah. sánn abhí bh´¯uyasah. /
bh´¯urn.im á´svam. nayat tuj´¯a puró gr.bh´¯a- -índram. sómasya p¯ıtáye //
Geldner translates: ‘(14) Herr des Hauses! Eine feste Säule, ein Panzer der Somatrinker ist der Tropfen (= der Soma), aller Burgen Brecher. Indra ist der Freund der Verzückten. (15) Pr.d¯akus¯anu, der Verehrungswürdige, auf Rinder(beute) Ausziehende, der allein vielen überlegen ist, der soll das ungeduldige Roß mit raschem Griff vorführen, den Indra zum Trunk des Soma.’
In the literature, there are two interpretations of the hapax p´r.d¯akus¯anu-:
either it is taken to be the name of the sacrificer (PW, Ludwig, Geldner, Elizarenkova, Gonda 1989: 53), or an epithet of a deity (Grassmann: Soma). It seems to me that Grassmann was right in the sense that the subject of stanza 15 must be a god.2First of all, yajatá- normally applies
to deities and their attributes. The description ‘being alone, surpassing many’ is typical for Indra (cf. 5.30.4b with a similar wording), as well as the epithet gavés.an.a- ‘wishing to take possession of cows’. Further, it is hardly conceivable that a mortal can lead Indra3forward with urging grip.
In the RV, it is commonplace that the epithets of one god are applied to another, but they are normally not applied to human heroes (this problem is acknowledged by Elizarenkova in her comments to the translation). We arrive at the conclusion that p´r.d¯akus¯anu- is an epithet of a god and was
presumably characteristic enough for the audience to immediately identify him.
Whatever the interpretation, the word p´r.d¯akus¯anu- has always been
taken to mean ‘having the surface of a snake’ (PW, Grassmann: “dessen Oberfläche wie die einer Schlange ist (bunt, glänzend wie eine
1 For the structure of the hymn cf. Oldenberg, Noten II: 89.
2 Grassmann’s idea that the god is Soma is unlikely because Soma is mentioned in p¯ada
d.
3 As indicated by Gonda 1989: 53, bh´¯urn.im ´a´svam. ‘restless horse’ must refer to Indra.
Indo-Iranian Journal 47: 1–6, 2004.
2 ALEXANDER LUBOTSKY
Schlange)”), which is a rather peculiar epithet, especially when refer-ring to a god. This translation is based on the assumption that p´
r.d¯aku-/ pr.d¯ak´¯u- only means ‘snake’ in Vedic, but this is false, as we shall see
below. Furthermore, p´r.d¯aku- is never used as a generic word for a snake,
but normally refers to a snake of particular color or, rather, of a partic-ular pattern, as can be inferred from the common opposition between
tíra´scir¯aji- ‘cross-lined’ and p´r.d¯aku- snakes in the Atharvaveda, cf. AV ´S
10.4.13 = AVP 16.16.3
hat´¯as tíra´scir¯ajayo nípis.t.¯asah. p´r.d¯akavah. /
dárvim. kárikratam. ´svitrám. darbhés.uv asitám. jahi //
Slain [are] the cross-lined ones, crushed down the p´r.d¯akus; slay the whitish [snake] that always makes a hood, the black snake, in the darbhá-grasses.
2. A key to the interpretation of p´r.d¯akus¯anu- may be found in the list of
six quarters, each of them having a deity as overlord (ádhipati-), a snake as guard (raks.itár-), and forces of nature as arrows (ís.avah.). The list is found in the hymns AV ´S 3.27.1–6 and 12.3.55–60, AVP 3.24.1–6 and 17.41.5– 10, and is further used in the offering to the serpents (sarp¯ahuti), which is included in the A´svamedha ritual (MS 2.13.21, TS 5.5.10, and in the S ¯utras). The main correspondences are the following (cf. also Kuiper 1979: 56):4
East South West North Center/Nadir Zenith AV ´S Agni Indra Varun.a Soma Vis.n.u Br.haspati
asit´a- t´ıra´scir¯aji- p´r.d¯aku- svaj´a- kalm´¯as.agr¯ıva-
´svitr´a-AVP Agni Indra Varun.a Soma Vis.n.u Br.haspati
asita- tira´scir¯aji- pr.d¯aku- svaja- kalm¯as.agr¯ıva-
citra-MS Agni Indra Varun.a Soma Vis.n.u Br.haspati
asit´a- tira´sc´¯ınar¯aji- s´r.d¯agu- svaj´a- kalm´¯as.agr¯ıva-
citr´a-TS Agni Indra Varun.a Soma Vis.n.u Br.haspati
asit´a- p´r.d¯aku- t´ıra´scir¯aji- svaj´a- kalm´¯as.agr¯ıva-
´svitr´a-In the AV and in the MS, the p´r.d¯aku- is associated with Varun.a5 and the tíra´scir¯aji-6(‘cross-lined’) is associated with Indra, and only in the TS
4 I omitted the arrows as being irrelevant for our purpose. 5 MS s´
r.d¯agu- must no doubt be corrected to p´r.d¯aku- (cf. the reading of ms. M3
s´r.d¯aku-).
the link is the reverse. The lists are further practically the same,7and the
deviation of the TS is likely to be secondary.
Since p´r.d¯aku- is associated with Varun.a, it seems reasonable to assume
that the epithet p´r.d¯akus¯anu- refers to this god. Varun.a and Indra are
some-times invoked together as two kings.8Varun.a is described as a close friend of Indra and a Soma-drinker himself (e.g. RV 6.68.10,11), so that it is quite proper to ask him to bring Indra to the sacrifice, although this motif does not seem to occur elsewhere in the RV.
3.1. Why has Varun.a become associated with the p´r.d¯aku-snake? Let us
first look at the other pairs of gods and snakes. Some of the identifications may be due to color symbolism of the gods: Agni is black, Br.haspati is white. If svajá- is derived from the root svaj- ‘to embrace’, it is tempting to assume that it refers to the Indian python, i.e. ‘embracer, squeezer’. Its identification with Soma may then be due to association with the squeezing of Soma juices. The reason for associating Vis.n.u with a snake called kalmas.agr¯ıva- ‘with spots in the neck’ is unclear. Conceivably,´¯
kalm´¯as.agr¯ıva- referred to a particular type of snakes with three spots in
the neck (which I unfortunately was unable to identify), associated with the three strides of Vis.n.u. The ‘cross-lined’ snake of Indra we shall discuss a little later.
3.2. What kind of snake was p´r.d¯aku-? As Thomas Zehnder has indicated
(1999: 59), there are several passages in the Vedic literature where p´
r.d¯aku-must mean ‘panther’. For instance, the passage AV ´S 6.38.1,2 (= AVP 2.18.1,2, KS 36.15:82.8–9 and 10–11, TB 2.7.7.1) reads:
1. sim. hé viy¯aghrá utá y´¯a p´r.d¯akau tvís.ir agnaú br¯ahman.é s´¯uriye y´¯a /
índram. y´¯a dev´¯ı subhág¯a jajana¯´ s´¯a na aítu várcas¯a sam. vid¯an´¯a //
‘What brilliancy is in lion, in tiger, and what in p´r.d¯aku-, in Agni, in the Br¯ahman, what in the sun, which, the divine, the fortunate, has given birth to Indra: let it come to us, united with splendour.’
2. y´¯a hastíni dv¯ıpíni y´¯a híran.ye tvís.ir apsú gós.u y´¯a púrus.es.u /
índram. y´¯a dev´¯ı subhág¯a jajana¯´ s´¯a na aítu várcas¯a sam. vid¯an´¯a //
‘What brilliancy is in elephant, in snow leopard, what in gold, in waters, in cows, in men, which, the divine, the fortunate, etc.’
7
Possibly, citr´a- is due to a misreading of ´adhipati(h.)´svitr´o as ´adhipati´scitr´o. Note that also several of Whitney’s mss. of AV ´S 3.27.6 read citr´ah., see Whitney ad loc. In view of the passage cited above (AV ´S 10.4.13 = AVP 16.16.3), the ´svitr´a- snake probably refers to a cobra.
4 ALEXANDER LUBOTSKY
It is clear that in the list ‘lion, tiger, p´r.d¯aku-, elephant, snow leopard’,
p´r.d¯aku- is likely to mean ‘panther’ and not ‘snake’ as given by S¯ayan.a
(sarpe) and in all Western translations.
3.3. Also in the Paippal¯ada hymn addressed to Sur¯a (liquor), the meaning ‘panther’ is more probable (AVP 5.10.3):
sim. has te astu tan.d.ulo viy¯aghrah. pariyodanam /
*pr.d¯ak¯ur9astu nagnahur vr.kasya hr.di sam. srava //
‘Let your (rice) grain be a lion, the gruel a tiger; let the ferment be a panther. Flow into the wolf’s heart.’10
3.4. In a list of sacrificial victims during the A´svamedha, VS 24.33 (= MS 3.14.14: 175.7) gives ´s¯ard¯uló v´r.kah. p´r.d¯akus té manyáve ‘tiger, wolf,
p´r.d¯aku- – those [are] to Manyu (anger)’. Here, too, it seems warranted
to assume that p´r.d¯aku- means ‘panther’, although TS 5.5.14 (=
KS-A´svamedha 5.7.4) says that manyáve svajáh. ‘to Manyu – a python’. This means that in some traditions a snake was given to Manyu, which makes the identification of p´r.d¯aku- in the VS list more doubtful. It is also possible
that the TS/KS version is due to the (wrong) analysis of p´r.d¯aku- as a name
of a snake by the compilers of these texts.
3.5. The meaning ‘panther’ of p´r.d¯aku- is further supported by cognates
in other languages (cf. Sogd. pwrδnk-, MP palang, Khwar. plyk, Gr.
π´αρδαλις ‘panther’) and is given as such by the Sanskrit lexicographers
(citraka- ‘a tiger or a panther’, cf. PW s.v.). Since dv¯ıpín- ‘snow leopard’ (lit. = ‘containing islands, i.e. spots’) is mentioned next to p´r.d¯aku- in AV ´S
6.38 (cf. above), p´r.d¯aku- must refer to a different animal.11 There are three species of large cats in Western India (except for lion and tiger), viz. panther or leopard (panthera pardus), ounce or snow leopard (uncia
uncia) and cheetah or hunting leopard (acinonyx jubatus). It seems to me
that the name dv¯ıpín- suits best the spots of the snow leopard, since the skin of this animal is covered with black rings (islands).
As suggested by Zehnder (o.c.), the snake name is likely to be due to the pattern of its skin (cf. leopard snake = elaphe situla, which is a species of non-poisonous rat snakes). Most probably, p´r.d¯aku- is a poisonous snake,
as follows, for instance, from AVP 8.7.11 etaj j¯atam. pr.d¯ak¯un¯am arasam.
j¯ıvale kr.dhi ‘make this brood of the pr.d¯ak¯u-snakes sapless, o life-bringing
9 Ed. Bhattacharya prad¯ak¯ur.
10 Reference is here made to a part of the Sautr¯aman.¯ı ritual, when wolf’s hair is put into the cups of liquor (cf. ´SB 12.7.2.8). For the passage see further Lubotsky 2002: 59.
[plant]’. We cannot of course identify this snake with certainty, but a quick look through a book on the snakes of India shows that there is at least one venomous snake with a pantherine pattern, viz. Russell’s viper (Vipera
russelli), which occurs all over India (Deoras 1965: 127).
4. These considerations offer new possibilities for the analysis of p´r.d¯akus¯anu-. Since the normal meaning of s´¯anu- is ‘back’ (and not
‘surface’), the compound can be rendered as ‘having a panther on his back’, i.e. ‘wearing a panther’s skin’, which would be an appropriate epithet for great warriors and kings in various cultures (cf. Gamkrelidze-Ivanov 1984: 500ff.). In the Iliad, two heroes wear a panther’s skin (π αρδαλ´εη), cf.
K 29–31 αρδαλ´ε˛η µ`εν πρ ˜ωτα µετ ´αϕρενoν ευ’ρ `υ κ ´αλυψε, π oικ´ιλ˛η, αυ’τ `αρ ε’π`ι σ τεϕ ´ανην κεϕαλ ˜ηϕιν α’ε´ιρας ϑ´ηκατo χαλκε´ιην, δ ´oρυ δ’ε‘ι´λετo χειρ`ι παχε´ι˛η.
‘He (Menelaos) cast a spotted panther’s skin round his broad shoulders, took up his bronze helmet and put it on his head, picked up a spear in his great hand.’
15–18 o‘ι` δ’ ‘o´τε δ `η σχεδ `oνη’σ αν˜ , ε’ π ’ α’ λλ´ηλoισ ιν ι’ ´oντες, Tρωσ`ιν µ`εν πρoµ ´αχιζ εν ’Aλ´εξανδρoς ϑεoειδ ´ης,
π αρδαλ´εην ’ω´µoισ ιν ’ε´χων κα`ι καµπ ´υλα τ ´oξα κα`ι ξ´ιϕoς.
‘The two forces were about to clash, when the god-like Paris stepped out from the Trojan ranks and offered single combat. He had a panther’s skin on his shoulders, and a curved bow and a sword.’
Rustam, one of the heroes of the Persian epic, wears z¯ın-e palang ‘panther’s skin’, and in recently discovered Bactrian letters we find a personal name oρλαγ γ oζ ινo (cf. Sims-Williams 1997: 10).
In the Br¯ahman.as, a tiger’s skin (´s¯ard¯ulacarmán-) is used during the R¯ajas¯uya (‘royal consecration’) ceremony. This skin is spread in front of the Maitr¯avarun.a altar, and the king steps on it before the anointment (e.g., ´SB 5.3.5.3, 5.4.1.11). An allusion to this procedure is already found in the Atharvaveda, cf. AV ´S 4.8.4 = AVP 4.2.5
viy¯aghró ádhi vaíy¯aghre ví kramasva dí´so mah´¯ıh.
‘Being a tiger, [standing] on a tiger’s skin, stride through the great regions!’
Since Varun.a is a consecrated king par excellence (cf. TS 5.6.2.1, 3.2 varun.asavó r¯ajas´¯uyam ‘R¯ajas¯uya is the consecration of Varun.a’, ´SB
5.4.3.2 varun.asavó v´¯a es.á yád r¯ajas´¯uyam íti várun.o ’karod ‘This R¯ajas¯uya
6 ALEXANDER LUBOTSKY
5. Now we can return to the snake of Indra. If it is correct that Varun.a is associated with a snake of a pantherine pattern because Varun.a as a king wears a panther’s skin, it is natural to assume that Indra is associated with the tíra´scir¯aji- (‘cross-lined’) snake because Indra wears a tiger’s skin.12
This also makes sense from the “chronological” point of view: Varun.a as a king of the old world (cf. Kuiper 1975) wears a panther’s skin, whereas Indra being the king of the new order has a tiger’s skin on his shoulders.
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