- Pravargyagnikashvashvmedhopanisad (pravargyānikāśvamedhopaniṣad)
- Mahavir Sambharanaproksnadi (mahavīr sambharanaprokṣaṇādi)
- Mahavir Nirupanedharamadhugdohanam (mahavīr nirupaṇedharmdhugdohanaṃ)
- Pravargye Dharmabhedeprayashchitt (pravargye dharmabhedeprāyaścitta)
- Ishavasyopanisad (īśavāsyopaniṣad)
Atharvaṇa is from an obsolete word athar, fire, a priest who has to do with fire and Soma. Also, of the priest who is said to have been the first to institute the worship of fire and offer Soma and prayers.Atharvaṇa is represented as a Prajāpati, as Brahmā’s eldest son, as the first learner and earliest teacher of the Brahma-vidyā, as the author of the Atharva-veda, as identical with Aŋgiras, as the father of Agni; as evident in RV I.83.4-5
आदङ्गि॑राः प्रथ॒मं द॑धिरे॒ वय॑ इ॒द्धाग्न॑यः॒ शम्या॒ ये सु॑कृ॒त्यया॑ ।
सर्व॑म्प॒णेः सम॑विन्दन्त॒ भोज॑न॒मश्वा॑वन्तं॒ गोम॑न्त॒मा प॒शुं नरः॑ ।।
ā́d áṅgirāḥ pratʰamáṃ dadʰire váya iddʰā́gnayaḥ śámyā yé sukr̥tyáyā /
sárvam paṇéḥ sám avindanta bʰójanam áśvāvantaṃ gómantam ā́ paśúṃ náraḥ //
य॒ज्ञैरथ॑र्वा प्रथ॒मः प॒थस्त॑ते॒ ततः॒ सूर्यो॑ व्रत॒पा वे॒न आज॑नि ।
आ गा आ॑जदु॒शना॑ का॒व्यः सचा॑ य॒मस्य॑ जा॒तम॒मृतं॑ यजामहे ।।
yajñaír átʰarvā pratʰamáḥ patʰás tate tátaḥ sū́ryo vratapā́ vená ā́jani /
ā́ gā́ ājad uśánā kāvyáḥ sácā yamásya jātám amŕ̥taṃ yajāmahe //
Dadhyañč or dadhyač is compound of two words: ‘dadhi’ – to give and ‘añč’ or ‘ač’; dadhīca is also same as dadhyač; dadhyaŋ is compound of ‘dadhi’and ‘aŋ(g)’ – limb or body
‘dadhi’ – from root ‘‘dadh’ – to give; (in Ṛgveda) giving; this also means curd
‘añč’ – to bend, curve, incline, curl; to reverence (with inclined body), to honour; to tend, move, go, wander about; to request
‘ač’ – to go, move, tend; to honour; to make round or curved; to request, ask; it’s also a technical term for vowels.
‘aŋ(g)’ – limb of the body, a limb, member, the body
The meaning of dadhi – to give is also attested in Avestan tradition, for example in Yasna 7.8
“ashaya dadhãmi ushahinâi ashaone ashahe rathwe, ashaya dadhãmi berejyâi nmânyâica ashaone ashahe rathwe, ashaya dadhãmi sraoshahe ashyehe ashivatô verethrâjanô frâdat-gaêthahe rashnaosh razishtahe arshtâtasca frâdat-gaêthayå varedat-gaêthayå!”
And I offer with a complete and sacred offering to Aiwisruthrima, the life-furtherer, and to Fradat-vispam-hujyaiti, and to the Zarathushtrotema, and to the Fravashis of the saints, and to the women who have many sons, and to the Prosperous home-life which endures (without reverse) throughout the year, and to Force, the well-shaped and stately, and to the Blow which smites with victory Ahura-given, and to the Victorious Ascendency (which it secures).
So, Dadhyañč or Dadhyač or Dadhīca is the one who gives curling in reverence (honorably) on asking or request; and Dadhyaŋ the one who gives his body or limbs.
Ṛgveda tells following about Dadhyañč:
- Dadhyañč is horse-headed; and is son of Atharvaṇa:
तद्वां॑ नरा स॒नये॒ दंस॑ उ॒ग्रमा॒विष्कृ॑णोमि तन्य॒तुर्न वृ॒ष्टिम् ।
द॒ध्यङ्ह॒ यन्मध्वा॑थर्व॒णो वा॒मश्व॑स्य शी॒र्ष्णा प्र यदी॑मु॒वाच॑ ।।
tád vāṃ narā sanáye dáṃsa ugrám āvíṣ kr̥ṇomi tanyatúr ná vr̥ṣṭím /
dadʰyáṅ ha yán mádʰv ātʰarvaṇó vām áśvasya śīrṣṇā́ prá yád īm uvā́ca //
RV I.116.12
Dadʰyáṅ ātʰarvaṇó, who was fitted horse’s head taught them the sweetness of the Soma. This horsehead, was later found by Indra in Śaryaṇā́vata (RV X.8.8).
- This horse head was given to him by Aśvinikumara(s), who learnt Tvaṣta’s secret art of making Sweet Soma from Dadhyañč.
आ॑थर्व॒णाया॑श्विना दधी॒चे ऽश्व्यं॒ शिरः॒ प्रत्ऐ॑रयतम् ।
स वा॒म्मधु॒ प्र वो॑चदृता॒यन्त्वा॒ष्ट्रं यद्द॑स्रावपिक॒क्ष्यं॑ वाम् ।।
ātʰarvaṇā́yāśvinā dadʰīcé ‘śvyaṃ śíraḥ práty airayatam /
sá vām mádʰu prá vocadr̥tāyán tvāṣṭráṃ yád dasrāv apikakṣyàṃ vām //
RV I.117.22
- Secrets of preparation of Soma is described to be uncovered Dadhyaŋ and Navagva.
येना॒ नव॑ग्वो द॒ध्यङ्ङ॑पोर्णु॒ते येन॒ विप्रा॑स आपि॒रे ।
दे॒वानां॑ सु॒म्ने अ॒मृत॑स्य॒ चारु॑णो॒ येन॒ श्रवां॑स्यान॒शुः ।।
yénā návagvo dadʰyáṅṅ aporṇuté yéna víprāsa āpiré /
devā́nāṃ sumné amŕ̥tasya cā́ruṇo yéna śrávāṃsy ānaśúḥ // RV IX.108.4
- Indra drank Soma and later used dadhīca’s bones (i.e. Vajra, crafted by Tvaṣta) to slay 99 Vṛtra(s); than he went to the place called Śaryaṇā́vata to find the head of the horse.
ता अ॑स्य पृशना॒युवः॒ सोमं॑ श्रीणन्ति॒ पृश्न॑यः ।
प्रि॒या इन्द्र॑स्य धे॒नवो॒ वज्रं॑ हिन्वन्ति॒ साय॑कं॒ वस्वी॒रनु॑ स्व॒राज्य॑म् ।।
tā́ asya pr̥śanāyúvaḥ sómaṃ śrīṇanti pŕ̥śnayaḥ /
priyā́ índrasya dʰenávo vájraṃ hinvanti sā́yakaṃ vásvīr ánu svarā́jyam //
ता अ॑स्य॒ नम॑सा॒ सहः॑ सप॒र्यन्ति॒ प्रचे॑तसः ।
व्र॒तान्य॑स्य सश्चिरे पु॒रूणि॑ पू॒र्वचि॑त्तये॒ वस्वी॒रनु॑ स्व॒राज्य॑म् ।।
tā́ asya námasā sáhaḥ saparyánti prácetasaḥ /
vratā́ny asya saścire purū́ṇi pūrvácittaye vásvīr ánu svarā́jyam //
इन्द्रो॑ दधी॒चो अ॒स्थभि॑र्वृ॒त्राण्यप्र॑तिष्कुतः ।
ज॒घान॑ नव॒तीर्नव॑ ।।
índro dadʰīcó astʰábʰir vr̥trā́ṇy ápratiṣkutaḥ /
jagʰā́na navatī́r náva //
इ॒छन्नश्व॑स्य॒ यच्छिरः॒ पर्व॑ते॒ष्वप॑श्रितम् ।
तद्वि॑दच्छर्य॒णाव॑ति ।।
icʰánn áśvasya yác cʰíraḥ párvateṣv ápaśritam /
tád vidac cʰaryaṇā́vati //
RV I.84.11-14
- Indra is firm support to Atharvaṇa, and he gave cows to Trita from holds of Ahi, a serpent dragon. He also stripped Dasyus of their power and gave cow-pens to Dadhīca and Mātariśvan (the messenger of Vivasvat, who brings down the hidden fire to the Bhṛgus, that is depicted in RV. I, 93, 6).
अ॒हमिन्द्रो॒ रोधो॒ वक्षो॒ अथ॑र्वणस्त्रि॒ताय॒ गा अ॑जनय॒महे॒रधि॑ ।
अ॒हं दस्यु॑भ्यः॒ परि॑ नृ॒म्णमा द॑दे गो॒त्रा शिक्ष॑न्दधी॒चे मा॑त॒रिश्व॑ने ।।
ahám índro ródʰo vákṣo átʰarvaṇas tritā́ya gā́ ajanayam áher ádʰi /
aháṃ dásyubʰyaḥ pári nr̥mṇám ā́ dade gotrā́ śíkṣan dadʰīcé mātaríśvane // RV X.48.2
- Dadhyaŋ gave life for benefit of Indra. As evident in “Dadhyaŋ the son of Atharvaṇa is asked to hold the breath (tamu), granting compassion for Vṛtra-slayer Indra (addressed by his epithet Puraṃdara)”.
तमु॑ त्वा द॒ध्यङ्ङृषिः॑ पु॒त्र ई॑धे॒ अथ॑र्वणः ।
वृ॑त्र॒हण॑म्पुरंद॒रम् ।।
tám u tvā dadʰyáṅṅ ŕ̥ṣiḥ putrá īdʰe átʰarvaṇaḥ /
vr̥traháṇam puraṃdarám // RV VI.16.14
- There was at least one Vṛtra-slaying by Indra praised by Dadhyaŋ in tradition of Atharvaṇa and Manu.
यामथ॑र्वा॒ मनु॑ष्पि॒ता द॒ध्यङ्धिय॒मत्न॑त ।
तस्मि॒न्ब्रह्मा॑णि पू॒र्वथेन्द्र॑ उ॒क्था सम॑ग्म॒तार्च॒न्ननु॑ स्व॒राज्य॑म् ।।
yā́m átʰarvā mánuṣ pitā́ dadʰyáṅ dʰíyam átnata /
tásmin bráhmāṇi pūrvátʰéndra uktʰā́ sám agmatā́rcann ánu svarā́jyam // RV I.80.16
- Dadhyaŋ is counted as one of the ṛṣis, alongwith Aṅgiras, Priyamedha, Kaṇva, Atri and Manu.
द॒ध्यङ्ह॑ मे ज॒नुष॒म्पूर्वो॒ अङ्गि॑राः प्रि॒यमे॑धः॒ कण्वो॒ अत्रि॒र्मनु॑र्विदु॒स्ते मे॒ पूर्वे॒ मनु॑र्विदुः ।
तेषां॑ दे॒वेष्वाय॑तिर॒स्माकं॒ तेषु॒ नाभ॑यः । तेषा॑म्प॒देन॒ मह्या न॑मे गि॒रेन्द्रा॒ग्नी आ न॑मे गि॒रा ।।
dadʰyáṅ ha me janúṣam pū́rvo áṅgirāḥ priyámedʰaḥ káṇvo átrir mánur vidus té me pū́rve mánur viduḥ /
téṣāṃ devéṣv ā́yatir asmā́kaṃ téṣu nā́bʰayaḥ / téṣām padéna máhy ā́ name giréndrāgnī́ ā́ name girā́ // RV.1.139.9
Iravatham Mahadevan’s Proposed Representation of Dadhyañč in IVC
Iravatham Mahadevan in his paper “Murukan in Indus Script” made a comprehensive analysis of Indus signs 47 and 48 to arrive that sign 48 and other variations of this sign read as Murukan.
- Sign 47 and 48
[p. 462]
- Three most common IVC signs
[p. 462]
Sign 48 is one of the three most repeated signs on IVC seals as per him
“…this sign occurs almost exclusively on the votive tablets and sealings, indicating that it is a ‘religious formula’ of some kind. It is significant that in the Late Harappan Period at Kalibangan, the basic ideogram for ‘deity’ begins to appear as large-sized graffiti on pottery suggestive of its use also as a religious symbol.
It is even more significant that the basic Indus ideogram for ‘deity’ survived as a religious symbol in the Post-Harappan Era and occurs in regions far removed from the Harappan homeland:
(a) The frequent 3-sign text mentioned earlier (but with Sign 47 in the lead) is engraved on a seal found in the excavations at Vaśālī, Bihar” [p. 463]”
- Seal from Vaśālī
[p. 463]
He further mentions:
“The two defining characteristics of the Harappan deity in Sign 48 are:
(a) A skeletal body with a prominent row of ribs;
(b) The deity is seated on his haunches, body bent and contracted, with lower limbs folded and knees drawn up.” [p. 464]
And reports that this sign was also found at Kalibangan.
- Pottery Graffiti (Sign – 48)
[p. 465]
- Harappan Seal K-48 from Kalibangan
This unique seal, probably Late Harappan, found on the surface at Kalibangan, depicts a seated skeletal deity occupying the entire field [p. 465]
- Variants of Sign 48
[p. 465]
Iravatham Mahadevan links Dadhīca with Dadhikrā, a divine horse given to the Purus by Mitra and Varuṇa. Deriving the meaning of Dadhi as curd; he stated that:
“ The etymology of the two names seemingly derived from dadhi ‘curds, buttermilk’ has remained inexplicable.” [p. 468]
He then presents some example of continuation of such iconography and carries on to propose these words as Translation Loan (TL) from Dravidic, providing following words to support the etymology:
“muci (Ta.) : to grow thin, to be emaciated (DEDR 4903).
mucar, mōr (Ta.) : curds, buttermilk (DEDR 4902).
muruṭu, muruṇṭu (Ka.) : to shrink, shrivel (DEDR 4972).
moraṭa, moraṇa (Skt.): sour buttermilk (connected to Dr. mucar, mōr in DEDR 4902)” [p. 468]
And then he makes Identification of the Harappan Skeletal Deity with Dravidic *muruku, [p. 475] based on the two defining characteristics of the pictorial depictions of the Harappan deity are (a) a skeletal body, and (b) bent and contracted posture.
“(a) ‘To be shrivelled’ (DEDR 4972):
Ma. muraṭuka : to shrivel; muraḷuka: id., decay.
Ka. muraṭu, muruṭu, muruṇṭu : shrink, shrivel.
Tu. muruṇṭu: : shrunk, shrivelled.
Nk. mural : to wither.
Kur. murdnā : to be dried to excess.
(b) ‘To be contracted’ (DEDR 4977):
Ta. muri : to bend; murivu: contracting, fold; mūri (nimir): (to stretch by) winding limbs.
Ka. murige : bending, twisting; muruhu: a bend, curve, a crooked object;
Ka. muraṭu, muruṭu, muruṇṭu : to be bent or drawn together, state of being contracted.(DEDR 4972).
Tu. muri : curve, twist; murige: twist.
Pa. murg : to be bent; murgal: hunchback.
Ga. murg : to bend; murgen: bent; murug: to bend down.
Go. moorga : humpbacked.
(cf: Pkt. muria: twisted; old Mar. mured: to twist.)
The two Sanskrit words are attested in Suśruta Saṃhita and Bhāvaprakāśa respectively, which are very late texts compared to Ṛgveda.
Finally, reading this as rebus Iravatham Mahadevan arrived at following interpretation using homonyms:
(c) ‘Strong, fierce, wild, fighting’ (DEDR 4971) :
Ta. muraṭu : ill-temper, wildness, rudeness; muraṇ: fight, battle,
fierceness, strength.
Ma. muraṇ : fight, strength.
Ko. morṭ : violence (of action); moṛdn: violent man.
Tu. murle : quarrelsome man.
Te. moraṭu : rude man.
(d) ‘To destroy, kill’ (DEDR.4975) :
Ta. murukku: to destroy, kill; muruṅku : to be destroyed.
Ma. muruka: to cut.
Kol., Nk. murk: to split, break.
Kui. mrupka: to kill, murder.
Kur. muruknā: to mangle, mutilate.
Malt. murke: to cut into bits.
(e) ‘Ancient’ (DEDR. 4969) :
Ta. murañcu : to be old, ancient; mūri: antiquity.
Kol., Pa. murtaḷ : old woman.
Nk: murtal : old woman.
Go. mur- : to mature [p. 476]
And goes on to identify:
“Harappan Skeletal Deity as revealed by the pictorial depictions and linguistic data summarised above, with those of *muruku (Murukan), the primitive god of the Tamils as recorded in the earliest layers of the Caṅkam poetry.” [p. 476]
Alternative Vedic Sanskrit based explanation for the reading as Dadhyañč
Iravatham Mahadevan has done a commendable work on compiling both the Sanskrit and Dravidian works to make his point. However, the explanation is lengthy and takes multiple steps (the first and foremost, a pure Vedic myth that has no comparable story in early Dravidian mythology. Also, *muruku (Murukan), a Strong, fierce, wild, fighting deity can’t be represented as a skeletal figure. However, Dadhyañč can be represented as a skeleton; and a bent figure based on ‘añč’ / ‘čī’suffix. Note that this suffix was also used to denote the directions in Vedic Sanskrit (which bow to the land).
East: prāñč / prāčī
West: pratyañč / pratīčī
North: udañč / udīčī
South adharāñč / adharāčī / avāčī / apāčī
Before defining the Dravidic etymology, as we have already discussed that Iravatham Mahadevan suggested that there is no clear etymology for Dadhikrā and Dadhyañč. However, he did not mention that Dadhi has other meanings including “to give” and as already explained the derivation of all variations of the name Dadhyañč from Dadhi (meaning “to give”), which is more sensible. That however leaves us with the name Dadhikrā, which can easily be explained as compound of Dadhi and krā (which has root in kram).
Krā or kram has following meanings (narrowed down to the meanings in context of Ṛgveda):
“to step, walk, go, go towards, approach, to stretch over, project over, tower above”
So, Dadhikrā could mean “giving projected over” (or bestowing). Note that in RV IV.38-40 and VII.44Dadhikrā is used in sense of personification of the morning Sun or used to address the morning Sun, which also is “giving projected over”.
An alternative less favorable etymology of Dadhikrā can be Dadhi and akrā (feminine of akra – meaning a horse). However, that is ruled out as the compound of these two words should be Dadhīkrā (and the horse given to Purus is not a mare).
Revising the Skeletal figure in sign 48
Based on the analysis of Iravatham Mahadevan the sign 48 as well as seal K-48 of Kalibangan has following motifs:
- A skeletal figure (prominently featuring the ribs), reminiscent of the Vajra of Indra; and Dadhyang (Dadhyaŋ); who gave his body. Mahadevan has also demonstrated that the figure is similar to ancient Egyptian Ideogram of ribs.
- The deity is seated on his haunches, body bent and contracted, with lower limbs folded and knees drawn up; which is representation giving away respectfully bowed representing the name Dadhyanch (Dadhyañč) or Dadhyach (Dadhyač)
- A big head, which could be interpreted as head of horse; reminding the legend of Aśvaśíraḥ associated with Dadhyañč.
Mahadevan mentioned that apart from him a few other scholars identified the figure as horse or a four legged animal.
“It is interesting that some modern scholars studying the Indus Script have also interpreted Sign 48 as a ‘horse’ (Meriggi: ‘horse’ (3); Misra: ‘Dadhikrāvan’ (4)) . The Soviet scholars have also interpreted the sign as a quadruped, but as the ‘buffalo’ (presumably because there is no place for the ‘horse’ in their theory of the Dravidian origin of the Indus Civilization!) (5)
Sanskrit based interpretation of Indus sign 48 and Kalibangan seal K-48 is sufficient to interpret that the bent skeletal figure represents Dadhyanch (Dadhyañč), Dadhyach (Dadhyač), Dadhyang (Dadhyaŋ) or Dadhicha (dadhīca) and the legend of Aśvaśíraḥ with him.
Acknowledgement
Thanks to commendable research of Iravatham Mahadevan, without basis of his work the further analysis would be impossible. I highly recommend to read the reference (2) below, especially for demonstrating the continuity of skeletal figures in Indian arts (in far-fetched areas in Southern and Eastern India.
References
- For meaning of various terms:Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary, 1899
- AIRĀVATI, Felicitation volume in honour of Iravatham Mahadevan, (First Edition : August 2008), VARALAARU.COM. Murukan in Indus Script (Page 461-488)
- Meriggi P. 1934 Zur Indus-Schrift. ZDMG, 87 (NF 12). pp. 198-241. (Reference by Iravatham Mahadevan)
- Mishra, Madhusudan, 1998 From Indus to Sanskrit, Pt.III. Delhi. pp. 78-81 (Reference by Iravatham Mahadevan)
- Knorozov et al, 1981 Proto-Indica 1979. Moscow, Index of Signs, No.48 (pp. 84, 100) (Reference by Iravatham Mahadevan) https://arvindvyas64.wordpress.com/2018/12/22/representation-of-dadhyanc-myth-in-ivc/