In the Atharvaveda Mieko KAJIHARA 0. in Later Texts, the Brahmacarin Is

Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies Vol. 43, No. 2, March 1995

The brahmacarin~ in the Atharvaveda

Mieko KAJIHARA

0. In later texts, the brahmacarinis treated as a youth of the upper three classeswho studies the Vedas for a fixed term under his teacher, after having undergonethe rite of initiation (upanayana).Except for the single occurrenceof the word in the Rgveda (RV10. 109.5 = AV5.17.5, cf. n. 1), the oldest materials for the brahmacarinare found in the Atharva- veda (AV), where exists an independent hymn of the brahmacarin(cf. below),and occursthe wordelsewhere four times in the Saunaka (vulgate) version and seventeen times in the Paippaladaone (PS).1) 1. Among the occurrences,AV 6.108 and 6.133, the former dedicated to medha `intellectualfaculty' and the latter to mekhala'girdle', are worthy of specialexamination. AV 6. 1082)consists of a prayer for the medha,which is asked to come through the rays of the sun,s) and which the brahmacarinis said to have begun to drink first.4) The concluding verse states that the medhais caused to come by means of the daily prayer repeated three times a day.5) This daily prayer has a remote relationshipto the daily recitation of the Savitri verse by Brahminsfor the activation of their wisdom.AV 6.1336)sings of the girdle (mekhala) of the brahmacarinunder his teacher Yama.7)The third verse says that the brahmacdrinbinds a man with the girdle, taking him for Yama by means of brahman,tapas `heat' and srama 'toil'.8)In the fourth verse, to the mekhalais offereda prayer for intellectualfaculty and the power of senses,9) which reappears in an expanded form in the hymn of the brahmacarinto be examinednext. 2. In the Saunaka recension,the hymn of the brahmacarin(11. 5) is includedin the eleventh Kanda which has ten hymns mainly dedicated to the ritual elements such as odana(milk porridge) (11. 1, 3) and iucchista -1052- ( 2 ) The brahmacarinin the Atharvaveda (M. KAJIHARA) (remnant of offering) (11.7). The Paippalada version (PS 16.153-155) is slightly different not only in words and phrases but also in the order of the verses.10) The hymn opens with the verse of praising the brahmacarin, who is said to drive and maintain the earth and the sky.11")The next two verses (2-3) describe the brahmacarin's birth. The teacher, initiating the brahmacarin into himself, makes him an embryo and bears him in the belly for three nights. 12)The birth of the brahmacarin from the teacher is also stated in the upanayana passage of the Satapatha-Brahmana.13) The AV describes the scene of the birth on a cosmic scale, saying that all the gods, Fathers and other divine beings, come to see the newborn brahmacarin (2, 3d). In the fourth verse, the earth and the sky are identified with two pieces of firewood of the brahmacarin. 14)This identification is repeated in the ninth verse. The second half (4cd) refers to the same items (mekhala, srama, tapas) that are connected with him in the mekhala hymn above (6. 133.3, cf. n. 8). The fifth verse describes the rising sun as the brahmacarin: "Born in the east from the brahman, the brahmacarin, wearing gharma, 15) stood up with heat. Of him the brahmana (cf. n. 16) was born, as the most excellent brahman. And all the gods [were born] together with immortality" (purvojato brahmanobrahmacari gharmam vasanas tapasodatisthat/ tasmdj jdtam brahmanambrahma jyestham devas ca sarve amrtena sakam //). The second half (5cd) is repeated in 23cd (cf. n. 10). The next verse says that the brahmacarin, having been kindled with a piece of firewood, wearing the black-antelope-skin, consecrated, long-bearded, goes within a day from the eastern to the northern ocean. 16) The brahmana in 5c is taken up again in the tenth verse: "The one on hither side, the other on thither side of the back of the sky, the two treasures of the brahmana17) are deposited secretly. Them both the brahmacarin protects with heat. Knowing brahman, he makes it his exclusive possession" (arvag anyah paro anyo divas prsthad guhd nidhi nihitau brahmanasya/ tau raksati tapasd brahmacari tat kevalamkrnute brahma vidvan//). -1051- The brahmacarinin the Atharvaveda (M. KAJIHARA) ( 3 ) The twelfth verse describes brahmacarin's causing it to rain as his copulation with the earth: "Roaring,18) thundering,18) the ruddy , white- footed [brahmacarin] has inserted19) a great penis into the ground . The brahmacarin pours sperm over the surface, the earth . By that the four directions live." (abhikrandanstanayann arunah sitingo brhrc chepo 'anu bhumau jabhara/ brahmacari sincatisanau retah prthivyamtena jivanti pradisas catasrah//). 20) The next thirteenth verse states that the brahmacarin puts firewood on five divine existences: "On the fire, on the sun , on the moon, on the wind, on the waters, the brahmacarin puts a piece of firewood. The flames of those [pieces of firewood] move severally in the cloud. Of those [pieces of firewood], the sacrificial butter is a man, and the waters are rain" (agnau surye candramasi matarisvan brahmacary apsu samidhama dadhati / tasam arcimsi prthag abhre caranti tasam ajyam puruso varsam apah/l). The putting of firewood on the divine existences is to be compared to the doctrine of the five mystic fires (pancagnividya),21) though the gradual descent of life to the earthy world and its correspondence to each offering are not stated here. The part thereafter (14-22) consists of verses in the anustubh meter, while 1-13 and 23-26 in the tristubh. The anustubh part divides into three portions on the topics: acarya (14-16), brahmacarya (17-19), the birth of existences from the brahmacarin (20-21), and brahman (22). The portion 24cd-25 consists of a request addressed to the brahmacarin for intellectual faculty and the power of senses, which has a shorter par- allel in the mekhala hymn (6.133.4cd). 22)The subsequent verse (26) is the end of the hymn: "Settling them, the brahmacarin, heating on the back of the primeval sea (salila), stood up on the ocean. He, having bathed, brown, yellowish, shines much on the earth" (tani kalpan23)brahmacari salilasya prsthe tapo 'tisthat tapyamanahsamudre/ sa snato babhriih pingalah prthivyam bahu rocate//). 24) 3. According to the occurrences of the word in the AV, the brahmacarin is an existence that labors (vis), that is concerned with the brahman, heat (tapas), toil (srama) and the girdle (mekhala), that serves his teacher, and -1050- ( 4 ) The brahmacarin in the Atharvaveda (M. KAJIHARA)

that partakes of intellectual faculty (medha). The brahmacarin hymn (11. 5) gives him more elements: birth from his teacher, fire, firewood, skin of antelope, consecration, long beard, and mendicancy. The subject of the hymn, however, is not the brahmacarin on earth,. but the sun whose activities in the universe including its daily revolution and its causing it to rain are described as the functions of a cosmic brahmacarin. The gharma and firewood, both connected with the rising sun in the hymn, if they reflect daily offerings to the sun by the brahmacarin on earth, may suggest a background of the adcption of the brahmacarin as the motif of the solar hymn.25)

1) AV 5. 17.5=PS 9. 15.5 (=RV 10. 109.5) ' brahmacari carati vevisad visah "As a brahmacarin, a laborer moves about, laboring") ; AV 6. 108.2=PS 19. 17. 8 (cf. below) ; AV 6. 133.3 = PS 5.33.3 (cf. below) ; AV 19.19.8-PS 8. 17.8 (with brahman in the context of praising divine pairs, prthivi/mitra, antariksa/ vayu, etc.). The PS has thirteen more occurrences: PS 5.35.9 (with brahman beside prthivi/agni, antariksa/vayu, etc., cf. AV 4.39.1-8 and TS 7.5.23 without this pair) ; PS 7. 14.9 (with brahman beside vanaspati/agni, osadhi/ soma, etc., cf. TS 2.3. 10.3 and KS 11.7 brahmana instead of brahmacarin) ; PS 19. 53. 7, 8, 9 (cf. TS 7. 4. 16. 1; KSA 4. 5; TB 3. 9. 16. 2) and PS 19.54.6, 7, 8 (together with cows, horses and men) ; PS 20.41.7, 8 ; 20. 44. 1; 20. 48. 9 (the brahmacarin is asked to come; the last is used in the upanayana KausS 56.17) PS 20.49.2 (apparently concerned with the upanayana). 2) =PS 19.17.7-9 (without vv. 3, 4). The first verse of this hymn is used in the medhajanana KausS 10.20 and in the upanayana KausS 57.28. 3) tvam no medhe prathama gobhir asvebhir a gahi/ tvam sruryasya rasmibhis tvam no asi yajniya// (6. 108. 1). rasmibhis: 'Instrumentalis der Raumerstreckung,' Delbruck, Altindische Syntax, 128f. 4) medham aham prathamam brahmanvatim brahmajutam rsistutam/ prapitam brahmacaribhir devanam avase huve// (6.108.2). 5) medham sayam medham pratar medham madhyandinam pari/ medham suryasya rasmibhir vacasa vesayamahe// (6. 108. 5) 6) =PS 5.33.1-3,10, 11. The last two verses are used in the upanayana KausS 56. 1 and 57. 1. 7) Cf. AV 11.5.14a: acaryo mrtyiur varunah. 8) mrtyor aham brahmacari yad asmi niryacan bhutat purusam yamaya/ tam aham brahmana tapasa sramena- anayainam mekhalaya sinami// (6.133.3) 9) sa no mekhale matim a dhehi medham atho no dhehi tapa indriyam ca// "Put -1049- The brahmacarin in the Atharvaveda (M . KAJIHARA) ( 5 )

in us, you girdle as such, thought and intellectual faculty , then also settle in us heat and the power of sense" (6. 133. 4cd). 10) Both versions consist of 26 verses, some of which are quoted in the passage of the brahmacdrin of the Gopatha-Brahmana (GB 1.2.1-9), all from the Saunaka version except PS 16. 155.4cd discussed below: (partial quotations in blanket) 11.5. lab in GB 1.2. 1:32. 11; 11.5.6c in GB 1.2.1:32. 12; (11.5.6b in GB 1.2.1:32.13) ; 11.5. la in GB 1.2. 1:33.2 ; 11.5.23ab in GB 1.2.7:39.13 PS 16.155.4cd in GB 1.2.7:39.14; (11.5.24c in GB 1.2.8:39.16) ; (11.5.26b in GB 1.2.8:40.13); (11.5.24c in GB 1.2.8:40.14). The quotation of AV 11. 5. 23ab and PS 16. 155. 4cd in succession is problematic. The first half of the corresponding AV 11. 5. 23 and PS 16. 155. 4 is the same, while the second half of the former is identical with AV 11. 5. 5cd and that of the latter is not found in the Saunaka version. As the GB quotes all the other verses of this hymn from the Saunaka recension, it is probable that the GB quotes the orig- inal AV 11. 5. 23, which had been the same as PS 16. 155. 4., and the second half of which was lost and filled with AV 11.5.5cd. No verse is quoted in the Vaitana-Sutra nor in the Kausika-Silt ra. Two Paddhatis of the KausS prescribe the third verse for the upanayana. See Bloomfield, The Kausika Sutra of Atharva Veda (1889; rep. 1972), 155, n. 6. The verses have a few parallels: 1c=RV 10. 121. 1c; 9d=RV 1. 164.14d and PS 16.151.10d; 12d=RV 1. 164.42b . and AV 9.10.19d; 21b=AV 19.6.14d=RV 10. 90. 8d. 11) brahmacdrisnams carati rodasi ubhe tasmin devah sammanaso bhavanti/ sa dddhdra prthivim divam ca sa acariyam tapasa piparti// (11. 5. 1) For the word piparti `supports' ('fills' Bloomfield, Whitney; PS bibharti `holds') here and v. 2, 4 (with prndti), see Narten, Fs. Pagliaro (1969), 147ff. 12) dcaryu upanayamano brahmacdrinam krnute garbham antah/ tam ratris tisra udare bibharti tam jatam drastum abhisamyanti devah//(11.5.3) 13) SB 11. 5. 4. 12: tad api slokam gayanti/ acaryo garbhi bhavati hastam adhaya daksinani trttyasydm sa jayate savitrya saha brahmana iti "Concerning this, they also sing a verse: `The teacher, having laid his right hand [on his pupil], becomes pregnant. In the third [night] he is born as a brahmana together with the Savitri verse."' Cf. ApDhS 1. 1. 1. 16-18. 14) iyam samit prthivi dyaur dvitiya- utantariksam samidha prnati/ brahmacdri samidha mekhalaya srarnena lokams tapasa piparti// (11. 5. 4) 15) In 25 occurrences in AV, gharma- means `heated offering' (esp. `heated milk') except 6. 36. 1 ; 19. 28. 2, 3 `glow'. For the identification of gharma with agnihotra, cf. KS 6. 3: 52. 9 and KausB 2. 1: 3. 20: gharmo va esa pravrjyate yad agnihotram; TB 2.1.3.2. See Bodewitz, The Daily Evening and Morning Offering (1976), 67, n.10. -1048- ( 6 ) The' brahmacarin in the Atharvaveda (M. KAJIHARA) 16) brahmacary eti samidha samiddhah karsnam vasano diksito dirghasmasruh/ sa sadya eti purvasmad uttaram samudram lokant samgrbhya muhur acarikrat// (11. 5.6). For purvasmad uttaram samudram 6c (PS purvad aparam samudram), cf. AV 11. 2. 25 and PS 16. 106. 5-6: purvasmad dhamsy uttarasmint samudre. For the meaning of 6d, cf. Oldenberg, ZDMG 60 (1906), 692f. 17) For brahmana, cf. AV 7.66. 1, which according to Sayana's comm. is concerned with the refraining from study under wrong circumstances and the recovering what has been learned: tad brahmanarm pinar asman upaitu "then let the brahmana come again to us" (1d). 18) The words abhi-krand `to roar' and stan `to thunder' are used in the descrip- tion of storms in rainy season as well as exciting animals in mating season since the RV, e.g. RV 5.83.7; 7.5.7; AV 11.4.2.3.4 (cf. below) ; 4.15.6; JB 2. 2; JUB 2. 2. 9. See Hoffmann, Aufsatze zur Indoiranistik I, (1975), 181, n. 1, 2. 19) For the special meaning of the verb anu-bhr in sexual context, see Jamison, Acta Orientalia 42 (1981), 55-63 (esp. 59). 20) This verse is very similar to the following verse of the prana hymn: yat prang stanayitnuna- abhikrandaty osadhih/ pra viyante garbhan dadhate 'tho bahvir vi jdyante// "When the prana roars with thunder to the plants, they are paired, and put embryos [in themselves]. Then many [plants] are born vari- ously" (11.4.3). Cf. also AV 11.4.2, 4, 5, 6,17. 21) JB 1.45; SB 14.9. 1. 12ff. ; BAU 6.2.9ff . ; ChU 5. 4ff. ; cf. SB 11.6.2.6ff. 22) pranapanau janayann ad viyanam vacam mano hrdayam brahma medham// caksuh srotram yaso asmasu dhehiy annam reto lohitam udaram// "Generating prana, apdna and then vyana, speech, mind, heart, brahman, intellectual faculty, put in us sight, hearing, glory, food, sperm, blood and belly" (11.5.24cd-- 25) 23) For kalpan, cf. Goto, Die „I. Prasentklasse" im Vedischen, 113, n.97. 24) Cf. SB 11. 3. 3.7 : yatha ha va agnih samiddho rocata evam ha vai sa snatva rotate ya evam vidvan brahmacaryam carati// "As the fire shines when kindled, so he who, knowing this, carries on the brahmacarya shines, after having bathed." Cf. ParGS 2.7.6. 25) Bloomfield rightly interprets the whole of the hymn as the glorification of the sun, Hymns of the Atharva-Veda (1897; rep. 1964), 626, but he makes little account of the connection of the brahmacarin to the sun ("The sun ... is here for the nonce imagined as a Brahmacarin" ibid.).

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