flowers in rigveda

7/29/2019 flowers in rigveda

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ENRICA GARZILLI

THE FLOWERS OF R.

GVEDA HYMNS: LOTUS IN V.78.7, X.184.2,X.107.10, VI.16.13, AND VII.33.11, VI.61.2, VIII.1.33, X.142.8

SUMMARY

In Vedic literature there are different names meaning the lotus or its parts.1

Here, I will limit myself to the study of the lotus in the R. gveda.2

In the R. gveda the lotus or its parts are mentioned eight times, and intwo varieties, known to us as blue and white (only in VI.61.2 bsa- can

be the fibres of any kind of lotus-root). Though its occurrences are few innumber,3 it is very interesting to note what kind of word meaning lotus

Images are taken from P. Alpinus, 1735 (see ref.). Courtesy of the Biblioteca Mozzi-Borgetti, Macerata, Italy.

1 I dedicate this paper to my daughter Andrea Rachele Fiore, the most precious flower inthe garden of the world. The short version of this paper was read at the 2002 Prague Inter-national Workshop on Nature in Indian Literatures and Art (Charles U., Czech Republic),which was dedicated to the memory of Prof. Bernhard Klver.

I should like to thank Daniele Maggi (U. of Macerata, Italy) for reading this paper.I should like to thank Michael Witzel (Harvard U., USA), whose brilliant RV lectures in

19941996 opened for me the door to the Vedic world.2 Lotus in post-R. gvedic literature, and in epics and Puran. a-s will be the object of my

next studies. On lotus, see Rau 1954, who gives no less than 101 names for the lotus in

kavya texts. On the white lotus and its supposed anti-aphrodisiac properties in ancientGreek, Latin and Indian literatures, see Kirfel 1958. On the lotus in Indian medicine, seeMitra and Kapoor 1976. On lotus in Tantric literature, and its various names, see Garzilli2000. Lienhard 2000: 397f. points out that Sanskrit, Middle Indic and other SA languagescoined many terms for lotus, especially in poetic speech, in order to offer the listener orreader, generally educated and fastidious, a measure of variety (I think that a variety ofterms may have also been necessary for metric purposes); Lienhard underlines that the twomain distinctions in lotus names are due to color and time when the flower blossoms.Lotus as pankaja or born from mud can symbolize the nirvan. a born from sam. sara(which is a concept common also to Japan). On the textual recurrence of pankaja and

pankajin, respectively the plant and the flower of the Nelumbo nucifera, see Rau 1954:509 (differently PW, s.v., Wasserrose, Nelumbium speciosum, and specifically not the plantbut the flower, which closes up in the evening).

3

In Macdonell and Keith, Vedic Index of Names and Subjects 1995; II: 587588, arelisted seventy-eight plants and flowers (but grass and trees), including the lotus or its parts(the lotus as a whole, its blossom, its flower, its fibre, and its shoot), and the white water lily(kumuda or Nymphaea esculenta), which is sometimes confused with the lotus (cf. Garzilli2000: 2f.; in kavya, Rau 1954: 511f., and Lienhard 2000: 397ff.).

Indo-Iranian Journal 46: 293314, 2003. 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.


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294 ENRICA GARZILLI

Figure 1. Flower ofLotus gyptia.

has been used, in what occurrences the flower has been mentioned, andthe semantic connections between the lotus and the other elements of thehymn. Through the analysis of these elements, I will attempt to clarify theinterpretation of the stanzas themselves. I will also indicate the importanceand the semantic use of lotus.

PUS. KARN. I- IN RV V.78.7 AND X.107.10, PS. KARA-SRAJ- IN RVX.184.2, AND PS. KARA- IN RV VII.33.11 AND RV VI.16.13

It is remarkable that the study of lotus in RV, and in later Vedic literature,has so far been neglected and, to my knowledge, there are neither old normodern studies on it.

The first occurrence of the lotus that I will examine is in RV V.78.7,where the lake is called pus. karn. - (from ps. kara-) or lotus-pond.

4 As wewill see in RV VII.33.11 and VI.16.13 (and later Vedic literature), ps. kara-is the name of the blue lotus flower.5 RV V.78.7 and RV X.184.2 share

4 PW, s.v. In Buddhacarita 2.12; Saundarananda 1.50; Avimaraka 3.15; Mr. cchakat. ikan. 8,3; n. 8,4 is also called pus. karin. (cf. Rau 1954: 510).

5 PW, s.v. It should be the variety Nelumbium Speciosum or the Nympha Nelumbo.EWA II, 12: 152 Lotosblte.


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several elements: most probably they are late additions, their contents aresemantically connected, and the Asvins are invoked in both hymns (V.78being the last of a series of six hymns dedicated to them). In st. 184.2 the

Twin Gods are defined as ps. kara-sraj- or lotus-crowned.In V.78.7 the position occupied as the third members of respectively the1st and the 3rd pada underlines this inner connection between pus. karn. -and grbha-:

ytha vatah. pus. karn. m. samingyati sarvtah./eva te grbha ejatu niratu dasamasyah. //

6 RV V.78.7

As the wind ruffles7 a pond of lotuses on every side,so may stir8 in your womb the baby unborn, so may the ten-month9 baby come out.

This stanza and the two following ones are called by Sayan. a thegarbhasr avin. yopanis. ad, the doctrine of child-birth.

10

In this hymn, Atri descended into the pit and invoked the Asvins.The tree opened itself like the womb of a parturient woman, whenAtri (Saptavadhri) invoked the Asvins to set him free (sts. 15),11 and

6 On RV V.78 see Oldenberg 1909: I: 364; Lommel 1955: 4849; EVP 16: 42; Alsdorf1971 (1972): 17; Doniger OFlaherthy 1973: 5764; Gonda 1975: 186 and fn. 29; Monco1999: 6062; Silburn 1955: 23 fn. 4 (on st. 6); Venkatasubbbiah 1967: 17 (on st. 8); Falk1986: 9394 (sts. 59).

7 The blowing of the wind from all sites is said samingayati sarvatah. . Maggi 2001:316ff. and fn. 10 makes interesting notations on ingayati (which occurs in RV I.164.4546,object of Maggis investigation, and two more hymns), which in the later Pratisakhya alsoindicates dividing the members of compounds between them or morphemes from stems.Therefore, ingayati means also to divide the language and is a constitutive element of a

metalinguistic pattern through which the division of language is meant.8 Stirring the baby is the 3rd stage of the embryo, which in the 1st stage is justconceived, in the 2nd is unmoving, and in the 3rd is moving (cf. RV X.162.3). Maggi 2001:316, fn. 10 notes that ingita- means the act of moving as das Zucken, die Bewegungenverschiedener Theile des Krpers, als Verrther des innern Menschen; Gebrde (quotingPW) in post-Vedic literature since epics and Manavadharmasastra; ingita- semanticallyalso includes an aspect of sign, which is evident in Prakrit im. gia, meaning sign, and thesign par excellence is word.

9 The baby is dasamasyah. since the pregnancy months were considered to be ten (theten-month pregnancy makes sense if we think in terms of a lunar calendar of 28 daysmonthly) or, sometimes, a year (see RV X.184.3). Cf. MacDonell and Keith 1995: II, 159and fns. 2021, quoting Zimmer (Altindisches Leben, Die Kultur der vedischen Arier nachden Sam. hita, Berlin) 1879: 365, 366.

10 Cf. Griffith 1973: 278 fn. 9.11 According to Sayan. a, the sons of the brothers of Atri (Saptavadhri) prevented him

from having intercourse with his wife by shutting him up every night in a large basket andletting him out in the morning. The R. s.i prayed to the Asvins who came to help him andenabled him to get out of his cage during the night.


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the gods with their magic powers rent up the tree and shattered it(st. 6).12

The last three stanzas (79) can be read as verses of auspicious

delivery.13

Like the wind blowing from every site on a pond of lotusesmakes them move, the baby should move and descend after the pregnancy.Like the wind, the wood and the sea are agitated, also the ten-month babyshould descend (from the uterus) together with the uterine membranes(st. 8). May the boy who has reposed for ten months in the womb of hismother come forth alive, unharmed and living from a living mother (st. 9).

Renou rightly defines V.78 as a hymne magique de caractre trsspcial, o il a t toujours reconnu une addition tardive14 and recognizesfor the whole group of hymns 7378 (all dedicated to the Asvins) a finmagique.15

RV V.78.5-8 are considered by Oldenberg as additions to the RV;16 st. 7looks like an Atharva-like sorcery stanza (as such, later than RV stanzas).

In st. 7 the comparison of the (male) foetus is naturalistic: like the windagitates the pond of lotuses, the womb should be stimulated and the fruitof conception come forth; on its side, something extremely precious as a(possibly male) foetus17 is in comparison with a pool of lotuses. The ovalshape of the bud of the lotus reminds of the foetus itself in fact one couldexpect the word an. d. kam- (bearing eggs)

18 instead of ps. kara- and,like a bud opening the delicate sepals and disclosing to the sun, the foetusopens the body of the mother and discloses to light, to visible life.

grbham. dhehi sinv ali grbham. dhehi sarasvati/grbham. te asvnau devav a dhattam ps. karasraja//

19 RV X.184.2

GRV: II: 83 fn. 5 distinguishes between the two legends, saving Atri from the R. bsa cleftand Saptavadhri from being caught in a split tree.12 While the connections between 16 and 79 are not clear, Oldenberg 1888: 199 and

fn. 1 underlines the connections between sts. 4 and 6 and, respectevely, 7 and 9. Id.: 335fn. 1. On the connections, cf. Doniger OFlaherty 1981: 310.

13 GRV: for good birth. Cf. RV X.162 to protect the embryo.14 Renou 1940: 19 resorts to Oldenberg (see fn. 16). According to Renou, the hymn is

late and it is also evident from the meaning ofyonih. at st. 5. On the magic character of thehymn, see also Alsdorf 1971 (1972): 17; Doniger OFlaherthy 1972: 5764. Maggi 2001:316 fn. 10: AVP III.14.7 could be an interpretatio obscaena of RV V.78.7.

15 EVP 16: 42.16 Cf. Oldenberg 1888: 199 and fn. 1.17 On padmagarbha whose embryo is the lotus cf. Lienhard 2000: 398 and fn. 8.18 Which is a term found in the AV IV.34.5 and V.17.16 denoting an edible plant, appar-

ently with fruit or leaves of egg shape, akin to the lotus. Moreover, the 1st passage of theAVP has paun. d. arka- in its place (on pun. d. arka- see later stanzas in this paper).

19 On RV X.184 see Donati 1894; Oldenberg 1912: 365; EVP 16: 177; DonigerOFlaherty 1981: 281, 320 (Bibl.); Monco 1999: 63, and Gonda 1970: 144 fn. 39 (st. 1).


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Sinvali, place the embryo, place the embryo Sarasvat!May the Twin Asvins, the lotus-crowned gods, place in you the embryo.

The whole three stanza hymn is an invocation to different gods to preparethe womb of the mother, shape her forms, shed the seed, and place theembryo in the woman (st. 1). Sinvali, a lunar goddess should set theembryo and the Asvins should place it in the womb of the mother (st. 2).The hymn is an invocation to the Asvins for the embryo to be conceivedand brought forth in the tenth month (st. 3); it is clearly a fertility hymn.Stanzas 12 are incorporated in AV V.25, which is a charm to accompanythe garbhadhana ceremony.

grbha- means the womb of the mother and her fruit, the embryo.20

Not only the content of the hymn, but also the reiteration ofgrbha- as thefirst element of each short sentence of invocation to the three pregnancygods, Sinvali, Sarasvat and the Asvins, shows that it is the most importantelement of this stanza.

A garland of lotuses is said to adorn the head of the ever young, everbeautiful Asvins (RV III.58.7, RV VI.62.4, VII.67.10)21 because the lotuswas appreciated, also in the RV (as it will be clear in the stanzas below) forits beauty. Lotus in Asia seemed a sign of nobility as well. For example, thePersepolis sculptures show dignitaries of the surrounding countries withlotus buds or flowers in their hands when greeting the great king Darius(the lotus was considered a ceremonial flower). Similarly, in the Royal-Reception-Relief the Great king seats on the throne, and holds sceptreand lotus, while receiving the delegations of the Empire.22 Therefore, thelotus was undoubtedly a sign of royalty.

As we have said, the three sts. V.78.7-9 and the three sts. X.184.1-3 are similar, and they are both late additions.23 Both sets of stanzashave similar contents: the woman and her ten month-pregnancy (womanwho should end up happily her pregnancy in the first hymn, and shouldbecome pregnant in the second); the embryo (grbha-); the associationwith the Asvins, the doctors of human beings (and of gods); and womanand embryo. Finally, the high esteem of the lotus, referred to by the wordps. kara- in both stanzas V.78.7 and X.184.2, is due to its explicit associ-ation to the embryo, its beauty and, above all, because the lotus decoratesthe heads of the gods.

20 Cf. RV I.164.33, I.164.52, etc. See PW, s.v. EWA I, 6: 474 Mutterleib, Leibesfrucht,Embryo, Neugeborenes.

21 Cf. Oberlies 1998: 180.22 Walser 47, 58 68, 71, 72 et passim.23 RV X.184 is included in the most recent man. d. ala of the whole RV (EVP 2: 151).


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Therefore, the lotus is closely associated with the embryo, the centralelement of both stanzas V.78.7 and X.184.2. This looks evident to mealso from another important, though not explicit, connection: waters (p-,

in RV always pl.). Like the lotus, which grows in river or ponds water,the embryo grows in the amniotic liquid of the uterus, called in manylanguages waters.24 In RV I.164.52 is invoked the divinity, which is alsodefined as womb/embryo of waters (apam. grbham. . . . srasvantam).As we will see, in RV VI.61.2 the lotus is also connected to the riverSarasvat.

Waters are the most motherly physicians (RV VI.50.7), waters areinvoked to bring us health and strength (RV X.9.4), they abound in medi-cines to keep the body safe from harm (RV I.23.21), within them dwellall healing balms (X.9.6), and, above all, waters are invoked to give usprocreant strength, goddesses as they are for our aid and our bliss (RVX.9.3). Waters are invoked especially in RV I.23.16ff., III.33, VI.50.7,

VII.47 and 49, X.30, and X.75, and more in general the curative powerof waters for body and soul25 is found in all ritual Vedic (and Tantric)literature, as in the snana ritual. Purificatory power and sacrality of waters,also of rivers waters, makes the water flower par excellence, the lotus,sacralized. In V.78.7 the lotus is connected to the sacrality of waters assuch, and like waters bearing and nourishing the embryo.

The Asvins, the physicians of the gods and of the human beings,26

the twin gods we found in both hymns, put the healing virtue in waters,in trees, and in the growing plants (RV VIII.9.5), and they are invokedto give seed and offspring (RVIII.9.11). They give human beings health(VIII.18.8), since they are strong and well-skilled in the healing arts

(VIII.75.1), and they are lords and possessors of ample wealth (VIII.74.3,VIII.75.3).Therefore, the lotus is associated with waters bringing health and

offspring, and waters are associated with the Asvins, who in their turn areassociated with the pregnant or delivering woman, as a later Atharvavedahymn apparently confirms. In stanza XIV.1.35 of a marriage hymn, theAsvins are invoked to help a woman (obviously, to get pregnant):

24 In Italian the first moment of a babys delivery, when the amniotic liquid comes forth,is said when waters break out, and in English her [= mothers] water broke.

25 Sylvain Levi, in his letter to the Rajguru of Nepal Hem Raj Sharma, talking abouttheir study meetings at the library, which was nearby the Pokharini (= pus. karin. ) pond,calls the site prabodhanam. bu, the water of awakening. See Garzilli 2001: 145.

26 They heal the sacrifice of the gods: see Witzel 1987.


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yc ca vrco aks. s. u srayam. ca ydahitam/yd gos. v asvina vrcas tnemam. vrcasavatam//AV XIV.1.35

And what splendour is in dice of gambling, what has been placed in liquor,

what is in cows, with that splendour, O Asvins, help this (woman)!

Though the medicinal proprieties of the lotus were well known, in RVX.97, praising herbs and plants, the flower is not listed. However, thelotus, and especially the variety Nelumbo nucifera, in Ayurvedic medicineis commonly considered a diuretic plant; its flower, seed, leaf and root areprescribed in the treatment of piles, leprosy, vomiting, fever, dysentery, andespecially in the treatment of the urinary tract infections: again, a waterydisease.27

Like in V.78.7, again in X.107.10 the word pus. karn. - occurs, though nobirth is connected to it. This hymn eulogizes daks. in. a, the fee or honora-rium given by the institutors of the sacrifices to the performing priests. Theyajamana-s who liberally give the honorarium are the deified subjects ofthe hymn, and the goods they receive as recompense are depicted.28 As areward for the giver there are also a cow, a bride, wine, and the conquest ofthose who unprovoked attacked him (st. 9), a maiden who adorns herself,and a dwelling adorned so that it looks like a pond of lotuses, which looksas beautiful as the gods dwelling (st. 10).

bhojayasvam. sm mr.janty asm bhojayaste kany`a smbhamana/

bhojsyedm pus. karn. va vs. ma pris. kr. tam. devamanva citrm//29 RV X.107.10

For the one who causes enjoyment they deck out a fleet horse, for the one who causes enjoy-ment there is a maiden adorned, to the one who causes enjoyment belongs this dwellingadorned so that it looks like a pond of lotuses, beautiful like the dwelling of gods.

27 Alpinus 1735: Dissertatio de Laserpitio, et de Loto gyptia: 161165 he under-lines the healing virtues of the lotus. Ibid.: Ch. 34: the lotus was present also in Venetianmarshes, and was known since Theophrastus and Plinius for its curative virtues, and espe-cially in the treatment of inflammations and female problems. Again, the lotus is associatedwith fertility and pregnancy. The lotus could be also used in medicine among tribals ofIndia, since not all the local uses of plants are known or recorded in literature. See Schrder1985: 427440. On the uses of lotus in Indian medicine, see Mitra and Kapoor 1976.

28 Pinault 19992000: 439 rightly defines the hymn as dogmatique.29 On the hymn, see Bergaigne 1895: 108111; Oldenberg 1912: 330-331; Hillebrandt

1913: 145; GRV: 196198; EVP 16: 159160; Gonda 1978: 7879; Maurer 1986: 299301; Muir 2000 (1st ed. 1879): 192193 (sts. 8ff.); Oguib enine 1988: 6465 (st. 30).


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The house of the giver is so beautifully adorned that it looks like a pool oflotuses; ps. kara- is what links the three elements house of the giver, pondand house of gods and makes them beautiful. Since in the RV the lotus

has not only a symbolic meaning here again it is connected to two termshighly esteemed, the liberal giver and the gods, and to a highly esteemedact such as offering a rich daks. in. a but it was appreciated as the summumbonum in terms of natural beauty, so much that while to the adorned maidis dedicated only one pada (bhoja yaste kany`a s. mbhamana), the wholesecond half stanza is built around pus. karn. -, the pond of lotuses. Theimage of a pond of lotuses is not a merely aesthetic device, since it isin connection with a divine reward to the generous giver of daks. in. a, andhis house ornamented like a pond of lotuses, or the pond of lotuses itself,are so beautiful to be compared with gods abode.

In RV VI.16.13 ps. kara-, the lotus is again associated with birth, this timewith the birth of Agni. Sts. V.II.33.11 and VI.16.13 are both connectedto birth, and in both the lotus is the receptacle of the newly born, as if itwere a womb:30 on it the gods deposited Vasis.t.ha, from it, by churning, theAtharvan extracted the head of Agni.

Agni is the god present in the waters, he is the child of waters, andthrough them he enters plants life, spilling his seed in waters, and throughwaters he penetrates the earth and comes to men as terrestrial fire. It isby rubbing the wood of trees that Agni manifests itself in this phenomenalworld. All trees take their nourishment from water, therefore not only Agni

enters the wood in his embodiment as water, but, as it appears from thisstanza, he also enters the plant par excellence growing in water, connectedto birth, ornating the head of gods, and sacralized: the lotus.31

tvam agne ps. karad dhy tharva nramanthata/murdhn vsvasya vaghtah. //

32 RV VI.16.13

30 In its turn, the shape of an embryo can resemble a lotus (on padmagarbha whoseembryo is a lotus see above fn. 17).

31 GRV, Lotusblume; Griffith 1973: 293 fn. 13 writes that in this stanza lotus-floweris apparently a figurative expression for heaven; Renou translates du (receptacle en formede) lotus (EVP 16: 49). On atharvan- as pran. a, vital air or life, and pus. kara- as water,see Wilson 1977 (1850): 409 fn. 4: the st. would mean the vital air extracted fire fromwater.

32 On the hymn, Oldenberg 1909: 377; id. 1967: I: 773775; EVP 13: 48136;Oguibenine 1988: 14 fn. 3 (st. 47); Roesler 1997: 4142 (on sts. 3536; on 35ab Agni[. . .] leuchtet bei seiner Geburt auf).


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O Agni, the Atharvan brought you forth, by churning, from the lotus;[pulling?] from the head, the bearer of all things.

According to Sayan. a ps. kar ad dhy means ps. karaparn. e, on a lotus-leaf,

as it is in SB VI.4.1.8 And he deposits it [= Agni] on a lotus-leaf (placedon the skin);33 ps. kara- is interpreted as water in SB VI.4.2.2 on thebirths of Agni.34 As we will see in my next study, this verse occurs also inseveral passages of SV and YV.

From the shape of the lotus leaf, which is big and concave like an uterus,it is easy to understand why the poetic vision of the RV composers mighthave thought of it as Agnis first seat, even though also the image of a lotusflower can fit that purpose.

In VII.33.11 the lotus, which is also called ps. kara-, is again connectedto the birth of the sage Vasis.t.ha and to water: like the drop falling on alotus, the gods placed the sage on it.

utasi maitravarun. vasis. t.horvsya brahman mnasdhi jath./drapsm. skannm brhman. a davyena vsve devah. ps. kare tvadadanta//

35 RV VII.33.11

And you, Vasis.t.ha, are the son of Mitra and Varun. a, born, o poet, from the thought ofUrvas;36

all the Gods put you, [as] a fallen drop, with a divine poem, on the lotus.

33 SB VI.4.1.8 (SBE: III: 215) goes on for the lotus-leaf is the womb, and into thatwomb he pours that seed; and the seed which is poured into the womb, becomes genera-tive. He spreads that (leaf) with a formula; for the formula is speech, and the lotus-leafis speech. Fn. 2 explains that the lotus-leaf is speech because from speech the waterswere produced (VI.1.1.9) and from them the lotus-leaf has sprung (Say.). Might it be aconnection between samingayati of RV V.78.7 as wind blowing from all sides on a lotus-pond, and ingita as sign and gesture of the body and, as such, word (see fn. 7), and the

lotus-leaf which is speech? (The connection being perhaps waters? Cf. Baartmans 1990:25ff.) The connection lotus-leaf and speech looks plausible to me, and in RV VII.33.11Vasis.t.ha, born on a lotus-leaf, is a poet.

34 SBEg 6.4.2.2: He then takes hold of it with the (right) hand and spade on the rightside; and with the (left) hand on the left side, with, From the lotus Atharvan churned theeforth, the lotus doubtless means the waters, and Atharvan is the breath; and the breathindeed churned him (Agni, the fire) out of the waters at first; from the head of everyofferer [fn. 2: ? Or, of every priest (vsvasya vghatah. ). There is nothing to show how theauthor of this part of the Brhman. a interprets vghat. . . .], that is, from the head of thisAll (universe). On pus. kara- as Wasser, cf. KEWA, s.v., fn.

. As for EWA, see fn. 5.35 On hymn VII 33, see Mller 1871: IV. 108, 109; Hillebrandt 1877: 148, 149; Muir

2000 (1879): 321; Oldenberg 1884: 524 fn. 2; Pischel and Geldner 18891901: II: 129155; Geldner 1909: 108111; Oldenberg 1912: 3134; Hillebrandt 1913: 53; EVP 2: 17fn. 1; Gonda 1978: 9394; id. 1975: 160. On sts. 11 and 13, see Geldner, Purravas undUrva, in Pischel and Geldner 1889: I: 260261. For an account of Vasis.t.has birth and anew interpretation of VII.33.914, see Dandekar 1974: 223231.

36 This is one of the three births of the sage Vasis.t.ha. In one of his rebirths, the spiritVasis.t.ha entered the body of Mitra-Varun. a, who had one body for both. When Mitra-


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Figure 2. Leaf ofLotus gyptia.

Varun. a saw Urvas on the seashore, he embraced her and immediately the spirit of thesage entered her body. After that Mitra and Varun. a separated themselves and assumed twodifferent bodies. Varun. a approached Urvas but she rejected him, accepting Mitra. Varun. ahad seminal flow and this semen was taken and kept in a pot, but at the sight of this Urvaswas taken by remorse and passion and the semen she had received from Mitra oozed outand fell on the ground. This also was collected and kept in the same pot along with that ofVarun. a. After a few days the pot broke open by itself and two babies came out, Vasis.t.ha

and his brother Agastya, who were born from the lustful thoughts of Mitra and Varun. a.According to Dandekar 1974: 228 Urvas came to know that Vasis.t.ha, having forsakenhis subtle essential form, had entered into the drop of the semen of Mitra-Varun. a. She alsorealized that a female agency, in some form or the other, was necessary in the processof the germination of that seed. [. . .] She meditated upon that seed, and this eventually


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The entire hymn is a glorification of Vasis.t.ha and his family, and last verses(714) are dedicated to his birth. The gods are said to have released thesage on a lotus, here called ps. kara-;

37 nevertheless, Grassmann translates

ps. kare as in die Opferschale,38

and Griffith39

points out that means,according to some translators, in the sacred pitcher, or water-jar usedin sacrifice; In the lake Wilson: it may mean kumbha, the pitcher usedat sacrifice, or vasat vara, the water used for the same, or the vessel ofwater spilling some content on the earth, and from this the sage was born.Geldner translates it as Lotusblte. KEWA says that in RV VI.16.13 andVII.33.11 it means Lotosblume; for others it means Lffelkopf.40 InEWA II, 12, p. 152 it is Lotosblte.

At any rate, I think that here again the underlying connection betweenall these meanings, one derived from another, given by different scholarsis water: lotus is born in water, water can mean sacrificial water, sacrificialwater can spill from the vessel or water-jar used for sacrifice. The shape of

the sacrificial spoon can also resemble a lotus bud and is sacred, like thelotus is sacralized by water.

Again, lotus is seen as highly valuable and sacralized, and it is associ-ated to gods and heaven, and is evident the connection between lotus/water

resulted in the birth of Vasis.t.ha. Ibid. fn. 23: It would be clear why, in 11cd, the holdingup of the drop of the semen (drapsa) on the lotus was regarded as being tantamount to theholding of Vasis.t.ha himself (tva) . . . Ibid. 228: Dandekar observes that the intepretationof urvasyah. (vasis. t.horvasya) as an Ablative form, from Urvas, is rather odd, andas an object-genitive is ingenious, but it manifestly misses the main point. The wordmanas in this context denotes the mental activity on the part of Urvas. She fixed her mind(abhidhyana) on the drop of the semen of Mitra-Varun. a caught up by Visve Devah. on the

lotus, thereby exercising her volition (samkalpa) that a son be born out of that drop. Thebirth of Vasis.t.ha was not the result of any normal physical activity Vasis.t.ha was not a

yonija and this fact at once establishes the superhuman character of his birth.The later tradition of the Br. haddevata v.149154a explains the birth of Vasis.t.ha in this

way. Mitra-Varun. a saw Urvas at a sacrifical session and their semen was effused. It fellinto a jar (kumbha) containing water that stood overnight. The semen fell in various ways,in a jar, in water, on the ground. Vasis.t.ha was born in that jar containing water. BD V.154b155a goes on: tatopsu gr. hyaman. asu vasis. t.hah. pus. kare sthitah.// sarvatra pus. karam. tatravisve deva adharayan//Then when the waters were being taken up, Vasis.t.ha was standingon a lotus. On every side all the gods there supported the lotus. On Agastya and Vasis.t.hasbirth, see also Tokunaga 1997: 245246.

37 The origin of the lake Pushkar in Rajasthan is that a divinity dropped a lotus petal onearth and a lake was formed.

38 Grassmann 1876: I: 553.39 Griffith 1973: 351 fn. 11.40 S.v pus. karam. Cf. Grassmann 1876, s.v. who gives 1) blaue Lotusblte, 2) der Kopf

des Lffels (wegen seiner Aehnlichkeit mit der Lotusblte), nach Say. (zu 681,11) eingrsseres Schpfgefss mit Untersatz.


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and sacrifice, so that through the lotus we can connect this stanza to theprevious ones, where lotus is connected to birth. Also VII.33.11 tells usof a birth, this time of the sage Vasis.t.ha, thanks to the heavenly fervour

of Mitra and Varun. a who put him on a lotus (or, as it was interpreted orre-elaborated in the Puran. ic version, in a pot).41

Notes on the previous stanzas

From the analysis of stanzas V.78.7 and X.184.2 is evident not only thefame for beauty so much that the Asvins are crowned with a garland oflotuses in X.184.2, and a pool of lotuses represents the highest conceptof beauty in st. X.107.10 and makes a pool as beautiful as the house ofgods but the high value and sacralized character attributed to the lotus,connected as it is to the conception and the delivery of a child (mostprobably a son), and born in a sacred environment as water.42

In the first two stanzas we have seen that water is endowed with allthe virtues healing body and soul and the aquatic lotus was known, eventhough in a slightly later literature, as a curative plant, and adorning thehead of the ever beautiful gods of the RV, who heal and assure peoplesoffspring. In X.107.10 a pool of lotuses can also be the connective elementbetween human beings and gods, and it can be so beautiful to be placed asthe aesthetic comparatum of the dwellings of both.

Also connected to birth, this time of a sage and of a god, and to water(or, in VII.33.11, as water in the form of a drop) are sts. VII. 33. 11 andVI.16.13.

In all the previous stanzas, the lotus is called ps. kara-.

BISAKHA- IN RV VI.61.2, NAL

- IN RV VIII.1.33 ANDPUN. D. RIKA- IN RV X.142.8

In the five previous stanzas lotus is called ps. kara- and is connected tobirth, gods, sacred water, and it is so beautiful as to ornate the heads ofgods. It is the connecting aesthetic element between the virtuous men and

41 See fns. 35 and 36 on the births of sage Vasis.t.ha.42 The RV distinguishes between still, and moving or sweet waters; however, the lotus

can grow in both provided they are sweet.In spite of Vasis.t.has conception in RV VII.33.11, according to the Buddhist literature

of Dhammapada and Suttanipata and to some later Vedic literature the lotus-leaf is notaffected by water fallen or sprinkled on it, since water does not stick to it as a brahman. adoes not cling to desires (or pleasures) (Kane 1977: II, II: 10051007, 1367, 1585, 1587).The lotus-leaf is untouched and unaffected and also in this case is used as a high term ofcomparison for the truly virtuous man.


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the gods. In the following stanza the comparison is made between thestrength of the river Sarasvat, which bursts the ridges of the hills, andthe person who digs up bsa-, the fibres of different kinds of lotus-roots:43

iym. ss. mebhir bisakha ivarujat sanu girn. am. tavis. bhir urmbhih./paravataghnm vase suvr. ktbhih. srasvatm a vivasema dhtbhih.//

44 RV VI.61.2

She with her might, like one who digs for the fibres of the lotus-root,45 has ruptured withstrong waves the ridges of the hills;Sarasvat, who repulsed the Paravatas, we want withsongs of praise, with prayers to requestaid.

In RV VI.61.1 Sarasvat, the one abounding in ponds/lakes,46 isaddressed as the goddess. In this stanza she is praised as the river which,with impetuous waves, breaks down the ridges of the hills, like a bisakha-,the one who in delving to dig up bsa-, which are found underground andare eaten as a delicacy,47 breaks down the banks of the pond.

Sarasvat is praised as the destroyer of the Paravatas, perhaps a tribedwelling on the banks of the river who might have had the habit to makeincursions into the country through which the Indus flows (cf. RV V.52.11).

43 Bloomfield 1906: 648 bisam = aluka m aphako mulal AV IV.34.5d. Note: in M.Monier-Williams dictionary saluka = frog, while salukam. = the esculent root of differentkinds of lotus, while PW salukam n. = 1) eine essbare Lotuswurzel (etc.); 4) saluka m. =salura = Frosch.

44 On the whole hymn, see Oldenberg 1909: I: 405407; Hillebrandt 1913: 72; Papesso1931: 6465; EVP 15: 130133; Maurer 1986: 196201.

45 Curiously Maurer 1986: 197 translates she, as a boar with his snufflings, . . .,perhaps because of Hoffmann (cf. KEWA II: 433 bsam Wurzelscho oder Stengel desLotos/shoot or stalk of the lotus (AV, usw.), RV bisa-kha- der die Wurzelschoe ausgrbt (=

Eber, K. Hoffmann, MSS 8, 5)) where the bisakha is somebody who excavates in search

for roots, like a boar does. Also in EVP 15: 131: comme un sanglier par ses pouss ees-haletantes. Correctly Papesso 1931: 64 come uno scavatore di radici, though radicimeans any kind of roots and not only lotus-roots. EWA II, 13: 226: b sa- n. Wurzelschoder Lotospflanze.

46 Perhaps early Aryans, entering India, added sarasvat in its epithetical value toSindhu, the original name of which seems to have been frontier (Maurer 1986: 196;on the name Sindhu, see Thieme 1970: 447450).

47 Alpinus 1737: 80ff. reports that Egyptian lotus roots were eaten by indigenous peopleeither raw or baked as bread. In some countries the rhyzome of the Nymphaea alba is usedas pig food. Nowadays, especially in Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal andTamil Nadu, lotus and water-lily are considered noxious aquatic vegetation, giving seriousconcern to the freshwater fisheries and irrigation systems, and generally infesting water

(Gupta 2001: 107118). In the lower Ganga Delta regions of West Bengal the leaves ofNelumbo nucifera (padma or kamala) are used as food plates; flower is used as cardiactonic, in fever and liver trouble; seeds are used as a cooling medicine for skin diseases;rhizome powder is used in piles, in dysentery and diarrhoea. Moreover, rhizomes, seeds,leaves are occasionally used as vegetable (Naskar 1990: 66, 100).


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Figure 3. Root of Lotus gyptia.

Thus her beneficial strength is invoked. Here again, there is a comparisonbetween something kept in high esteem and precious for human beings,which is the helping strength of the most celebrated of all rivers of the RV,and the person who is looking for lotus-roots.

Sarasvat, the modern small river Sarsuti, was a mighty river celebratedin three hymns and several stanzas of many others at the time of the RV.

Together with the river Dr.s.avat, it formed the border of Kuruks.etra, whichfrom the Samhit as to the Yajurveda period was known as a sacred land,the devayajana, and was also the battlefield of the great battle depicted inthe Mahabharata.48 Later she was identified with the Goddess of Speech,Vac, and finally in this capacity she took her place in the Hindu pantheonas the goddess of learning on the day of Sarasvat (vasanta purn. ima)Kathmandu children are initiated to the alphabet and wisdom, oftenin opposition to Laks.m.

49 The sacrality of Sarasvat is manifested in allVedic and post-Vedic literature, and in this stanza its helpful strength iscompared to someone digging in search of bsa-, and invoked. Therefore,the bisakha-s digging in search of the fibres of lotus-root is regarded asnothing but as a dignified and beneficial activity, and surely most of the

48 On the sacred land and Sarasvat, see JB II, 297 ( 156) and Witzel 1984: 220224 etpassim.

49 As a Hindi saying recites When Sarasvat enters the house, Laks.m leaves.


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implications of the comparison of the mighty river Sarasvat are due to theobject to be looked for, the fibres of the root of a sacred and beautiful plantand flower, considered as a delicacy to eat. I do not think that the image of

digging up in search of any other kind of edible roots would give the sameresult.

Both the following sts. VIII.1.33 and X.142.8 address Agni.In RV VIII.1.33 nal

-, sometimes translated as Rohr,50 or as Schilf-

rohr,51 is probably the lotus-stem of the Nelumbium speciosum or bluelotus (nalin- is the plant or the stalk of the Nelumbium Speciosum),52 andit occurs in a naturalistic comparison: white bulls emerged from a pondlike lotus-stems. White bulls are sacred/pure animals, dear to the pious,desirable, bringing prosperity (RV VI.28.18, VI.54.2; X.68.3, etc.) likesacred is the (male) foetus, sacred is water, sacred the jar for sacrifice andthe sacrificial ladle, sacred is the river Sarasvat.

We are in a good-willing and auspicious context. King Asanga, whoseliberality in giving is praised in sts. 3033, together with that of hisson and grandsons, had been changed, according to later Vedic texts,53

into a woman by the imprecations of the gods; he was restored to hismanhood after he repented, and thanks to the intercession of Medhatithiand Medhyatithi. In st. 34 Sasvat, Asangas wife, congratulates him onhis restoration from woman to his original status.

dha playogir ti dasad anyan asang agne dasbhih. sahsraih. /dhoks

.n

.o dsa mhyam

.rsanto nal

a iva sraso nr atis

.t.han//54 RV VIII.1.33

Asanga, Playogas son, has surpassed by ten thousand the others in giving, O Agni.Ten white bulls emerged in front of me like lotus-stems from a pond.

50 EWA II, 11: 7 nad. a- (nal. a) Schilfrohr, Rohr. In PW nalam is the flower ofNelumbiumspeciosum or padma. The word will be better interpreted in the light of later Vedicliterature.

51 GRV II: 281. Wilson 1977 (1850) ad loc. gives like the reeds.52 KEWA II: 141 gives nalinam = flower ofNelumbium speciosum, nalin = the plant

ofNelumbium speciosum. EWA III, 24: 284 nalina- n. Lotosblume, Wasserose; nalin- f.Lotospflanze, Lotosteich.

In classical Sanskrit mr. n. al is lotus; mr. n. alam is lotus or lotus-fibre, fibre attached to thestalk of a water-lily (cf. Garzilli 2000: 3).

53 GRV 1951: II: 281 fn. 34.54 On RV VIII.1 see Geldner 1908: 84 (st. 2); id. 1909: 120122; id. 1928: 14 (st. 2);

Oldenberg 1912: 7576; Oldenberg 1855: 510f. (st. 34); Hopkins 1893: 252 (sts. 12);Patel 1929: 16 (sts. 3033); EVP: 10 (st. 10); id. 1957: 116 (st. 32); Oguibenine 1985: 59fn. 4.


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In X.142.8 pun. d. r ka- is the white lotus flower.55 This stanza, like the

whole hymn, addresses Agni to spare the speakers house where thereis nothing for the god of fire. The Durva grass should not be burned but

should spring up, the lakes should not be dried up but should be ornated bylotus flowers. I have translated samudr- as lake not only because in RVsamudr- is often the terminal lake of rivers (though it has usually beentranslated as ocean or sea),56 but also because here it means any sweet(and still?) water where lotuses can grow.

This stanza is a spell which occurs in AV VI.106.1, AVP XIX.2 andVaiS:57

ayane te parayan. e durva rohantu pus.pn. h./hradas ca pun. d. rk an. i samudrsya gr. ha im//

58 RV X.142.8

At your arrival and your departure, may the flowering Durva grass spring up; and there arepools with lotuses, these are the houses of the lake.

We have seen earlier that the lotus is a sign of nobility. There is a similarequation in MS IV.4.7 pun. d. r ka- = ks. atr- (dominion, governing, thereigning order), referring to the space between stars (sometimes regardedas water59 and therefore containing lotuses):

. . . nks. atran. am va avakas pun. d. rkam. jayate ks. atrsya va etd r(u)60pm.

ks. trasyaiv rupm. prtimujate dvadasapun. d. ark a bhavanti dvadasamasah. samvatsarh. samvatsarm evaptvavarunddhe.

61

55 PW, s.v; Grassmann 1873: pun. d. arka (n), (weisse), Lotusblthe, wol zunchstDeminutiv von pun. d. ari (vgl. pun. d. arisraj Kranz von Lotusblumen) und dies wieder auspun. d. a Mal, Zeichen; also in KEWA 1963 pun. d. arkam means white lotus-flower; EWAII, 12: 141 pun. d. arka- = n. Lotos. Bloomfield 1906, s.v. pun. d. arkam = navadvaram AV

10.8.43a.On the supposed anti-aphrodisiac property of the white lotus flower, see Kirfel 1958.56 Cf. Bergaigne 1895: 1: 251261 Leau de la nuee Les eaux en general.samudra- has many meanings. In RV is often the terminal lake of rivers like Hamun

lakes in Afghanistan. For a complete discussion, see Klaus 1986, id. 1989a, id. 1989b.57 Cf. Whitney 1962: 357. It is curious to note that even though pun. d. arka- occurs only

once in the RV, this is the word better known among scholars, and it is attributed to the RV,even though is rather used in later Vedic literature. Cf. e.g., Mitra and Kapoor 1976 [thelotus] . . . mentioned in R. V(as pun. d. arka); in AV, human heart compared with kamala . . .(in Dandekar 1985: IV: 994).

58 On RV X.142 see Muir 2000 (1st ed. 1879): XVI (st. 1); Oldenberg 1885: 79 = KleineSchriften: I: 501; Oldenberg 1912: 354355; EVP 2: 7 fn. 1; EVP 14: 31; Thieme 1964:1718; Gonda 1978: 9192; Kirfel 1965: 121 = Kleine Schriften: 267 (st. 3); Bloomfield1893: XLIIf (sts. 78).

59 Cf. Witzel 1984.60 Wrongly Schroeder 1885, correctly Satvalekar VS 1998/SE 1864.61 . . . the lotus is born in the space of the stars (= in the space between stars); that

is the form of the reigning order; the form of this reigning order it is fastened on [the


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But we will deal with lotus in AV and AVP, in MS and later Vedic literature,and connected problems, in another study.

SOME CONCLUSIONS

Perhaps we will be able to understand all the semantic implications of thewords for lotus in the light of later Vedic literature (this is also the case ofthe unidentified watery plants kiyambu-, pakad urva- and vylkasa- in RVX.16.13, and the plants in X.16.14).62 Nevertheless, it is possible to drawsome, preliminary conclusions.

We find some of the themes and the semantic development related tothe lotus or its parts that in RV V.78.7, X.184.2, VI.33.16, VII.33.11

and VIII.1.33 we have seen associated to fertility and pregnancy, to thesacrality of womb, birth, uterine waters and Sarasvat waters, or in compa-rison with the sacred bulls in the later development of SA literature andin iconography.

From the lotus, by churning, the Atharvan extracted the head of Agni(RV IV.16.13), on it the gods deposited Vasis.t.ha (RV VII.33.11). It wasthe receptacle of one of the most important gods of the R. gvedic pantheon,and of the poet (also because of its connection to speech/word). 63 Inthe Upanis. ad-s and in later medieval Kashmir saiva literature the lotuswill become the receptacle and the seat respectively of Brahman, and ofconsciousness itself.64

In sts. 107.10, 142.8, and also in 184.2 of the late book X of the RV, the

lotus was the element of beauty itself, in the image of lakes ornamentedwith lotuses and a crown of lotus decorating the head of the Asvins; itis becoming a topos, and as such was portrayed in later literature, andespecially in k avya.

yajamana/ks. atriya]; [a wreath of] twelve lotuses [accent!] are used, the year has twelvemonths; having obtained that, he [= the yajamana] wins the year. This is part of therajasuya ritual. Cf. also Heesterman 1957: 186. On the seemingly odd identificationbetween lotus/ks. atra as sharing one attribute, one characteristic, in common cf. Witzel1979: 6.

62 RV X.16.13: After the partial combustion of the corpse, Agni is asked to cool offthe corpse and these plants are requested to grow in the cremation area. In st. 14 differentcooling plants, or the same ones, are requested to join the female frog (so that together theycan contribute to the production of water, as frogs cause the rain cf. RV VII.103).

63 See fn. 33.64 Cf. Garzilli 1992 and 2000. Words are also one of the stages of the realization

process.


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REFERENCES AND ABBREVIATIONS

Texts, Dictionaries, and Concordances:

AV = Atharvaveda-sam. hita with the commentary of Sayan. acharya, ed. by Pandit S. P.Bombay: Government Central Book Depot, 18951898.Ed. by Roth, R. and Whitney, W. D., Atharvavedasanhita. Berlin, 18551856.

AVP = Atharvaveda PaippaladaEd. by Bhattacharya, D., Atharvavediya Paippaladasam. hita. Kalikata (Biblioteca IndicaSeries; no. 318), 1997.Ed. by Bloomfield, M. and Garbe, R. The Kashmirian Atharva-veda (School of thePaippaladas). Baltimore, 1901.

BD = Br. haddevataEd. and tr. by MacDonell, A. A., 2 vols. Cambridge, Mass. (HOS 56), 1904.Ed. by Tokunaga, M., Kyoto, Japan, 1997.

Bloomfield M., A Vedic Concordance. Cambridge, Mass. (HOS 10), 1906.EWA = Mayrhofer, M., Etymologisches Wrterbuch des Altindoarischen, 3 vols. Heidel-

berg (Indogermanische Bibliothek: II. Reihe, Wrterbcher), 19922001.JB = Jaiminya-Brahman. a, ed. by Vira, R. and Chandra, L., Nagpur, 1954.Grassmann, H., Wrterbuch zum Rig-Veda. Leipzig, 1873.HOS = Harvard Oriental SeriesKEWA = Mayrhofer, M., Kurzgefates etymologisches Wrterbuch des Altindischen. A

Concise Etymological Dictionary, 3 vols. Heidelberg (Indogermanische Bibliothek: II.Reihe, Wrterbcher), 1963, 19561976.

MS = Maitrayan. Sam. hitaEd. by v. Schroeder, L., Mitryan. sam. hita. Leipzig, 1885.Ed. by Satvalekar, S. D., Aundh, VS 1998/SE 1864.

PW = Bhtlingk, O. und Roth, R., Sanskrit-Wrterbuch, 7 vols. St. Petersburg, 18551875.pw = v. Bhtlingk, O., Sanskrit-Wrterbuch in krzerer Fassung von Otto Bhtlingk, 3

vols. St. Petersburg, 18791889.RVS = R. gveda-Sam. hita

Ed. by Mller, F. M. (2nd ed.). Rig-Veda-samhit, the Sacred Hymns of the Brahmans, 4vols. London, 18901892.

SV = SamavedaEd. by Sharma, B. R., Samaveda Sam. hita of the Kauthuma School, With Padapat. haand the Commentaries of Madhava, Bharatasvamin and Sayan. a, Vol. 1. Purvarcika.Cambridge, Mass. (HOS 57), 2000.Ed. by Sharma, B. R., Idem, Vol. 2. Uttararcika. Cambridge, Mass. (HOS 58), 2001.

SB = The Satapatha Brahman. a in the Kan. vya Recension, ed. by Caland, W., rev. by Vira,R. (1st ed. Lahore, 1926). Delhi, rep. 1983.SBEg = The Satapatha Brhman. a: According to the Text of the Madhyandina School, tr.by Eggeling, J., ed. by Mller, F. M., 2nd ed. (1st ed. 1894). Delhi (Sacred Books of theEast, part III), 1966.

YV = YajurvedaTr. by Keith, A. B., The Veda of the Black Yajus School Entitled Taittiriya Sanhita, 2vols. Cambridge, Mass. (HOS 1819), 1914.

VaiS = Vaitana-sutraEd. by Garbe, R., Vaitna-stra, das Ritual des Atharvaveda. Strassburg, 1978.


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In Ambrosini, R., Strutture e parole. Palermo, 1970.Baartmans, F., Apah., the Sacred Waters: An Analysis of a Primordial Symbol in Hindu

Myths. Delhi, 1990.BEI= Bulletin d tudes IndiennesBergaigne, A. H. J., Quarante Hymns du Rig-Vda, 4 vols. Paris, 1895.Bloomfield, M., On a Vedic Group of charms for extinguishing fire by means of water-

plants and a frog. JAOS1893; 15 (Proceedings).BORI = Bhandarkar Oriental Research InstituteDandekar, R. N., Vedic Bibliography, 3 vols. 1946, 1961, 1973.Dandekar, R. N., The two births of Vasis.t.ha. A fresh study of R. gveda VII.33.914. In:

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(Innsbrucker Beitrge zur Sprachwissenschaft, Bd. 12) (= Centre of Advanced Studiesin Sanskrit Studies II. Poona 1974: 111), 1974: 223231.

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Doniger OFlaherty, W., Asceticism and Eroticism in the Mythology of Siva. London, NewYork 1973 (1st ed. Oxford, 1972).

Doniger OFlaherty, W., The Rig Veda, An Anthology: One Hundred and Eight Hymns.Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England; New York, N.Y., 1981.

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Last addition: On the use and the confusion of the terms lotus and water lily (see Garzilli,present paper at fn. 3) see now also: Hanneder, J., The Blue Lotus Oriental Researchbetween Philology, Botany and Poetics? ZDMG 2002; 152/2: 295306.

Asiatica Association and University of Macerata,Italy

flowers in rigveda

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