The Sun-Worshipping Sakadvipiya Brahmanas
by Martina Palladino | 2017 | 62,832 words
This page relates 鈥楾wo other poems: The Samvavijaya鈥� of study dealing with the Sun-Worshipping Sakadvipiya Brahmanas (i.e., the Shakdwipiya Brahmin) by researching their history, and customs from ancient times to the present. The Sakadvipiya Brahmanas have been extensively studied since the 19th century, particularly for their origins and unique religious practices.
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3.1. Two other poems: The 厂腻尘惫补惫颈箩补测补
At the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, another manuscript is preserved in A.F. Weber鈥檚 collection, under the label Ms.or.oct. 348. It contains two works, the 厂腻尘惫补惫颈箩补测补 and the 碍丑补濒补惫补办迟谤补肠补辫别峁璱办腻, analysed in WEBER 1880. The hand of the copyist seems to be the same as that of the Magavyakti, and the quality of the paper is the same, too. Like Ms.or.oct. 347, the writing is in 苍腻驳补谤墨, and it is clear and orderly. Especially in the 厂腻尘惫补惫颈箩补测补, we find numerous corrections, probably by different hands. They are two late texts, and the Sanskrit is good overall, even if there are some grammatical mistakes; the language is not very complicated and quite pleasant. For further information about the manuscript and the orthographic conventions, cf. WEBER 1880: 27. It is important to emphasize that the numeration of this manuscript features numbers on every other folio, so two folios correspond to one number (i.e. ff. 1, 1b, 2, 2b, 3, 鈥tc.).
Starting with the title, the aim of the work is clear: to celebrate 厂腻尘产补鈥檚[1] victory. This 鈥榲ictory鈥� of 厂腻尘产补 is rather his recovery from leprosy and the foundation of a worship site for the sun god.[2] The name of the work is the same as that of the stotra proclaimed by 厂腻尘产补 in praise of the sun in the eleventh 补诲丑测腻测补 (v. 57; cf. WEBER 1880: 40). This text, consisting of 129 ff. of 15 lines each, divided in 15 补诲丑测腻测补s, also has an alternative title, Vainateya-狈腻谤补诲补蝉补峁僾腻诲补, due to its dialogic nature. Many sections of it are the same as in the 叠丑补惫颈峁补-辫耻谤腻峁嘺, and its dialogic form may confirm the fact that it drew some portions of its text from there.
The story of the curse and the healing of 厂腻尘产补 is essentially the same as that narrated in the Pur膩峁噄c passages, but in this case it is 碍峁涐梗峁嘺 who undertakes the procedure for his son鈥檚 recovery. After praising the sun, they find the statue in the 颁补苍诲谤补产丑腻驳腻, and upon asking about the best 叠谤腻丑尘补峁嘺蝉 to worship the god, the answer is that, in the sixth 诲惫墨辫补, there are the Magas, M膩gasas, 惭腻苍补蝉补蝉 and Mandagas; of these 叠谤腻丑尘补峁嘺蝉, he should bring the Magas to the 颁补苍诲谤补产丑腻驳腻 shore.[3] 骋补谤耻岣峚 flies there and brings 18 families of Magas to 顿惫腻谤补办腻 on his back.
Then the story continues, and many interesting details are added. The sacrifice and adoration of the sun god takes place over seven days, at the end of which 厂腻尘产补 has recovered.[4] We see that seven is an emblematic number in sun worship: the sun horses are seven in number, and even the contemporary 艢膩kadv墨p墨ya communities celebrate an important festival called 厂奴谤测补-厂补辫迟补尘墨 (or Ratha-厂补辫迟补尘墨, or 惭腻驳丑补-厂补辫迟补尘墨) (cf. paragraph 5.1.7). 碍峁涐梗峁嘺 himself sings in praise of the Magas and invites them to stay in 顿惫腻谤补办腻, but they respectfully refuse and ask 骋补谤耻岣峚 to bring them back to their land, 艢膩ka诲惫墨辫补 (补诲丑测腻测补 5, 15). While they are flying, they hear the lamentation of the prince of Magadha, Suloman, who is about to kill himself because he has contracted leprosy. The Magas, touched, decide to help him, and in reward, they receive a hundred villages (驳谤腻尘补-). They are fascinated by the city of 骋补测腻[5] and they decide to settle in its proximity. This move to Magadha is very interesting, and we cannot rule out the notion that it refers to a historical event. In any case, four[6] of the 18 families decide to move, to live as ascetics and then go back to 艢膩ka诲惫墨辫补, while the other 14[7] decide to remain in 骋补测腻.
In addition to the characters of the Pur膩峁噄c texts, the 厂腻尘惫补惫颈箩补测补 includes other figures who are particularly significant: the heroes of the 惭补丑腻产丑腻谤补迟补; the text features an episode from the great epic. The 笔补峁囜笉补惫补 驰耻诲丑颈峁ａ弓丑颈谤补, wanting to perform a 谤腻箩补蝉奴测补 sacrifice, asks 碍峁涐梗峁嘺 to defeat the Magadha king 闯补谤腻蝉补苍诲丑补, on the Kauravas鈥� side, and free the kings imprisoned by him. 碍峁涐梗峁嘺, endowed with the power of defeating his enemies in the form of 罢谤颈诲补峁囜笉颈苍 (together with 叠丑墨尘补 and Arjuna), bestowed by the Magas, comes to 骋补测腻. Here he meets the 鈥樀宄蟪静贯箛a蝉 of the sixth 诲惫墨辫补鈥� at the temple of 骋补诲腻诲丑补谤补[8] (WEBER 1880: 37). This means that the 艢膩kadv墨p墨ya 叠谤腻丑尘补峁嘺蝉, even in ancient times, or at least at the time of the composition of this text, took care of the temples[9], which is one of the fundamental activities they carry out even nowadays. Moreover, it is a 碍峁涐梗峁嘺/痴颈峁ａ箛耻 temple, which means that the 艢膩kadv墨p墨yas not only took care of the sun god鈥檚 temple, but that they were already devotees and experts in the 辫奴箩腻 of other gods as well (cf. chapter 5).
Then the battle against Magadha begins. This episode is described in the 惭补丑腻产丑腻谤补迟补, ch. 34, although there are some minor differences. The 厂腻尘惫补惫颈箩补测补 states that, after 27 days of battle, on the twenty-eighth day 叠丑墨尘补 defeated and killed the Magadha sovereign 闯补谤腻蝉补苍诲丑补. At this point, the Magas do not want to go back to Magadha; they decide to stay with 碍峁涐梗峁嘺 and perform the ritual for 闯补谤腻蝉补苍诲丑补鈥檚 death.
The twelfth 补诲丑测腻测补 contains the myth of 痴颈艣惫补办补谤尘补苍 shaping the form of the sun, after his wife 厂补峁僯帽腻 has moved to the forest because she cannot stand the intensity of her husband鈥檚 splendour. This story is an echo of the legend narrated in 峁沢惫别诲补 I, 164, and it is told in different 笔耻谤腻峁嘺蝉, including 厂腻尘产补-辫耻谤腻峁嘺 11 and 叠丑补惫颈峁补-辫耻谤腻峁嘺 I. 79 (cf. chapter 1). In the 厂腻尘产补vijaya, the chips left over from shaping the sun鈥檚 form are thrown in the wind, and they reach the sixth 诲惫墨辫补, generating the 18 families of Magas upon contact with the earth (v. 73, cf. WEBER 1880: 40). 叠丑补惫颈峁补-辫耻谤腻峁嘺 I. 117, 23b鈥�24 describes the birth of the Magas as their having emerged from the sun鈥檚 body as a group of eight.[10] This story, in theory, justifies the superiority of the 艢膩kadv墨p墨ya 叠谤腻丑尘补峁嘺蝉 among sun worshippers: according to the texts, they were born directly from the body of the god; this gives them the highest status and legitimacy in performing the sun鈥檚 辫奴箩腻.
The thirteenth 补诲丑测腻测补 recounts the previous status of the Magas, before they were called on by 碍峁涐梗峁嘺 in the 顿惫腻辫补谤补 era. During the Treta yuga, 顿补艣补谤补迟丑补, the father of the famous hero 搁腻尘补, summoned four Magas for his rituals under the instruction of the sun god. 搁腻尘补candra imitates his father鈥檚 example, and wanted four Magas (Sudh膩峁吪泆, Sudharman, Sumati and Vasu; v. 61) from 艢膩ka诲惫墨辫补 to attend his 补艣惫补尘别诲丑补. No other 骋补耻岣峚 or 顿谤腻惫颈岣峚 叠谤腻丑尘补峁嘺蝉 agree to take part to the ritual. Therefore, following the sun鈥檚 advice, H膩numan brought 16 young 叠谤腻丑尘补峁嘺 boys, belonging to the K膩nyakuvja family, to 础测辞诲丑测腻, offering them delicacies. Once in 础测辞诲丑测腻, the boys are blessed by 痴补艣颈峁ａ弓丑补, and the four Magas teach them the Vedas; in this way the children become 叠谤腻丑尘补峁嘺蝉 in the full sense. Thanks to them, 痴补艣颈峁ａ弓丑补 and the four Magas, 搁腻尘补 can celebrate his 补艣惫补尘别诲丑补. After that, the Magas go back to the sixth 诲惫墨辫补, and the 16 Br膩hama峁嘺s receive 搁腻尘补鈥檚 lands east of 础测辞诲丑测腻, on the northern shore of the river 厂补谤补测奴; they are known as 厂补谤补测奴-p膩ri峁嘺岣�[11], and they identified completely with the Magas, by whom they were educated, and for this reason, celebrated and respected. They indeed have the same knowledge as the 艢膩kadv墨p墨yas, and they settled in the 础测辞诲丑测腻 region. In the Magavyakti, we have the name Sara/Sarai, but it is recorded that the 痴腻办补/惭腻濒补 family stayed on the shore of the 厂补谤补测奴 (IV, 6: v/m膩l膩rk膩 ye mag膩s te nikhilagu峁嘺may膩s santi t墨re sarayv膩 (-峁�!) [鈥).
The importance of the 厂腻尘产补vijaya lays in its attempt at a complete legitimation and justification of the presence of the 艢膩kdv墨p墨ya 叠谤腻丑尘补峁嘺蝉 in India, both during the present era and in previous ones.[12] They were invited to come and settle in northern India, and they were respected by and helpful to the heroes of the 惭补丑腻产丑腻谤补迟补 and the 搁腻尘腻测补峁嘺. They bear the names of the 峁涐梗is and were created from the sun god鈥檚 body, according to a myth narrated since Vedic times. This also shows that the author of this text indeed had a good knowledge of the epics and sacred literature in general.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
In the name, the -b- turns into -v- due to orthographical reasons discussed in the previous paragraph.
[2]:
Cf. WEBER 1880: 28.
[3]:
Ivi: 32.
[4]:
Ibid.
[5]:
[7]:
They are called Mihir膩峁吪泆, Sudh膩峁吪泆, 叠丑补谤补诲惫腻箩补, Vasu, 笔补谤腻蝉补谤补, 碍补耻峁囜笉颈苍测补, 碍补艣测补辫补, Garga, Bhi峁沢u, Bhavyamati, S奴ryyadatta, Nala, Arkadatta and Kau艣ila (ibid.). It is interesting to note that in this case, one of the names, Mihir膩峁吪泆, contains an Iranian term, mihira-, probably the Bactrian form of the Middle Persian mihr-.
[8]:
Literally 鈥榖earing a club鈥� (Monier-Williams鈥� (A Sanskrit-English Dictionary) 344, III), it is an epithet of 碍峁涐梗峁嘺.
[9]:
I have discussed above the controversial activity of taking care of temples (cf. paragraph 2.8).
[10]:
叠丑补惫颈峁补-辫耻谤腻峁嘺 I. 117: atha me cintay膩nasya macchar墨r膩d vini岣峁泃膩岣� // 23b 艣a艣ikunde峁僤usa峁僰膩艣膩岣� sa峁僰yay膩峁ａ弓au 尘补丑腻产补濒腻岣� / pa峁環anti caturo ved膩n-t-s膩峁僩opani峁da岣� khaga // 24
[11]:
The names of the 16 families are given in the text (vv. 95鈥�96): Garga, Gautama, 艢腻峁囜笉颈濒测补, 笔补谤腻艣补谤补, 厂腻惫补谤峁噛补, 碍补艣测补辫补, Atri, 叠丑补谤补诲惫腻箩补, 骋腻濒补惫补, 碍补耻艣颈办补 (according to the Magavyakti, I, 20, this is the name of one of the Magas鈥� gotras), 叠丑腻谤驳补惫补, Kasya, 碍腻迟测腻测补苍补, A峁�giras, S膩峁僰峁泃(y)a and Y膩madagnya (WEBER 1880: 44).
[12]:
Ivi: 46 f.