CHAPTER 5

TERMINOLOGY FOR THE SELF

IN THE LATER RG VEDA

    The order of presentation in this chapter will be the same as in the previous chapter, but the results will be assessed from the perspective of a wider field of diachronic development. There are five periods of composition in the later books of the RV, including the Vaalakhilya hymns in RV 8. For convenience, I will abbreviate these sections as follows. Under the general designation of Late RV, there will be sections "RV Late-a" (RV 1.51-191 and 8.1-66 [excepting 8.49-59]), "RV Late-b" (RV 1.1-50, RV 8.67-103), "RV Late-Vaal" (RV 8.49-59--the Vaalakhilya), RV 9, and RV 10, in order of their historical sequence. In addition, we will also be looking at the first phase of Middle Vedic, the so-called Mantra Language, in which we find the RV Khila's.

    The terminology changes in several distinct ways. With bráhman there is a consistent pattern of closer and closer association with acts of speech to the point that the distinction--if any--between "pure energy" and "formula" is frequently negligible. A significant change in the use of tanuú coincides to a large extent with increased use of aatmán. Under these circumstances, tanuú is clearly more corporeal. This change in the meaning of tanuú becomes clear where the essence of a person, deity, or even animal (cf. the horse in RV 1.162)--aatmán--is distinguished from the presence/tanuú in time and space. This reflects the development of a notion of self which consists of an internal, subtle essence which was not signified by tanuú in the Family Books. In those books, tanuú referred not so much to "self" as to a characteristic point of presence--or countenance--in space and time of a deity or human. The decrease in relative frequency of use for tmán also reflects this change. The inherent, identifying characteristics signified by the use of tmán are less frequent while references to subtle essence--aatmán--is more common. Finally, there is the interesting phenomenon of púruSa which appears, especially in 10.51 and 10.90, with a fully developed sacrificial and cosmic significance which is not, by contrast, associated with aatmán.

bráhman

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     As we return to the discussion with which we began the examination


of bráhman in Chapter 4, the occasions of brahmán/priest, are also quite scarce throughout the Late RV. There are five occasions in RV Late-a, one in RV Late-b, none in RV Late-Vaal, three in RV 9, and six in RV 10. There are also a few occasions of the genitive plural in RV 10 with four instances. Also an isolated pair of instrumental plural brahmábhiH are attested in RV Late-b (1.33.9) and RV 10.1.3. The occasions where other terms for poet or priest--vípra, R'Sii, and kaví--predominate as the plural referents for liturgists.

    The meaning of bráhman continues to develop into that of a specific formulation of sacred speech which is invoked by the priest. There are few occasions where Thieme's suggestion of "Formulierung" (1952: 103) are not supported. The occasions observed in the Family Books where bráhman is independent of priests are not matched in the later RV. Bráhman is used more often with -man and -dhii, much more than in the Family Books, almost to the complete exclusion of -cit and -budh. In addition, the role of Vaac with bráhman is introduced in such hymns as 10.114 where both speech and bráhman are coextensive, and 9.97 where bráhman is but one of three voices uttered by the horse team at the Soma sacrifice. However, the more independent sense of bráhman has not altogether disappeared as in 10.50 where Indra is made mighty by bráhman only.

    As in Chapter 4, there will be three main categories of inquiry for bráhman. First I will return to the roles played by different priests in the formulation and invocation of bráhman. Second there are the occasions where bráhman is associated with -man and -dhii as a product of this kind of intentional or purposeful mental process. It is -man, however, which proves most frequent in the immediate semantic fields around bráhman. I will also revisit the relationship of Vaac and bráhman in this section. There is no noticeable increase, however, in the use of krátu suggesting that force of will is either already implied in the word bráhman or is not part of the process for creating bráhman. Finally there are a few occasions where bráhman is associated with ahám and aayú, and these are discussed briefly. In this section I will also return to the discussion of bráhman and speech. A more detailed examination of ásu, aayú, jiivá, and praaNá follows in the subsequent section of this chapter which addresses tanuú.


Makers of Mantras: poets, priests and seers

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    The overall increase in relative frequency among all three--R'Si ,


kaví, and vípra--in plural forms, as outlined in Chapter 4, is quite apparent as, for instance, with R'Sii which increases from 11 plural forms in the Family books, to 39 times in these later books. This increase continues in the later literature, leveling off significantly by the time of Middle Vedic when brahmán becomes the predominant term (outside of those occasions where a specific role is assigned to a class of priest for prescribed recitations, for instance, by the hotR). The issue of brahmán as a priest or class of priests has been raised by several scholars, with differing results.139

    With regard to bráhman, the role of who it was that is capable of invoking this power is still more frequently left with the vípra, R'Si, or kaví.140

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Unlike what we found in Chapter 4, where bráhman and brahmán were in the same passage (6.45.7, 7.33.11), the late RV does not offer clear points of comparison which allow us to discern if bráhman varies in its significations of power from use with vípra, R'Si , kaví, or brahmán.141 We do have an occasion in adjacent verses in RV 9.113.5-6 which affords some indication:

satyámugrasya bRhatáH sáM sravanti saMsravaáH | sáM yanti rasíno rásaaH

    punaanó bráhmaNaa hara índraayendo pári srava || 5 || yátra brahmaá pavamaana chandasyaàM vaácaM vádan | graávNaa sóme mahiiyáte sómenaanandáM janáyann índraayendo pári srava || 6 ||

"There flows together the portions of the truthful and great; the juicy of the juicy mead, bearing pristine purity by the pure energy, flow abundantly for Indra, Indu (Soma). Pavamaana, where the priest as he chants the ritual speech, exalts the soma by the pressing stone, through the Soma creating bliss, flow abundantly for Indra, Indu (Soma)."142 Soma designates the realm of the gods, especially in its role of invigorating Indra, imparting purity by means of the pure energy of bráhman.

    The imagery of the empowered chándas and the energetic vocabulary in the semantic field with flowing/srava, sravanti, power/bRhátaH, ugrasya suggest the nature of bráhman as a source of the power brought forth through the chándas. The idea of bráhman as a direct result of speech is more prominent here than is independent power. However, if


bráhman were only prayer, the inclusion of chándas would be redundant. Geldner's translation as "feierlicher Rede," breaks with his usual reading of "Segenswortes" (with 6.16.30 above, 1951, II: 111), but is similar to "erbauliche Rede," as in 7.31.11b in Chapter 4 (1951, II: 208). Following Elizarenkova (1995: 97) and the evidence here, bráhman designates, in this case, empowerment from the Rtá in the formula for transformation and strength. Arnold notes this is a later hymn (1897: 212), as does Oldenberg (1888) and Hopkins (1894), suggesting that the use of bráhman as a formula--a word denoting power and speech--continued even after the composition and arrangement of the RV. Thieme notes that after the RV, bráhman changes from "Formung (dichterische) Formulierung" to "Formung (Wahrheits-) Formulierung" (1952: 117). As a later hymn, this development is suggested here in RV 9.113 and somewhat confirmed by the earlier hymn 9.97 below where a form of -dhii is associated with Rtá instead of bráhman.

    When we consider vípra and R'Si, they are much more prevalent with bráhman. However, kaví is never found adjacent to bráhman in any of the later RV portions. As noted in Chapter 4, kaví is present with bráhman immediately adjacent only once, in 6.16.30c, and in adjacent verses 5 other times. However, it is kaví that remains the predominant term of the three liturgist words. Typically the R'Si and the kaví see or compose the prayers while the vípra utters them.143 This is the case with the three occasions of vípra in the immediate semantic field with bráhman in the late RV. In RV Late-a 1.117.11:

suunór maánenaashvinaa gRNaanaá vaájaM vípraaya bhuraNaa rádantaa | agástye bráhmaNaa vaavRdhaanaá sáM vishpálaaM naasatyaariNiitam ||

"Son by Maana, by praise the Ashvin quickly dispenses vigor for the vipra, by pure energy strengthening Agastya, Vishpalaa with Naasatyaa is healed ("quickened"/given a spoke)."144 The passage presents a use of bráhman in the language of the gods where "pure energy" enables the Ashvins to invigorate Agastya and the other. This passage is not easy, but important for the current study. Vishpalaa is invoked as an example of how Agastya is to be empowered by the Ashvins.145 The vípra enacts the resource of power, or pure energy, in bráhman for the Ashvins to come to the aid of Agastya as they did to Vishpalaa. The vípras bring forth bráhman in their invocations as power which is almost inseparable from their speech.


However, the transition to bráhman as a word meaning a formula of sacred power is not complete. This passage could also be argued as a case for the independent bráhman, though the fact that it is a product of the vípra, who is more frequently a speaker than a seer of hymns suggests otherwise.

    The subsequent use of vípra with bráhman is similar in the late RV and bráhman continues to be considered a divinely-powered formula. Such is the case with the vípra as in RV Late-b, 1.3.5 where Indra is urged by the vípra to come to the prayers of those who prepare the Soma sacrifice which empowers him (see below in discussion of bráhman with -dhii). It is the potency of bráhman added to the dhiya/devotion which enacts the desired participation of Indra.

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Much later in RV 10.50.7a, Agni is empowered with the flowing Soma as a vípra himself (yé te vípra brahmakR'taH suté sácaa), in a hymn where bráhman empowers Indra independent of a speech act (see 10.50.4 below). Kaví and vípra are also found in adjacent verses to those containing bráhman in RV 9.97.32-35 wherein Soma speaks through the mouth of the kaví and vípra is capable of calling cattle to the offerer (see note 14 below).
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    As there are no cases with kaví, the occasions for examination of the role of various liturgists with respect to bráhman become quite limited. Such is the case with R'Si as it is only in the immediate semantic field with bráhman once in RV 10.146 In RV 10.89.16b the invoking/gRNataám R'Si's prayers/mándan are the means for gratifying Indra (bráhmaaNi mándan gRNataám R'SiiNaam). In this case bráhman is quite clearly associated with speech and is a direct product of it.

    The distribution of vípra, R'Sii, and kaví in the Khilas is consistent with this pattern. The predominant term is R'Si with 17 occasions, and there are fewer uses of the singular than the plural (6 : 11). There are relatively few uses of vípra, 4 singular and 4 plural, one of which is used with bráhman and is discussed below. There are no occasions of bráhman sharing its immediate semantic field--paada or verse--with kaví. It also decreases in overall frequency of use as noted in Chapter 4, with a marked drop from the multitude of occasions in RV 9 and 10 (184 total occasions in the late RV, 71 of which are RV 9), to an average of 25 in the Atharva Veda and Black Yajur Veda recensions. In the Khilas there are a comparatively scant 7 occasions of kaví, three of which are plural.147

    There is one occasion with bráhman and R'Si in the same semantic field, invoking the same sense of bráhman as the impelling power or spo


ken formula conveyed in the poetic visions of these seers. RVKh 5.3.5 gives an occasion similar to RV 7.61.2 where only a holy or pious vípra is able to invoke the power of bráhman with his prayers.
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There is evidence that the doctrine of bráhman as an ineffable power was present at the time of the RV Khila's in 5.3.5. It is a testament to the nature of bráhman as movable and unmovable/caraacarám. Even more, however, it shows an early appearance of bráhman as it is found in the later discussions (such as BAAU 2.3.6) with an empirical and a non-empirical aspect. The great seer Kashyapa has perceived the great light of bráhman in the manner that ajá has (see note 185):

ajó yát téjo dádR'she shukráM jyótiH parogúhaa | tád R'SiH káshyapaH staúti satyáM bráhma caraacaráM dhruváM caraacarám ||

"Unborn/ajá who has seen the brilliance, that pure light beyond the hidden realm, this Seer Kashyapa praises the true movable and unmovable pure energy, (he) praises the eternal movable and unmovable power." Bhise takes ajó as a proper name designating a family defeated by the TRtsus with Sudaas as told by the VasiSTha's (7.18, 7.33, 7.83, referred to by name as the Aja's only in 7.16.19): "The seer kashyapa praises that lustre, the bright light beyond the cave which Aja has seen. (It is) the real bráhman (made up of) movable and immovable, the steady bráhman (made up of) movable and immovable" (1995: 182). I am reluctant to accept that Aja as a rarely-mentioned, defeated family (Macdonell and Keith, 1982, I: 12), is an appropriate model or analogue for the inspired vision of Kashyapa. It is unlikely that the vision of a defeated family would have such a lofty tribute. In addition, as RV 7.33 and 83 are later insertions themselves (MacDonell and Keith, 1982, I: 321; 7.33, Witzel 1995b: 311), the defeat of Aja's would likely have been known. More importantly, this passage suggests that "pure energy" or power as a translation for bráhman makes the connection with the later doctrine of bráhman in the UpaniSads possible to identify in the early period as "movable and unmovable formulas" are more convoluted.

    It is more plausible that what is hidden is a metaphor for that one secret, imperishable power, of speech or sound, considering the preceding lines of the Khila where we find repeated uses of bráhmaikam akSáram (5.3.2b, with Jamadagni as the caretaker of it in 5.3.30). Also in this connection there is a reference to síva, in 5.3.4, who is also referred to as hidden/budhná. The image of the four parts of speech (cf. RV 1.164.45),148


three of which are hidden, is also present in RVKh. 5.3.6 where the three existences of the seers Agastya, Kashyapa, and Jamadagni in the realm of the gods are sought (tryaayuSáM jamádagneH káshyapasya tryaayuSám | agástyasya tryaayuSáM yádevaánaaM tryaayuSáM tánno astu tryaayuSám).

    Turning to vípra, there is an occasion in RVKh 1.3.7 sharing the same verse with bráhman. The passage is interesting as it introduces the term upaniSát juxtaposed with niSát.

evaá niSác copaniSác ca vípraa yuvaáM rébhatyau sayújaa supáNyaur | bráhmaaNy akratur vidátheSu shákraa dhattáM táyos tánayaM tokám ágryam ||

"Thus both the seated and the secretly seated, O Vipras, the two yoked birds murmur to you, your formulated speech is given without intent (in spite of yourself) to the propagated family and first offspring of both." The two yoked birds, upaniSát and niSát, are the pair at the sacrifice bringing forth powers in spite of themselves at the sacrifice like offspring and the secret seated/upaniSát are the foremost offspring/tokámágryam. Bhise takes bráhmaaNy akratur differently and smooths the cumbersome nature of the "family matters" (táyos tánayaM tokám ágryam) which close the verse: "In this way, O wise ones, the niSat and the upaniSat praising you are female birds yoked together. O helpful ones, the magic formulae are prepared by you at the sacrifices. Bestow son and the foremost grandson on the two" (1995: 82).

    The use of the words for liturgists with bráhman is somewhat inconclusive, but the close association with prayer is more apparent. This is evident above in RV 10.89.16 and RVKh. 1.3.7 and 5.3.5. The transition to "sacred utterance" is not without exceptions as we see below. However, especially as demonstrated in RVKh 5.3.5, the later significance of bráhman as an ineffable cosmic force is already becoming apparent with attestations of is empirical and non-empirical duality. As the remaining portions of this discussion demonstrate, it was not a major shift in the understanding of bráhman which enabled this. Passages like RV 1.117.11, which are somewhat ambiguous as to the independence of bráhman, indicate that the change in meaning is not necessarily complete. Without the evidence of semantic fields which show the changing use of words for speech, such as RV 9.113.5-6 with chandás and vaác, it would be very difficult to suggest


there is a change based upon the passages discussed thus far. The evidence based upon the words for liturgists is not conclusive, but it is indicative that a change was in the works. This change becomes much clearer when we turn to the association with -man and -dhii below. Bráhman is frequently a product of the making or fashioning--e.g., ákaari and átakSad--as well as from intended thought--as with -man and -dhii.

bráhman: in Relation to the Mental Faculties and Speech
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    Continuing with the question of bráhman's relation to prayer and utterance, the next set of questions about the development of its semantic field concerns the words for mental processes -cit, -man, -budh, and -dhii. At the end of the discussion of those four words, I will briefly touch upon krátu which appears only twice with bráhman in RV 10.

    The first point which becomes immediately clear is that -man and -dhii are the predominant terms and that there is a distinct development in the semantic fields surrounding bráhman from RV Late-a to RV 10. There are comparatively few--especially with -dhii--occurrences of either term in the semantic fields with bráhman between these two periods of the later RV. By far, -man is the predominant term in the semantic fields with bráhman as compared to -dhii in the RV Late-b by a ratio of 3:1. Finally, where -cit and -budh were scarce in the Family Books149 in the semantic fields around bráhman, they are completely nonexistent with it in each portion of the later RV. We will examine the occasions with -dhii followed by those of -man before moving the discussion to the occasions where the other words under study--those related to life, breath, and body--are used with bráhman.

    In RV Late-a the formulaic closing of the Gotama Nodhas hymns allow for a much more prayer-oriented sense of bráhman. This also introduces a range of attestations of bráhman wherein the context as language of humans renders its meaning as an act of speech. Six of the seven Gotama Nodhas hymns in 1.58-64 close with a call to Indra or the Maruts to come quickly now that they've been enriched by -dhii (praatár makSuú dhiyaávasur jagamyaat). We find bráhman in the wider field of the final verse in 1.61.16, 1.62.13, and 1.63.9, all to Indra. Both 1.62.13 and 1.63.9 present bráhman as a product of prayer and, more importantly, a creation of the work of Gotama Nodhas. In 1.62.13 the formulation/-takS of bráhman is directly attributed to him (sanaayaté gótama indra návyam átakSad bráhma hariyójanaaya). In 1.63.9, the creation of


bráhman is again the work of a single individual (ákaari ta indra gótamebhir bráhmaaNyóktaa námasaa háribhyaam).
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    In Chapter 4, the use of words like átakSad and ákaari were not commonly found with bráhman. In general, bráhman was not made by the priests, rather it was impelled/jinva as in 6.35.5d (aa^Ngirasaán bráhmaNaa vipra jinva), or generated--as would be a power or source of energy--along with excellent praises/suvRktím as in 7.31.11a-b (uruvyácase mahíne suvRktím índraaya bráhma janayangta vípraaH--cf. also 7.22.9). In the Family Books, bráhman was still not so specifically a speech-only kind of power such that it could be fashioned/átakSad or made/ákaari. It is not only humans who fashion bráhman, however, as we see in RV 10.80.7a where Rbhus perform the same function constructing bráhman from Agni (agnáye bráhma Rbhávas tatakSur).

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    The exception here is found in RV 9.97 which uses the passive aorist ákaari to describe the making of a hymn for BrahmaNaspati and Indra (iyáM vaam brahmaNaspate suvRktír bráhméndraaya vajríNe akaari). We do see ákaari in the several formulas closing RV 4.16-17, and 4.19-24: (ákaari te harivo bráhma návyaM dhiyaá syaama rathyàH sadaasaáH). However, there is no agent doing the fashioning. A fine distinction, perhaps, but in the other cases with words like átakSad and aakaari in the later literature--as here with Gotama Nodhas in 1.61-63--there is a human agent responsible for making bráhman. This is not the case in the earlier books. There is an exception, of sorts, also with Gotama Nodhas as the use of bráhman as strictly formulaic speech is still not its only sense. In 1.61.16 there are two forms of -dhii and the use of bráhman is more consistent with the observations of Chapter 4:

evaá te haariyojanaa suvRktií 'ndra bráhmaaNi gótamaaso akran | aíSu vishvápeshasaM dhíyaM dhaaH praatár makSuú dhiyaávasur jagamyaat ||

"To you Indra, the tetherer of stallions, the Gotamas have made these excellent prayers. Give them thought lavished with all ornamentation, may he come quickly enriched with (such) devotions."ÿ150 It is important to note here, however, that it is not the use of words for mental processes with bráhman which are modifying it to a more speech-oriented term, but words for making and fashioning. The connection between bráhman and the right thought and knowledge which is prominent in the later literature of the UpaniSads has yet to take shape.


    RV 1.58-60 and 1.64 do not use bráhman in the closing formula. In RV 1.62-63 the formula is similar, but only dhiyaávasur is included--as part of the standard closing for this series--without the additional occasion of dhíyaM as in 1.61.16d. The omission lends itself to a closer relation to prayer in the meaning for bráhman which could, in turn, set the stage for the later replacement of Vaac by bráhman in the BraahmaNa texts. The fashioning/átakSad of a new bráhman in 1.62.13b is the making of a formula for Indra consistent with the foregoing analyses here (sanaayaté gótama indra návyam átakSad bráhma hariyójanaaya).

    This sense of bráhman is consistent with the other occasion in RV Late-a where -dhii forms are in its semantic field. In RV 1.88.4, the Maruts, eager ones/aáguri, go about and come back daily to the call of the priest whose prayers/dhíyaM and rain charm/vaarkaaryaáM draw them here through the praises of the Gotama RaahuugaNa (áhaani gR'dhraaH páry aá va aágur imaáM dhíyaM vaarkaaryaáM ca deviím | bráhma kRNvánto gótamaaso arkaír uurdhváM nunudra utsadhím píbadhyai). There are no shared semantic fields with bráhman and -dhii in RV Late-a other than these 4 instances.

    Turning to the RV Late-b, we have but one instance of -dhii with bráhman--as mentioned above--which includes an occasion of vípra in 1.3.5, a hymn by Machuchandas Vaishvaamitra to several deities, with the verse in question addressed to Indra. Sped onward/iSitó by devotion/dhiyá and earnest invocations of the stirred one/vípra, Indra is called to the formulas offered to him therein (índraá yaahi dhiyéSitó víprajuutaH sutaávataH úpa bráhmaaNi vaaghátaH). In the remaining sections of the later RV, -dhii is equally scarce in the semantic fields surrounding bráhman, with one occasion in 9.97.34b and 10.65.14. Both passages include forms of -man, the remaining word for mental processes yet to be examined, and so will be dealt with below according to the historical sequence after the RV Late-a, b, and c have been addressed. Additionally, the only words related to mental processes used with bráhman in the Khila suuktas are also forms of -man.

    Occasions with -man, -dhii, -vac and bráhman together in the same verse--let alone the same paada--are quite infrequent. It is a specifically late RV phenomenon151 though also a rare one with only one occasion, 9.97.34b. RV 9.97.34 is to purified/Pavamaana Soma, described as a horse team or courser/váhnir with three voices:152 tisró vaáca iirayati prá váhnir




Rtásya dhiitím bráhmaNo maniiSaám | gaávo yanti gópatim pRchámaanaaH sómaM yanti matáyo vaavashaanaáH ||

"Three voices the courser/horse team (Soma) proclaims: the rightness of prayer, the power of wisdom, and the inquiries of the cow as they come to the herdsman--the hymns eagerly sharpened on the Soma."153 Still, the transition noted by Thieme from "dichterische" to "Wahrheit" with Formulierung has apparently not gotten under way--in contradistinction to the later hymn 9.113--as the dhiitím has Rtá rather than only bráhman.

    In the later parts of the RV, -man is the word of choice with bráhman RV ( a ratio of 16:8 occasions of -man as opposed to -dhii and all but three of the uses of -dhii are in RV Late-a) with the exception of RV Late-a where it is found only twice in the aatmastuti of RV 1.165.2 and 4. In 1.165.4a bráhman and -man share the same immediate semantic field in a reply by Indra to the Maruts--they are surprised to be meeting Indra rather than being already attendant upon him--who have just inquired as to his purpose in verse 3. Indra replies, claiming ownership of the devotions and formulas in the libation (bráhmaaNi me matáyaH sháM sutaásaH).

    To continue the examination of -man with bráhman, in the next period of the late RV we have one occasion in RV Late-c, in the Vaalakhilya hymns of RV 8. In RV 8.52.9a-b, Indra is the recipient of a praise "from ancient times"/puurvyám in a hymn where the meaning for bráhman, by this late period, is very much inextricable from connotations of prayer (cf. RV Khila 3.4.9):

ástaavi mánma puurvyám bráhméndraaya vocata |

"The devotion of olden times is sung-- for Indra the prayer is spoken." 154 Many of the occasions where we find forms of -vac with bráhman are in the later portions of the RV. As is the case here, those forms are verbal rather than nominal. Clearly in hymns such as this later Vaalakhilya, bráhman is a direct product of speech-- the passage above allows little other translation for bráhman than a prayer which is spoken.

    The association between Vaac and bráhman is under development in the later RV. As we saw above in RV 9.97.34b, bráhman is but one of three voices of the courses. At the very least it is clear that the independent nature of bráhman is changing (much as we saw above with bráhman being fashioned by the priests). As mentioned in Chapter 4, Vaac and bráhman


are coextensive and clearly associated as mutual components of praise in 10.114.8:

sahasradhaá pañcadashaány ukthaá yaávad dyaávaapRthivií taávad ít tát | sahasradhaá mahimaánaH sahásraM yaávad bráhma víSThitaM taávatii vaák ||

"The fifteen praises are scattered a thousandfold, which is as vast as the measure of heaven and earth; in a thousandfold scattering is the mighty thousand, which is as far as Vaac spreads and so much, in turn, does the prayer." As bráhman becomes more specifically an act of speech, the uses with verbal forms of -vac are more common. As noted in Chapter 4, Staal has identified RV 10.114.3 as the first--and only--appearance in the RV of a description of the sacrificial altar (1983, I: 129). In addition, Arnold describes it as one of the latest additions to the RV--after the composition and arrangement of the hymns--according to its meter, vocabulary, grammar, and subject matter (1897: 212), assented to also by Graßmann (1876) and Hopkins (1894). It is not surprising that the subtler doctrine of coextensivity with Vaac would have been under development by this time.

    Speaking and directing bráhman are considered the same act as in 1.117.25 (bráhma kRNvánto vRSaNaa yuvábhyaaM suviíraaso vidátham aá vadema cf. also 8.52.9, 10.54.6, 10.80.7). In other cases Vaac and bráhman form an integral pair working together for the worshippers' aims as in RV 10.120.5c-d where the voice impels the weapons and bráhman sharpens them (codáyaami ta aáyudhaa vácobhiH sáM te shíshaami bráhmaNaa váyaaMsi). The best summary for the relationship between the two appears to be a "growing partnership" as in 10.120.5, also as above in 9.97.34, bráhman is one of three distinct voices in the Soma sacrifice.

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     The association between Vaac and bráhman is not at all fully developed or universal however. Vaac, bráhman, sacrifice and mántras are made effective by Indra who is their supporter in 10.50.6 (etaá víshvaa sávanaa tuutumaá kRSe . . . yajñó mántro bráhmódyataM vácaH). In this case, however, while bráhman and speech are clearly associated, it is also important to note that mántra is a separate designation as well. In other words, bráhman is still something separate from mántra. It is not surprising, then, that earlier in the same hymn we find a use of bráhman which sounds exactly like the independent pure energy attested throughout the Family Books. In 10.50.4a Indra is made great through bráhman


(bhúvas tvám indra bráhmaNaa mahaán), with no mention throughout the hymn of bráhman connected with or produced by speech apart from the list in 10.50.6.

    Thus there is evidence of the later association between bráhman and Vaac and the dependence of bráhman upon priests in order to be created. Even in a series of formulas attributed to the same poets as with 1.61- 63 by Gotama Nodhas, bráhman is not used consistently. RV 1.62 and 63 clearly relate bráhman to an act of speech, while in 1.61.16 bráhman is a distinct element added to the praise. The framework for the association between bráhman and speech is clearly present, and there are verses which support it, but there are many which do not as well. Bráhman, like almost every word under examination in this study, is under transition in the periods of the later RV from the specific uses in the Family Books to its later associations. The seeds of these later uses are scattered throughout the text, but they have yet to germinate.

    The growing association between bráhman with acts of speech is more and more apparent as the later literature develops. As we will see, the performance of the praaNaagnihotra, the aatmán-bráhman metaphysical tautology, and the proximity in meaning with bráhman and speech become quite closely woven as the speculations on the sacrifice evolve in Middle Vedic. As we return to the mental processes with bráhman, the occasional oscillation between an independent bráhman and one which relies upon priests and speech is evident here as the passage is more disassociated from formula than pure energy in its meaning. In addition, it is worth noting that neither Arnold, Graßmann, Oldenberg, Lanman, or Hopkins identify this hymn as later. There are four uses of -man with bráhman in RV 10, such as RV 10.30.1a-b155 in praise of the waters:

prá devatraá bráhmaNe gaatúr etv apó áchaa mánaso ná práyukti |

"Let the motion of the god advance for the prayer, toward the waters the impulse of the mind is directed/práyukti."156 The mind is directed toward the waters, it is not creating bráhman. As the hymn involves the fetching of sacred waters for preparation of Soma, the mind is utilizing the efficacy of bráhman to call forth the sacred waters. As above, we see the shift where bráhman is no longer abstracted from the human realm and called to the assistance of mortals. It is generated by mortals and "directed" by them. The place or occasion of its invocation is identified in 10.30.1c-d as the excellent praise/suvRktím being spread widely/


pRthujráyase. The waters are the food for Mitra and VaruNa, and it is for them that the offering is made. The offering rushes to them--as in 1a-b--by the mind's impulse (mahím mitrásya váruNasya dhaasím prthujráyase riiradhaa suvRktím).

    As noted in Chapter 4, bráhman rarely shares its semantic field with krátu. If bráhman is truly an independent power--grounded neither in prayer nor in the priests' activities--then it would not frequently be a product of will or effort as signified by krátu. It is interesting, however, that as bráhman becomes more a weapon in the liturgical arsenal of the priest--rather than an independent augmentation of it--that the use with krátu does not change even as the association between bráhman and mental processes increases. The only occasion for comparison of bráhman and krátu is 10.61.1 where they are in the immediate semantic field with each other in a most difficult--if not impenetrable--hymn:

idám itthaá raúdraM guurtávacaa bráhma krátvaa shácyaam antár aajaú |

"To this raging battle (Rudra-like intensity) by devoutly charmed utterances, with willful prayer in assistance to both immortals" (Ashvins? cf. their relation with Paktha per 10.61.1dpárSat pakthé áhan aá saptá hótrrn[MacDonell and Keith, 1982, I: 463-464]).157

    There are two occasions with bráhman and krátu in the same verse, but krátu does not directly qualify it. Further, as in 10.122.2, bráhman is sped to the gods by Agni enriched with ghee--this could imply "empowering" for bráhman--but the context is one wherein bráhman does not act independently but simply augments the prayer spoken (juSaaNó agne práti harya me váco víshvaani vidvaán vayúynaani sukrato | ghR'tanirNig bráhmaNe gaatúm éraya). The relation of sákratur to bráhman in 10.148.4 is even less apparent (the former is in 4c, the latter in 4a), but the passage is another point wherein the relationship of bráhman to the prayers of the worshipper is quite close (imaá bráhmendra túbhyaM shaMsi).

    The discussion above has revealed three significant developments with bráhman in the later RV, all of which fit under the larger heading of a change in bráhman's independence from priests, prayer and the gods to a distinct association with--and even origin in--the mortal realm. First, in the examination of the various terms for liturgists, we saw the innovation of words like ákaari and átakSad in their semantic field identifying the poet as the craftsman of bráhman. Secondly, we saw increased use of -man


with bráhman suggesting, again, that the actions of the mind were associated with its creation. Finally, the relationship between bráhman and Vaac, as well as the act of speech, was increasingly prevalent. None of these changes are complete as each also had exceptions. The contrast between the later books and the Family Books, however, is substantial.

bráhman -not(!)- associated with the words related to the self
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    There is very limited material for the examination of bráhman in the late RV with the other words with which this study is concerned. Whatever changes may be occurring with bráhman as a product of human action and the corresponding increase in its association with speech do not include the development of an association between bráhman and the words more directly associated with the notion of the self such as aatmán, tanuú, etc. The only terms which appear even remotely adjacent to bráhman are ahám and aayú. We have already seen ahám with bráhman in RV Late-c, a Vaalakhilya, RV 8.53.8a-b

ahám hí te harivo bráhma vaajayúr aajíM yaámi sádotíbhiH |

"I, indeed, am yours O driver of the golden stallions, prayer lends (itself) to speed to this fight."158 This is a clear indication of the realm of human language as a point of origin from which bráhman can be directed up to the divine realm. The other case with ahám in 10.52.2 is quite indirect, ahám is in 2a and bráhman is in 2d. Speaking in the first person, the Hotar is attesting to his skills as something impelled by the Maruts. He notes that the Ashvins perform the Adhvaryu's duty and proclaims that the wood/samíd and bráhman are there and ready (aháM hótaa ny àsiidaMyájiiyaan víshve devaá marúto maa jananti | áhar-ahar ashvinaádhvaryavaM vaam brahmaá samíd bhavati saáhutir vaam). The Hotar gathers wood and bráhman, as it were, in the same act of assembling the ingredients for a recipe. In other words, the bráhman is a formula which can be made and gathered, and held in attendance upon the eventual commencement of the ritual.

    The only other word we find with bráhman that falls under the purview of this study is aayú. In RV Late-a there is a case in which the semantic fields are shared in the verse. Neither word directly modifies the other, however, and the relation of bráhman to prayer as the potency within it is still clear. The sacrificer empowers/bráhman VaruNa with fond prayers/vándamaanas to not steal the lives/aayú of the worshippers (tát tvaa


yaami bráhmaNaa vándamaanas tád aá shaaste yájamaano havírbhiH | áheLamaano varuNehá bodhyúrushaMsa maá na aáuH prá moSiiH). Again, as in Chapter 4 with RV 2.9.1, 3.15.2, 4.16.17, and 5.4.9, the imperative aorist bodhi occurs but is likely to be from -bhuu rather than -budh, though it is not improbable to suggest that the worshippers would be as happy to have VaruNa not awaken angry as to not be angry. RV 9.86.41 offers a similar occasion with both in the same verse, where Soma as dear to life sends forth praise--cf. the "speaking" of Soma in 9.97.32-34 above--which sates Indra and empowers him to issue forth the blessings of offspring/prajaávad, wealth/rayím and horses (sá bhandánaa úd iyarti prajaávatiir vishvaáyur víshvaaH subháraa áhardivi | bráhma prajaávad rayím áshvapastyam piitá indav índram asmábhyaM yaacataat). The words related to "life"--ásu, aayú, jiivá, and praaNá--are discussed in detail below with tanuú as part of the examination of RV 10.59.5-7 in which all four are found.

Summary: bráhman in the later RV
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    The development of bráhman into a word which designates formulated speech more than it does an independent power is the most significant change from the Family Books to the later RV. Returning to the position of the puúrvapakSin outlined in Chapter 4 for the examination of bráhman, we can see how a change in the semantic field marks a distinct change in the role of bráhman in the language of humans as opposed to that of the gods. The appearance of ákaari and átakSad with the priests formulating bráhman as a component of their speech sets the stage for the association of Vaac and bráhman in the Middle Vedic texts. The independence of bráhman is not abandoned, however. Apart from apparent exceptions such as RV 10.50, it is clear that bráhman continues to evoke a specific kind of empowered speech which is able to act in the divine realm, but which originates now in the human realm. Without the careful attention to its independence in Chapter 4, these changes would not have been apparent.

    As bráhman becomes integrated with ritual speech it is both consistent with a special kind of power to effect the intentions of the worshipper that, in turn, can gradually develop into an association with Vaac in the ritual literature. As this development takes place (outlined below in Chapter 6), the abstract power attributed to speech enables a smooth transition to the bráhman spoken of in the UpaniSads as néti néti. However, where


the summary of bráhman in Chapter 4 was best characterized by néti néti--neither fully independent nor specifically associated with speech--it is better characterized by caapi caapi. Bráhman is a distinct power, and also one which is closely tied with speech. Bráhman has a special potency in the divine realm and also is generated from the human realm. Bráhman displays many characteristics of its later metaphysical significance which contains an empirical/non-empirical duality and also is still only beginning to show these developments.

    There is no evidence as yet of the association between aatmán and bráhman which dominates the latest periods of the Vedic literature. The occasions of bráhman with the other words under study are scarce. There were only a handful of occasions of ahám and aayú, and none with tanuú, tmán, or words for the body. However, bráhman is developing close associations in the later RV with the words for mental processes--especially forms of -man--which are central in these later texts. The mental processes associated with prayer, especially -man and -dhii, are frequently used with bráhman further cementing its growing association with divinely-inspired speech acts. This sets the stage for the development of the metaphysical speculations which arise with the praaNaagnihotra and develop into the aatmán-bráhman philosophy. Thus from the conclusions here we can trace how the different groups of texts in Middle Vedic develop these seeds of change into the uses of bráhman which dominate during subsequent centuries.

tanuú

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    The study of tanuú in the later books of the RV can be roughly characterized under three broad headings. The first continues the discussion begun in Chapter 4 with regard to the body. In the later RV tanuú develops an increasingly corporeal meaning which coincides, in turn, with the appearance of aatmán in its semantic field. An extensive examination of RV 1.162.20 in praise of the horse at the horse-sacrifice illustrates this clearly. As tanuú becomes more corporeal, we also notice the appearance of words in its semantic field--ásu, aayú, jiivá, and praaNá--which variously designate life. These words will form the second category of analysis as each term is quite scarce in the Family Books and so could only be considered in the later RV. The hymn which provides the best opportunity for this, with all five terms together, is RV 10.59 which is examined in great detail. Finally, the later developments of tanuú, both with aatmán and


other forms which occur rarelysuch as tanuunapaátcloses out this section and forms a point of departure for the examination of aatmán and púruSa. Just before we turn to these words, tmán is revisited with specific attention to how it contrasts with tanuú marking the last stages of a period in the RV where the language does not reveal an abstract notion of self such as with aatmán and púruSa, but which also refers to the deities in terms of their own unique individuality.

    The use of tanuú in the later portion of the RV is consistent in many ways with that in the Family Books. The percentage of uses as referring to particular manifestations of divine presence/tanuú as opposed to the frailties of human presence/tanuú does not change. However, the frequency of use begins to decline significantly even by the time of RV Late-b, the first portion of RV 1 and the latter part of RV 8. In RV Late-a the ratio of tanuú in the divine realm as beautiful, auspicious, strong or capable of blessing as opposed to the human tanuú as frail, vulnerable to evil, and in need of protection is 21 occasions to 6. However, by the period of the next strata of the late RV, 1.1-50 and 8.67-103 (excepting the Vaalakhilya's), the uses of tanuú have dropped off markedly--only 4 with the divinities and 7 with humans--though the latter are still labeled as vulnerable. There is only one occasion in RV Late-c, Vaalakhilya 8.56.6d where Indra's and Varuuna's tanuú's are said to glow. In RV 9 tanuú is also rather scarce, 8 occasions with divinities--mostly the glow of Soma Pavamaana--compared to 2 with humans. Finally, by the time of RV 10 there are 25 uses of tanuú for the deities and 9 with humans.

The Body: déha, ruupá, and sháriira as compared with tanuú

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    In RV 10, tanuú clearly begins to take on the connotations of a corporeal body with the appearance of aatmán in increasing frequency. However, as we noted, there are still no regularly used words for the body even in the late RV. We have all of six occasions of shariira in the later books. 159 RV 10.157.2a-b speaks of sacrifice, offspring and tanuú being made suitable/ciikLaati to the AAdityas by Indra (yajñáM ca nas tanváM ca prajaáM caadityaír índraH sahá ciikLaati), but in 10.157.3 Indra is called to protect the vulnerable tanuú. Cows are obviously fit for sacrifice, and in 10.169.3a-b we have the only reference to their tanuú as well as the inclusion of a word--otherwise scarce in the RV--in a reflexive usage, which can refer to corporeal existence, ruupá:

yaá devéSu tanvàm aírayanta yaásaaM sómo víshvaa ruupaáNi véda |

"They who have risen among gods thenselves/tanuú, all the forms of whom are known to Soma."160 The passage could read "presences" but this would, on the one hand, be almost vacuous as to any clear meaning and, on the other, be too strained an application of the same word on every occasion for tanuú.161 The use of ruupá while not signifying a body per se, indicates that corporeal existence still requires an additional reference apart from what is signified by tanuú. Occasions of ruupá far outnumber those of the other words for body as has been noted in Chapter 4. Of the 37 occasions of ruupá in the later RV, 10.169.3 is the only one in tanuú's immediate semantic field. In RV 10.85.35 and .27 they share the same hymn. The use of ruupá is ostensibly similar to that of tanuú in the realm of the gods--their ruupá is capable of variance. However, the tanuú of the gods changes in its way of directing a ritual benefit to the worshipper, where the ruupá changes in and of itself as a quality of the gods which does necessarily respond to the requests of humans. In RV 10.85.27c-d, Indra is called to unite his tanuú with the yajamaana (enaá pátyaa tanváM sáM Rdhyataam asmín gRhé gR'hapatyaaya jaagRhi) while in 10.85.35c, the worshipper calls the listeners to behold the forms of Suryaá (suuryaáyaaH pashya ruupaáNi). This use of ruupá is consistent throughout the other phases of the later RV.162 For ruupá, then, the meaning is attached to a variable appearance which, while often corporeal, is not necessarily so. More important for the distinction with tanuú, ruupá does not designate a quality which interacts with or responds to human prayers.

    There is still no widely-used term in the later RV--or the Family


Books--which signifies a corporeal body (déha was only used twice, in RV 6.47.2 and 7.6.5, see note 174 below). As will be seen shortly, however, this function does come to be taken on by tanuú--but not frequently in the RV. This is not to say that there was no discussion of the physical realm of life. As below in 1.162, the corporeal body is cut up, burned, smeared, and eaten. In addition, there are words for the limbs, such as below where Agni is described as having them to lift himself aloft, in RV 1.141.8b. However there are other words--kraví, gaátra and, later, sáriira--which are used when these actions are discussed.

    It is more likely the case that a conceptual abstraction of the body was not part of the early or later RV world view. The tanuú is still a point of existence in the continuum between the divine and human realms--to be sure, it is a powerful and variously manifesting existence for the former, and continues to be frail in the latter. The need to discuss the corporeal body within such a cosmos was not a significant concern of the Vedic poets. It is not until the overt sacrificial dialogues--as of the horse sacrifice in 1.162-163--or of death with the Funeral Hymn in 10.16, that a composite, physical component of individual existence even begins to become visible. Even then, this is a small, limited phenomenon confined to a fewalmost invariably latehymns. For instance, sháriira is found only 6 times in the later books, once in RV Late-a (1.163.11), once in RV Late-b (1.32.10), and four times in RV 10 (10.16.1, 10.16.3, 10.99.8, and 10.136.3).

    

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Two occasions of sháriira are found in RV 10.16.1b and 3d, the Funeral Hymn, with tanuú occurring in 10.16.4. The hymn is rich with the terminology currently under study. In 10.16.1, a clearly corporeal reference includes sháriira and the skin/tvácaM in a plea that both not be burned by Agni (maásya tvácaM cikSipo maá sháriiram). Similarly, in 10.16.3d along with all his corporeal body the deceased is to make a home in the plants (óshadhiiSu práti tiSThaa sháriiraiH). By contrast, in the first half of the same line the transcorporeal life, the breath, soul or aatmán goes to the winds, and the eye to the sun (suúryaM cákSur gachatu vaátam aatmaá). Then in 10.16.4c the auspicious presence/tanuú of Jaatavedaswhich can as easily be taken as the flames which are his bodyis to bear the deceased onward (yaás te shivaás tanvó jaatavedas taábhir vahainaM sukR'taam ulokám). This is consistent with the use of tanuú in the realm of the gods, as a particular manifestation of presence for a given purpose. However, in terms of practical application, the is a distinct physicality to this aspect of Jaatavedas, the lively

flames, which are best translated for communicative effect as body, but which--if it is so understood--as presence/tanuú. Again, this recalls Witzel's notation in "Vedic Mind" where he suggests idiomatic translation with the actual word supplied along with it (1996:173).

    Thus we find both aayú and tanuú in the same line referring to the human realm in 10.16.5c-d:

aáyur vásaana úpa vetu shéSaH sáM gachataaM tanvaà jaatavedaH ||

"May he enjoy the remainder, clothed with life, Jaatavedas let him go together with a body (tanuú)."163 The idea of a joining with a tanuú is expressed variously throughout the later RV as a prerogative of deities who can even do this themselves as in 10.14.8d where Yama has the option to join with another body (sáM gachasva tanv'aa suvárchaaH), or as noted earlier in 10.85.27c, (enaá pátyaa tanváM sáM Rdhyataam . . . ), or 10.56.1c with the Vishve Devaas (saMvéshane tanvás caárur edhi). The use of aayú in the passage is typical of its meaning of the full complement of a human existence, as seen, for instance, in 1.89.8d with the period of life appointed by the gods (vyáshema deváhitaM yád aáyuH). In addition, the use of "clothing" in reference to tanuú is seen in a slightly different use where tanuú and aatmán are found together in 8.3.24a (cf. Chapter 2with tanuú denoting the outward appearance or "clothing" and aatmán is the food or vital essence (aatmaá pitús tanuúr vaása).

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    The increasing amount of cosmogonic and, as here, existential speculation regarding the afterlife in the later RV provides ample setting for the changing uses of tanuú. These varied uses of tanuú in the late portions of the RV are accompanied by the addition of terminology not present throughout most of the Family Books. Thus the transition to a more corporeal signification, especially in this latest addition to the RV (Lanman, 1880: 581; Arnold, 1897: 212; Witzel, 1995a:311), necessitates the rendering of tanuú as body. The primary change in terminology centers around the addition of aatmán that appears in the immediate semantic field with tanuú in 1.162.20a-b, the hymn from the Diirghatamas family to the horse:

maá tvaa tapat priyá aatmaápiyántam maá svádhitis tanvà aá tiSThipat te |

"Let your beloved essence/life breath not torment you while dissipating, let the axe not remain so for your body."164 The passage wishes an untraumatic death upon the sacrificial horse which is marked, among other things, by a smooth dissipation of its life breath or transcorporeal essence/


aatmán.

    With the introduction of aatmán in juxtaposition with tanuú in this discussion related to the ashvamedha, the most complex symbolism of the macro-microcosmic sacrificial metaphysics are at issue.165 This is also the most advanced use of aatmán in sacrificial symbolism in a hymn which is considered to be a later addition (Lanman, 1880: 581; Oldenberg, 1888; Witzel, 1995b: 311). Elsewhere the aatmán does not have this subtler association which, in contrast to that of the púruSa which is quite developed in RV 10.90, is otherwise not seen in the RV with the attestations of aatmán. While aatmán is discussed in detail below, the inclusion of it in the semantic field with tanuú is important for marking the changing significations of the latter, as well as the growing complexity of the notion of individual existence in this portion of the RV. This is a pivotal verse for the understanding of both words in the RV, as well asconsequentlyfor this study. Accordingly, this passage warrants close scrutiny for this reason as well as for its inherent complexity as a composition of the great riddler Diirghatamas.

    To begin comparing the semantic fields of aatmán and tanuú in this passage, it is necessary to determine just what is "happening" with regard to each. The three verbs in this passage are pivotal: tapat, ápiyántam, and tiSThitpat.166 Unfortunately, all three are the sole occasions of their respective forms in the RV (Graßmann, 1996: 198, 522, and 1602). Comparative analysis, whether of form or semantic field, is not possible.167

    The use of ápiyántam in this verse is still informative for what it tells us about aatmán (Grashmann 1996: 522, 198). The various meanings for ápiyántam range through entering, spreading, joining, flowing, and dying, almost all of which are implied with Geldner's "eingehst." Graßmann has "betreten, eintreten" (1996: 192) while Böthlingk has those meanings along with "eingehen, sich ergießen, and sich auflösen" (1879, I: 198), taking their translations into consideration as well as the setting--the death of the horse--it appears that "dissipates" was the best translation. This also fits with the way Diirghatamas uses aatmán in a href="../1sb/1.162.html" target="new">1.162, 163, and 164. Elsewhere in the Diirghatamas hymns, aatmán is hundredfold in Agni who is bright as the sun (1.149.3c), can be known from afar (1.163.6a), and it is the breath or essence of the whole earth (1.164.4c). Like RV 10.16.3c mentioned above where the aatmán goes to the winds in the Funeral Hymn, here the aatmán "dissipates" at death as the axe does its work. The sense of "disappear" is not inapplicable as well, but the difficulty of translating


ápiyantam lead me to consult the German lexicons which do not support disappear (e.g., it is incompatible with "enter"). The aatmán remains, while enigmatic, still fairly consistent as a pervasive, enlivening force, frequently likened to pervasive activity such as the wind or air moving through the atmosphere or over the earth (cf. above in Chapter 4, where RV 7.87.2a had the wind as the aatmán of VaruNa, also 1.34.7d, 1.116.3c, 1.182.5b, 10.92.13c; discussed below).

    Taking this use of aatmán and the other uses in Diirghatamas' hymns into consideration we can generalize that, for Diirghatamas, aatmán is--for lack of a better word--"large" or in some way subtly distended (whether signifying breath, essence of life or otherwise--see discussion of aatmán below). It reaches beyond the human realm and is applied to attributes of the divine realm. Unlike tanuú which has a clearly repeated semantic field (the gods are to be its protector/gopaá, etc.) when used for the human realm, aatmán is something which extends both through and beyond the realm of mortal life, such as here with the horse.

    For the present discussion of 1.162.20, in addition to priyá aatmaá, it is important to consider that there are two other "dear" or beloved/priyá things in this hymn--both of them are part of the point of intersection between the human and the divine realm. The sacrificial stake/yuupa in 162.2d, and the trappings of the sacrificial horse in 162.16d are both dear. This use of priyá by Diirghatamas as an endearing reference to a place of interface between gods and humans is seen also at 1.142.2 1.143.1, 1.152.4, and 1.154.5. However, the more common use of priyá, to simply attach fondness to someone or something,168 is also employed in Diirghatamas hymns (1.151.1, 1.152.4).

    If the aatmán for Diirghatamas is not so much a self or soul as it is an essential component in the existence of exalted (rather than human) entities which is subtly pervasive through them as a mark of their nature (multiple brightnesses of Agni, knowable from afar, essence of earth, the dissipating essence of the sacrificial horse), what is to be done with the meaning of tanuú in this passage? We are in a similar situation as above with the exclusivity of the mood for each of the three verbs--tanuú is not a common terminological choice for Diirghatamas, who uses it only three times including this one (in a use common as above in Chapter 4, to refer to Agni's radiant presence/tanuú 1.140.11c, and as the laudable presence/tanuú of Agni 1.147.2d).169

     The only other occasion of tanuú with aatmán comes not from


Diirghatamas, but from a much earlier strata, RV Late-a. As noted above, tanuú and aatmán are found together in 8.3.24a <<a href="dissnew5.html#290">see elsewhere)where tanuú denotes the outward appearance or "clothing" and aatmán is the food or vital essence (aatmaá pitús tanuúr vaása). The similar semantic fields with clothing/vaása makes the distinction easier to determine. The occasion in 1.162, then, is an exception. The semantic field is quite different.
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    The action surrounding tanvà in this passage concerns that of the axe/svádhitis with regard to the tanuú. In such a pivotal verse for discerning the significations of both aatmán and tanuú, the isolated occasion of tiSThipat is less than ideal. As a causative injunctive with aá, in tandem with the negative maá, Geldner follows Graßmann's suggestion of "Schaden anthun" (1996: 1597), the axe is not to remain injurious to the horse's tanuú. This suggests that tanuú signifies a physical body with little ambiguity (Geldner uses Körper). However, the axe is not admonished to avoid lingering "in" the tanuú, but is called instead to not remain painful for the tanuú. Further, in the remainder of the verse, it is very clear that Diirghatamas employs different terminology for the corporeal body as we see in the passage from 1.162.20c-d:

maá te gRdhnúr avishastaátihaáya chidraá gaátraaNy asínaa míthuu kaH ||

"Let the hasty unskilled hatchetman not flinch with the knife, tearing your members, wrongly destroying (them)."170 Of seven occasions of gaátra/member or limb in the entire RV, four are found in this hymn to the horse. It is clear when the corporeal aspect of the horse is discussed, there is no ambiguity in the poet's language (in 1.162.11a gaátra is what is roasted on the fire, 18c calls for perfect skill in the cutting of each part/ÿgaátra, and 19c speaks of the limbs/gaátra). Thus tanuú is in transition at this stage of the later RV from an identifiable presence which includes, but is not limited to, physical appearance, to a meaning which is distinctly more corporeal.

    Still, tanuú is not completely or solely physical. Diirghatamas has used other words to describe the corporeal frame upon which the tanuú is stretched. With gaátra in the second half of this verse we find the reference to the purely corporeal entity of a creature or thing.171 RV Late-a contains another occasion where tanuú and gaátra are found in the same verse. RV 8.48.9a-b calls upon Soma to be the guardian or herdsman of the tanuú having settled into its members or limbs/gaátra (tváM hí nas tanvàH soma gopaá gaátre-gaatre niSasátthaa nRcákSaaH). The


tanuú is "herded" elsewhere, as above where Indra is called to be the gopaá of the human tanuú in Chapter 4, with 4.16.17d, a hymn with 3 occasions of tanuú (two concerning the frail human presence/tanuú as in 17d and 20c, and also the expanding presence/tanuú of Indra as he nears the sun in 14a). Further, Diirghatamas uses other words to more specifically denote the "fleshiness" of creatures as in 162.9a where he chooses kravíSo to speak of what is eaten by flies, or the raw flesh of the belly in 162.10b again with kravíSo.172 Diirghatamas is also not lacking in vocabulary to refer qualitatively or abstractly to the physical shape of creatures and deities. Agni's ruupá is discussed in 163.7a, his beauteous form/vápuH is mentioned in 144.3a and 160.2c. 173 He also has other words for limbs, as in 1.141.8b where Agni has limbs/á^Nga to lift himself aloft (dyaám á^Ngebhir aruSébhir iiyate).

    This survey of the elements in Diirghatamas' semantic fields suggests that tanuú, while perhaps less expansive and subtle than aatmán, is still not fully corporeal in the time of Diirghatamas. It is in transition as the signification of aatmán continues to develop. For instance, the body is unambiguously referenced in the next hymn, 1.163.11a where the horse's body is described as formed for flight (táva sháriiram patayiSNv árvan).174 Sháriira is otherwise quite uncommon in the RV and is almost solely limited to the later books--except as above in Chapter 4 with 6.25.4. 175 It is safe to say that RV 1.162 is indeed a later insertion when considered with regard to its vocabulary for individual essence (aatmán) and physical (tanuú) existence. Gaátra, a word quite common in the later books, is used 4 times in 1.162; kraví a common term in the AVP and AVSh (20 and 19 times, respectively), is used twice.

    Tanuú designates an empirical, identifiable appearance or presence more than does aatmán for Diirghatamas, but it is still not used as a term which is strictly corporeal. It refers instead to the presence of a being in relation to the gods and the world of humansan existential placemarker of sorts. Its ambiguity is compounded as well by the occurrence of other clearly corporeal terms--as above with kraví--within the work of the same poet or family. The tanuú does not pervade the earth, nor characterize the wind with regard to VaruNa. It is used in the mortal realm to refer to something frail and in need of protection. The aatmán is pervasive and never in need of protection. It is most always used for the divine realm or exalted entities--the earth, the sacrificial horse--in the macrocosm.


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    The transition in meaning for tanuú is apparent again in the praise of herbs where it is the tanuú from which illness must be driven in 10.97.10c-d (óSadhiiH praácucyavur yát kíM ca tanvó rápaH).

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Yet the predominant use seen in the Family Books--to refer to the manifold aspects of a given deity--persists as in 10.51 to Agni, a dialogue between the gods and Agni as to whether he will come forth and participate in the oblations and convey the offerings. Three times in this hymn the tanuú is used to refer to a variety/bahudhaá of countenances of Agni perceived in many places as in 10.51.1c-d (víshvaa apashyad bhaudhaá te agne jaátavedas tanvó devá ékaH), with Agni's answer in 2b (yó me tanvó bahudhaá paryápashyat), and again in 4c to affirm the scattering of his tanuú's as Agni accounts for his absence (tásya me tanvií bahudhaá níviSTaa).

    The tanuú of humans and deities might even be thought of as countenance, the presence that appears. As above in Chapter 4 with RV 6.25.4, with the embattled heros, they are said to have a shining countenance/tanuurúca as the body/sháriira strives to conquer the foe.

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Following the summaries above, the deities consistently have multi-faceted tanuú's (with the forms of Agni's beauty in 1.140.11c, Ashvin's free from stain in 1.181.4b, the ornamented forms of the Maruts in 8.20.6c, Agni in 10.51.2b, Indra's increase in 10.116.6d, etc.) which they can direct at will to the benefit of the mortal realm when they are rightly praised--i.e. invoked with bráhman. The human or mortal tanuú constantly needs protection or special dispensations--from the gods whose tanuú's are multiply endowed-to overcome an inherent inadequacy (1.189.6b, 1.23.21b, 8.71.13d, 9.66.18b, 10.88.8c, etc.). This "vulnerability" acts like a catalyst for the steady localization of tanuú as the corporeal body as the abstraction of life--into aayú, ásu, jiivá, and praaNá--and individuality with essence/aatmán and mental function/mánas develops (see below).
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     One further point, afforded by this database, is apparent when coding this electronic dissertation. The "demotion" (from its early significance in the Family Books of the Rig Veda) of tanuú in the later literature is quite apparent. If one peruses the hymns linked above, it will become readily clear that the hymns in which the tanuú of the gods is in one way or another exalted, these hymns are allmost all not used in the much later--and much more UpaniSadic--ShB. By contrast, those hymns where the tanuú is humble, flawed, or bound to mortal physicality are almost all used in the ShB. In fact, of only two RV 9 hymns used in the ShB, 9.66 is one. We find this demotion is further indicated with the Dice hymn below.

    It is not a complete change at this stage. The semantic field of tanuú does not contain words pertaining to physical activities such as smearing and stinking--as with kraví (sama^Nkté in 10.87.16a and gandhó in 1.162.10b)--or scattering with the skin/tvácaM and sháriira (cikSipo in 10.16.1b), and burning as with gaátra--(pacyámaanaad in 1.162.11a). In addition, that there are so few occasions of these corporeal elements whether with kraví, gaátra, deha, ruupá, vápu, or sháriira, it raises the surprising possibility that the corporeal body as a composite element of individual existence is not a topic of conceptual thought. The idea of a


composite body has only very limited beginnings--by necessity of reflections upon the sacrifice and more detailed discussions--as in 10.16--of death and afterlife that begin to appear in the later books. However, if we return to the basic word for the individual--for the self--in Early Vedic, we find that the root of tanuú, -tan, is consistent with the continuum between the divine and human realms in which tanuú marks a point of presence. That presence can have abstract, physical, or reflexive connotations. But it is not necessary that a corporeal body is always implied with every reference to the self where tanuú is used. Accordingly, there seems to be no necessity for the body--corporeally speaking--to require objective reflection in the minds of the poets when tanuú conveys all connotations of individual existence in space and time. Dissecting its significations into corporeal and non-corporeal components is later development in Middle Vedic which begins with the composite self denoted with aatmán, tanuú and púruSa in the Black Yajur Veda (see Chapter 6).

    If tanuú is best understood as shown here--as presence--it is easy to see how "body," which can be corporeal ("the body was buried") and abstract ("everybody was sad") can be made to fit most every occasion cited so far. However, as seen thus far and especially with RV 10.16 and 1.162, this would promote a certain slippage or imprecision when translating the other words for body. More importantly for this study, translating tanuú as fundamentally meaning body makes understanding the development of the self in Vedic India completely haphazard. It does make the most sense as body in some contexts so that, from the perspective of English, it is polysemic. However, it is apparent that the intricate substitution/adesha and identification which makes up the Vedic ritual cosmos--"mesocosmos" operating in connection between the microcosmos of humans and the macrocosmos of gods (Witzel, 1996: 169; B. Smith, 1989)--conceived of corporeality and selfhood far more intricately than English terminology supports.

    To illustrate differently, I will argue the converse. If tanuú is to mean simply "body"--why is its use so scarce in the Shatapatha BraahmaNa while sháriira is so common? If both mean only corporeal body, what is to be done with déha, gaátra, and kraví? The prescriptions for sacrificial acts are quite precise and each substitution must be meticulously observed in order to properly reconstruct the cosmos. From these micro- and macrocosmic equivalences the philosophical and metaphysical deliberations on the self draw their vocabulary. While déha and sháriira are parts of these


discussions, tanuú is not. The body cannot be understood as illusory and impermanent if the terminology for it is not clear. It is likely, as will be seen in more detail at the conclusion of Chapter 6, that tanuú's ambiguity in meaning presence, vulnerability, divine presence, and also body was simply too imprecise to function effectively in the subtle distinctions of Yaajñavalkya, Janaka Vaideha, and other sages.

     This is less the case in the RV Khila's. A physical tendency in the characteristics ascribed to the tanuú is quite prominent as in RVKh 3.11.2a to the goddess ILaa, in whom the tanuús with "straight backs"/viitápRSThaaH are found (vaishvadevií punatií devyaagaadyasyaamímaa bahvyástanvo viítápRSThaaH).176 The locus in the tanuú for maladiesat the divine or human levelsuch as staining/répas or being harmed occurs for both gods (though the gods are noted as having tanuú free from stain/arepásaa as in RV 1.181.4b, 1.24.6c) and humans (RV 1.114.7d, 10.97.10d, 1.108.6b). In reverse, it is also the tanuú which shows/dédishate ornamentation (RV 8.20.6c, 8.96.10d, 10.71.4c), has the physical presence of strength/vardhasva or can be made strong (RV 1.55.8b, 1.165.5b, 8.1.18c, 10.54.2a). For the balance of the RV the awareness must be maintained, however, that over time, tanuú comes to mean the bodyor something close to itas aatmán takes on the meaning of the bearer of life and vitality for humans. It is particularly the task of Chapter 6 to follow these uses through that later development.

Life, Presence, or Body: tanuú, ásu, aayú, jiivá and praaNá

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    Another possible meaning for tanuú is "life." This is not life as vitality, for instance, as discussed below with jiivá and praaNá. It is more the case of life as a general reference to one being identified as being among the living. But the occasions where tanuú unequivocally means life rather than simply a presence among the living are not frequent. In RV 10.4.6, the passage about thieves in the forest which was discussed above in Chapter 2 with respect to N 3.14, tanuú appears to mean life as the thieves/táskara are said to risk their tanuús as they haunt the forest (tanuu tyájeva táskaraa vanarguú). Of course, this is a particular case where tanuútyáj means to risk the tanuú. The other case, 10.154.3a-b refers to heros who risk their lives in war (yé yúdhyante pradháneSu shuúraaso yé tanuutyájaR'H). We find a similar case in RVKh. 3.12.1 where the worshipper seeks immortality (yatra lókyaas tanutyájaaR'H shraddháyaa tápasaa jitaáH). The Khila is appended to RV 9.113.11


(Sontakke and Kashikar, 1946: 948) which is also a plea for immortality (kaámasya yátraaptaáH kaámaas tátra maám amÿrtaM kRdhy).
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    These passages would not make the same sense if it were the body--ambiguously corporeal or otherwise--which was said to be at risk. Immortality of the body is not a theme which is consistent with the Vedic literature. The problem, of course, is that now we have a multitude of meanings for tanuú--body, self, and life--all of which can be effectively conveyed by presence/tanuú without need of multiple terms in different translations. These three isolated compounds draw attention to the fact that, even as late as the Khila's, the use of tanuú has not completely changed to mean body. This draws the discussion to yet another aspect of tanuú which requires investigation of the other words which designate life. An excellent opportunity to examine the meaning of tanuú in a semantic field replete with words related to life and vitality is found in RV 10.59.5-7:

ásuniite máno asmaásu dhaaraya jiivaátave sú prá tiraa na aáyuH | raarandhí naH suúryasya saMdR'shi ghRténa tváM tanvàM vardhayasva || 5 || ásuniite púnar asmaásu cákSuH púnaH praaNám ihá no dhehi bhógam | jyók pashyema suúryam uccárantam ánumate mRLáyaa naH svastí || 6 || púnar no ásum pRthivií dadaatu púnar dyaúr devií púnar antárikSam | púnar naH sómas tanvàM dadaatu púnaH puuSaá pathyaàM yaá svastíH || 7 ||

"O Asuniiti, bear the mind among us, lengthen our lives to be a full lifetime; allow that we can behold the sun, by ghee you strengthen the countenance/body (5). O Asuniiti give back the sight within us, give back the breath and sensation here to us; for a long time may we look at the Sun rising; O Anumati, favor us with good fortune (6). Let the earth grant us back our life, grant back to us goddess heaven, back to us mid region; let Soma grant us back our countenance/body, PuuSan should give back the path that is enjoyment (7)."177 In short, the evidence suggests that tanuú can best be considered as the presence or existence of an individual in which the empirical marks--breath, waking, sight--of life are apparent.

    The passage above includes all the primary terminology related to life and vitality. This set of terms--ásu, aayú, praaNá, and jiivá--is primarily


a phenomenon of the later portions of the RV and, as with ásu, the next strata of Vedic literature, Middle Vedic. With only a provisional exception in the case of aayú and praaNá, all four words are later terms and so they have not been discussed until now.178 These words are also found in the semantic field with tanuú--rarely the immediate semantic field, more frequently within the same hymn--more than any other key word under examination.179
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    The ambiguity in meaning for both aayú and jiivá is substantially less than that of ásu and is not an issue with praaNá.180 With aayú, it is quite unambiguously the word for the full term, or the composite whole of existence bracketed by birth at one end and, more importantly with regard to aayú, death at the other. Here, as in RV 10.59.5b, aayú is most commonly applied to requests to the deities for a full or, preferably, longer span of existence.181 The use in the RV Khilas is consistent with the connotation of duration of life as in RVKh 5.22.13b where Dadhikraavan is besought to increase lifetimes through the ashvamedha (surabhí no múkhaa karat prá Na aáyuMSi taariSat).182

    Less abstract is jiivá which is the animate component absolutely essential to the existence of life. Jiivá even marks life in opposition to death as in 1.113.8c-d with the Dawn/USa waking the living/jiivám rather than the dead/mRtáM (vyuchántii jiivám udiiráyanty uSaá mRtáM káM caná bodháyantii).183 Jiivá also marks the coming to animate life of something as in 1.68.3 to describe Agni's birth to life from wood (aád ít te víshve devatvám shúSkaad yád deva jiivó jániSThaaH).184 Somewhat different is the use of aayú with Agni in 1.67.6b where he is the life of all (vishvaáyur agne guhaá gúhaM gaaH) in a hymn which also includes a reference to ajá.185 In addition, the jiivá is clearly vulnerable to disease as in 10.97.11c-d (aatmaá yákSmasya nashyati puaá jiivagR'bho yathaa). The use of aatmán in this passage is discussed below. For the RV Khilas, jiivá continues to identify the liveliness of a being as in 4.9.5e where Agni's protection is sought for its preservation (dádhadrátnaani sumR'Liiko ágne gopaaya no jiiváse jaatavedaH).186

    In the case of ásu, we have only 10 occasions with which to work and, with one exception (2.22.4), all are in the later RV with 4 in RV Late-a and 5 in RV 10. It is often applied to the enlivening which occurs as someone or something is brought to experiential life (as opposed to life/vitality or life/duration of days). As above in 10.59.7a where the ásu is brought back to


the earth in the hymn (púnar no ásum pRthivií dadátu), so also is the usage in 1.140.8d where Agni comes to life with a roar filling the flames (ásum páraM janáyañ jiivám ástRtam). Bodewitz also notes that ásu shows "strong attachment to earthly life" (1991: 40). The use of forms of -jan/to be born are quite consistent with ásu occuring also in RV 1.182.3c, 10.14.12d, and 10.121.7c. There is also the particle úd/up or upwards as in the call to USas/Dawn to mark the passing of darkness and the return of waking life in 1.113.16a(úd iirdhvaM jiivóásur na aágaad).

    This raises another interesting point wherein we often find words for sight or vision as well as forms of jyótis/light. Similar to 10.59 above with seeing the sun (-pash), we also find suúrya/the sun in these hymns as in 10.14.12c-d where the restored life/ásu is marked with seeing/-dRsh the sun (taáv asmábhyaM dRsháye suúryaaya púnar daataam ásum adyéhá bhadrám). The sun marks a path to travel for the arisen/wakened life in 1.113.16c (aáraik pánthaaM yaátave suúryaaya).

    The life signified by ásu seems to be the waking existence which would be generally referenced in the English exclamation "ah, life!" which encompasses those waking experiences marked by light and sight. This would differ from, for instance, "all my life . . ." which would be more akin to the span of existence described by aayú. Also, then, in the exultation of Agni's invigoration in 1.140.8d, he is alive/jiivám, filling the flames with life/ásu (ásum páraM janáyañ jiivám ástRtam). This appears to be the case in RV 1.113 where in 16d we find aayú to describe the existence to be prolonged (áganma yátra pratiránta aáyuH), after the exultation of waking in 16a (úd iirdhvaM jiivó ásur na aágaad). With jiivá the sense would be "yes, s/he's awake, there's signs of life in there . . ."; or "Not every one died on the battlefield, we could see signs of life stirring . . ."

    The connotation of "experiential life" is supported in each case with ásu, it is also opposed to death. Being alive--indicated by the fact that jiivá characterizes the individual--is marked by experience/ásu. Accordingly, jiivá is found in the immediate semantic field with ásu twice. In 1.140.8c-d, the flames are enlivened or endowed with jiivá by Agni as they are released/pramuñcán from age in order to have life/ásu (taásaaM jaraám pramuñcán eti naánadad ásum páraM janáyañ jiivám ástRtam). The hymn to Dawn/USas in 1.113.16 has waking life/ásu enlivened/jiivá upon waking, light/jyótir is there from the sun to guide along the path for a prolonged lifetime/aayú. Thus in 10.59.5, the full span of life/aayú in which to have life/jiivaátave (the "alive-ness") is requested,


such that--in 7a--the life experience/ásu will be granted again from the earth. Similarly in the riddle of RV 1.164.4c, the question of where/kvá svit was the blood/ásRg, breath or essence/aatmán and life/ásu of the earth/bhuúmya (bhuúmyaa ásur ásRg aatmaá kvá svit) associates ásu with experiential, physical aspects of life.

    When the faculties frequently associated with ásu--sight, sensation, good fortune, and breath--are rightly "re"-assembled/púnar by Asuniiti in 10.59.6, the tanuú is likewise strengthened/vardhayasva. Asuniiti is elsewhere the guide of the "burned or unburned"/agnidagdhaá-ánagnidagdhaa " taking it to the fathers where a body--which is also a presence--can be taken on according to suitability/kalpayasva (10.15.14c-d: tébhiH svaraáL ásuniitim etaáM yathaavasháM tanváM kalpayasva), Asuniiti performs a similar function in the Funeral Hymn 10.16.2c-d (yadaá gáchaatyásuniitim etaám áthaa devaánaaM vashaniír bhavaati). In 10.12.4c-d Asuniiti is again the guide--of days and nights--to the realm of the fathers (áhaa yád dyaávo 'suniitim áyan mádhvÿa no átra pitáraa shishiitaam). Not surprisingly, then, when the faculties of experience are called to return in 10.59, it is Asuniiti who is ready-to-hand to recontruct them Accordingly the passage calls twice upon Asuniiti (ásu/life, existence + -nii/lead, guide = Life-guide), the goddess who conducts the ásu upon death, to return it and its mental component/mánas,187 with sight/cákSuH, breath/praaNá, for participation in the experience or sensation/bhógam of a full lifetime/aayú.

    Fittingly, the tanuú is granted the occasion to return in 10.59.7 by the earth--the primary arena of empirical experience. It is in the tanuú that the presence or participation in life experience/ásu, the enlivening/jiivá, breathing/praaNá,188 and the mental/mánas and physical sensation/bhógam of a full lifetime/aayú are realized. As most of this vocabulary lends itself to the physical and tangible realm--breath, sight, sensation, light, success, etc.--it is easy to see how tanuú might mean body. But "presence" can work, it just requires occasional clarifications when it is applied elsewhere than in the realm of the gods. Still, however, there is a clear pattern of association developing in these later portions of the RV between tanuú and physically identifiable existence which corresponds with the developing metaphysics (as in the funeral hymn above, or in the many uses of aatmán to be discussed below in the following section) of a more subtle essence of life.


New Developments with tanuú in the Later RV
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    New themes begin to emerge with tanuú which reflect changing patterns in the way the word is construed in the widening pool of terms--i.e. as púruSa and aatmán--come into increased use. The uses of tanuú begin to diversify from the basic parallel paths of multiply beneficent divine presences/tanuús as opposed to the frailty of humans in the Family Books. The image of spinning and weaving, usually of the cosmos, becomes a thematic use of -tan in the later RV as cosmogonic speculation begins to develop.189 There are eight such occasions in the late RV, such as 8.13.14 where Indra is called to spin out the ancient thread of time, which is "well known"/yátha vidé (tántuM tanuSva puurvyáM yátha vidé). RV 9.22.6a speaks of the highest thread that is spun being attained by the Soma juices (tántuM tanvánám uttamám).190 As the speculations on the cosmos develop, so too does the importance of right knowledge for the brahmán's recreating it in their sacrifices as in 10.71.9c-d, where the wrongfully attained priests spin their sacrifice in ignorance (tá eté vaácam abhipádya paapáyaa siriís tántraM tanvate áprajajñayaH).

    Consistent with the theme of the frailty of human bodies, another application of tanuú, seen three times in the Family Books (4.16.20, 6.46.10, 7.66.3) primarily with Indra, is the tanuúpaa or "guardian of presence." In 10.88.8c (cf. 10.69.4c) this role is extended to Agni as a particular benefit of the sacrifice which, in turn, rises to greater significance in the later RV as the speculations concerning it develop (sá eSaaM yajñó abhavat tanuupás). The human presence/tanuú has gained little stature, then, by the time of the later RV as it is still primarily referred to as frail or in need of help.191

    Another intriguing development which, unfortunately, does not persist--much as the use of tanuú drops off in the later Vedic literature--is the interesting term tanuukR't. It is found only twice in the RV, in 1.31.9c and 8.79.3a. In 1.31.9c, Agni is described as tanuukR'ÿt among a host of other priases as he is the source of all good things (tanuukR'd bodhi prámatish ca kaaráve tváM kalyaaNa vásu víshvam ópiSe). I am inclined to take this relatively uncommon term192 as an instance of the reflexive meaning of tanuú, thus "selfmade." This fits with the passage above, and also with RV 8.79.3a where Soma triumphs over those hateful enemies who are selfmade--they can make themselves as they will (cf. Keith on TS 1.3.4.1, 1914: 39, n. 12). It is worth noting in this connection, however, that the idea of being "self-made" is not common in general. Attestations


of svayamkR't are also scarce (KS 15.5, AVP 16.37.7, 20.15.9, 16.27.9). It is found no where in the UpaniSads. Its most common contextconsidering the multiple uses of RV 8.79.3--is to refer to the selfmade nature of adversarial forces.193 What is "selfmade"194 is both attributable to what is evil and, as later in the JB and ShB, affords protection from the same.

    We also have the development of tánuunápaat, the self-generated one, or son of fire.195 The self regenerative power of Agni is thus used to refer to his role as priest to the gods as in RV 1.13.2a-b (me adhumantaM tanuunapaad yajñáM devéSu naH kave),196 or similarly for the AApriis in 1.188.2 (tánuunapaad RtáM yaté mádhvaa yajñáH sám ajyate).197

    Still, the predominant theme with tanuú remains the manifold presences of deities. These many presences can be named as a quality, often with Agni as in 1.140.11c (yát te shukráM tanvó rócate shúci)198 or from which one in particular is called such as the strength of Indra in 10.54.2a (yád ácaras tanvaá vaavRdhaanó).199 In RV 9 tanuú is addressed as shining or making individuals to shine as with Soma in 9.70.8a (shúciH punaanás tanvaá arepásam).

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The other occasion with human tanuú, similar to what we found in Chapter 4 with tanuurúca (cf. RV 6.25.4a-b, also 2.1.9b, 7.93.5b), is the special inflated or emboldened/shuúshujaanaan tanuú in which it is more a facade. This pair of verses affords an interesting perspective on the famed "gambler's" or Dice hymn. First, in RV 10.27.2b the familiar attestation to the shining tanuú of embattled heroes is replaced with Indra speaking in an aatmastuti hymn of leading his friends into battle on the occasion of the arrival of an unrighteous man at a Soma sacrifice:

yádiíd aháM yudháye saMnáyaany ádevayuun tanvaà shuúshujaanaan |

"Then if I lead the godless, puffed up with themselves (with their presences/tanuús) In that case I (in c-d: prepare a bullock and pour strong juices)"200 The tanvaá shuúshujaanaan of the irreverent are sneered upon much as the foolish addict to gambling/kitaváH who helplessly goes gambling time and again with misplaced confidence--or inflated tanuú--in RV 10.34.6b:

sabhaám eti kitaváH pRchámaano jeSyaámiíti tanvaà shuúshujaanaH |



"The gambler goes to the gather asking "Victory?" with his presence/tanuú all puffed up." 201 The tanuú is still quite frail in this passage, and the glory previously attributed even to an adversary in battle--as in 6.25.4--is not proffered in 10.27.2. As mentioned in Chapter 2, the dice hymn is likely the later version, not only because of the way in which it co-opts the language of 10.27.2, but also owing to the use of khálu in 10.34.14c (Witzel, 1989: 193).
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    This change to a less lofty tone--cf. the point above re. the database and the ShB--for the use of tanuú (at least, that is, for a word which is predominantly used with the realm of deities) is reflected in the rather inauspicious occasion mentioned earlier in Chapter 2 with N 3.13-14 where Yaaska suggests -tan as an etymology of táskara/thieves in RV 10.4.6a which are offered as a metaphor for the two arms which churn forth the fire. The thieves risk their lives wandering through the forest (tanuutyájeva táskaraa vanargú), as discussed above.

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    As the terminology for a subtle and diffused essence in living beings--aatmán and púruSa--begins to appear, the empirical and physical associations of tanuú become more and more contrasted to them. Along with the appearance of aatmán and púruSa, we also have a developing terminology for the animate aspect of life--jiivá and praaNá--coupled with various ways to refer to it as experienced/ásu and as a full lifetime/aayú. As these new terms--i.e. those appearing with frequency for the first time in the later portions of the RV--begin to be used as descriptors for an internal quality of vitality upon which the tanuú depends or which it clothes (cf. 8.3.24 above, and in more detail below), its significations of "presence" and "countenance" become more and more physical. This is clearly the case in the Funeral Hymn where the individual can be "clothed"/úpa vetu with aayú, and must be "joined with"/sáM gachataaM a tanuú. The most influential semantic development which facilitates the changing signification of the tanuú is the advent of aatmán and new ideas about individual existence associated with it. It was primarily a point of presence within a connected (cf. -tan/to extend) cosmos between frail humans and multiply-powerful deities throughout the Family Books. Before turning to the discussion of aatmán, however, tmán will be revisited especially with respect to how it compares with tanuú to refer to particular aspects of a deity's identity.

tmán

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    There is not a significant change in the uses of tmán to be noted in the later portions of the RV. As in the Family Books, it could almost be


called a reflexive pronoun for the individual. It is found 38 times, evenly distributed throughout the various sections of the later RV.

    Without exception, tmán serves to designate an autochthonous trait of a deity. Its use serves to underscore something which is inherent to the god's nature in its un-beseeched, or un-solicited state. In other words, where tanuú applies to a particular aspect specifically requested of the deity (e.g. the Vishvedevaas' tanuú is requested for the healing of the human tanuú in 10.100.10c: tanuúr evá tanvó astu bheSajám), tmán refers to something which is lauded as an inherent characteristic of the deity, such as Agni's brightness (1.79.6a kSapó raajann utá tmánaa).

    In effect, tanuú--used in more than 3/4 of its occasions in both the Family Books and the later RV with respect to deities rather than mortals--indicates a special request, or emphasis upon a trait of the deity which is not always self-evident. In contrast, tmán is a flag which identifies a natural, inherent trait of the deity which requires no special request but which elicits praise by virtue of its existence as part of the deity's identity. An additional difference between tanuú and tmán arises with the use of tanuú to describe the frailty of humans. This is not so much the case with tmán as it is rarely applied to the human realm in the Family Books and not at all in the later portions. There is also no association with corporeal existence in the uses of tmán. It is more abstract as a deictic marker which underscores or points out a trait with particular emphasis upon that trait as a characteristic of the god's own nature.

    As a flag for inherent qualities of a deity, tmán identifies Agni's association with the offerings of praise conveyed to the gods in 8.49.4d (prá kSudréva tmánaa dhRSát). Agni accordingly knows the way to the deities of his own accord--i.e., himself, of his same/ipse self's nature/idem--in 10.176.3c-d (rátho ná yór abhiívRto ghR'Niivaañ cetati tmánaa). By contrast, a less commonly noted trait for Agni, strength, is hoped for by the poet through his song in 8.1.18c, which employs tanuú (ayaá vardhasva tanvaá giraá máma). Similarly, it is Indra's own strong nature which strikes Shambara in 1.54.4b (áva tmánaa dhRSatÿó dhRSán mánaH). Sometimes an abstract trait, typical of a deity's nature, is underscored in its self-evident or self-generated quality with a use of tmán, as is the strength given by Indra in 1.63.8d (tmánam uúrjaM ná piipayaH párijman). In fact, tmán is used with the clearly-defined Indra, more than any other deity (on 10 occasions).202 In the less common pairing of both Agni and Indra against VRtra, tanuú is used in 10.65.2a-b to describe the


additional strength afforded by Soma (indraagnií vRtrahátyeSu sátpatii mithó hinvaanaá tanvaá sámokasaa).

    Elsewhere tmán identifies the support of the universe by heaven and earth in 1.185.1c (víshvaM tmánaa bibhRto yád dha naáma). Similarly the Maruts are splendid of their own accord in 8.94.8c (tmánaa ca dasmávarcasaam). Not surprisingly Soma Pavamaana flows of its own self in 9.86.1b (mádaa arSanti raghujaá iva tmánaa). The horses which bring the Vishvedevaas to the sacrifice assemble of themselves with the deities for that purpose in 10. 64.6c-d (sahasrasaá medhásaataav iva tmánaa mahó yé dhánaM samithéSu jabhriré). Another common feature with tmán is the use of iva/as if or like, to underscore the trait attributed to the deity. Thus in 1.144.6b, with power of his own accord like a herdsman Agni rules (tvám paárthivasya pashupaá iva tmánaa).203 In the RV Khilas tmán is found only once. In RVKh 3.1.4b Indra, usually besought for his strength or assistance in battle, is here particularly besought for his gifts as from a showering of multiple particles or dust/kSudraá underscored additionally with iva (aá yáthaa mandasaanáH kiraási naH prá kSudréva tmánaa ghRSát).

    The semantic field of tmán does not intersect with the other words under study in the later portions. The use of tmán to underscore a unique characteristic of a deity as part of its identity becomes unnecessary in the later literature as the complex matrix of individuality develops expression in words for body, for life, for vital existence, for vital essence, etc. Accordingly, this brief and limited use of tmán in the Vedic literature comes to a close with but a handful of exceptions after the RV.

    Noting Mayrhofer's view of the connection between tmán and aatmán discussed in Chapter 2, the brevity of tmán's use can be accurately correlated with the appearance of the clearly existential púruSa. That tmán was necessary to denote a particular attribute of identity, and that it developed no further once the vocabulary changed, further confirms that expression of individuality was not a concern among the Vedic poets. Divine potencies--inherent as identified by tmán or specially requested as identified by tanuú--were the focus. Tmán is never associated with thought or mental action, is granted no breath/praaNá, has no internal essence/aatmán or púruSa, and has no qualities identified by the vocabulary for experienced life/ásu, duration of days/aayú, or vitality/jiivá.

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In fact, tmán is not an independent entity. It is better understood as an accented particle which serves as a syntactic pointer to the orientation of a

given characteristic for a particular deity.

aatmán
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    In Diirghatamas' usage, aatmán appeared as something which, in terms of its locus, was "large" or "diffused" (e.g. it can refer to the essence/breath of the whole earth in the riddle of 1.164.4c/bhuúmyaa ásur ásRg aatmaá kvá svit). While its "space" or locus may be large, the actual meaning of aatmán here is difficult to reconcile with an easily applicable translation. It seems easiest to translate as "breath" given the physicality of ásRg/blood. But if we were to look at the etymological argument forwarded by Yaaska (N 3.15 aatmaatater vaa | aapter vaa), that it derived from -at/to go, or -aap/to reach, obtain, then aatmán can also be understood as the dynamic aspect of vitality which marks life in general. This was the theory advanced in Chapter 4 for the two occasions of aatmán in the Family Books (7.87.2a and 7.101.6b, pp. 225f.).

    In 7.87.2a, aatmán is the word chosen to explain the relationship of the wind/vaáta to VaruNa (aatmaá te vaáto rája aá naviinot). The ever-watchful judge of Rtá who is thousand-eyed (7.34.10: váruNa ugráH sahásracakSaaH), who with Mitra is described elsewhere by the VasiStha's as having a pervasive eye like the sun/suúracakSaso and in the later portions continues to watch over the deeds of humans ( 1.24, 1.25, 8.90) has a pervasive existence throughout the earth--even as its ruler and creator of its order ( 7.61.4, 7.86.1, etc.). It follows that the motion of wind through, between, over, and around all things would be his movement or activity/aatmán more than his breath. This is not universally applicable. As we find in 10.92.13c, it is hard to consider aatmán as anything other than breath, though, at least, it is certainly animate breath as the wind is called the aatmán of all (aatmÿanaM vásyo abhí vaátam arcata). Fortunately, this anomaly is partly explicable, as 10.92 is the only hymn attributed to Shaaryaata Maanava,204 and so can stand safely as an exception without disproving a rule.

    

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To advocate that aatmán is breath, as will be shown below will not work as easily as does vitality or active essence. In 7.101.6b, Parjanya, who enriches the crops with rain, would thus be the bearer of activity or motion for all things (tásminn aatmaá jágatas tasthúSash ca). The same semantic field is found again in 1.115.1d, this time applied to Suurya, whose

rays are equally essential to Parjanya's moisture and that ensure vitality and activity of life (suúrya aatmaá jágatas tasthuSash ca).205 Again in 10.121.3a-c, praaNá is found in a similar semantic field, but it is not the core of what moves. It is placed on par with 'what moves' as an additional qualification to indicate 'what is ruled'--presumably, by Ka/Prajaapati--throughout the animate world (yáH praaNató nimiSató mahitvaíka íd raájaa jágato bhavhuúva). By contrast, in 10.121.2a, however, aatmán is the vital essence given along with strength provided by Ka (yá aatmadaá baladaá yásya víshva). This vital, or active essence will be the working translation according to which I will examine aatmán for its 23 occurrences in the later portions of the RV.

    In RV Late-a, the uses of aatmán are similar to 1.115.1d, underscoring the dynamic, motile sense of the word. Even when the context is sufficiently cryptic, as here in 1.116.3c-d with the legend of the Ashvins' rescue of Bhujyu, the use of aatmán as active essence is unambiguous:

tám uuhathur naubhír aatmanvátiibhir antarikSaprúdbhir ápodakaabhiH ||

"You (Ashvins) carried him (Tugra) with watertight ships animated with vitality lofting through the middle space."206 One can easily empathize with Muir's comment that the oft-mentioned rescue of Bhujyu by the Ashvins is "obscurely described" (1967, V: 244) in this passage. In point of fact, outside of the reference here and in 1.182, there is very little to be known about this celebrated feat of the Ashvins.207 What is clear, however, is that the function of aatmán in each instance is a fundamental, essential (for the rescue to occur), and therefore vital, animator. Later in 1.116.5d the boat is "hundred-oared" (shataáritraaM naávam aatasthivaáMsam); elsewhere the semantic field names swift-winged horses as the redemptors as in 1.117.14d (víbhir uuhathur Rjrébhir áshvaiH). Thus in 1.182.5b--albeit with the addition of wings/pakSíNaM, a feature common in the myth's other references--it is still the aatmán which is the active core of the Ashvin rescue ship coming to the aid of Tugrya's son (aatmanvántam pakSíNaM taugryaáya kám).

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    Following this myth through RV Late-a leads to another occasion of aatmán which also includes tanuú in its semantic field. Taken with the observations above, it indicates how the meaning of tanuú becomes unavoidably corporeal with the occurrence--and, indeed, the adjacency--of aatmán as in RV 8.3.24a--introduced above in Chapter 2--where tanuú is the garment and aatmán is the food (aatmaá pitús tanuúr vaása). In this instance, the poet


Paakasthaaman KaurayaaNa's daanastuti/praise of the yajamaana's generosity in giving a horse as great as that which saved Tugra's son provides the occasion to invoke the myth. As the verse continues, sacred or consecrated oil/abhyáñjanam gives the physical strength (ojadaá abhyáñjanam), while the fourth element208 is the giver of the fine steed, Paakasthaaman (turiíyam íd róhitasya paákasthaamaanam bhojáM daataáram abravam). The abstraction of aatmán as a subtler, finer essence of life becomes more pronounced in the later RV. Significantly, tanuú forms the outward appearance or presence, while the physical strength is indicated by ojadaá, and aatmán supplies the essence of vitality, the fuel or food. In a similar use, Soma is described in 9.85.3b as the essence of Indra's noblest refreshment (aatméndrasya bhavasi dhaasír uttamáH). The giving of strength/baladaá is also mentioned with aatmán in 10.121.2a (yá aatmadaá baladaá yásya víshva).

    Correspondingly, the sense of active or vital essence becomes more and more abstract as well as less specific with regard to an animate or active vitality. As seen above with the uses in the Diirghatamas hymns, it is clear that the priyá aatmá of 1.164.20a refers to a subtler essence of life than the tanuú which remains subject to the axe. In addition, there is nothing to indicate a meaning so specific as "vital" or "active" essence in this use of aatmán. Similarly, in 1.164.4c (bhuúmyaa ásur ásRg aatmaá kvá svit), indicates a subtle essence of life, more than the physical blood/ásRg, and different from the "lifetime"/aayú. An additional step in the abstraction of aatmán as a subtle or core essence appears in 10.97.11c-d, mentioned above, when disease is driven away in its very essence/aatmán. This passage uses aatmán to refer to an essence which is by no means always beneficent, one that is capable of jeopardizing life/jiivá (aatmaá yákSmasya nashyati puraá jiivagÿrbho yathaa), suggesting that aatmán is more abstract than a vital essence. In the same hymn aatmán also identifies the inner essence of a man/púruSa which is to be saved by the herbs, winning boons for the sage who knows how to use them (sanéyam áshvaM gaáM vaása aatmaánaM táva puuruSa- cf. 10.97.8c-d).

    If lifetime/aayú, life experienced/ásu, life itself/jiivá, presence/tanuú, and the dynamic essence or hub/aatmán around which all four are integrated for any individual are separately designated, it stands to reason that the mental activity--consistently identified in the formation of prayer throughout the Vedic period as -man--would also be identified. It is not


necessary to suggest an extrapolation of spirit or soul for mánas. As in 1.163.6a, by Diirghatamas, it is quite simply the mental faculty by which the poet, with broad perspective of distance/aaraát recognizes the essence of the sacrificial horse signifying the full course of a year as marked by the sun through heaven (aatmaánaM te mánasaarÿad ajaanaam avó divaá patáyantam pataMgám). We also find mánas in 1.182.5, a reference to the Bhujyu myth, where, after making the ship/aatmanvántam they bring Bhujyu forth with the power of their mind in 5c-d (yéna devatraá mánasaa niruuháthuH supaptanií petathuH kSodaso maháH). There is no direct association between aatmán and mánas enabling a clear comparison of them.

    The uses of mánas consistently suggest the mental aspect of an individual with no need, as Bodewitz notes, for multiple layers or components of soul or spirit to be inferred from the word. These inferences are products of the scholars, not the texts (1991:46). Of the words which were in contention to designate the soul or spirit, he notes the general disappearance of ásu--while praaNá and aatmán persist--as mánas no longer was sufficiently abstract to develop further macrocosmic significance. This signification ultimately passed to aatmán. In the later texts, he notes that "the position of mánas turned out to be weaker than that of praaNá, since this mánas was only equated with the moon, whereas praaNá represented the microcosmic equivalent of the macrocosmic life force" (1991: 47). A survey of the remaining occurrences of aatmán show no further attestations of mánas or other terms for mental processes.

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    Continuing to the later portions of RV Late-b, the 9th and 10th MaNDala's, the uses of aatmán become consistently more abstracted connoting a meaning more of essence than of vitality. In RV Late-b, 1.34.7d presents the Ashvins arrival at the daily sacrifices as the arrival of vitality (aatméva vaátaH svásaraaNi gachatam). Elsewhere aatmán is equally indispensable to sacrifice (cf. 9.74.4a below). Twice in the Soma MaNDala aatmán is used to describe Soma Pavamaana's essentiality to the sacrifice with almost identical semantic fields in 9.2.10c (aatmaá yajñásya puurvyáH) and 9.6.8a (aatmaá yajñásya ráMhyaa).

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In 10.163 the hymn or charm for healing a fever includes a long list of each body part from which the malady/yákSmaM is to be banished. In 10.163.5-6 the refrain reads:

yákSmaM sárvasmaad aatmánas

    tám idáM ví vRhaami te ||



"From your entire essence (or "self"--reflexively and existentially), I tear this malady away from you."209 The sense of essence for aatmán is also clear in 10.107.7c in the hymn praising the sacrificial fee or dakSiNaa which is food and vitality for the priests and the sacrifice they perform (dákSiNaánnaM vanute yó na aatmaá).
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    There are other abstractions such as those which are facilitated by analogy. The aatmán is likened to something dear--or, as such, virile and vital--in RV 10. Agni is a protector by the power of his will/krátvaa, and is likened to Savitar with truthful wisdom in 1.73.2a-b (devó ná yáH savitaá satyámanmaa krátvaa nipaáti vRjánaani víshvaa). Accordingly he is indispensable/shéva in the same way as is essential vitality/aatmán in 1.73.2d (aatméva shévo didhiSaáyyo bhuut). In 9.74.4a-b the use of aatmán to signify the essence of sacrifice is presented by way of analogy with ghee and milk (aatmanván nábho duhyate ghRtám páya Rtásya naábhir amR'taM ví jaayate).

    The RV Khilas show that the transition of aatmán from a word for vital or active essence--as well as close associations with breath--is not complete. Twice aatmán has a conventional designation of the active aspect of the Vishvedevaas who have vaata as their aatmán, impelled by Agni in the prose Khila 5.5.7 (vaata aatmano agnir juutaaH). In 4.7.7b, a Khila attached to RV 10.138 which retells the Indra-Vrtra myth, the praise of plants leaves aatmán meaning breath by the simple association in parallel with the waters (apaámasi svásaa laákSe vaáto haatmaá babhuuvá te). Yet the Khilas also show the aatmán with a growing significance as "great" among gods like Indra in 3.12.2a (yátra dévaa mahaatmánaH séndraaH samrúdgaNaaH). In 2b the Maruts and ViSNu are included in the company as the poet seeks immortality (brahmuuiiaa ca yátra víSNushca tátra maámamÿR'taM kRdhiíndraayendo pári srava). Also with a sense of abstraction and elevation of the aatmán to its more complex signfications in the later literature is 3.22.5b where the chant/saaman is the aatmán of the sun and moon (saámaatmaánaa cárataH saamacaaríNaa yáyorvratáM na vasé jaátu deváyoH).

    Thus we can see that aatmán, beginning from its earliest appearances, denotes the active, animate essence--first of deities, VaruNa and Parjanya in RV 7, and then of more abstract concepts in RV Late-a as with the Diirghtamas hymns. As this essence is more and more contrasted to tanuú, it becomes susceptible to abstraction as seen in RV Late-b, RV 9--as the central dynamic of the Soma sacrifice--and RV 10. The beginnings of a


connotation of composite individuality, which contains all signfications of lifetime/aayú, experiential life/ásu, liveliness/jiivá, presence in the physical world/tanuú and mental potential/mánas can be identified in one of the few hymns, mentioned earlier, containing púruSa, jiivá, aatmán and tanuú- RV 10.97 in praise of herbs.

    In an additional attestation to the demoting of tanuú, it is the tanuú of the man/púruSa which is infected, and from which the plants are to drive the illness in 10.97.10c-d (óSadhiiH praácucyavur yát kíM ca tanvó rápaH). This illness' essence is identified by aatmán, while its target is the vulnerable púruSa. Before the later philosophical subtleties of both terms can be addressed, the occasions where they share in the semantic fields of each other and the additional terms under examination will provide a foundation for a more precise understanding of the multiple origins of philosophical speculation in the Vedas. Thus I will conclude this chapter with a discussion of púruSa, which differs substantially from aatmán which has a relatively consistent meaning by comparison. AAtmán remains a vital--though sometimes abstract--essence throughout its various occasions in the later RV. As we will see below with púruSa, however, its uses range from frail, to a simple designation for human, to the remarkably developed micro-macrocosmic significations which are matched by no term under examination and no term in the RV in general.

púruSa

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    In the Family Books, púruSa was little more than a connotation of the vulnerable, inferior, even sin-prone mortal person.210 With the exception of verses like 7.102.2 where Parjanya is the germ or embryo/gárbham of plants, cattle, and horses (yó gárbham óSadhiinaaM gávaaM kRNóty árvataam parjányaH puruSiíNaam), the púruSa shows nothing of the lofty significance with which it is associated in the later literature. This is possibly a later hymn (Arnold, 1897: 212). The situation is markedly different in the later portions of the RV. The frailty of humans is seen only in RV 10.15.6b which is, in turn, a direct quote of 7.57.4b which says the same thing (yád va aágaH puruSátaa káraama). In addition, RV Late-a contains no occasions of púruSa. There is only one instance in RV Late-b 8.71.2a, in praise of Agni, attesting to his power over the wrath of humans (nahí manyúH paúruSeya iíshe hí vaH priyajaata tvám íd asi kSápaavaan). The entire balance of the fifteen occasions of púruSa in the later RV are found in RV 10, and seven of these are in the PuruSa Suukta.


Coupled with the fact that this term is very plentiful in Middle Vedic--56 occasions in the MS, 73 in the KS, 47 in the TS, 47 in the AVSh and 85 in the AVP--it is safe to assume it is a later inclusion in the Vedic literature. This does not mean, however, that it is a later development or idea. Accounting for the relatively sudden and isolated appearance of púruSa in the literature is not an easy matter, and one which scholars--with the possible exception of Sahota (1956)--have not examined in any detail.

    There are several occasions apart from 10.15.6 where púruSa is neither auspicious archetypal sacrifice nor a flawed human being. However, these uses still do not say a great deal about the púruSa as an auspicious or particularly honorific reference for humans. If, as Elizarenkova suggests, the púruSa represents a borrowing from another language (1995: 67), there could be reasons of hegemony of the Vedic priesthood in this development. The ascendant power of Agni over the wrathful paúruSeya in 8.71.2a suggests this as well, considering that this could well be a later hymn. It the use of púruSa reflected a borrowing from another language, it would serve to promote the supremacy of the Vedic gods over the people of that language to underscore Agni's power over their wrath. RV 10.15 is possibly later according to subject matter and its form of meter (Arnold, 1897: 213).

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    As mentioned above in the discussion of words for the body, RV 10.87.16a paúruSeyeNa is a designate of one of three kinds of flesh/kravíSaa with which the evil person smears themselves (yáH paúruSeyeNa kravíSaa sama^Nkté yó áshvyena pashúnaa yaatudhaánaH).

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The use of púruSa in the hymn praising the healing power of herbs, 10.97, has been discussed above. The púruSa is again identified as vulnerable to disease. The use of aatmán to designate the subtle essence of both the púruSa (in 10.97.4d and 8d, aatmaánaM táva puuruSa) and the disease indicates that the púruSa is still simply a term for a mortal individual rather than an essence or subtle beingat least in these hymns. In 10.97.17c-d, the púruSa is subject to evil while alive/jiivá unless the ministrations of the priest and his or her herbs are present (yáM jiivám ashnávaamahai ná sá riSyaati puúruSaH). Finally in 10.165.3c-d, while the púruSa is not particularly frail, it still stands in basic mortal need of boons and is in jeopardy of being harmed (sháM no góbhyash ca púruSebhyash caastu maá no hiMsiid ihá devaaH kapótaH).
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    The only exceptions to the designation "frail/vulnerable human" for


púruSa are found in 10.51 to Agni and, of course, the PuruSa Suukta, 10.90. I will attend to this at some length as, apart from RV 10.90, this is the only other occasion where the púruSa is used in an "auspicious" way. This hymn provides an additional perspective on the development of púruSa in the discussion of the self which is less obvious than 10.90. In 10.51.8c-d the discussion between Agni and the gods--as to whether he will assent to conveying offerings and being part of the ritual--is coming to a close as Agni lays down his terms or list of demands in return for his participation. He has been promised long life/aayú in the preceding verse, so he lays down the following terms for what he is to receive during that life:

prayaajaán me anuyaajaáMsh ca kévalaan uúrjasvantaM havíSo datta bhaagám | ghRtáM caapaám púruSaM caúSadhiinaam agnésh ca diirghám aáyur astu devaaH ||

"The fore- and after-offerings are given as mine alone: the juicy portion of the offerings--the butter of the water and the person of the plants--are to be Agni's, O gods, for longness of life."211 I have placed "person" here even though essence would make more sense. However, the frustrating thing is, this would be the only occasion in the whole RV where púruSa means essence and as there is very little cause to consider it later, there is no easy way to account for the esoteric relationship of butter-to-water and Agni-to-plants which is placed in juxtaposition here.

    The phrase púruSaM . . . óSadhiinaam is difficult to render conceptually (grammatically it is, of course, quite clear). As a metaphor, it might make more sense. Each thing demanded by Agni is combustible as a "juicy portion of the offering" or uúrjasvantaM havíSo . . . bhaagám. They are both flammable presumably--at least, the ghRtám/butter or oil certainly is.212 Common 'favorite foods' of Agni are both ghRtá and óSadhi (RV 5.8.7, 6.1.10, 7.14.1, etc.). However, it is only the former which is in the accusative in this passage, so it is the ghRtá (of water) and the púruSa (of plants) which are to be consumed. In 10.51.3c, VaruNa attests to the extent of the deities' search for Agni, that it included his entry into the plants and the waters (práviSTam agne apsv óSadhiiSu). Thus it is fitting that both are mentioned as locations from which are taken the portions (ghRtá and púruSa) which are worthy of Agni's demand.

    In the clarification of butter, the water and milk solids are separated out. But if the clarified butter were to be poured back into water, it would not mix and would remain within, yet separable from, the water. Once


extracted, the ghRtá would be just as flammable. The other "flammable" element in 10.51.8c is the púruSa of the plants. Geldner suggests this could refer to trees and hence to wood (1951, III: 213). However, aapás is not foreign to association with Agni. Water is elsewhere a point of origin for Agni as in 10.45.1 which describes three sources from which Agni is born--heaven, the waters, and among the people (divás pári prathamám jagñe agnír asmád dvitiíyam pári jaatávedaaH tRtuyiiyam apsú nRmánaa ájasram). If the púruSaM . . . óSadhiinaam is considered analogously, then the wood of the plants would be the burnable portion. In essence, for Agni púruSa is to óSadhiinaam as ghRtá is to aapás. However, this would suggest some correlation between wood from plants and the nature of the púruSa as something flammable like ghRtá.

    This does not work easily with the other uses of púruSa. W. Norman Brown has suggested that this passage is "paradoxical" in that Agni demands these things as his portion--ghRtá and púruSa--from the two placeswater and plantsin which he himself had chosen in verse 3 to hide (1931: 109). Brown observes this as part of his longer argument which suggests that púruSa in 10.90 is a conglomerate representation of Agni, Suurya, and ViSNu. Elsewhere the sun is described with a similar semantic field in 1.164.52b (apaáM gárbhaM darshatám óSadhiinaam). The same paada is repeated of Agni in 3.1.13a (apaáM gárbhaM darshatám óSadhiinaam). For that matter, however, 227">a similar statement is made of Parjanya, as seen above in 7.102.2--with a form of púruSa but not at all the same meaning (yó gárbham óSadhiinaaM gávaaM kRNóty árvataam parjányaH puruSiíNaam). There is no other occasion of púruSaM . . . óSadhiinaam with which to compare in the RV. This mantra is used only in KB 1.2, while there are occasions (ShB 3.6.1.7, 7.2.3.4) where plants and water are linked--the essence/rása of plants is water, and ghRtá is the rása of both plants and water.

    This lengthy examination arrives at an impasse. If púruSa in 10.51.8 is referring to wood or something burnable, it is hard to understand how it can mean a human person or mortalunless there is a subtle implication of PuruSamedha (but there are no occasions of óSadhi in the discussion of the PuruSamedha found in ShB 13.6.1.1ff.). Why would such a peculiar term as one for humans be chosen for that part of plants which Agni demands as a 'juicy portion'/uúrjasvantaM . . . bhaagám? Conversely, if--following the tradition of translators and scholars--that púruSa is somehow a soul or essence (Brown, 1931: 109; Geldner, 1951, III: 213; Macdonell,


1898: 92; Keith, 1916:43, etc.), it is unclear why it would be paralleled in construction with such a readily-offered combustible as ghRtá.

    Considering polysemy in the absence of a better explanation (i.e., applying Occam's razor), I simply must recant from "person" above and throw in my lot with Brown, accepting accordingly that tripartite godhood of púruSa. Thus, on this one occasion in the RV, with nothing other than a widely extrapolated justification for it (Brown's) and very little against it (my discussion of butter above), púruSa means essence. I carp about this even more because púruSa does not have this same "essence" meaning in Middle Vedic (púruSa is expressly external as a container or receptacle of the composite self). Even Arnold, whose accounting of "later" hymns includes more than any other scholar, only marginally considers this to be a later insertion. As such, however, this does no real good in understanding why it means essence because essence is not a common meaning for púruSa in the next immediate period during which such an insertion would happen.

    Inasmuch as what burns of plants is like the frailty attested elsewhere of the mortal púruSa, that could account for the allusion to wood. Unfortunately, both the language and the poet are different from the only other sacrificial participation of púruSa in 10.90. Therefore it is possible to conclude that this is an instance of transition wherein púruSa means more than something merely mortal, but instead abstract, with a sense of essence not unlike the developing significations of aatmán.213 The irony of Agni requesting that from which he came in the form of the púruSa of plants, might very well refer to the role of púruSa in 10.90 where púruSa both begets and is the sacrifice.

    The imagery of Agni in plants is widespread. In 6.12.3c-d Agni knows it is his nature--a case with tmán--to not be stayed among plants (addroghó ná dravitaá cetati tmánn ámartyo 'vartrá óSadhiiSu).214 Significantly, RV 7.4.5215 says that as an unborn child Agni is sustained by plants and trees, born in the earth (tám óSadhiish ca vanínash ca gárbham bhuúmish ca vishvádhaayasam bibharti). RV 7.4.6b contains one of the few attestations of the later form of the infinitive in -toH, daátoH suggesting this as later hymn as well. If Agni was thus contained within the plants, then he requests that he be sacrificed to himself like púruSa (cf. below in 10.90.5 where púruSa is born of Viraaj and in turn gives birth to Viraaj and it is this púruSa which is sacrificed). Agni's requests are reciprocal sacrifices both to and of himself, similar to the macro-microcosmic significations of púruSa. The other half of 10.51.8 is also correlated by 2.35.14c where ghRtám/oil is the food of the waters


(aápo náptre ghRtám ánnaM váhantiiH).

    This use of púruSa confirms the developing inclusion of púruSa in the Vedic sacrificial imagery--whether signifying a conglomeration of Agni, Suurya and ViSNu following Brown or not--as in 10.90. RV 10.90 does not suffer from a paucity of scholarship upon its contents.216 It would be redundant to reiterate the influence of the hymn upon the later BraahmaNa's and UpaniSads, and subsequent sociological and philosophical developments (caste system, Vaishnavism, etc.). It is unlikely that this hymn refers to a literal human sacrifice. If RV 1.162 and 163 were compared, there is nothing in the semantic fields with púruSa parallel to the graphic cutting and apportioning (cf. 1.162.20 above) of the sacrificial horse. The sacrificial acts are referred to in the abstract and are free of blood and flesh. Terms such as kraví and gaátra are not found to refer to a fleshy body, nor the explicit cutting denoted by vi shasta. Certainly there are specific references to body parts being parcelled out after they are cut and divided/vy ádadhuH. This is the only "graphic" language and it sets the stage for the various castes: braahmaNó which "were"/aasiid his mouth, while from the arms and thighs were "made"/kRtáh the raajanyáH and vaísya, while the shuudró, moon/candrámaa, sun/suúryo, etc. arise or are born/ajaayata from various parts.

    The púruSa that is sacrificed is identified at the outset of the hymn as a great deal more significant than a simple paradigmatic mortal. He is thousand-headed, eyed, and footed (sahásrashiirSaa púruSaH sahasraakSáH sahásrapaat).

?
This is the only occasion of a thousand-headed being in the RV, while the other terms are used elsewhere for Agni ( 1.79.12a, not in compound form in 10.79.5c), and for Indra-Vaayu ( 1.23.3c) suggesting that at least part of Brown's theory of the cosmic púruSa signifying a conglomeration of prominent sacrificial deities might have weight. Certainly the association with Agni in 10.51.8 gives weight to the argument, though Brown is ambiguous about this. Moreover, the púruSa is elevated beyond human status--the only such declaration of universal totality in 10.90.2a (púruSa evédáM sárvaM) associated with the púruSa in the RV--and one which is not made of aatmán either. This suggests the púruSa of the sacrifice which is a container or receptacle for the composite self (see overview and related links in Chapter 6 re. púruSa and the composite self)

    Consider the semantic fields used with púruSa in this hymn--utaámRtatvásyéshaano/ lord of immortality, ánna/food, etc. Brown (1931: 110f.) reviewed this terminology and continued to affirm that Agni, Suurya, and, to a lesser extent, ViSNu, share the semantic field found with púruSa in this hymn. More than this it is a solid fusing of púruSa into the


vocabulary of sacrificial practice which occurs--with the slight exception of 10.51--nowhere else in the RV. The inclusion of púruSa represents a marked departure from other terminology for the sacrifice. Occasions such as this with aatmán are not found. There is no paradigmatic aatmán offered. In addition, in 10.90.13d, where Vaayu is said to come forth from the púruSa's breath, praaNá--not aatmán--is the chosen term (praaNaád vaayúr ajaayata). While aatmán is the core or essence of sacrifice as in 9.2.10c, 9.6.8a, and the fee/dákSiiNa is the vital essence of the priest, there is no elevation of the aatmán as paradigmatic (cf. however, RV Kh. 3.12.2a with the great essence/mahaatmánaH as a way to let the devotee participate in the auspicious gatherings with Indra).

    The "newness" of this archetypical sacrificial aspect of púruSa persists through the RV Khilas as well. As in the RV, the majority of occasions refer to the púruSa as frail, in need of progeny, or just as men in general.217 In Rv Kh. 4.11.9a there is a somewhat loftier use of púruSa to refer to a great man with a lustre like that of AAditya (vedaaham etaM puruSaM mahaantam aadityavarNa tamasaH parastaat). In 5.12.1a however, a suggestion which makes pointed note of a new development with the púruSa as fashioned to be worthy of the sacrificial gathering:

yáH sábheyo vidathyaH sútvaa yájvaa ca púruSaH suúrya caámuu rishaádasaM tád devaáH praág akalpayan

"The gods have previously brought you both forward, the púruSa, fit for the assembly, sacrificial presser, and the Sun, destroyer of foes." This does not speak so much of the púruSa as sacrificed, but more that it the one that performs the sacrifice.

?
Similarly, in 10.90.4-5, the primordial púruSa goes upward with 3/4 of his being, and one forth remains here (cf. notations of quarters in 8.3.24, 1.164.45, etc.) to be spread forth (-tan) as performer. From this is born Viraaj and from Viraaj,218 again, púruSa. It is this second begotten púruSa which is sacrificed, in turn, to itself (10.90.16a- yajñéna yajñám ayajanta devaáH).

    With the púruSa, then, there are two primary senses. The most predominant of these, accounting for all but 2 of the hymns where it is discussed, concerns a mortal and sometimes frail existence as a human. Suddenly, however, in RV 10 the púruSa aquires an abstract signification. In 10.51.8 it denotes an essence of sorts within plants demanded as his share in the offerings by Agni and then, of course, in the famed PuruSasuukta it is the paradigmatic offering for creation of the universe. It is worth noting


that the universe created is the social sacrificial order of varNas which is crucial in the later BraahmaNa's. In addition, it is the ritual recitations, sun, moon, the marks of wealth and sacrificial fees/dákSiNaa, deities of the sacrifice Indra, Agni, and Vaayu, as well as the enclosing sticks (saamidheni) and the earth and regions. This choice of such a sacrifice-oriented creation cannot be by mistake. it serves to intimately fuse the primary vocabulary of sacrificial liturgy, metaphysics, and praxis with the púruSa. As such it legitimates the púruSa at a higher level of significance which is markedly contrasted to any of its uses elsewhere, even 10.51.

    The rather remarkable visability of 10.90 throughout the later literature (10.51.8 is only used in N 8.22 and KB 1.2) attests to the efficaciousness of the integration or sacrifice with púruSa. It is, at the very least, a term which lay outside the primary vocabulary of the Vedic mythology. As a word for the self, the model of the micro-macrocosmic equivalencies begins with this hymn. Such significations for any other element of the vocabularynotably aatmánis a marked contrast. The púruSa literally begins as an abstract signifier of the metaphysical integration of the universe. At best the aatmán is the essence or animator of the sacrifice or its fee. Consequently, as the significations of the tanuú for individuality are also becoming more and more corporeal at this time, it is safe to say that, with RV 10.90--and, by comparison, nowhere else--the philosophical underpinnings of the notion of self begin in Early Vedic.

    My task with púruSa is not unlike that which I outlined in Chapter 4 for bráhman. I am seeking a position from which to trace its later development. As we see in 10.51 and 10.90, púruSa arrives already--cf. Van Buitenen--developed with a quite complex notion of self. Yet, again, púruSa also had "arrived" in the Family Books with no such significations--even contrary ones. I cannot otherwise account for these "two púruSas" unless I consider the possibility which stretches my interpretations the least. The contradictory meanings, the fully developed sacrificial doctrine, and the rareness of a word which appears primarily in later hymns--post RV composition and arrangement--all fit with púruSa as a borrowing or inclusion of a separate tradition. It is not the task of this dissertation to delve deeply into debates on the linguistic prehistory of the Veda which are either raging intensely or being intensely ignored in various corners of Indology. I am looking at development within the RV. Unless a passage is found says "we are the people that were always here in the Indus Valley and "____" is our word that has always meant self . . ."; I am not


getting into the who's who of what was pre-Hindu.

Conclusions
?

    In Chapter 6 I will narrow the focus to those words which emerge from this larger pool in predominant use: aatmán, tanuú, púruSa, and bráhman. While I have noted above that tanuú decreases in frequency after the Black Yajur Veda, I am hoping nonetheless to find within those texts some explanation for how the word developed after the period of the Rg Veda, which might explain its almost complete disappearance in the White Yajur Veda and later texts of the Rg Veda shaakhaas. We began with the observation that tanuú meant a presence of a deity that was beneficient and often varied, while for humans it designated their existence in the mortal realm as frail and prone to sin. In the later RV this began to change as aatmán appeared with great frequency as tanuú/"presence" became--as in 8.3.24--a clothing around the aatmán, and something subject to an axe in 1.162.20. Other late uses where aatmán was not in the immediate semantic field were similar. Does this increasing "physicality" persist in the Middle Vedic period, consistently, in all texts? This is the direction for that portion of the inquiry.

    Conversely, aatmán show a fairly consistent use. AAtman always indicates some form of an essence, though this essence begins with the associations as the vital activity of the wind. This certainly assists to express the doctrine of its later association with the breath as in the praaNaagnihotra, but it is not necessarily the original meaning for the term as aatmán elsewhere in the later RV begins to designate an essence which is less empirically obvious than wind. I am curious as to why aatmán does not appear until later. While tanuú does not designate an essence, or anything internal--it is always, by contrast, something which appears--it seems that the notion of internal essences begins with aatmán. This position is untenable, however, as tmán clearly designates something autochthonous--if not internal--and connotes an inherent or intrinsic component of a deity or person's nature. I am actively looking for evidence that tmán--which is almost always in the instrumental tmánaa in the RV--was phonetically conscripted into service as a designator of the internal essence signified by aatmán. If there were multiple cultures represented in the developing Vedic literature, they could likely have multiple terms for individual existence. Remember above that I have observed that the recurrence of exceptional forms, anomalies, and metric variants frequently coin


cides with hymns in which we find two of these terms, or first occurences of later ones. It stands to reason that the notion of self would form a fault-line marking the intersection of different dialects, especially if those dialects represented competing peoples. There is no shortage of scholarship on the competitive symbolism of Vedic ritual.

    It is not untenable that aatmán, if developed from tmán, could have appeared in response to the comparatively sophisticated doctrine of the púruSa. Outside of an inconclusive use of aatmán in RV 10.97 to describe the essence of disease to be driven from a púruSa that is infected, there is no sense of aatmán as vulnerable or even faulted as there is with most of the occasions of púruSa. Significantly, in this instance, the aatmán is a power which is capable of threatening the púruSa as the essence of a malady. In the same hymn, it is the aatmán of the púruSa which the herbs are called to heal. If the compilers of the RV represented the culture where aatmán came to be prevalent, these uses of púruSa could be explained, especially when we consider the radical dichotomy between the púruSa of 10.90 and 10.51 compared with elsewhere in the RV. It is not likely that these subtle significations of a fairly sophisticated sacrificial doctrine "suddenly" were created. It is worth noting that aatmán does not appear in either of these two hymns in which púruSa has a more auspicious signification.

    These are the issues I will pursue in the Middle Vedic Literature. It is informative as well to consider that in this later literature, tmán is rarely found in the instrumental, but instead in the nominative--a form of it very uncommon in the RV. Perhaps there is a clue as to the development of aatmán and tmán in these instances. Certainly there is opportunity to test the aatman-vs-púruSa hypothesis bsed on the frequency and use of both in the BYV--texts not commonly consulted by scholars and completely ignored in the studies of the self cited in Chapter 1. In this same connection it is important to note whether tmán is used in the same sorts of semantic fields as is púruSa and if that might account for why it--instead of tanuú--was developed into the word for self. Thus I will be looking at what happens to the "presence/tanuú" which, even after it becomes more physical, still drops out of use in some of the later texts while other words for physical body take its place.

    Lastly, through all these developments, there is the steady path of bráhman which proceeds, ostensibly unnaffected by the changing uses of the other terminology for the self, as a power and/or formula, associated


with righteousness and speech. In addition, the association between bráhman and speech, and púruSa with Prajaapati in the sacrificial literature is a significant development whose origins lie within the BYV texts. This development, in turn, is followed by the significant development of the association between aatmán and bráhman. What happens to púruSa when this occurs? The composite self, composed of tanuú, aatmán and púruSa which characterizes the BYV ritual and which disappears by the time of the ShB and, even earlier, the AB, is the next significant use of púruSa. This is unique in that there is very little like it before or after the BYV texts of Middle Vedic. The final chapter of this study will provide the proving ground the results of the RV examination. Do the meanings for each term correlate with how they are used in Middle Vedic? Certainly there is change to be expected from Early to Middle Vedic. But can a logical or reasonable line of development from the RV as I have presented it here be traced through the BYV SaMhitaas? I am suggesting that it can. The three primary terms--aatmán, tanuú, and púruSa--are integrated as parts of a component notion of the self. Where one word would convey the self int he RV, primarily tanuú, a matrix does this in the early texts of Middle Vedic. This is afforded by additional terminology, including the most important development, the complex of breaths represented by praaNá.