The ravenous hyenas and the wounded sun: myth and ritual in ancient India

Abstract

Foreword by Gregory Nagy Acknowledgments AbbreviationsIntroductionA. VedicB. The Texts i. The Vedas ii. The Yajur Veda and the Brahmanas iii. The SutrasC. Vedic RitualD. Vedic MythologyE. The Case StudiesPART I. INDRA AND THE YATIS 1. Texts2. Participants A. The Yatis i. Ritualists or Shamans? ii. Death at the Ritual iii. The Yatis' Killing: A Sin of Indra's?B. The Salavrkeyas i. Hyenas and Their Young ii. Indra and the Mother Hyena3. The Ritual in the Myth A. Yatis' Ritual FlawsB. The Yatis' Place on the Ritual Ground: The Uttaravedi i. The Uttaravedi: A Dangerous Place ii. Some Fierce Transformations iii. Why Is the Uttaravedi Dangerous?C. The Yatis' Ritual Successes i. The Sautramani ii. The Pasubandha iii. The Varunapraghasa and the Kariri Isti4. The Episode of the Survivors A. Syumarasmi and the Horse i. A Clever Escape and a Second Birth ii. The Sniff-Kiss iii. What the Horse DidB. Indra as Father Appendix: On Two Recent Treatments of the Yati MythPART II. SVARBHANU AND THE WOUNDED SUN5. The Texts and the Myth A. The TextsB. Overview of the Myth6. The Remedies-Skin Diseases, Hair, and Fertility 146 A. Apala: A Parallel to Svarbhanu i. Apala's Story ii. Apala, Akupara, and Svarbhanu iii. The Tortoise Akupara iv. Apala as Ritualist v. Apala's Objectives vi. Indra, Pusan, and Marriage?B. Ritual and Magic Reflections of the Myth i. Skin Diseases and the Sun: Samala ii. The Rite for Splendor iii. A Charm against Skin Disease7. Rescuing the Sun-Failed Birth and Rebirth A. Atri and Company: The Rescuers of the SunB. The Rebirth and Failed Birth of the Sun i. The Rebirth of the Sun ii. Other Mythic Descriptions of Birth iii. The Fourth SheepC. Some Other Failed Births of the Sun i. Saving the Sun from Miscarriage ii. Martanda/Vivasvant iii. Agni and Surya in the Womb8. Failed Birth and Rebirth of Atri A. Atri and MiscarriageB. The Atreyi i. The Atreyi in Legal Texts ii. Legal Reflections in the Brahmanas iii. The Atreyi in Atri's MythologyC. Atri as Symbol of Abortion in the Srauta SutrasD. Atri's Second Birth i. Atri's Kettle in the RV ii. A Disguised Parallel in the JB iii. Wombs and Their Substitutes9. Atri's Qualifications and Means for Rescuing the Sun 243 A. The Rescue of the Sun: Why Atri?B. Atri's ParentageC. Atri's Means i. The Ritual ii. 'Mere' Reverence and the Fourth Formulation iii. The Fourth (Part of) Speech iv. Creative Imperfection v. Pied Beauty10. The Wounding of the Sun A. Who Is Svarbhanu?B. What Did Svarbhanu Do to the Sun? i. The Piercing of the Sun ii. The Maya of Svarbhanu iii. Smoke in the Skin-Disease Charm?C. The Svarbhanu Myth as Reflecting the Physical World i. Catastrophic Events ii. Cyclical EventsD. What Did the Sun Say? RV V. 40. 7E. What Did the Sun Do Wrong? i. Prajapati's Incest ii. The Participants iii. Verbal Parallels between the Myths iv. Why Heal the Sun?Glossary of Technical Terms in Vedic Ritual and Religion A Note on Sanskrit Pronunciation References Index of Passages Cited Index of Sanskrit Terms General Index