Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-18T13:41:20.610Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Submarine Mare in the Mythology of Śiva

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Fire and water are natural symbols, individually and in combination, in mythologies throughout the world. They assume a unique meaning in the Indian context, where tradition has attached particular significance to each element. Together, as an apparent conjunction of opposites, fire and water resolve some of the major paradoxes of Indian—especially Śaiva—mythology. The most striking instance of this symbolism is the image of the mare who wanders beneath the ocean, breathing fire.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 103 , Issue 1 , January 1971 , pp. 9 - 27
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1971

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Matsya Purāṇa (Ānandāśrama Sanskrit Series 54; Poona, 1907), 154. 252.

2 Bhaviṣya Purāṇa (Bombay, Venkaṭeśvara Steam Press, 1959), 3. 4.14. 53Google Scholar; Śiva Purāṇa (Benares, Paṇḍita Puṣṭakālaya, 1964), 2. 3.19.10.Google Scholar

3 Mahābhārata (Poona, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1933–1959), XIII. 83.53Google Scholar; Kumārasambhava of Kālidāsa (Bombay, Nirṇaya Sāgara Press, 1955), 10. 1–25.Google Scholar

4 Hooykaas, C., Āgama-Tīrtha: Five studies in Hindu-Balinese religion (Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Akademie der Wetenschappen LXX, 4), Amsterdam, Noord-Hollandsche Uitgevers Maatschappij, 1964, 109Google Scholar; Bosch, F. D. K., The golden germ: An introduction to Indian symbolism, The Hague, Mouton, 1960, 60–64.Google Scholar

5 Kirfel, Willibald, Die fünf Elemente insbesondere Wasser und Feuer: Ihre Bedeutung für den Ursprung altindischer und altmediterraner Heilkunde (Beiträge zur Sprach- und Kulturgeschichte des Orients IV), Walldorf-Hessen, 1951, 16.Google Scholar

6 ibid., 17.

7 Mānavadharmaśāstra, ed. J. Jolly, Trübner, 1887, 6. 23; Kumārasambhava, 5. 20–26.

8 Śiva Purāṇa, 7. 1. 28. 19. I have discussed the general mythology of asceticism and sexuality in “Asceticism and sexuality in the mythology of Śiva”, History of Religions, 8, 4, May 1969, 300–337.

9 Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa of the White Yajur Veda, tr. Julius Eggeling (SBE, XII, XXVI, XLI, XLIII, XLIV), Oxford, 1882, Vol. 2, p. xii; Adalbert Kuhn, Mythologische Studien. I: Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des Göttertranks, Gütersloh, C. Bertelsmann, 1886, 161 ff.

10 Ṛg Veda [Rig-Veda Sanhita] with the commentary of Sāyaṇa, ed. Max Müller, William H. Allen, 1890–92, VI. 22. 8.

11 Śiva Purāṇa, 3. 7. 37.

12 Mahābhārata, X. 18. 21.

13 cf. Mānavadharmaśāstra, 9. 35.

14 ibid., 9. 321; Mahābhārata, V. 15. 32; XII. 56. 24; Devī Purāṇa (Calcutta, Bāngabāsī Press, 1896), p. 30 (ch. viii, 11. 10–12); Pañcatantra, ed. Johannes Hertel (Harvard Oriental Series XI), 1908, II. 1. 24; Padma Purāna (Ānandāśrama Sanskrit Series 131, Poona, 1893), 4. 103. 1–26; Mahābhārata, I. 16. 22–24; Kumārasambhava, 4. 43.

15 Blair, Chauncey, Heat in the Rig Veda and Atharva Veda (American Oriental Society Publication 45), Cambridge [Mass.], 1961, 102.Google Scholar

16 Ṛg Veda, II. 1.1.

17 Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa of the White Yajur Veda, ed. Albrecht Weber (Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series 96), 2nd ed., Benares, 1964, 11. 1. 6. 1 and 6. 1. 1. 10; Mānavadharmaśāstra, 1. 8–9; Ṛg Veda, X. 121.

18 Ṛg Veda, X. 51–53; cf. Bṛhaddevatā, ed. Arthur Anthony Macdonell (Harvard Oriental Series V), 1904, 7. 62.

19 Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, 6. 3. 1. 31.

20 Mahābhārata, XIII. 84. 22–44; Kathāsaritsāgara of Somadeva (Bombay, Nirṇaya Sāgara Press, 1930), 3. 6. 74–80.

21 Mahābhārata, V. 15. 27–32.

22 Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, 1. 2. 3. 1.

23 ibid., 6. 8. 2. 8.

24 ibid., 1.4.1. 10–19.

25 ibid., 2. 1. 1. 3–4; 1. 1. 1. 18. 20–21.

26 Atharva Veda, with the commentary of Sāyaṇa (Bombay, Government Central Book Depot, 1895), 7. 87. 1.

27 Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, 6. 1. 1. 1–2, 8; 6. 1. 3. 1–4; 6. 1. 3. 8–10.

28 Mahābhārata, XIII. 146. 4; Brahmāṇda Purāṇa (Bombay, Venkaṭeśvara Steam Press, 1857), 2. 27. 106; cf. Mahābhārata, XIII. 146. 5–6; VII. 173. 94–97.

29 Subhāṣitaratnakoṣa of Vidyākara (Harvard Oriental Series XLII), 1957; tr. Daniel H. H. Ingalls (H.O.S. XLIV), 1965, §70.

30 Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa, 2. 27. 112.

31 cf. Śiva Purāṇa, 2. 2. 16. 39.

32 Kathāsaritsāgara, 2. 1. 1.

33 Atharva Veda, VI. 132. 1.

34 Atharva Veda, tr. Maurice Bloomfield (S.B.E. XLII), Oxford, 1897, p. 535.

35 Mahābhārata, XII. 207. 13.

36 Kālikā Purāṇa (Bombay, Venkaṭeśvara Steam Press, 1891), 45. 117.

37 Skanda Purāṇa (Bombay, Venkaṭeśvara, 1867), 6, 258. 1–4; Vāmana Purāṇa (Benares, All-India Kashiraj Trust, 1968), 6. 27–33.

38 Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa, 4. 30. 65–89.

39 Skanda Purāṇa, 6. 259. 5.

40 Śiva Purāṇa, with commentaries (Bombay, Ganpat Krishnaji Press, 1884), Jñānasaṃhitā 42. 27–32. (This edition will be cited by Saṃhitā name.)

41 Crooke, William, The popular religion and folklore of northern India, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Constable, 1896, I, 76.Google Scholar

42 Dubois, Abbé J. A., Hindu manners, customs and ceremonies, tr. Beauchamp, Henry K., 3rd ed., Oxford, 1906, 553.Google Scholar

43 Beck, B. E. F., “Social and conceptual order in Kongu” (Unpublished D. Phil. dissertation, Oxford, 1968), pp. 151–169.Google Scholar

44 Kumārasambhava, 8. 91.

45 Śiva Purāṇa, 2. 3. 19. 15; Matsya Purāṇa, 154. 251–2.

46 cf. Harṣa's, Nāgānanda (Sri Harsha's plays, Asia Publishing House, 1964), p. 203 (V. 22).Google Scholar

47 Harivaṃśa, with commentary (Bombay, Lakṣmī-Venkaţeśvara Steam Press, 1833–1976), 1. 45. 1–19Google Scholar; 1. 46. 1–10.

48 Brahma Purāṇa (Calcutta, Gurumaṇḍala Press, 1954), 116. 22–25.Google Scholar

49 Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, 1. 1. 2, in One hundred and eight Upanishads, 4th ed., Bombay, Nirṇaya Sāgara Press, 1932.Google Scholar

50 Rāghavan on Mānavadharmaśāstra, 9. 321.

51 Mahābhārata, XII. 137. 41.

52 Śiva Purāṇa, 5. 24. 29; Mahābhārata, XIII. 38. 25–29.

53 Prabodhacandrodaya of Kṛṣṇamiśra (Bombay, Nirṇaya Sāgara Press, 1898), VI. 8.Google Scholar

54 Bhaviṣya Purāṇa, 1. 22. 14 and 16; Skanda Purāṇa, 3. 1. 24. 30–67.

55 Brahma Purāṇa, 113. 13.

56 Vāmana Purāṇa, 30. 27.

57 Skanda Purāṇa, 1. 1. 9. 90.

58 Subhāṣitaratnakoṣa, §1045; Ingalls translation.

59 Śiva Purāṇa, 2. 2. 22. 10.

60 cf. Kumārasambhava, 8. 42.

61 cf. Pañcatantra, V. II. 32.

62 Rāvaṇa Vaha or Setubandha, with commentary (Kāvyamālā 47, 1895), V. 34.

63 Subhāṣitaratnakoṣa, §1198, Ingalls translation, cf. §1210–1212.

64 Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, 1. 4. 4.

65 Eliade, Mircea, Yoga: immortality and freedom, tr. Trask, Willard R. (Bollingen Series LVI), New York, Pantheon, 1958, 256Google Scholar; Paul Émile Dumont, L'Aśvamedha: Description du sacrifice du cheval, Paris, Societé Belge d'Études Orientales, 1927, 260 ff.

66 Mādhava, , Sarvadarśanasaṃgraha (Bibliotheca Indica), pp. 6–7.Google Scholar

66a Harivaṃśa (Bombay, 1927), 3. 5. 11–17.Google Scholar

67 Lal, Kanwar, The cult of desire, 2nd ed., Luxor Press, 1967, pl. 45 (Tirupakeśa Temple, Mysore)Google Scholar; Rawson, Philip, Erotic art of the East, New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1968Google Scholar, pl. 121 (miniature painting, Deccan, 18th century). Pl. 67 depicts a man with a mare (Khājurāho, 10th century).

68 Hooykaas, op. cit., 109; citing Kauravasrama, 78.

69 Gonda, J., Ancient Indian kingship from the religious point of view, Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1966, 141.Google Scholar

70 ibid., 23; cf. Śaṅkhāyaśrautasūtra, 16. 1. 15; Baudhāyanaśrautasūtra, 15. 8.

71 Kumārasambhava, 1. 11.

72 Rawson, op. cit., pl. 42. I am indebted to Dr. J. C. Harle of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, for calling my attention to similar reliefs on temples 7 and 9 at Aihole.

73 Padakūsalamāṇava Jātaka (§432); Mahāvaṃsa, 10. 53–62 (W. Geiger ed.).

74 Ṛg Veda, X. 17. 1–2; Brhaddevatā, 6. 162; 7. 1–6; Harivaṃśa, 1. 9. 1; Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa (Bombay, Venkaṭeśvara, 1890), 103; Śiva Purāṇa, 5. 35. 1–41; Padma Purāṇa, 5. 8. 46–72; Śiva Purāṇa, Dharmasaṃhitā 11. 53–66.

75 Viṣṇu Purāṇa (Gorakhpur, Gītā Press, 1962), 3. 2. 2–12.Google Scholar

76 Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, 103. 1–65; 104. 1–11; 105. 1–16.

77 Śiva Purāṇa, Dharmasaṃhitā 11. 53–66.

78 Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Śiva Purāṇa Dharmasaṃhitā, Bṛhaddevatā.

79 Śiva Purāṇa, Dharmasaṃhitā 49. 78–81.

80 Śiva Purāṇa, 2.2. 16. 38.

81 Devībhāgavata Purāṇa (Benares, Paṇḍita Puṣṭakālaya, 1960), 6. 17–19.Google Scholar

82 Kramrisch, Stella, Unknown India: Ritual art in tribe and village, Philadelphia, 1968, 56.Google Scholar

83 Kaṭha Upaniṣad, 3. 4–6.

84 Aśvaghoṣa, Buddhacarita, XV. 1–7, 13, from Tibetan translations; cited by Conze, Edward, Buddhist scriptures, Penguin Books, 1959, 53.Google Scholar

85 Gopatha Brāhmaṇa (Bibliotheca Indica, 1872), 1. 2. 18; p. 35.

86 Ṛg Veda, VIII. 72. 16; I. 35. 3; I. 164. 47; II. 11. 6; V. 6. 6.

87 Ṛg Veda, I. 50. 8–9; IX. 86. 36.

88 Ṛg Veda, I. 58. 2; 149. 3; 60. 5; II. 4. 4.; 5.1; III. 2. 7; 27. 3; 27. 14; etc.; Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, with the commentary of Sāyaṇa (Ānandāśrama Sanskrit Series 32, Poona, 1896), 15. 5. 1–7.

89 Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, 7. 3. 2. 14.

90 cf. The Ocean of Story (Kathāsaritsāgara), tr. C. H. Tawney and ed. N. M. Penzer (10 vols.), 1924, IV, 14–16.

91 Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, 5. 3. 1. 5; 6. 2. 1. 5; etc.

92 Taittirīya Saṃhitā of the Black Yajur Veda, with the commentary of Mādhava (Bibliotheca Indica, Calcutta, 1860), 7. 5. 25. 2; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, 5. 1. 4. 5.

93 Kramrisch, op. cit., 57.

94 Mahābhārata, I. 16. 34–36; cf. Nakula, Aśvaśāstra, quoted in Lakṣaṇaprakāśa, p. 407; cf. Dikshitar, V. R. Ramachandra, War in ancient India, 2nd ed., Macmillan, 1948, 175.Google Scholar

95 Kulu, the happy valley [by T. Tyson], Chandigarh, Punjab, 1956, 92. I am indebted to Penelope Chetwode for this reference.

96 Ṛg Veda, I. 116. 12; I. 117. 22; I. 84. 13–14.

97 Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, 14. 1. 1. 18–25.

98 Sāyaṇa on Ṛg Veda, I. 84. 13–14.

99 Śiva Purāṇa, 5. 38. 48–57; Liṅga Purāṇa (Calcutta, Baṅgabāsī Press, 1890), 1. 66. 15–20Google Scholar; Vāyu Purāna (Bombay, Venkaṭesvara, 1867), 2. 26. 143–178Google Scholar; Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa, 3. 46–53; Viṣṇu Purāṇa, 4.4. 1–33; Bhāgavata Purāṇa (Gorakhpur, Gītā Press, 1962), 9. 8. 1–31, 9. 9. 1–15Google Scholar; Rāmāyaṇa of Valmīki (Bālakhaṇḍa, Baroda, Oriental Institute, 1960), 1. 38–44Google Scholar; Mahābhārata, III. 104. 6–22; 105. 1–25; 106. 1–40; 107. 1–25; 108. 1–19.

100 SirMonier-Williams, Monier, Sanskrit-English dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford, 1899, 239.Google Scholar

101 Mahābhārata, III. 192–195; Vāyu Purāṇa, 2. 26. 30–60; Śiva Purāṇa, 5. 37. 1–36.

102 Mahābhārata, III. 195. 25.

103 Mahābhārata, XII. 335. 1–64; III. 193. 16; XII. 335. 5, 44, 54 ff.

104 Ṛg Veda, IV. 12. 5, etc. I am indebted to Professor J. C. Wright for bringing úlba to my attention.

105 Louis Renou, Études védiques et paniniennes, III, 7, and XIV, 102.

106 Hermann Grassmann, Wörterbuch zum Rig-Veda, Wiesbaden, 1955, s.v. Ṛg Veda, II. 13. 7; II. 35. 3; III. 30. 19.

107 Oldenberg, Hermann, ZDMG, LV, 1901, 316–321.Google Scholar

108 Ṛg Veda, II. 35. 3; Sāyaṇa: ūrvaṃ samudramadhye vartamānaṃ vadavānalam … vaidyutāgnirūpeṇa meghe vartamāno … Cf. clouds as water-holders called ūrvá: Ṛg Veda, III. 1. 16, IV. 50. 2.

109 Ṛg Veda, III. 30. 19; Sāyaṇa: ūrva iva anavāptakāmo vaḍavānala iva.

110 Ṛg Veda, IV. 50. 2. The úlba doublet may be significant here.

111 Heinrich Lüders, Varuṇa, Göttingen, 1951 (I) and 1959 (II), 328, on Ṛg Veda, V. 45. 2. Cf. also pp. 121–7 (“Die unterirdische Wasserflut und die Urwasser”), 294–307 (“Die Sonne im Wasser”), and 688–691 (“Die sieben Rosse der Sonne”).

112 Ṛg Veda, VIII. 102. 4.

113 Taittirīya Saṃhitā, 5. 5. 10. 6.

114 F. D. K. Bosch, “The god with the horse's head”, in Selected studies in Indonesian archeology, The Hague, Martinus Nijhoff, 1961, 144–5; cf. R. H. van Gulik, Hayagrīva, Utrecht, Internationales Archiv für Ethnographie, 1935.

115 Mahābhārata, XIII. 56. 4–6.

116 Mahābhārata, I. 169. 16–26; 170. 1–21; 171. 1–23.

117 Mahābhārata, I. 172. 1–17.

118 Matsya Purāṇa, 175. 23–63; Harivaṃśa, 1. 45. 20–64.

119 Skanda Purāṇa, 7. 1. 32. 1–128; 7. 1. 33. 1–103; cf. Padma Purāṇa, 6.148. 27 ff.

120 Śiva Purāṇa, 3. 24–25.

121 Vāmana Purāṇa, 34. 18–20.

122 Padma Purāṇa, 5. 18. 159–198.

123 Brahma Purāṇa, 110. 85–210.

124 Śiva Purāṇa, Dharmasaṃhitā, 11. 28–35.

125 Brahma Purāṇa, 110. 124.

126 Brahma Purāṇa, 110. 136.

127 Kāmasūtra of Vātsyāyana (Bombay, Venkaṭeśvara, 1856), 2. 1. 1 and commentary.Google Scholar

128 Varāha Purāṇa (Bibliotheca Indica, Calcutta, 1893), 147. 1–27.Google Scholar

129 Matsya Purāṇa, 154. 250–255; Skanda Purāṇa, 1. 2. 24. 42–3.

130 Śiva Purāṇa, 2. 3. 20. 1–23; Kālikā Purāṇa, 44. 124–136; Mahābhāgavata Purāṇa (Bombay, Gujarat Printing Press, 1913), 22. 108–111Google Scholar; 23. 1–4.

131 Śiva Purāṇa, 2. 5. 13. 1–50; 2. 5. 14. 1–4; Padma Purāṇa, 6. 98. 5–19.

132 Padma Purāṇa, 6. 5. 19–20.

133 Saura Purāṇa (Calcutta, Baṅgabāsī Press, 1816), 37. 22.Google Scholar

134 Mahābhārata, XIII. 17. 54; cf. Nīlakaṇṭha on XIII. 17. 56 (Bombay edition).

135 Rao, T. A. Gopinatha, Elements of Hindu iconography (2 vols., 4 parts), Madras, Law Printing House, 1916, II, I, 173Google Scholar, citing Uttarakāraṇāgama.

136 Abhijñānaśākuntala of Kālidāsa (12th ed., Bombay, Nirṇaya Sāgara Press, 1958), 3. 2 (alternative verse).Google Scholar