On the basis of recent contributions where different figures of Keśins are put in relation with the vrātya warrior/ ascetic, the present paper is an attempt to spot additional pieces of evidence of this connection. For this purpose almost 500 passages involving the plant names darbha, kuśa, śara and iṣīkā have been surveyed and analyzed, starting from the coincidence of the proper name Keśin Dālbhya with the first phytonym here listed. Furthermore, the epithet keśin has been put in relation with some realia on the Vrātya, so that in the former part, a fresh interpretation of the ascetic imagery involved in ṚV 10.136 has been advanced while in the latter, through the study of the abhicāra usage of the reeds, the famous episode of Bhīṣma dying on his ‘bed of arrows’ (śaratalpa) is supposed as being the consequence of a specific ascetic and heroic aspiration to heaven
What do Vrātyas have to do with long-stalked plants? Darbha, kuśa, śara and iṣīkā in Vedic and Classical sources
PONTILLO, TIZIANA
2013-01-01
Abstract
On the basis of recent contributions where different figures of Keśins are put in relation with the vrātya warrior/ ascetic, the present paper is an attempt to spot additional pieces of evidence of this connection. For this purpose almost 500 passages involving the plant names darbha, kuśa, śara and iṣīkā have been surveyed and analyzed, starting from the coincidence of the proper name Keśin Dālbhya with the first phytonym here listed. Furthermore, the epithet keśin has been put in relation with some realia on the Vrātya, so that in the former part, a fresh interpretation of the ascetic imagery involved in ṚV 10.136 has been advanced while in the latter, through the study of the abhicāra usage of the reeds, the famous episode of Bhīṣma dying on his ‘bed of arrows’ (śaratalpa) is supposed as being the consequence of a specific ascetic and heroic aspiration to heaven
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