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VA A name of Varuna; also name of his
dwelling.
VACH ‘Speech.’ In the Rig-veda, Vach
appears to be the personification of speech by whom knowledge was
communicated to man. Thus she is said to have “entered into the
Rishis,” and to make whom she loves terrible and intelligent, a
priest and a Rishi She was “generated by the gods,” and is called
“the divine Vach,” “queen of the gods,” and she is described as “the
melodious cow who milked forth sustenance and water,” “who yields us
nourishment and sustenance.” The Brahmanas associate her with
Prajapati in the work of creation. In the Taittiriya Brahmana she is
called “the mother of the Vedas,” and “the wife of Indra, who
contains within herself all worlds.” In the Satapatha Brahmana she
is represented as entering into a sexual connection with Prajapati,
who, “being desirous of creating, connected himself with various
spouses,” and among them, “through his mind, with Vach,” from whom
“he created the waters;” or, as this last sentence is differently
translated, “He created the waters from the world [in the form ] of
speech (Vach).” In the Kathaka Upanishad this idea is more
distinctly formulated :- “Prajapati was this universe. Vach was a
second to him. He associated sexually with her; she became pregnant;
she departed from him; she produced these creatures; she again
entered into Prajapati.”
The Aitareya Brahmana and the Satapatha Brahmana
have a story of the Gandharvas having stolen the soma juice, or, as
one calls it, “King Soma,” and that as the Gandharvas were fond of
women, Vach was, at her own suggestion, “turned into a female” by
the gods and Rishis, and went to recover it from them.
In the Atharva-veda she is identified with
Viraj, and is the daughter of Kama (desire). “That daughter of
thine, O Kama, is called the cow, she whom sages denominate
Vach-Viraj.”
The Maha-bharata also calls her “the mother of
the Vedas,” and, says, “A voice derived from Brahma entered into the
ears of them all; the celestial Saraswati was then produced from the
heavens.” Here and “in the later mythology, Saraswati was identified
with Vach, and became under different names the spouse of Brahma and
the goddess of wisdom and eloquence, and is invoked as a muse,”
generally under the name of Saraswati, but sometimes as Vach.
The Bhagavata purana recognises her as “the
Blender and enchanting daughter” of Brahma, for whom he had a
passion, and from whom mankind was produced, that is the female
Viraj. (See Viraj and Sata-rupa.) Saraswati, as wife: of Brahma and
goddess of wisdom, represents perhaps the union of power and
intelligence which was supposed to operate in the work of creation.
According to the Padma Purana, Vach was daughter of Daksha, wife of
Kasyapa, and mother of the Gandharvas and
Apsarases.
VADAVA, VADAVANALA The submarine fire which “devours
the water of the ocean,” causing it to throw off the vapours which
are condensed into rain and snow. The word is also written Vadava
and Badava. See Aurva.
VAHANA ‘A vehicle.’ Most of the gods are
represented as having animals as their vahanas. Brahma has the
Hansa, swan or goose; Vishnu has Garuda, half eagle, half man; Siva,
the bull Nandi, Indra, an elephant; Yama, a buffalo; Karttikeya, a
peacock; Kama-deva, the marine monster Makara, or a parrot; Agni, a
ram; Varuna, a fish; Ganesa, a rat; Vayu, an antelope; Sani, or
Saturn, a vulture; Durga, a tiger.
VAHNI Fire. See Agni.
VAHUKA ‘Charioteer.’ A name and office
assumed by Nala in his time of disguise.
VAIBHOJAS The Maha-bharata says, “The
descendants of Druhyu are the Vaibhojas.” “A people unacquainted
with the use of cars or beasts of burthen, and who travel on rafts;
they have no kings.” -Wilson.
VAIBHRAJA A celestial grove; the grove of
the gods on Mount Suparswa, west of Meru.
VAlDARBHA Belonging to the country of
Vidarbha or Birar. The people of that country.
VAIDEHA Belonging to the country of Videha
or Tirhoot, &c. The king or the people of the country. Janaka
was called Vaideha and Sita was Vaidehi.
VAIDYA-NATHA ‘Lord of physicians.’ A title of
Siva. Name of one of the twelve great Lingas. See
Linga.
VAIJAYANTA The palace or the banner of
Indra.
VAIJAYANTI 1. The necklace of Vishnu,
composed of five precious gems, pearl, ruby, emerald, sapphire, and
diamond; it “is the aggregate of the five elemental rudiments.” 2. A
law-book current in the south. It is a commentary by Nanda Pandita
on the Vishnu Smriti.
VAIKARTTANA A name of Karna from his putative
father, Vikarttana, the sun.
VAIKUNTHA The paradise of Vishnu, sometimes
described as on Mount Meru, and at others as in the Northern Ocean.
It is also called Vaibhra. Vishnu himself is sometimes designated by
this term.
VAINATEYA A name of Vishnu's bird
Garuda.
VAIRAJ Manu the son of
Viraj.
VAIRAJAS Semi-divine beings or Manes
unconsumable by fire, who dwell in Tapo-loka, but are capable of
translation to Satya-loka. The Kasi-khanda explains this term as the
Manes of “ascetics, mendicants, anchorets, and penitents, who have
completed a course of rigorous austerities.” See
Pitris.
VAIROCHANA A name of Bali.
VAISALI A city founded by Visala, son of
Trinabindu. This is “a city of considerable renown in Indian
tradition, but its site is a subject of some uncertainty.” It was a
celebrated place among the Buddhists, and would seem to have been
situated on the left bank of the Ganges. General Cunningham places
it about 27 miles north of Patna. It is frequently confounded with
Visala, i.e., Ujjayini.
VAISAMPA YANA A celebrated sage who was the
original teacher of the Black Yajur-veda. He was a pupil of the
great Vyasa, from whom he learned the Maha-bharata, which he
afterwards recited to King Janamejaya at a festival. The Hari-vansa
is also represented as having been communicated by
him.
VAISESHIKA The Atomic school of philosophy.
See Darsana.
VAISRAVANA Patronymic of
Kuvera.
VAISWANARA A name by which Agni is
occasionally known in the Rig-veda.
VAISYA The third or trading and
agricultural caste. See Varna.
VAITANA SUTRA The ritual of the Atharva-veda.
The text has been published by Dr. Garbe.
VAITARANl ‘(The river) to be crossed,’ it
is, the river of hell, which must be Crossed before the infernal
regions can be entered. This river is described as being filled with
blood, ordure, and all sorts of filth, and to run with great
impetuosity. A second river stated by the Maha-bharata to be in the
country of the Kalingas; it must be the river of the same name
(vulg. "Byeturnee”) somewhat higher up in
Cuttack.
VAIVASWATA Name of the seventh Manu; he was
son of Surya and father of Ikshwaku, the founder of the Solar race
of kings.
VAJASANEYl-SANHITA The body of hymns forming the
White Yajur-veda. See Veda.
VAJIN A priest of the White
Yajur-veda.
VAJRA 1. The thunderbolt of Indra, said
to have been made of the bones of the Rishi Dadhichi It is a
circular weapon, with a hole in the centre, according to some, but
others represent it as consisting of two transverse bars. It has
many names:- Asani, Abhrottha, ‘sky-born;’ Bahu-dara, ‘much
cleaving;’ Bhidira or Chhidaka, ‘the splitter;’ Dambholi and Jasuri,
‘destructive;’
Hradin, ‘roaring;’ Kulisa, ‘axe;’ Pavi, ‘pointed;’ Phena-vahin,
‘foam-bearing;’ Shat-kona, ‘hexagon;’ Sambha and Swaru. 2. Son of
Aniruddha. His mother is sometimes said to be Aniruddha's wife
Su-bhadra, and at others the Daitya princess Usha. Krishna just
before his death made him king over the Yadavas at Indra-prastha.
See the next.
VAJRA-NABHA The celebrated
chakra (discus) of Krishna. According to the Maha-bharata it was
given to him by Agni for his assistance in defeating Indra and
burning the Khi1ulava forest.
VAKA ‘A
crane.’ A great Asura who lived near the city of Eka-chakra, and
forced the Raja of the place to send him daily a large quantity of
provisions, which he devoured, and not only the provisions, but the
men who carried them. Under the directions of Kunti, her son Bhima
took the provisions, and when the demon struck him, a terrific
combat fo1Wwed; each one tore up trees by the roots and be laboured
the other, till Bhima seized the demon by the legs and tore him
asunder. Kuvera is sometimes called by this name.
VALA-KHILYAS 1.
Eleven hymns of an apocryphal or peculiar character interpolated in
the Rig-veda. 2. Pigmy sages no bigger than a joint of the thumb,
chaste, pious, resplendent as the rays of the sun.” So described by
the Vishnu Purana, which says that they were brought forth by
Samnati (humility), wife of Kratu, and were 60,000 in number. They
are able to fly swifter than birds. The Rig-veda says that they
sprang from the hairs of Prajapati (Brahma). They are the guards of
the chariot of the sun. They are also called Kharwas. Wilson says
“they are not improbably connected with the character of Daumling,
Thaumlin, Tamlane, Tom-a-lyn, or Tom Thumb.”
VALMIKI The author of the
Ramayana, which he in Vedic phrase is said to have “seen.” He
himself is represented as taking part in some of the scenes he
describes. He received the banished Sita into his hermitage at
Chitra-kuta, and educated her twin sons Kusa and Lava. “Tradition
has marked a hill in the district of Banda in Bundlekand as his
abode.” The invention of the sloka is attributed to him, but it
cannot be his, because the metre is found in the
Vedas.
VAMACHARIS Followers of the
left-hand sect. See Tantra.
VAMA-DEVA. 1. A Vedic Rishi,
author of many hymns. In one of his hymns he represents himself as
speaking before his birth, saying, “let me not come forth by this
path, for it is difficult (of issue): let me come forth obliquely
from the side.” Sayana, the commentator, says in explanation. “The
Rishi Vama-deva, whilst yet in the womb, was reluctant to be born in
the usual manner, and resolved to come into the world through his
mother’s side. Aware of his purpose, the mother prayed to Aditi, who
thereupon came with her son Indra to expostulate with the Rishi.”
[This story accords with that told by the Buddhists of the birth of
Buddha.] In the same hymn Vama-deva says, “In extreme destitution I
have cooked the entrails of a dog,” and Manu cites this to show that
a man is not rendered impure even by eating the flesh of dogs for
the preservation of his life. In another hymn he says, “As a hawk I
came forth with speed;” and a commentator explains, “Having assumed
the form a hawk, he came forth from the womb by the power of Yoga,
for he is considered to have been endowed with divine knowledge from
the period of his conception.” 2. A Vedic sage mentioned in the
Maha-bharata as possessor of two horses of marvelous speed called
Vamyas. 3. A name of Siva; also of one of the
Rudras.
VAMANA The dwarf incarnation of Vishnu
See Avatara.
VAMANA PURANA “That in which the four-faced
Brahma taught the three objects of existence, as subservient to the
greatness of Tri-vikrama (Vishnu), which treats also of the Siva
kalpa, and which consists of 10,000 stanzas, is called the Vimana
Purina.” It contains an account of the dwarf incarnation of Vishnu,
and “extends to about 7000 stanzas, but its contents scarcely
establish its claim to the character of a Purana.” It is of a more
tolerant character than the (other) puranas, and divides its homage
impartially between Siva and Vishnu with tolerable impartiality. It
has not the air of any antiquity, and its compilation may have
amused the leisure of some Brahman of Benares three or four centuries ago.” -Wilson.
VANA-PRASTHA ‘A dweller in the worlds.’ A
Brahman in the third stage of his religious life, passing his time
as an anchorite in the woods See Brahman.
VANA-CHARAS (mas.), VANE-CHARlS
(fem.) Wanderers
of the woods. Fauns, Dryads, or sylvan
guardians.
VANSA A race or family. Lists of the
Rishis or successive teachers of the Vedas which are found attached
to some of the Brahmanas are called Vansas.
VANSA-BRAHMANA The eighth Brahmana of the
Sama-veda. It has been edited by Burnell.
VAPUSHMAT A man who killed King Marutta of
the Solar race. Dama, son or grandson of Marutta, in retaliation
killed Vapushmat. With his blood he made the funeral offerings to
the Manes of Marutta, and with the flesh he fed the Brahmans who
were of Rakshasa descent.
VARA-DA ‘Bestower of boons.’ A name of
Devi, also of Saraswati.
VARAHA The boar incarnation of Vishnu. See
Avatara.
VARAHA-KALPA The present kalpa or year of Brahma. See Kalpa.
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