JOURNAL OF THE BIHAR AND ORISSA RESEARCH SOCIETY, September 1919. CONTENTS, Leading Articles. I. Contributions of Bengal to Hindu Civilization, by Maha- III. Rajgir Jain Inscription, by P. C. Nahar, M.A., B.L.... V. The Social Organization of the Pabri Buiyas [with Miscellaneous Contributions. VII. Saisunaka Statues, by B. C. Bhattacharya, M.A. IX. The Agharias of Sambalpur, by M. N. Sen, B.A. 1919. XII. Proceedings of a General Meeting of the 8th August 1919. XIII. List of Books PAGE 307-324 325-330 331-343 344-363 364-381 382-401 402-404 405-406 407-410 411-412 413-415 416-421 422-449 JOURNAL OF THE BIHAR AND ORISSA VOL. V.] [PART III. LEADING ARTICLES I.-Contributions of Bengal to Hindu Civilization. By Mahamahopadhyaya Haraprasad Shastri, M.A., C.I.E. The First Contribution. Taming and Treatment of Elephants, When the Vedic Aryans came to India they did not know the elephant, for this animal is not found in the north-western parts of the country. In the Rg-Veda, which constitutes the most ancient literary record of the Aryans, the word "Hastin" occurs in five places only, in three of which Sāyaṇācārya interprets it to mean "i * fan: qregmı #fastar ” 'हस्तयुक्ता पादयुक्ता "priests with hands." According to the same authority the word. as used in the remaining two places means a big graminivorous animal, perhaps an enormous deer. tr (1) महिषासो मायिनचित्रभानवो (2) सर उपाके तन्वं दधानो enja geit afɑuigrit: (1) O Marutas, you are great and learned. Your lustre is wonderful. You are self-sufficient like the mountains. You eat up the forests like the "Hastin " animals. Lend your strength to the rosy quarters of the globe. (2) O Indra, when you appear with your splendour before the Sun, instead of being dimmed, it increases in brilliance. You become as ferocious as a lion when you are armed, even as the "Hastin" quells the power of others. In these two places" Hastin "has been likened to, or has been supposed to be, a species of deer. This is significant. It shows that the Aryans at the time of the composition of these verses came into contact with the animal for the first time and thought that it belonged to the deer species. In the Otahiti island in Polynesia the natives knew swine only. When therefore Europeans brought into the country horses, dogs, sheep and other animals, they gave all these animals the appellation of swine, horses being called neighing swine, dogs barking swine, sheep bleating swine, and so on. Similarly the Vedic Aryans knew the deer, for they were skilled in hunting. When therefore they came to India and saw the elephant for the first time, they did not hesitate to call it the deer with a trunk. The elephant is a native of Bengal, Burma, Borneo, Sumatra and other islands. It can be found up to Dehra Dun in Western India and in Mysore and Ceylon in Southern. Africa also abounds with elephants, but the African breed is small in size. From these facts it is practically certain that the Vedic Aryans knew little of elephants. I have said that "Hastin" occurs twice in the Ṛg-Veda in the sense of an elephant. Even in these places it is to be doubted whether this is the real signification of the word. If instead of "deer with a 'hand", the animal had been described This 66 as "trunked deer" all doubts would have been removed. doubt is further strengthened by the fact that in Sanskrit there are many synonyms for "Hastin "such as " Matanga", "Karin", Gaja," "Dvipa ", etc. ; but none of these words are to be found in the Rg-Veda, in which even the word "Airavata" finds no place. When the Vedic Rṣis knew not elephants that were black, how could they be expected to be familiar with those which were white? But whether there is mention of elephants in the Rg-Veda or not, they are mentioned in the Taittiriya Samhita. When treating of Asvamedha, the question arose as to what particular animal should be sacrificed before a particular god and it was decided that the first eleven gods should receive the sacrifice of wild animals. According to some, the sacrifice of effigies of these animals is sufficient. According to others, wild animals in flesh and blood and not their effigies should be sacrificed. The names of the eleven gods and of the animals which should be sacrificed before them are as follows: King Indra should receive the sacrifice of the hog, and King Varuna, that of the antelope (). The King Yama must be propitiated with the and the God Rṣabha with nilgai. The tiger, the king of the forest, is to receive the white deer, while the king of men the monkey. The Batak bird should be sacrificed before the king of vultures, or the king of birds, and Nilanga, the king of serpents, should receive the sacrifice of a worm (f). Soma, the king of drugs, should be given a fawn(), while Sindhurājā is to receive the porpoise (fay), and Himavān the elephant. In the Rg-Veda there is no god bearing the name Himavan. The name Himavanta occurs once in the tenth Mandala meaning the mountain covered with ice. Himavan was afterwards raised to the dignity of a god, and the sacrifice of the elephant with which the Aryans became subsequently familiar enjoined in his honour. From these two facts it is evident that at the time, when the Taittiriya Samhita was composed, the Aryans had made considerable progress in the country. |