The Ravenous Hyenas and the Wounded Sun: Myth and Ritual in Ancient India

by Stephanie W. Jamison

Overview

Vedic Sanskrit literature contains a wealth of material concerning the mythology and religious practices of India between 1500 and 500 B.C.E.—a crucial period in the formation of traditional Indian culture. Stephanie W. Jamison here addresses the conditions that have limited our understanding of Vedic myth and ritual, such as the profusion and obscurity of the texts and the tendency on the part of scholars to approach mythology and ritual independently. Tracing two key myths through a variety of texts, Jamison provides insight into the relationship between early Indic myth and ritual as well as offering a new methodology for their study.

After a brief survey of Vedic literature and religion, Jamison examines the recurrences of the myths "Indra fed the Yatis to the hyenas" and "Svarbhanu pierced the sun with darkness." Focusing on their verbal form and ritual setting, she essays a general interpretation of the myths and their ritual purpose. Her book sheds new light on some central figures in Vedic mythology and on the evolution of Vedic mythological narrative, and it points to parallels in other cultures as well.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801424335
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	05/30/1991
Series:	Myth and Poetics
Pages:	360
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.19(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Stephanie Jamison is Professor of Asian Languages and Cultures and Head of the Program in Indo-European Studies at UCLA. She is the author most recently of Sacrificed Wife/Sacrificer’s Wife: Women, Ritual, and Hospitality in Ancient India and The Rig Veda between Two Worlds.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Gregory Nagy
Acknowledgments
AbbreviationsIntroductionA. "Vedic"B. 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

What People are Saying About This

Alf Hiltebeitel

This fresh and insightful book engages the complexities of Vedic myth and ritual. It provides a valuable corrective to the trends in Vedic studies that have taken myth and ritual as independent, self-referential realms.

Editorial Reviews

In The Ravenous Hyenas and the Wounded Sun, Stephanie Jamison rescues two Vedic myths from oblivion. In the process of this seemingly small task, she restores vigor to Vedic studies in particular and to the study of mythology in general.

Journal of Religion

In The Ravenous Hyenas and the Wounded Sun, Stephanie Jamison rescues two Vedic myths from oblivion. In the process of this seemingly small task, she restores vigor to Vedic studies in particular and to the study of mythology in general.

-- "Journal of Religion"

From the Publisher

"In The Ravenous Hyenas and the Wounded Sun, Stephanie Jamison rescues two Vedic myths from oblivion. In the process of this seemingly small task, she restores vigor to Vedic studies in particular and to the study of mythology in general."

Journal of Religion