Hastin

Hastin is a term for elephant used in Vedic texts. Other terms for elephant include ibha and varana.

The elephant in the Rigveda

In Rig Veda 1.84.17 and 4.4.1. and probably other instances the Rig Veda seems to refer to elephants (e.g. Bryant 2001: 323), an animal that is native to South Asia. It has been speculated that some of these verses might be references to domesticated elephants. [RV 4.4.1, 9.57.3 (where "the people deck him like a docile king of elephants"), 6.20.8; Talageri, Shrikant (2000)] In RV 1.64.7, 8.33.8 and 10.40.4, "wild" elephants are mentioned.

Mrga Hastin

In the Rigveda and in the Atharvaveda, the term is translated as elephant (according to Keith and Macdonell, Roth and other scholars). [Vedic Index, II, 501; II, 171] . In the Rig Veda, "Mrga Hastin" (animal with a hand) occurs in RV 1.64.7 and RV 4.16.14.

Ibha

RV 9.57.3 and RV 6.20.8 mention "IAST|ibha"s, a term meaning "servant, domestics, household" according to Roth, Ludwig, Zimmer and other Indologists. [In RV 4.4.1 and 6.20.8, ibha is translated as servants/attendants by Griffith.] Other scholars like Pischel and Karl Friedrich Geldner translate the term as elephant. [Vedic Index, I, 79] According to Sayana [Vedic Index, I, 79] , Mahidhara [Vedic Index, I, 79] and the Nirukta [Vedic Index, I, 79] , ibha is translated as elephant. Megasthenes [Vedic Index, I, 79] and Nearchos [Vedic Index, I, 79] also connect ibha with elephant. The term ibha is only used in the Samhitas, and especially in the Rig Veda. [Vedic Index, I, 79. ] [RV 1.84.17; 4.4.1; 9.57.3; and perhaps 6.20.8. Vedic Index, I, 79.]

Varana

Another term that may mean elephant is "Varana" (RV 8.33.8; RV 10.40.4). According to Macdonell and Keith, "Varana" refers to elephants. [Vedic Index, II, 288]

The elephant in other Hindu texts

The Akananuru (27) and the Purananuru (389) state that elephants were raised and trained in Tirupati. According to another Sangam poem, the mahouts trained the elephants using Sanskrit. [Mullaippattu 35, quoted from Kalavai Venkat, Review of "Early India"]

Notes

References

*Bryant, Edwin (2001). The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-513777-9.
*Macdonell, A.A. and Keith, A.B. 1912. The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects.
*Talageri, Shrikant: The Rigveda: A Historical Analysis. 2000. ISBN 81-7742-010-0

See also

*Sacred cow