allen.nick.2007.siva and indo-european ideology

Siva and Indo-European Ideology: One Line of Thought

Nicholas J. Allen

When an Indianist colleague recently asked me what I could say about the Indo

European background to Indian deities, I thought back over a twenty-year-old interest in the subject and noticed that my published comments on Siva have been

particularly dispersed. This paper attempts to consolidate some of them and to push the same line of thought a bit further.

The whole approach has been based on the work of Georges Dumezil. Thus, (a) it

is diachronic or genetic, in that it looks for the cultural concomitants of the historical common origin of the Indo-European languages and their subsequent spread and

diversification, (b) It focuses on ideology and, more precisely, on the notion of a

partitional ideology?one divided into a small number of contrasting domains, (c) It

recognizes that some features of Indo-European and Indo-Iranian tradition (the

"para-Vedic" ones) bypass the Vedas and appear first in Classical Sanskrit texts,

(d) It is structural in the sense that it examines entities less in themselves than in

their relations to other entities. Thus we shall be less interested in Siva's intrinsic

attributes than in his location within an ideology and his relations to other gods in

particular contexts. I also follow Dumezil in recognizing frankly one consequence of

the scale and complexity of the comparative undertaking, namely, that any single formulation is unlikely to prove either exhaustive or definitive. Given his importance in the Hindu pantheon, Siva naturally turns up in numerous different contexts, and

each new analysis may cast unforeseen light on previous ones.1

My approach departs from Dumezil's in three main ways. First, Dumezil envis

aged the Mahabharata as being composed in India by the transposition into epic form of bits and pieces of Vedic or para-Vedic mythology. I agree with several

others, such as Christophe Vielle (1996), in thinking that, as a more or less unified

epic cycle, the Mahabharata had a long prehistory outside the subcontinent before it was brought there by Indo-Aryan speakers. Second, where Dumezil rather seldom drew on comparisons between the Mahabharata and Greek epic, I have emphasized them (though for reasons of space I do not do so here). Third, to put it crudely and

simplistically, where Dumezil envisages the Indo-European ideology as triadic, I

International Journal of Hindu Studies 11,2 (2007): 191-207

? 2007 Springer DOI 10.1007/sl 1407-007-9045-5

192 / Nicholas J. Allen

envisage it as pentadic. More precisely, although Dumezil only talks of three

domains or "functions," he often bisects his first function into Varuna and Mitra

aspects, so that in effect he operates with a fourfold schema. Conversely, although I

talk of a pentadic ideology, I prefer to avoid proposing five functions and instead

envisage a fourth function bisected into positive and negative aspects or "half

functions."2 So the triadic and pentadic schemata contrast less sharply than may

appear at first sight. The two schemata can be related most concisely in terms of social roles. While

Dumezil's first, second, and third functions relate respectively to sovereign-plus

priest, warrior, and producer, the pentadic schema dissolves that awkward fusion

within the first function. The fourth function is defined as covering what is other,

outside, or beyond relative to the three "classical" functions, and its positive aspect covers sovereigns, kings, founders, and creators, while its negative aspect covers

enemies, slaves, demons, and other devalued outsiders. In other words, the larger schema departs from the smaller only by pruning the definition of the first function; otherwise it subsumes it, thereby making it potentially applicable to a wider range of

phenomena. At the same time the reality of the larger schema becomes potentially more demonstrable, in that pentads conforming to the definitions of the functions are

less likely to arise by chance than are triads.

A deity as important as Siva is of course difficult to characterize briefly, but if one had to choose a single-word description, certainly for the early period, one could

do worse than "outsider." The term has often been used. "From Rudra, Siva inherits

the awesomeness and even malevolence of character which made him feared, as

well as the exclusion from orthodox sacrifice which marked his outsider status"

(Brockington 1981: 70). "That certain circles continued to regard him [Siva] as an

outsider standing apart from the other gods may appear from the popular story of

Daksa's sacrifice" (Gonda 1970: 13). In the earliest mythology of Rudra-Siva "the

dark outsider is already beginning to be included in the Vedic ritual" (O'Flaherty 1975: 116). In the context of the epic the multivalent polarity of Visnu and Siva can

be expressed by the opposition "Pervader" versus "Outsider" (Hiltebeitel 1976: 356). It is no surprise then that Rudra cannot be accommodated within the trifunctional

structure (Dumezil 1971: 82, 108). On the other hand, he would fit well within the

fourth function. I deliberately use the conditional since in general an entity should

only be allocated to a function if it is coordinate with other entities that can be

allocated to the other functions. As an outsider among the gods, Siva is eligible for

interpretation as representing the fourth function, but to see whether the possibility is

realized we must look at specific contexts.

Pandavas and Kauravas

Reduced to a single sentence, the Mahdbhdrata narrates the conflict between the

Pandavas?Goodies and Winners?and the Kauravas?Baddies and Losers.

However, the human agents incarnate supernaturals, and from this point of view the

Siva and Indo-European Ideology I 193

Great War belongs in the endless list of conflicts between Sanskritic gods and

demons. Dumezil comments valuably both on the conflict and on individual

members of both sides, but his trifunctional schema, though it works reasonably well

for the Pandavas and the gods who father them or are incarnated in them, cannot

accommodate the Kauravas. This is clearly unsatisfactory. From a commonsensical

point of view one might expect any ideology to have some place for the enemies of

cosmic order, and more pertinently, there has to be something wrong with an

account of Vedic and Hindu tradition which glosses over the god-demon opposition. The problem was sensed by F. B. J. Kuiper (1961), but he offered no solution to it.

The pentadic theory raises two issues. If we start with the Panda va brothers, Dumezil's arguments work well for the elder pair (Yudhisthira son of Dharma, and

Bhima son of Vayu) and for the younger pair (the twin sons of the Asvins). They are plausible representatives of the first, second, and third functions respectively. However, Arjuna, the central brother in the sequence of births, fits only awkwardly in the second function. As son of Indra, king of the gods, he fits at least as well

under the positive or valued fourth function. Second, if we move to the Kauravas, we

now have a slot available to accommodate them, but to maximize comparability with

the Pandavas we should focus, not on the whole set of one hundred brothers, but on

the eldest among them, the central figure of Duryodhana. Father's brother's son to

the Pandavas ("cousin-brother," as the relationship is sometimes called), he is their

enemy par excellence. From the Pandava viewpoint he is both an outsider and

devalued, so he fits excellently under the fourth function negative. One asks next with which supernaturals the Kauravas are linked. While the

younger brothers all incarnate raksasa demons, for Duryodhana the text gives two

answers. The list of partial incarnations says that he was born from a portion of

Kali (1.61.80);3 but during his nocturnal visit to the underworld (3.240.5-8) he

learns from the demons the truth about his own divinity. The demons claim to have

obtained him from Siva by their austerities; moreover, if his upper body was made

from diamonds and is thus invulnerable to weapons, his lower body was made by Devi (Siva's consort) from flowers and is therefore seductive to females. His body is

thus imbued with both deities.

The Saivite associations of both answers are clear. As is well known, the eras are

named after the throws of dice and the age of kali, the last and worst of them, is

named after the lowest valued throw, which has but a single dot. Siva spends much of his time dicing and is often identified with Kala ("Time"). Moreover, "Kali is

plain destruction" (Hopkins 1915: 76), and Siva is god of destruction. Again, although Siva sometimes fights demons, by virtue of a paradox that is typical of

him, he is sometimes accompanied by them. Finally, the male-female divide in

Duryodhana's body echoes that of Siva Ardhanarisvara, the lord who is half female

(13.134.9), even though in images of the god the division is into right and left rather

than up and down.

In summary then, though Duryodhana's relationship with Siva is less straight forward than, for instance, Yudhisthira's with Dharma, it is undeniable.4 But if the


Pandavas with their associated deities represent the superior levels of the ideological

hierarchy and the Kaurava prince represents fourth function negative, then by

analogy the prince's associated deity should represent the same domain.

In Arjuna's case, as we saw, a discrepancy exists between his relatively junior

position in the birth order and his exalted position in the sequence of functions, and

Duryodhana presents a sort of mirror image of this. He was born on the same day as

his archenemy and killer Bhlma (1.114.14), and since the Pandavas were born at

yearly intervals this makes him one year younger than Yudhisthira. But when the

latter was born, Gandhari, Duryodhana's mother, had already been pregnant for two

years (1.107.9, 114.1, 115.21, 213.79). She now aborts, and the prince spends a third

year of foetal life, as it were, in vitro (in fact, in a pot). Thus if age is measured from

conception, Duryodhana is at least a year older than any of the Pandavas.5 This

accords with the birth order of their respective fathers since Dhrtarastra is older than

Pandu, and also with the textual order?Duryodhana's birth is described before the

Pandavas'. Among supernaturals the demons are usually the elder brothers of the

gods (for example, 12.34.13), and we see that, similarly, Siva's seniority need not

correlate with his position in functional lists.

The Five Indras (1.189.1-40)

The gods are holding a sacrifice beside the Ganges. Yama, god of Death, is

participating, and since his normal activity is in abeyance, human population

explodes. Anxious about their status, the gods consult Prajapati, who reassures

them: in due course mortals will resume dying, and in large numbers.

Seeing a golden lotus floating down the river, Indra leaves the ritual and, going

upstream, finds that it originated from the tear of a female [the goddess Sri]. She

takes him to Siva, who is playing dice with Parvati on a Himalayan peak. Indra

accosts him arrogantly, but is humbled by Siva, who confines him in a cave with

four other Indras from past eras. Begging to be released, Indra is told that he and

the others will be born as human warriors?to return to Indra's heaven only when

they die. "Our" Indra then volunteers to beget or become Arjuna, the fifth in the

group. Siva ordains that Sri become their wife, i.e., Draupadi. Siva and his quintet visit Narayana [Visnu], who ratifies the decisions and arranges the incarnation of

Balarama and Krsna.

As Jacques Scheuer notes in passing (1982: 105n47), this is clearly a version of the

better known myth of the "Overpopulated Earth" (narrated 1.58.1-59.7 and else

where). But I ignore this topic, and others no less rich, to concentrate on the relation

between the Indras and Siva. As in the previous section, we have at first sight a

structure consisting of Pandava pentad plus individual?there Duryodhana with his

Saivite associations, here Siva himself. Looked at more closely, however, the

members of the pentad are not homogeneous. Among the Pandavas Arjuna stood

apart, as transcendent, and here it is our Indra, the father of Arjuna, who stands apart,


being the main protagonist. Thus the structure is not so much 5+1 as 1+4+1. But even this formula is unsatisfying since the Asvins and their mortal counterparts, the

Pandava twins, can be regarded as a single unit (born at the same time, they tend to

act together), so that one can write 1+3+1. This in turn represents the structure of the

pentadic ideology, with its three core functions (the third often represented by twins) and its two outsider half-functions.

The difficult question here is the relation between the two half-functions, repre sented respectively by our Indra and Siva. One expects the king of the gods to be in

some sense positive or valued and the "dark" or "malevolent" god to be the opposite, but here it is Indra who is humbled and Siva who dominates. Should one then talk of

"reversal," as if in this episode Indra comes to represent the negative aspect of the

fourth function and Siva the positive? This would be facile and unhelpful, for despite first impressions Siva remains closely linked with negativity. For instance, he is not

there when other gods, such as Indra, are busy with a sacrifice, and although his

absence (not explained in the text) may theoretically be voluntary and reflect his

status as renouncer, nevertheless, from an orthodox or Vedic point of view it implies devaluation. Again, assuming that Sri is weeping for the imprisonment of her former

husbands (Hiltebeitel 1976: 179), Siva has been afflicting a goddess who corre

sponds to Prthivi in the "Over-populated Earth" and who is closely associated with

sovereignty. Simultaneously he has been imprisoning successive Indras, each a king of the gods, with a view to punishing them by a temporary mission to earth, where

they will aid the work of Yama and participate in massacring or sacrificing vast

numbers of mortals. Such deeds may be necessary for the functioning of the cosmos, but they are hardly positive or valued?neither from the point of view of the luckless

mortals, nor from that of the gods. It makes sense, then, that some Indian families

regard the Mahabharata, in contrast to the Rdmdyana, as an inauspicious text

unsuitable for reading in the house (Fitzgerald 1991: 156nl2). In other words, although he is here more powerful than Indra, Siva can still be

analyzed as representing the fourth function negative. Belonging under this half

function does not necessarily mean being weaker than representatives of the other

half-function (any temptation to think it does may derive from excessive reliance on

the varna schema). It is worth comparing power with age. As we saw, Duryodhana and Karna come last in the functional series but first in age, and similarly Siva is

clearly older than our Indra and at least as old as the first of his prisoners. He is sometimes said to be the first born of all creatures (7.173.81). The normal assump tion is that seniority correlates with power, so Siva ought to be more powerful than Indra.

The Five Husbands

The Five Indras was narrated by Vyasa to Drupada to explain and justify Draupadi's polyandrous marriage, but a single explanation is apparently not enough and Vyasa continues immediately into the story I call the "Five Husbands" (1.189.41-49). The


sage had previously told the same story to the Pandavas (1.157.6-14): "A maiden

who lacks a husband performs tapas to Siva and repeatedly prays to him to remedy her situation. As she has repeated her prayer five times, Siva decrees that, despite her

protests, she shall have five husbands. In a later life she is reborn as Draupadi." Since the structure of this little tale looks triadic?maiden, Siva, the five undiffer

entiated husbands (-Pandavas), one might try to analyze it as a 1+5+1 story. Arjuna would be regarded, here, as second-functional, and one would try allotting the god and maiden each to one half-function. However, such an analysis seems to me

implausible?too remote from that of the "Five Indras," which Vyasa has just told.

Instead, despite being unnamed, Arjuna should be retained as representing the fourth

function positive while god and maiden together occupy the negative slot. This is

not inappropriate since in two different ways the maiden is linked to earth. First, in

the "Five Indras," her equivalent is Sri, who corresponds to Prthivi (Earth) in the

"Overpopulated Earth"; and second, when bom as Draupadi, she will emerge from

the middle of a Vedic altar, that is from earth (1.155.41). In the context of the

elements, it is earth that represents fourth function negative. Moreover, when she

emerges she has a strong smell (of blue lotuses), and in Samkhya philosophy smell is

the subtle element corresponding to earth.

The Kaurava Marshals

Throughout the conflict the Kauravas have Duryodhana as their central leader or

supremo, but during the war itself they have five successive marshals. This sequence is a good example of the common phenomenon whereby one level of ideological structure is involuted within another?one pentad within one element of a larger

pentad. As the marshals have been treated several times elsewhere (see Appendix), I

present them in tabular form (Table 1).

Marshal Supernatural Tenure Function Basis of Argument Bhisma Dyaus 10 days F4+ hero and god Drona Brhaspati 5 days Fl hero and god

Kama Surya 2 days (F2) position in sequence

Salya Samhrada 1/2 day F3 hero

Asvatthaman Siva... one night F4- hero and god

Table 1. The Kaurava Marshals

Column 2: the supernatural being incarnated in the marshal. Column 3: duration

of marshalship. Column 5: main grounds on which each marshal is allocated to a

(half-) function; thus both Drona and Brhaspati represent the first function for

independent reasons, whereas in the case of Salya the asura Samhrada can at

best only be tenuously linked with the third function.

Only two entries in the Table demand comment. Qua Kaurava, as we saw, Kama


is to be associated with fourth function negative, but qua marshal, his central

position in the pentadic sequence strongly suggests second function. His situation

is thus analogous to that of Arjuna, who for many reasons has to be associated with

the fourth function positive, but whose central position in the birth order strongly

suggests second function. Both are of course outstanding warriors, and their duel in

the middle one out of the five war books is in some ways the centrepiece of the

whole conflict.

As for Asvatthaman (1.61.66-67), he was born from portions not only of Siva

(Mahadeva) but also of Antaka (Death), Kama (Lust) and Krodha (Anger); or simply from Rudra (15.39.15). Moreover, his Saivite nature is reinforced at the start of his

marshalship as he prepares to massacre the sleeping Pandava army. Threatened by a

monstrous apparition, Asvatthaman prays to Siva and offers himself into a sacrificial

fire. Siva manifests himself, gives the hero a sword, and enters or possesses his

body. The fourfold list in Book 1 is well recognized to echo the process of fusion that

led to the birth of Vedic Rudra. The gods wanted someone to punish Prajapati for

committing incest with his daughter, so they created Rudra by bringing together their

most fearsome forms (for example, O'Flaherty 1975: 29, from Aitareya Brahmana

3.33-34). But the list is also interesting in that, complemented by Asvatthaman

himself, it forms a pentad that could be functional: the god of gods, the core triad

(Antaka, Krodha and Kama possibly representing Fl,2,3, respectively) and the

mortal they form or animate. The functional interpretation of Antaka, normally

equated with Yama, is not obvious, but it may relate somehow to the puzzling fact

that both first-functional Yudhisthira and Yama are sometimes called Dharmaraja.6 But I do not press the idea.

The Five Marshals provides perhaps the strongest single argument for allocating Siva to the fourth function negative.

The Night Attackers

When the fifth marshal launches his attack on the Pandavas (Book 10), the Kaurava

army has been reduced to three soldiers, namely Asvatthaman himself, Krpa and

Krtavarman. Can anything be made of this triad?

Let us first look for agents who might frame or surround the triad. The story of the fifth marshalship in fact begins at the end of the previous book. Mortally wounded

by Bhlma, Duryodhana lies on the ground, writhing in agony, but when the triad

approach he is able to converse with Asvatthaman and ratify the attempt at revenge. He orders Krpa to perform the ritual installation of the marshal (9.64). After the massacre the triad return to the stricken prince. Hearing Asvatthaman's report of mission accomplished, Duryodhana congratulates his marshal and dies happy (10.9). The prince is clearly part of the story, and on both occasions he is repeatedly addressed as 'king," so we have a reasonable candidate for the positive half-function.

At the other end of the scale, the triad are not accompanied by any humans, but


this does not mean that they are alone. Having entered the body of Asvatthaman, Siva himself is hardly relevant, but the marshal has prayed to him as the lord of

myriad troops of spirits, and when he attempts self-immolation these troops appear

(10.7.4b, 8a, 15). The description of their appearance and activities is prolix and

fantastic. Whether theriomorphic or anthropomorphic, these bizarre but beloved

emanations of Siva (42) wield an assortment of fearsome weapons; they are noisy cannibals with supernatural powers. Their aim is to glorify Asvatthaman and enjoy the massacre (47-48), so they accompany the marshal as he approaches the camp

(66). Together with their wives and children, they gorge themselves on human flesh

and blood (126-35). Although the victims believe that they are being attacked by demons (116, 119), the text itself ascribes all the killing to the triad. Nevertheless the

demons are part of the picture and fit well under the negative half-function.7 Between the dying king and the demonic subhuman horde comes the warrior triad,

so we meet again the familiar 1-3-1 pattern. Within the triad the leader presents no

problem: Asvatthaman is a Brahmana (as is recalled implicitly in 10.9.36-37). Krtavarman (incarnation of a Marut) is a Ksatriya, so two of the core functions are

represented by members of appropriate varnas. However, Krpa (incarnation of a

Rudra) is also a Brahmana, and I can see no good way of interpreting him as third

functional. Probably this is one of those cases (not uncommon), where the pentadic

ideology is expressed only incompletely. I abstain from speculating on why this is

so.

The Weapon Givers

My next case is somewhat similar: the 1-3-1 pattern is clear and the fourth function

is satisfactorily represented, but one item within the triad does not accord with the

pentadic schema.

During the Pandavas' twelve-year exile (Book 3) a set of individual journeys are made, each conducted or led by one or other hero. The first of these (3.38-45) is

Arjuna's five-year-long visit to Indra in heaven, and it is balanced by the last

(3.240), Duryodhana's overnight visit to the underworld (see above, "Pandavas

and Kauravas"). These essentially solo journeys are carried out by heroes who in

other contexts represent the positive and negative half-functions. Between them

come three other journeys, the first a pilgrimage (3.91-145) led by first-functional

Yudhisthira. The other two (146-53 and 157-59), rather similar to each other, raise

difficult issues, and I ignore the set here because despite the Saivite atmosphere of

Duryodhana's journey, Siva himself is not mentioned.

Siva intervenes prominently, however, in Arjuna's journey, for which aid and

instructions are provided by Vyasa. To obtain weapons, the hero is to go to Indra and

Rudra (3.37.28ab) and to Varuna, Kubera and Dharmaraja, that is, Yama (28cd); or

to Indra and Rudra (30a) and the Lokapalas (30b). Both slokas group together gods we have earlier linked with the half-functions, distinguishing them from a triad (28) or a quartet (30; the Lokapalas of course guard the four cardinal points). The


numerical discrepancy is resolved when Arjuna actually meets the gods in question. After receiving weapons from Siva in the Himalayas, he is in fact visited by four

Lokapalas (a common list, consisting of Kubera, Yama, Varuna and Indra), but only the first three give weapons at this point; Indra promises to do so later, in heaven, as

indeed he does. But there may be more to it. As E. Washburn Hopkins (1915: 150) notes, the title of the quartet is curious. The worlds (lokas) are normally envisaged as

a triad arranged vertically, while the cardinal points, being four and arranged hori

zontally, should be guarded by Disampalas. Hopkins hypothesizes that "originally there were three real world-protectors." In any case, what the text gives us is five

weapon-givers, Rudra (3.41), the triad (3.42, cf. 3.164), and Indra (3.45.4). Within the triad Kubera, god of wealth, normally represents the third function

and Varuna, at least in Vedic times, the first; but I doubt whether a convincing case

can be made for Yama representing the second; perhaps he has replaced a second

function deity. The order of listing of the relevant gods is variable and only in

3.164.13-14 does it even approximate to the rising hierarchy that would fit best in a

structure opening with Siva and culminating in Indra.

Daksa's Sacrifice

The myth of Daksa's sacrifice is known in many versions and has a considerable

secondary literature. Of the half-dozen versions in the Mahdbhdrata let us summa

rize the one that is most convenient for our purposes (10.18). It is narrated by Krsna

in response to Yudhisthira's question of how Asvatthaman was able single-handed to

carry out the nocturnal massacre. That this particular text fails to mention Daksa is

insignificant.

The gods organise a sacrifice but in their ignorance they fail to invite Siva. Siva wants his portion of the offering, creates a large and effective bow and goes to the

sacrificial site. Portentous signs occur, including earthquakes. Siva shoots the

sacrifice, which flees in the form of a deer. Amid the confusion, using the end of his bow, Siva breaks the arms of Savitr, blinds Bhaga and knocks out the teeth of

Pusan. Siva laughs and halts the fleeing gods. They and the sacrifice beg for

mercy. Siva casts his anger into the sea, restores the three gods he has mutilated, and receives his share of the offerings.

Other versions of the myth (for example, Kramrisch 1981: 322-30) fill out the plot by mentioning additional participants. Daksa, son or grandson of Brahma and "a kind of secondary creator" (Johnson 1998: 129), is usually named, and sometimes

(as in 12.274) Siva's reaction is ascribed to the urging of Uma, mortified at her husband's exclusion. But such additional figures leave the basic structure unaffected. The story is of an outsider god disrupting the sacrifice of the other gods in order to be included among its beneficiaries. But the other gods are not undifferentiated: the one who stands apart is Daksa, the demiurge. It is sometimes he in person who


refuses Siva (12.330.42). Such a structure recalls the Five Indras. There too the gods in general perform a

ritual from which Siva is absent, and their leader ends up humiliated by the absentee.

One difference is that while the fifth Indra, like his predecessors, traveled to

encounter Siva, here it is Siva who travels to encounter Daksa. A more interesting difference concerns not the current leaders of the gods but the other gods humiliated

by Siva. In the earlier analysis they were the four previous Indras, presented as

essentially homogeneous. The homogeneity is qualified since, as well as belonging to different ages, they differ proleptically in that each will become one of the well

differentiated Pandava brothers; but as we noted, following Dumezil, the four

brothers represent the three functions, two of them together representing the third

function. In the present case mortals are irrelevant, and we have a straightforward triad. So is it trifunctional?

A preliminary point is that the triad of gods plus mutilations is well established in

the Vedas. When Rudra shoots Prajapati to punish him for his incest, the damaged

part of the latter's body becomes the focus of attention. Prajapati is identified with

the sacrifice, and the problem is what to do with this dangerous part of the offering.8

According to the Satapatha Brahmana (1.7.4.1-8), it is taken successively to Bhaga, Pusan and eventually Savitr. In this Vedic text it mutilates only the first two, but

Savitr's mutilation is described in other sources.9 Pusan is straightforward. A god associated with cattle and prosperity, he is often

and convincingly interpreted as third-functional (for example, Dumezil 1969:

273-87). His mutilation relates to nourishment, one of the various facets of that

function.

Bhaga too is often prayed to for wealth, but Dumezil's emphasis is less on the

wealth as such than on the god's role in distributing it or sharing it out; this role he

performs from the position of "Minor sovereign" very closely allied to Mitra (for

example, 1968: 149-51). After a lengthy discussion drawing on Roman as well as

Indo-Iranian material, a table is presented (Dumezil 1977: 182) in which Bhaga is

located under the first function (and Pusan under the third). As for Bhaga's mutila

tion, Dumezil sees it as reflecting the blindness or inscrutability with which in other

cultures deities like Fortune or Destiny distribute their gifts. Another interpretive approach might turn to Samkhya philosophy, which is

permeated by the pentadic ideology. If fire is the first-functional gross element, the

corresponding sense capacity (buddhindriya) is seeing (convenient tabulation in

Larson 1979: 236). So the god and the mutilation both belong, for separate reasons, under the first function. One can now recall third-functional Pusan. The only gross element pertaining to nourishment is third-functional water, whose correlated sense

capacity is tasting. Teeth are not used for tasting, but tongue and teeth both relate to

nourishment; and the texts (for example, Satapatha Brahmana 1.7.4.7) often pass from Pusan's mutilation to his diet (since he cannot chew he receives not meat but

liquid vegetarian preparations). So again the god and the mutilation belong to the

same domain.


The hypothesis must now be that Savitr is second-functional. However, he is not

allocated by Dumezil to any function, and he is not presented by the texts as particu

larly strong or martial. On the other hand, in some contexts the standard definition of

the second function is too narrow, and what is needed is a more general notion of

force, of which bodily strength and warrior prowess are particular realizations. For

instance, when it is argued that the gunas are trifunctional, it is not claimed that

rajas falls under the standard definition but that it pertains to energy or dynamism. Now Savitr's name derives from the root sii-, a derivation that governs a good deal

of word-play in the hymns; and this root has the sense of "stimulating, arousing,

vivifying" (Macdonell 1898: 34). He is sometimes "the stimulator god" (Macdonell 1898: 34), and to stimulate is to rouse to action, to impart additional energy to (an

activity or process). Dumezil himself sees that the god is a mover (moteur) and

"dynamic" (1948: 194). As for Savitr's arms or hands, three points are worth noting. In the Rg Veda it is a

characteristic gesture of the god that he raises aloft his arms (Macdonell 1898: 323), and in the Purusa Sukta (Rg Veda 10.90.12) the arms of the primal being are the

origin of the second-function varna. Finally, we can again call on Samkhya. The

sense capacity corresponding to second-functional air or wind is feeling (correlating with the action-capacity grasping and the subtle element touch), and the body part most obviously linked with touch is the hand.

We must not oversimplify. Some versions of the myth give more or less than three

mutilations and the sequence varies. But this does not detract from the trifunc

tionality of the triad in Mahdbhdrata 10, and when the mutilations are repaired, the

gods are for once listed in the standard order (Fl,2,3), as they are in Gopatha Brdhmana 2.1.2.

The Horse Sacrifice

Held in order to purify Yudhisthira from the guilt incurred in the Great War, the

horse sacrifice is narrated at length in Book 14. For our purposes only two episodes are relevant. The first arises because a horse sacrifice needs to be held in style and is

enormously expensive, while the royal treasuries have been emptied by the war. The

Pandavas therefore travel to the Himalayas to collect wealth left there by a former

king called Marutta. After looking at this episode, we can ignore the journey round India made by the horse and move directly to the final ritual.

The Saivite atmosphere of the Himalayan trip is unmistakable (14.62-4; conven

ient summary in Biardeau 2002, 2: 584-87). When the Pandavas are planning the

trip, Bhima suggests that the first thing to do is propitiate Siva, and his suggestion is followed. Traveling from the center of the kingdom to a remote periphery ("the Outside"), they arrive at the right area at an auspicious moment, and Yudhisthira

makes another offering to Siva (together with Kubera, lord of wealth, and other less

important beings). Having worshiped Rudra and his host (and again, Kubera and

others), they begin digging up and loading the valuables. Before returning to the


plains, they worship Siva one final time.

This is clear enough, but Siva is also prominent in the story of Marutta and his

rivalry with Indra (which is eventually resolved). The story is couched in dualistic terms. The two kings, divine and human, have as chaplains two brothers, Brhaspati and Samvarta, who are in turn linked with devas and asuras and with tejas and

tapas. According to the Vulgate (14.6.22), Samvarta is a devotee of Siva, and he

advises Marutta to go to the idyllic mountain that Siva shares with Kubera and gain the god's favor by reciting his names. As Madeleine Biardeau notes (2002, 2: 570n3,

593), the names Marutta and Samvarta associate their owners with the wind and fire

that destroy the world at the end of a cosmic cycle; but such destruction is under the

control of Siva.

As for the horse sacrifice itself, although the lead-up is described at some length

(notably the gathering of the guests), the ritual proper is disposed of quite briefly (14.90.19-91.5, followed by the paying off of the priests). The priests are said to

assign each victim to a deity, but the recipient of the horse is not named. However, the Mahabharata insists that the ritual was performed correctly, that is in accordance

with the Vedas, and the Brahmana texts say that the horse is for Prajapati (Satapatha Brahmana 13.1.2.9, 13.2.2.15). But the horse is not the only victim. There are

twenty-one sacrificial stakes, and three hundred victims tied to them?animals

including the horse and bulls, but also birds and fishes; it seems that each victim is

publicly assigned to a particular god (Mahabharata 14.90.26-27, 32-34). The

Brahmana texts confirm the inclusion in the ritual of "all" the other gods, who are to

be individually named.

Thus, to a first approximation, the sacrificial ritual in Book 14 has two phases. First comes the event oriented primarily to Siva (though secondarily to Kubera)?an event that is set apart in time and space. This preliminary event contrasts with the

central ritual involving the gods in general. The same duality?Siva versus gods in

general?has been a regular feature in our previous analyses, but no less regularly we have found that the "gods in general" also exhibit a dualism: one among them

has some sort of transcendence, superiority or priority, which sets him apart from the

others and justifies associating him with the superior half-function. Often this figure has been Indra, but as at Daksa's sacrifice (referred to in a simile at 14.90.30) we

have here a creator figure rather than a king/warrior.

Sacrifice

One of Siva's best-known names is Pasupati, lord of beasts, and more particularly of

sacrificial animals. The texts give various explanations, but the question arises

whether the name in any way reflects the pentadic ideology. Here is a possible line

of thought, focusing on the agents involved in the ritual.

In principle, Sudras are excluded from Vedic sacrifice, but it seems that the other

three varnas all have a role. Brahmanas of course officiate, and typically their

employers are Ksatriyas, whether kings or warriors. But who supplies the offerings?


Animal victims must have been bred by herders and stockmen, and vegetable

offerings must have been grown by farmers. Soma was supposedly acquired from

merchants (Satapatha Brahmana 3.3.3). All these roles typically belong to the third varna. Via the varnas then, the humans involved can be linked with the core

functions.

However, it is not only humans that are involved. The ritual includes the gods, who are superior to humans, and the victims, animal or vegetable, who are inferior.

No single figure could represent the gods better than their creator Prajapati, who in

addition is so often identified with the sacrifice, that is, with the totality of the event; and Siva, lord of the victims, fits well enough at the other end of the scale.

Summary

Table 2 (Appendix) brings together the various contexts we have considered. The

entries chosen to represent each context could sometimes be different. For instance, in the first row the humans could be replaced by the gods incarnated in them.

Context F4+ Fl-3 F4

Pandavas and Kauravas Arjuna 4 other Pandavas Duryodhana Five Indras Our Indra 4 previous Indras Siva

Five Husbands future Arjuna & 4 other Pandavas Siva

Kaurava Marshals Bhlsma 3 core marshals Asvatthaman

Night Attackers Duryodhana 3 Kauravas Siva's horde

Weapon-Givers Indra 3 Lokapalas Siva

Daksa's Sacrifice Daksa 3 mutilated gods Siva

Horse Sacrifice Prajapati other gods Siva

Sacrifice Prajapati twice-born varnas Siva (Pasupati)

In presenting this summary of the paper I am acutely aware both of the lack of

depth in individual case studies and of the number of questions that remain unex

plored. Hopefully, the limitations will be regarded as incentives to participate in

developing this line of thought, creatively as well as critically. Other contexts, whether narrative or didactic, need attention. For instance the

picture should surely draw in Jarasamdha and Sisupala, those figures with strongly Saivite overtones analyzed as complementary by Dumezil (1971: Part 1). But

theoretical questions are no less attractive. We have noted in passing how the

pentadic ideology is often applied at multiple levels, one level being involuted within another. Thus, in the context of the varna schema, the most prominent agents in the epic are second-function warriors, but in the context of the great conflict the

Kaurava warriors represent fourth-function negative. Among the Kauravas, but more

precisely among their marshals, the last, Asvatthaman, represents the same half

function, but during the final marshalship, among the night attackers, the same

individual, qua Brahmana, apparently represents the first function. We see here a


cascade of contexts of decreasing scope, but this cannot be the only way in which contexts interrelate.

Another topic, touched on but not treated, is the relation of male and female within

the fourth function negative?among deities, between Siva and Devi (Sri, Prthivi,

Parvati...). The equally important topic of Siva's relation to Visnu has been deliber

ately avoided. Yet another huge topic might start from the Vedic equation between

Rudra and Agni or from Siva's relation to tapas (his "heat, austerity") or to his

destructive eschatological fire (as opposed to the first-functional sacrificial fire). More generally, the god's association with "negativity" offers scope for reflection on

philosophical issues, such as the opposition between pravrtti and nivrtti or between

hyperactivity (dancing) and hypoactivity (trance). In linking Siva with the negative half-function, the paper has perhaps contributed

towards reducing the disconcerting character of this unusual Indian deity, and it has

tried to add further weight to the case for a fourth function, which is still regarded as

unproven by a number of serious and learned comparativists. More specifically, it

has shown that despite the "devaluation" that sometimes attaches to representatives of the negative half-function, they can sometimes be more powerful than represen tatives of the positive half-function. The key to such apparent paradoxes probably lies in seeing the functional schema not in terms of a linear hierarchy but in terms of a cycle?more precisely in terms of the largest temporal cycle that we regularly encounter. Prajapati is equated not only with sacrifice but also with the year, while

Siva is equated with Time. Perhaps the ambivalent relation between the represen tatives of the two half-functions relates somehow to the ambivalence commonly associated with the passage from the Old Year to the New.

Notes

1.1 use the name Siva to refer to the god whom the Vedas call Rudra and who in

classical texts has a great variety of names (Mahadeva, Sankara, and so on). 2. I have discussed these issues in many previous papers, for example, Allen

2005d (where the reference to Allen 2006 should be corrected, see Allen 2007 here). To avoid irritatingly frequent use of my own name, references to these earlier papers have mostly been collected in Table 2 (Appendix).

3. Confirmed in 11.8.27 and 15.39.10 ("D. was Kali"). According to 18.5.19 all

the sons of Dhrtarastra were demons (ydtudhdndh). 4. Though the details are complex, this claim receives some further support from

the story of his breastplate (7.69.35-71, Scheuer 1982: 272-74). This piece of armor,

originally Siva's, had a succession of owners before being worn by Duryodhana. A

fuller study could also draw on the role of dicing and Kali in the misfortunes of

Nala.

5. Similarly, as a Kaurava champion, Karna, Duryodhana's friend and ally,

occupies the same lowly half-function as the prince, but he is actually the eldest

among the Pandava half-brothers. The son of Surya, he is only linked to Siva


indirectly, via the notion of heat and tapas. 6. The pairing of Anger and Lust within a triad recalls the pairing of hatred and

passion (dvesa and rdga) in the trifunctional set of Buddhist "fires."

7. One might recall the masses of deformed beings excluded from Yima's vara

and analyzed under this same half-function.

8. Or (O'Flaherty 1975: 117) what to do with the dangerous fiery seed emitted by

Prajapati on being shot.

9. Mentioned for instance by Dumezil (1948: 193-99, translation 164-69?later

amended, see 1969: 284).

Appendix: Previous Work (cf. note 2)

The line of thought pursued here has concentrated on situating Siva within the Indo

European pentadic ideology, and Table 2 lists papers relating to this.

Pandavas and Kauravas 1999a; 2000a: 123, 125-26; 1999b: 250-52;

(Duryodhana) 2000b: 123-26 Five Indras/Husbands 1999a

Kaurava Marshals 1999b: 252; 2005b; 2006a; (Buddhist fires [n6]) 2006b: 222

Night Attackers (Yima's vara [n7]) 2000a: 288-90

Weapon-Givers 1998a; (Lokapalas) 1999b: 247-50; (Book 3

journeys) 2000b: 122-34; 2005c

Daksa's sacrifice (Samkhya) 1998b

Horse Sacrifice 1997 (compares Odysseus' post-Odyssey sacrifices)

Sacrifice in press: appendix

Summary (Annual cycle) 2005a: 172-74

Table 2. Papers by myself, relating to different sections of the paper

A closely related to the line of thought compares Siva with other Indo-European deities. The comparison with Greece has been the most popular, and a number of my articles cited in Table 2 (notably 1997) present Siva-Poseidon rapprochements, but that does not rule out other possibilities. Rudra-Apollo is favored by Thomas

Oberlies (1998: 206-7, 214-15), and the rapprochement between Kauravas and

Trojans strongly suggests Siva~Apollo. For Siva-Dionysus see for instance Bernard

Sergent(1997: 321-24).

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NICHOLAS J. ALLEN is Emeritus Reader in the Social Anthropology of South Asia at Oxford University. <[email protected]>

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