Page 102 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

THE ANTELOPE'S HEAD 89

Namuchi, as given in the ~igveda and interpreted on the supposition
that the year began with the Dog-star, does, however, solve the
difficulty. I have already alluded to the fact that in the ~igveda
Vritra is often said to appear in the form of a M riga ( :tUg. i. 80. 7;
v. 32, 3; v. 34. 2; viii. 93. 14 ). In ~ig. vii. 19.5 Vritra and Namuchi
are both said to be killed by Indra, and though this cannot be taken
as a direct authority for holding that V ritra and Namuc.hi are
the different forms of the same enemy, yet from the description of
the two I do not think there can be any doubt as to their being
identical. In fact, Shu~h~a. Pipru, Kuyava and Namuchi* are only
so many different names of the enemy of Indra. Now Indzr is
represented as cutting off the head of Vritra ( {tig. i. 52. 10) !and
also of Namuchi ( ~ig. v. 30. 7; vi. 20. 6 ). Combining these _$tate-
ments we get that Indra cut off the head of Vtitra or N~uchi,
in the form of a MJiga; and this at once suggests the ;question
whether that head is not the same as that of Praj&~ti cut off by
Rudra and which gave the name of M riga-shir!!ha, or' the antelope's
head ' to the constellation. In ~ig i. 53. 7, we are simply told that
Namuchi was killed by Indra in the distant ( para}·ati) region, which
seems to mean the region of Yama. But as it does not satisfactorily
determine the place where Namuchi was killed, I refer to {tig. x.
73. 7, where Indra by killing Namuchi is said to have cleared up
' the paths leading ( yana in the original ) to the ( region of)
Devas;'t which plainly shows that Namuchi was killed at the
gates of the Devayana. In the Vajasneyi Salllhit& 10. 14 a sacrificial
rite is described which gives the same place and time of Namuchi's
death. The priest there throws away a piece of metal hidden under
a tiger hide, exclaiming, 'the head of Namuchi is thrown away,'
after he has taken his Yajamana through all directions ( East,
South, West, North and upwards ) and also through all the seasons
( Vasanta, Gri4hma, Sharad, Var~hi and Hemanta-and-Shishira)
This means, if it can mean anything, that Namuchi alias Vritra
was killed, in the language of seasons, after Shishira, or in other

• See l'rof. Bloomfield's contributions to the Interpretation of the
Veda·-in the Journal of the American OrieRtal Society, Vol. XV, p. q6.
t The original ...-erse is as follows :-
.~ ~~~~~~·~Wit~ ~I
~ ~ ~ ~'11~-it ~q ~~~