Dasa (दासः)

From Dharmawiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
NeedCitation.png
 This article needs appropriate citations and references.

Improvise this article by introducing references to reliable sources.

Dasa is a Sanskrit word found in ancient Bharat's texts such as the Rigveda and Arthasastra.[1] It usually means "enemy" or "servant"[2] but dasa, or das, also means a "servant of God", "devotee," "votary" or "one who has surrendered to God". Dasa may be a suffix of a given name to indicate a "servant" of a revered person or a particular deity.[3]

Dasa, in some contexts, is also related to dasyu and asura, which have been translated by some scholars as "demon", "harmful supernatural forces", "slave", "servant" or "barbarian", depending on the context in which the word is used.[2][4]

Etymology

Dāsa (Sanskrit: दास) first appears in Vedic texts from the second millennium BCE.[2] There is no consensus on its origins.

Karl Heinrich Tzschucke in 1806, in his translations of the Roman geographer Pomponius Mela, noted etymological and phonological parallels between dasa and the ethonyms of the Dahae – Persian داها; Sanskrit Dasa; Latin Dahae; Greek Δάοι Daoi, Δάαι, Δᾶαι Daai and Δάσαι Dasai – a people who lived on the south-eastern shores of the Caspian Sea in ancient times (and from whom modern Dehestan/Dehistan takes its name).[5] Likewise Max Muller proposed that dasa referred to indigenous peoples living in South Asia before the arrival of the Aryans. However, such theories have long been controversial and are considered by many scholars as inconsistent with the broader usage of dasa in the Vedas.[6][7]

Monier Monier-Williams in 1899, stated that the meaning of dasa varies contextually and means "mysterious forces", "savages", "barbarians" or "demons" in the earliest layer of Vedic literature – in other contexts, is a self-effacing way to refer oneself as "worshipper" or "devotee aiming to honor a deity", or a "servant of god".[8] In later Bharat's literature, according to Monier-Williams, usage of dasa is used to refer to "a knowing man, or a knower of the universal spirit".[9] In the altter sense, dāsa is masculine, while the feminine equivalent is dāsi.[8] Some early 20th Century translations, such as P. T. Srinivas Iyengar (1912), translate dasa as "slave".[10]

Kangle in 1960,[1] and others[11] suggest that, depending on the context, dasa may be translated as "enemy", "servant" or "religious devotee". More recent scholarly interpretations of the Sanskrit words dasa or dasyu suggest that these words used throughout the Vedas represents "disorder, chaos and dark side of human nature", and the verses that use the word dasa mostly contrast it with the concepts of "order, purity, goodness and light."[2] In some contexts, the word dasa may refer to enemies, in other contexts it may refer to those who had not adopted the Vedic beliefs, and yet other contexts it may refer to mythical enemies in the battle between good and evil.[2]

Hindu Texts

Rig Veda

Dasa and related words such as Dasyu are found in the Rig Veda. They have been variously translated, depending on the context. These words represent in some context represent "disorder, chaos and dark side of human nature", and the verses that use the word dasa mostly contrast it with the concepts of "order, purity, goodness and light."[2] In other contexts, the word dasa refers to enemies and in other contexts, those who had not adopted the Vedic beliefs.[2][12]

A. A. Macdonell and A. B. Keith in 1912 remarked that, "The great difference between the Dasyus and the Aryans was their religion... It is significant that constant reference is made to difference in religion between Aryans and Dasa and Dasyu."[citation needed]

Dasa with the meaning of savage, barbarians

Rig Veda 10.22.8 describes Dasyus as "savages" who have no laws, different observances, a-karman (who do not perform rites) and who act against a person without knowing the person.[4]

<poem> अकर्मा दस्युरभि नो अमन्तुरन्यव्रतो अमानुषः । त्वं तस्यामित्रहन्वधर्दासस्य दम्भय ॥८॥[13]

Around us is the Dasyu, riteless, void of sense, inhuman, keeping alien laws. Baffle, thou Slayer of the foe, the weapon which this Dasa wields. – Translated by Ralph Griffith[14]

The Dasyu practising no religious rites, not knowing us thoroughly, following other observances, obeying no human laws, Baffle, destroyer of enemies [Indra], the weapon of that Dasa. – Translated by H. H. Wilson[15] </poem>

— Rigveda 10.22.8

Dasa with the meaning of demon

Within the Vedic texts, Dasa is the word used to describe supernatural demonic creatures with many eyes and many heads. This has led scholars to interpret that the word Dasa in Vedic times meant evil, supernatural, destructive forces. For example, Rigveda in hymn 10.99.6 states,[16]

<poem> स इद्दासं तुवीरवं पतिर्दन्षळक्षं त्रिशीर्षाणं दमन्यत् । अस्य त्रितो न्वोजसा वृधानो विपा वराहमयोअग्रया हन् ॥६॥

The sovereign Indra attacking him overcame the loud shouting, six eyed, three headed Dasa, Trita invigorated by his strength, smote the cloud with his iron-tipped finger. </poem>

— Rigveda 10.99.6, translated by H. H. Wilson[17]

Dasa with the meaning of servant or slave

Dasa is also used in Vedic literature, in some contexts, to refer to "servants", a few translate this as "slaves", but the verses do not describe how the Vedic society treats or mistreats the servants. R. S. Sharma, in his 1958 book, states that the only word which could possibly mean slave in Rigveda is dāsa, and this sense of use is traceable to four verses out of 10,600 verses in Rigveda, namely 1.92.8, 1.158.5, 10.62.10 and 8.56.3.[18] The translation of word dasa to servant or slave varies by scholars.[2] HH Wilson, for example, translates Dasa in Rigvedic instances identified by Sharma, as servant rather than slave,[19] as in verse 10.62.10:[20]

<poem> उत दासा परिविषे स्मद्दिष्टी गोपरीणसा । यदुस्तुर्वश्च मामहे ॥१०॥[21]

Yadu and Indra speaking auspiciously, and possessed of numerous cattle, gave them like servants, for the enjoyment. </poem>

— Rigveda 10.62.10, Translated by HH Wilson[22]

R. S. Sharma translates dasi in a Vedic era Upanishad as "maid-servant".[23]

Later Vedic texts

The three words Dasa, Dasyu and Asura are used interchangeably in almost identical verses that are repeated in different Vedic texts, such as the Rig veda, the Saunaka recension of Atharva veda, the Paippalada Samhita of the Atharva veda and the Brahmanas text in various Vedas. Such comparative study has led scholars to interpret Dasa and Dasyu may have been a synonym of Asura (demons or evil forces, sometimes simply lords with special knowledge and magical powers) of later Vedic texts.[24]Template:Request quotation

Sharma states that the word dasa occurs in Aitareya and Gopatha Brahmanas, but not in the sense of a slave.[23]

Arthasastra

Kautilya's Arthasastra dedicates the thirteenth chapter on dasas, in his third book on law. This Sanskrit document from the Maurya Empire period (4th century BCE), has been translated by several authors. Shamasastry's translation in 1915,[25] Kangle's translation in 1960s[26] and Rangarajan's translation in 1987[27] all map dasa as slave. However, Kangle suggests that the context and rights granted to dasa by Kautilya, such as the right to the same wage as a free labourer and the right to freedom on payment of an amount, distinguish this form of slavery from that of contemporary Greece.[28] Edmund Leach points out that the Dasa was the antithesis of the concept of Arya. As the latter term evolved through successive meanings, so did Dasa: from "indigenous inhabitant" to "serf," "tied servant," and finally "chattel slave." He suggests the term "unfreedom" to cover all these meanings.[29]

According to Arthasastra, anyone who had been found guilty of nishpatitah (Sanskrit: निष्पातित, ruined, bankrupt, a minor crime)[30] may mortgage oneself to become dasa for someone willing to pay his or her bail and employ the dasa for money and privileges.[28][25]

According to Arthashastra, it was illegal to force a dasa (slave) to do certain types of work, to hurt or abuse him, or to force sex on a female dasa.[25]

Views of Sri Aurobindo

Authors like Sri Aurobindo believe that words like Dasa are used in the Rig Veda symbolically and should be interpreted spiritually, and that Dasa does not refer to human beings, but rather to demons who hinder the spiritual attainment of the mystic. Many Dasas are purely mythical and can only refer to demons. There is for example a Dasa called Urana with 99 arms (RV II.14.4), and a Dasa with six eyes and three heads in the Rig Veda.[31]

Aurobindo[32] commented that in the RV III.34 hymn, where the word Arya varna occurs, Indra is described as the increaser of the thoughts of his followers: "the shining hue of these thoughts, sukram varnam asam, is evidently the same as that sukra or sveta Aryan hue which is mentioned in verse 9. Indra carries forward or increases the "colour" of these thoughts beyond the opposition of the Panis, pra varnam atiracchukram; in doing so he slays the Dasyus and protects or fosters and increases the Aryan "colour", hatvi dasyun pra aryam varnam avat."[33]

According to Aurobindo (The Secret of the Veda), RV 5.14.4 is a key for understanding the character of the Dasyus:

Agni born shone out slaying the Dasyus, the darkness by the light, he found the Cows, the Waters, Swar. (transl. Aurobindo)[34][35]

Aurobindo explains that in this verse the struggle between light and darkness, truth and falsehood, divine and undivine is described.[34] It is through the shining light created by Agni, god of fire, that the Dasyus, who are identified with the darkness, are slain. The Dasyus are also described in the Rig Veda as intercepting and withholding the Cows, the Waters and Swar ("heavenly world"; RV 5.34.9; 8.68.9). It is not difficult, of course, to find very similar metaphors, equating political or military opponents with evil and darkness, even in contemporary propaganda.

K.D. Sethna (1992) writes: "According to Aurobindo,(...) there are passages in which the spiritual interpretation of the Dasas, Dasyus and Panis is the sole one possible and all others are completely excluded. There are no passages in which we lack a choice either between this interpretation and a nature-poetry or between this interpretation and the reading of human enemies."

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 R.P. Kangle (1960), The Kautiliya Arthasastra - a critical edition, Vol. 2 and 3, University of Bombay Studies, ISBN 978-8120800427
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Barbara West (2008), Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania, ISBN 978-0816071098, page 182
  3. ↑ Gregory Schopen (2004), Buddhist Monks and Business Matters, University of Hawaii Press, ISBN 978-0824827748, page 201
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Wash Edward Hale (1999), Ásura- in Early Vedic Religion, Motilal Barnarsidass, ISBN 978-8120800618, pages 159-169
  5. ↑ See, for example: Pomponius Melo (transl. and ed. by Karl Henrich Tzschucke) De sitv orbis libri tres: ad plvrimos codices mostos vel denvo vel primvm consvltos aliorvmqve editiones recensiticvm notis criticis et exegeticis vel integris vel selectis Hermolai Barbari [et al] conlectis praeterea et adpositis doctorvm virorvm animadversionibvs additis svis a Carolo Henrico Tzschvckio, Vol. II, Pt 1 (1806), p. 95 and; Pomponius Mela (transl. and ed. by Karl Henrich Tzschucke) Pomponii Melae de situ orbis: libri tres, ad plurimos codices msstos vel denvo vel primum consultos aliorumque editiones recensiti, Vol. II, Pt 3 (1806), p. 136.
  6. ↑ Wash Edward Hale (1999), Ásura- in Early Vedic Religion, Motilal Barnarsidass, ISBN 978-8120800618, pages 162-165
  7. ↑ Edwin Bryant (2004), The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture: The Indo-Aryan Migration Debate, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195169478, pages 59-67
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Monier Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary” Etymologically and Philologically Arranged to cognate Indo-European Languages, Motilal Banarsidass, page 475
  9. ↑ Monier Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary” Etymologically and Philologically Arranged to cognate Indo-European Languages, Motilal Banarsidass, page 476
  10. ↑ P. T. Srinivas Iyengar (1912), The Myth of the Aryan Invasion of India, Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, Vol. 60, No. 3113 pages 841-846
  11. ↑ B. Breloer (1934), Kautiliya Studien, Bd. III, Leipzig, pages 10-16, 30-71
  12. ↑ R. C. Majumdar and A. D. Pusalker (editors): The History and Culture of the Bharat's People. Volume I, The Vedic age. Bombay : Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan 1951, p.253. Keith and Macdonell 1922, ISBN 978-8172764401
  13. ↑ Rigveda Sanskrit text, Wikisource
  14. ↑ Rigveda, Mandala 10, Hymn 22 Ralph T Griffith, Wikisource
  15. ↑ Rigveda 10.22.8 H. H. Wilson (Translator), Trubner & Co, pages 57-58
  16. ↑ Wash Edward Hale (1999), Ásura- in Early Vedic Religion, Motilal Barnarsidass, ISBN 978-8120800618, page 163
  17. ↑ Rigveda 10.99.6 HH Wilson (Translator), Trubner & Co, page 285
  18. ↑ Sharma, R. S. (1990) [first published in 1958]. Sudras in Ancient India. Motilal Banarasidass. pp. 24–25, 50–51.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  19. ↑ Rigveda 10.62.10 HH Wilson (Translator), Trubner & Co, page 167
  20. ↑ Wash Edward Hale (1999), Ásura- in Early Vedic Religion, Motilal Barnarsidass, ISBN 978-8120800618, page 162
  21. ↑ Rigveda 10.62 Sanskrit text, Wikisource
  22. ↑ Rigveda 10.62.10 HH Wilson (Translator), Trubner & Co, page 167
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Sharma, R. S. (1990) [first published in 1958]. Sudras in Ancient India. Motilal Banarasidass. pp. 50–51.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  24. ↑ Wash Edward Hale (1999), Ásura- in Early Vedic Religion, Motilal Barnarsidass, ISBN 978-8120800618, pages 157-174
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named ss
  26. ↑ Kangle, R. P. (1986) [first published 1969], The Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra (Part II) (Second ed.), Motilal Banarsidass Publ., pp. 237–, ISBN 978-81-208-0042-7<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  27. ↑ Rangarajan, L. N. (1992) [first published in 1987], Kautilya — The ARTHASHASTRA, Penguin Books Limited, Chapter VIII.x, ISBN 978-81-8475-011-9<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Kangle, R. P. (1997) [first published 1960], The Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra (Part III), Motilal Banarsidass Publ., p. 186, ISBN 978-81-208-0041-0<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  29. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers at line 47: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
  30. ↑ निष्पातित Sanskrit English dictionary
  31. ↑ Parpola 1988, Sethna 1992:329
  32. ↑ Sethna 1992:114 and 340, Aurobindo, The Secret of the Veda, p. 220-21
  33. ↑ Sethna 1992:114 and 340
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Sethna 1992:114-115 and 348-349
  35. ↑ Which is translated by Griffith thus: Agni shone bright when born, with light killing the Dasyus and the dark He found the Kine, the Floods, the Sun. (trans. Griffith)
Retrieved from ‘https://dharmawiki.org/index.php?title=Dasa_(दासः)&oldid=18132’