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Keśin

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The Keśin were long-haired ascetic wanderers with mystical powers described in the Keśin Hymn (RV 10, 136) of the Rigveda (an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns).[1] The Keśin ("long-haired one") are described as homeless, traveling with the wind, clad only in dust or yellow tatters, and being equally at home in the physical and the spiritual worlds. They are on friendly terms with the natural elements, the gods, enlightened beings, wild beasts, and all people.[2] The Keśin Hymn also relates that the Keśin drink from the same magic cup as Rudra, which is poisonous to mortals.[3]

The Keśin were unusual in the Rigveda for having an entire hymn dedicated to them—the only hymn in all the vedas that was dedicated to a group completely outside the Brahminical establishment.[4] Interpretations of the Keśin Hymn (RV 10, 136) have varied widely over time, from viewing the Keśin as the Sun God (Surya), to seeing the Keśin as wild orgiastic imbibers of intoxicants, to a growing acceptance of the Keśin as ascetic mystics showing similarities to shamans and yogis.[3][5]

Description

The Rishis and the muni Keśin were two distinct types of religious seers in the Vedas. Unlike the Rishis, who took an active part in the Vedic community, the Keśin were described as muni, in its broader meaning of "to think, to muse, to contemplate, to meditate," along with the narrower meaning of being silent. The Rishi priests led prayers and worship as an integral part of the Vedic hierarchy and community. The Keśin were lone ascetics, living a life of renunciation and wandering mendicancy—they were shown as having spiritual power and authority that did not rely on the priestly position of authority held by the Rishis. Some scholars see Buddha, whose names included Śākyamuni, as one who arose from the muni-Keśin tradition rather than the Rishi tradition.[1][3][6]

Interpretations

The Keśin Hymn has a long history of evolving interpretation, including misleading or superficial translations of the word Keśin and of the meaning of the Keśin Hymn. Yāska (c. 500 BCE) interpreted Keśin to mean the sun or the sun God Surya. Sāyana (c. 14th century ACE) supported that view, followed by some early European Sanskrit scholars, including H. H. Wilson and M. Bloomfield.[7] Hermann Oldenberg took the view that the Keśin Hymn described the "orgiastic practices of the old Vedic times" and the "drunken rapture" of the Keśin, which he believed eventually evolved into the Buddhist goal of liberation.[8]

Ralph T. H. Griffith and Heinrich Roth rejected both the Surya and intoxicant-drinking views. Griffith supported Roth's view of the Keśin Hymn:

The hymn shows the conception that by a life of sanctity the Muni can attain to the fellowship of the deities of the air, the Vayu, the Rudras, the Apsarases, and the Gandharvas; and, furnished like them with wonderful powers, can travel along with them on their course.[5]

The Keśin Hymn (RV 10, 136)

He with the long loose locks supports Agni, and moisture, heaven, and earth:
He is all sky to look upon: he with long hair is called this light.

The Munis, girdled with the wind, wear garments soiled of yellow hue.
They, following the wind's swift course go where the Gods have gone before.

Transported with our Munihood we have pressed on into the winds:
You therefore, mortal men. behold our natural bodies and no more.

The Muni, made associate in the holy work of every God,
Looking upon all varied forms flies through the region of the air.

The Steed of Vāta, Vāyu's friend, the Muni, by the Gods impelled,
In both the oceans hath his home, in eastern and in western sea.

Treading the path of sylvan beasts, Gandharvas, and Apsarases,
He with long locks, who knows the wish, is a sweet most delightful friend

Vāyu hath churned for him: for him he poundeth things most hard to bend,
When he with long loose locks hath drunk, with Rudra, water from the cup.
—Translation by Ralph T. H. Griffith[9]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Werner 1995, p. 34.
  2. ^ Werner 1998, p. 105.
  3. ^ a b c Fitzpatrick 1994, pp. 30-31.
  4. ^ Werner 1977, p. 289.
  5. ^ a b Werner 1977, pp. 289-291.
  6. ^ Flood 1996, p. 78.
  7. ^ Werner 1995, p. 36.
  8. ^ Werner 1977, pp. 291-292.
  9. ^ Griffith 1897, Translation by Ralph T.H. Griffith.

References

  • Flood, Gavin (1996). An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521438780.
  • Crangle, Edward Fitzpatrick (1994). The Origin and Development of Early Indian Contemplative Practices. Studies in Oriental Religions. Vol. 29. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 9783447034791.
  • Griffith, Ralph T. H. (1897). The Hymns of the Rigveda. Benares: E. J. Lazarus and Co.
  • McDaniel, June (2009). "Religious Experience in Hindu Tradition". Religion Compass. 3 (1). Blackwell Publishing Ltd.: 99–115. doi:10.1111/j.1749-8171.2008.00120.x.
  • Werner, Karel (1995). The Yogi and the Mystic: Studies in Indian and Comparative Mysticism. Psychology Press. ISBN 9780700702725.
  • Werner, Karel (1998). Yoga and Indian Philosophy. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. ISBN 9788120816091.
  • Werner, Karel (Sep 1977). "Yoga and the Ṛg Veda: An Interpretation of the Keśin Hymn (RV 10, 136)". Religious Studies. 13 (3). Cambridge University Press: 289–302. doi:10.1017/s0034412500010076.
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