Sharvara ( Sanskrit: शार्वर, romanized: Śārvara), also rendered Shabala ( Sanskrit: शबल, romanized: Śabala) [1] and Shyama ( Sanskrit: श्याम, romanized: Śyāma) are two Hindu mythological watchdogs belonging to Yama. [2]
Sharvara is identified with the constellation Canis Major, and Shyama with Canis Minor; together they guard the gates of the underworld, the domain of Yama. [3] [4]
Etymology
The word sharvara means variegated or spotted. [5] In older Sanskrit, शर्वर is written as कर्वर (karvara). [6] Shyama is translated as black or dark-coloured. [7]
Mythology
Sharvara and Shyama are described to be two ferocious, four-eyed dogs that guard the entrance to the palace of Yama. The dead are required to get past these dogs in order to be rendered judgement by their master. [8] They are referred to as Mithūdṛśā, meaning that they are not both capable of sight at the same time. [9]
The dogs are first described in the Yamasukta section of the Rigveda. Named as the children of Sharama, departed souls are asked to venture beyond the two spotted four-eyed dogs in order to join their pitrs. They are also mentioned in a prayer to Yama, in which the dead are requested to be entrusted to their protection, and are extolled as the guardians of the road. [10]
The Atharvaveda describes the dogs as the messengers of Yama, designated with the role of seeking out individuals who are to die. [11]
Comparisons
Sharvara can be compared with the Greek Cerberus, the mythological dog of the Greeks with similar characteristics. However, there is no description of Cerberus having a companion, and he is usually depicted with three heads. [12] Scholars have concluded that the three heads were a Greek addition to the underlying Indo-Aryan myth. [13] [14]
Shavara and Shyama can also be compared to Odin's wolves Geri and Freki in Norse mythology. [15] Odin (the all-father) just like Yama (the progenitor of all humans) sits on a chair guarded by two dogs. [16]
Tilak dates the Vedic antiquity using the assertion that the Milky Way (path of the dead) used to be guarded by Sharvara and a new year started upon the crossing of Milky Way by the sun. Using internal evidence he dated the timeframe of Vedic antiquity ( Taittriya Samhita) to the time when at the vernal equinox the sun rose in the asterism of Orion (Mrigashiras). [17]
References
- ^ Dalal, Roshen (2014-04-15). The Vedas: An Introduction to Hinduism's Sacred Texts. Penguin UK. p. 343. ISBN 978-81-8475-763-7.
- ^ Walker, Benjamin (2019-04-09). Hindu World: An Encyclopedic Survey of Hinduism. In Two Volumes. Volume I A-L. Routledge. p. 330. ISBN 978-0-429-62421-6.
- ^ Tilak, Bal Gangadhar (1893). The Orion, or, Researches into the Antiquity of the Vedas. Pune: Mrs. Radhabai Atmaram Sagoon. p. 42.
- ^ Byghan, Yowann (2020-03-12). Sacred and Mythological Animals: A Worldwide Taxonomy (in Bengali). McFarland. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-4766-3887-4.
- ^ Tilak 1893, p. 108
- ^ Monier Williams Dictionary
- ^ Williams, Monier (1872). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and philologically arranged with special reference to Greek, Latin, Gothic, German, Anglo-Saxon, and other cognate Indo-European Languages By Monier Williams. At the Clarendon Press Sold by Macmillan. p. 1023.
- ^ Stookey, Lorena Laura (2004). Thematic Guide to World Mythology. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 203. ISBN 978-0-313-31505-3.
- ^ Bhattacharji, Sukumari. the indian theogony. CUP Archive. p. 70.
- ^ Srivastava, Vinod Chandra (2008). History of Agriculture in India, Up to C. 1200 A.D. Concept Publishing Company. p. 296. ISBN 978-81-8069-521-6.
- ^ Mallory, J. P.; Adams, Douglas Q. (1997). Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Taylor & Francis. p. 265. ISBN 978-1-884964-98-5.
- ^ Apolodorus and others indicate that he had three heads, but Hesiod with poetical hyperbole gives him fifty. Elton, Charles Abraham (1812). Hesiod, translated from the Greek into English verse, with a Preliminary Dissertation on the Writings, Life, and Æra of Hesiod. London: Lackington, Allen and Company. p. 267.
- ^ Elton 1812, p. 267
- ^ Bryant, Jacob (1809). A new system: or, An analysis of antient mythology. Vol. 2 (3rd ed.). J. Walker. pp. 118–119.
- ^ Geri and Freki, "Greedy" and "Voracious" Bloomfield, Maurice (1905). Cerberus, the Dog of Hades: The History of an Idea. Open Court Publishing. pp. 26–27.
- ^ Bloomfield 1905, p. 27
- ^ Tilak 1893, pp. 41–60
Sharvara ( Sanskrit: शार्वर, romanized: Śārvara), also rendered Shabala ( Sanskrit: शबल, romanized: Śabala) [1] and Shyama ( Sanskrit: श्याम, romanized: Śyāma) are two Hindu mythological watchdogs belonging to Yama. [2]
Sharvara is identified with the constellation Canis Major, and Shyama with Canis Minor; together they guard the gates of the underworld, the domain of Yama. [3] [4]
Etymology
The word sharvara means variegated or spotted. [5] In older Sanskrit, शर्वर is written as कर्वर (karvara). [6] Shyama is translated as black or dark-coloured. [7]
Mythology
Sharvara and Shyama are described to be two ferocious, four-eyed dogs that guard the entrance to the palace of Yama. The dead are required to get past these dogs in order to be rendered judgement by their master. [8] They are referred to as Mithūdṛśā, meaning that they are not both capable of sight at the same time. [9]
The dogs are first described in the Yamasukta section of the Rigveda. Named as the children of Sharama, departed souls are asked to venture beyond the two spotted four-eyed dogs in order to join their pitrs. They are also mentioned in a prayer to Yama, in which the dead are requested to be entrusted to their protection, and are extolled as the guardians of the road. [10]
The Atharvaveda describes the dogs as the messengers of Yama, designated with the role of seeking out individuals who are to die. [11]
Comparisons
Sharvara can be compared with the Greek Cerberus, the mythological dog of the Greeks with similar characteristics. However, there is no description of Cerberus having a companion, and he is usually depicted with three heads. [12] Scholars have concluded that the three heads were a Greek addition to the underlying Indo-Aryan myth. [13] [14]
Shavara and Shyama can also be compared to Odin's wolves Geri and Freki in Norse mythology. [15] Odin (the all-father) just like Yama (the progenitor of all humans) sits on a chair guarded by two dogs. [16]
Tilak dates the Vedic antiquity using the assertion that the Milky Way (path of the dead) used to be guarded by Sharvara and a new year started upon the crossing of Milky Way by the sun. Using internal evidence he dated the timeframe of Vedic antiquity ( Taittriya Samhita) to the time when at the vernal equinox the sun rose in the asterism of Orion (Mrigashiras). [17]
References
- ^ Dalal, Roshen (2014-04-15). The Vedas: An Introduction to Hinduism's Sacred Texts. Penguin UK. p. 343. ISBN 978-81-8475-763-7.
- ^ Walker, Benjamin (2019-04-09). Hindu World: An Encyclopedic Survey of Hinduism. In Two Volumes. Volume I A-L. Routledge. p. 330. ISBN 978-0-429-62421-6.
- ^ Tilak, Bal Gangadhar (1893). The Orion, or, Researches into the Antiquity of the Vedas. Pune: Mrs. Radhabai Atmaram Sagoon. p. 42.
- ^ Byghan, Yowann (2020-03-12). Sacred and Mythological Animals: A Worldwide Taxonomy (in Bengali). McFarland. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-4766-3887-4.
- ^ Tilak 1893, p. 108
- ^ Monier Williams Dictionary
- ^ Williams, Monier (1872). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and philologically arranged with special reference to Greek, Latin, Gothic, German, Anglo-Saxon, and other cognate Indo-European Languages By Monier Williams. At the Clarendon Press Sold by Macmillan. p. 1023.
- ^ Stookey, Lorena Laura (2004). Thematic Guide to World Mythology. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 203. ISBN 978-0-313-31505-3.
- ^ Bhattacharji, Sukumari. the indian theogony. CUP Archive. p. 70.
- ^ Srivastava, Vinod Chandra (2008). History of Agriculture in India, Up to C. 1200 A.D. Concept Publishing Company. p. 296. ISBN 978-81-8069-521-6.
- ^ Mallory, J. P.; Adams, Douglas Q. (1997). Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Taylor & Francis. p. 265. ISBN 978-1-884964-98-5.
- ^ Apolodorus and others indicate that he had three heads, but Hesiod with poetical hyperbole gives him fifty. Elton, Charles Abraham (1812). Hesiod, translated from the Greek into English verse, with a Preliminary Dissertation on the Writings, Life, and Æra of Hesiod. London: Lackington, Allen and Company. p. 267.
- ^ Elton 1812, p. 267
- ^ Bryant, Jacob (1809). A new system: or, An analysis of antient mythology. Vol. 2 (3rd ed.). J. Walker. pp. 118–119.
- ^ Geri and Freki, "Greedy" and "Voracious" Bloomfield, Maurice (1905). Cerberus, the Dog of Hades: The History of an Idea. Open Court Publishing. pp. 26–27.
- ^ Bloomfield 1905, p. 27
- ^ Tilak 1893, pp. 41–60