Shunashepa
Shunashepa ( Sanskrit ś śunaḥśepa "dog's tail" or "dog penis") is a Brahmin son in Indian mythology , he is sold as a human sacrifice by his father Ajigarta , but saved by the gods, accepted as the son of the great sage Vishvamitra and from then on Devarata ( देवरात devarāta "God's gift ") is called.
myth
In the Aitareya Brahmana it is said that the childless king Harishchandra of Ayodhya swore to the god Varuna that if he had a son he would sacrifice him to the god. But when the boy Rohita was born to the king , he delayed the fulfillment of the cruel oath with various excuses. When the father finally found no more excuse and prepared to sacrifice his son, the latter refused and fled to the forest, where he lived for six years.
Finally Rohita met in the forest on a poor Rishi called Ajigarta ( अजीगर्त ajīgarta "nothing to eat"), the three sons had, the eldest was Shunahpuchcha ( शुनःपुच्छ śunaḥpuccha ), the Middle was Shunashepa ( शुनःशेप śunaḥśepa ) and the youngest was Shunolangula ( शुनोलाङ्गूल śunolāṅgūla ). All three names mean "dog-tailed", in the case of Shunashepa also "dog penis". Rohita now offered Ajigarta to buy one of the three sons for the price of a hundred cows in order to sacrifice him in his place to Varuna. The starving Rishi was not ready to give up his eldest for it, the mother of the three did not want to sacrifice the youngest, so it was agreed on the middle one, Shunashepa.
Rohita then went with Shunashepa to his father, who found the substitute sacrifice acceptable and the god was also satisfied with it, since the son of the Rishi was a brahmin, but Rohita belonged to the secondary warrior caste of the Kshatriya . Everything was finally prepared for the sacrificial ceremony and the four priests were ready: Vishvamitra was Hotri (reciter), Jamadagni was Adhvaryu (sacrificial), Ayasya ( ayāsya ) was Udgatri (singer) and Vasishtha was Brahmin (supervising sacrificial priest). But now nobody was willing to bind Shunashepa for the victim. The father Ajigarta, who was obviously present, declared himself willing to tie up his son for the price of another hundred cows. This was accepted, Ajigarta tied his son and received a hundred cows. Now it was time to slaughter the sacrifice at the climax of the rite, but again no one wanted to do that, except Ajigarta, for the price of another hundred cows. This price was also accepted, the father sharpened the knife and went to the slaughter. At that moment Shunashepa decided to turn to the gods for help, but was referred from one deity to the next, until finally Indra asked him to praise the Ashvins , who promised to free him as soon as he had still honored the god Ushas . As Shunashepa said this last prayer, one of the fetters fell off with each verse until he was finally free.
Ajigarta now said that the gods had given him back his son and asked Shunashepa to come with him. But he refused and accuses his greedy father:
You were seen with your dagger raised.
Not even Shudras has
ever reported such a cruel crime
that one foregoing children for cattle.
Then he placed himself under the protection of Vishvamitra, who accepted him in place of his son, and from then on called him Devarata.
literature
- Arthur Berriedale Keith: Rigveda Brahmanas: the Aitareya and Kausītaki Brāhmanas of the Rigveda . Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. 1920, pp. 299-309
- Shunah Shepas . In: John Dowson : A classical dictionary of Hindu mythology and religion, geography, history, and literature. Trübner & co., London 1879, pp. 308-309 ( Text Archive - Internet Archive ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rohita, Rohitāśva . In: Monier Monier-Williams : Sanskrit-English Dictionary . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1899, p śunaḥśepa, Sp 1082nd - 3, Sp 1,083th .
- ↑ Aitareya Brahmana VII, 3
