TRACING VEDIC DIALECTS - People.fas.harvard.edu
TRACING VEDIC DIALECTS - People.fas.harvard.edu
TRACING VEDIC DIALECTS - People.fas.harvard.edu
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Therefore, the occurrence of -ai forms in VSM, which at first glance seems<br />
to be early, may in fact only be due to the redaction of the text. This can show<br />
the way to an understanding of the few occurrences in the Padapāṭha and<br />
AVŚ as well; the Śaunaka version of the Atharvaveda has a more Eastern<br />
homeland than the Paippalāda text. 93 ŚS may very well have been influenced<br />
by the Taitt. forms predominant in Central N. India (Pañcāla country). 94<br />
The cases in Śākalya's Padapāṭha of the Ṛgveda and in AB may find a<br />
similar explanation. The older portions of AB (1-5) were composed in the<br />
West, in an area close to that of the Kaṭha, "where the rivers flow westwards<br />
most copiously." This portion contains a reference to the Śākala ritual at<br />
3.43. The younger portion of AB, however, indicates a very close connection<br />
with the East and even with the SE non-Indo-Aryan tribes, like the Puṇḍra,<br />
etc. Śākalya must belong to the late Br. period, i.e., to the time of the<br />
composition of AB 6-8, as his mention in ŚB 11 and 14 indicates. Śākalya, a<br />
member of the group of Aitareyin ritualists (called Śākala at AB 3.43), and<br />
King Janaka's Hotṛ, Aśvala, who has given his name to the Śrautasūtra of<br />
this school, the ĀsvŚS, were prominent Ṛgvedins of this school in the East. 95<br />
It can be seen that the sudden appearance and predominance of the Aitareya<br />
Ṛgvedins in the East replaces an older Eastern RV. That this Eastern text<br />
was a reality is evident from the statement of ŚB 11.5.1.10 about the<br />
Purūravas hymn having only 15 stanzas, as opposed to the extant Śākala<br />
version with 18.<br />
The residence of Śākalya in the East, at King Janaka's court in Videha,<br />
makes it possible that the Central/Eastern forms of the Taitt./Vāj. have<br />
influenced Śākalya's grammar just as they apparently have intruded into AB<br />
6-8 and, at the time of redaction, even two times into AB 1-5. 96<br />
Apparently, the RV was redacted, and the Padapāṭha was composed, by<br />
Śākalya (and his school, the Aitareyins) during the late Br. period in Eastern<br />
India. We must return to this interesting person later on. 97<br />
93 See Fel. Vol. Eggermont.<br />
94 Or by the few divergent Kāṇva forms if they indeed are as early as the redaction of ŚS.<br />
95 Cf. the Saggala of the Greeks, see author, Fel. Vol. Eggermont; Śākala ritual at AB 3.43;<br />
for Pāli Assalāyana, cf. Mylius, Fs. Ruben.<br />
96 See ann. 222.<br />
97 In this connection, note that Pāṇini knows of the Eastern grammarians and of Śākalya,<br />
but also about the Vṛji, later on a confederation of Videha tribes otherwise first known in<br />
the Pāli sources (as Vajji/Vṛjji). The Vṛji (sic 4.2.131) of Pāṇ.'s time, however, still seem to<br />
reside in the Panjab, as they are mentioned together with the Madra, see below, ann. 320.<br />
39