Dasa
The
Dāsa are a tribe identified as the enemies of the
Aryan tribes in the
Rigveda. The word Dāsa, later acquired derogatory connotations, meaning 'servant', implying that they were subordinated by the Aryans.
The identity of the Dasa has caused much debate, closely tied to arguments over
Indo-Aryan migration, the claim that the Indo-Aryan authors of the
Rigveda entered India from outside, displacing its earlier inhabitants. During the nineteenth century Western scholars identified the Dasa with dark-skinned
Dravidian-speaking peoples, but more recent scholars, notably
Asko Parpola, have claimed that they were fellow
Indo-Iranians of the
BMAC, who initially rejected Aryan religious practices but were later merged with them.
A similar term for enemy people,
Dasyu, is also used in the
Rig Veda. It is unclear whether the Dasa and Dasyu are identical.
Dasyu is a term that could also be applied to Vedic kings, if their behaviour changed. In the battle of the Ten Kings (
Dasarajna) in the
Rig Veda the king
Sudas calls his enemies "Dasyu" which included Vedic peoples like the Anus, Druhyus, Turvashas, and even Purus. (Rig Veda VII.18, 6, 12, 13, 14)
There is also a Dasa Balbutha Taruksa in RV 6.45.31 who is a patron of a seer and who is distinguished by his generosity (RV 8.46.32). In the battle of the ten kings, there are Dasas and Aryas on both sides of the battlefield. In some rigvedic verses, the Aryas and Dasas stood united against their enemies.
[RV 6.33.3, 7.83.1, 8.51.9, 10.102.3; Ambedkar, 1946, Who were the Shudras] And there are several hymns in the Rig Veda that refer to Dasa and Aryan enemies
[(e.g. 6.22.10, 6.33.3, 6.60.6), Ambedkar 1946, Who were the Shudras] and to related (jami) and unrelated (ajami) enemies (e.g. 1.111.3, 4.4.5). Some Vedic people like
Sudasa and
Divodasa have names that are related to "Dasa".
Dasa and related terms have been examined by
Asko Parpola (1988), Mayrhofer (1986-1996), Benveniste (1973), Lecoq (1990), Windfuhr (1999) and other scholars. While the terms Dasa and Dasyu have a negative meaning in Sanskrit, their Iranian counterparts Daha and Dahyu have preserved their positive (or neutral) meaning. This is similar to the Sanskrit terms
Deva (a "positive" term) and
Asura (a "negative" term). The Iranian counterparts of these terms (
Daeva and
Ahura) have opposite meanings.
Dasa
The meaning of the word
dāsa, which has been long preserved in the
Khotanese dialect, is "man". Two words that contain "dasa" are the Vedic names Divodās (meaning "divine man") and Sudās (meaning "good man"). Dasa is also in Iranian "Daha", known to Graeco-Roman authors as the
Dahae (Daai), designating probably Iranian tribes. The term Daha occurs in a Persepolis inscription of Xerxes (h 26).
[Parpola 1988:220-21]Daha also referred to a dasyu tribe in
Margiana.
Dahistan (east of the
Caspian Sea/
Gorgan) derives its name from this tribe
[(G.L. Windfuhr in Bronkhorst & Desphande (ed.) 1999)]. The Greek historians
Q. Curtius Rufus (8,3) and
Ptolemy (Geography: 6,10,2) located the region of the Dahas on the river Margos (modern
Murghab) or in
Margiana (Parpola 1988). The Dahas are also mentioned by
Pomponius Mela (3,42)
[He places them near the Oxus. Parpola 1988] and
Tacitus (Ann. 11,10)
[He places them on the northern border of Areia, at the Sindes (Tejend) River. Parpola 1988].
Dasyu
Dasyus is in Iranian "dahyu" and means tribe, province and district. "Dah-" means "male, man" in Iranian. The "dahyu-pati" (also dahyunam) was the head of the tribe. (The Greek "des-potes and the English "despot" correspond to this term. (Windfuhr 1999)) A "dahyu-sasti" (command of dahyus) is a confederation of two or more dahyus.
[(G.L. Windfuhr in Bronkhorst & Desphande (ed.) 1999)]More likely, the vedic seers while condoning dasas are vehemently against Dasyus. This indicates dasyus are equivalent or parallel priesthood opposed to vedic seers. Dasyus could be what would be equivalent of later Buddhist, Jaina, other reformist streams coming up to Arya Samaj in last century. Or maybe Vedic thought was triumphant reformist movement trumping previous Dasyu religion. A Vedic story clearly indicates understanding of "brahma" was provided at later date and those who could not understand it were dasyus.
Related terms
See also PanisOther hostile tribes, besides the Dasas and Dasyus, that are mentioned in the Vedic texts are the Panis, Pakthas (
Pathans?), Parshus (
Iranian tribes?), Prthus (
Parthians?) and Bhalanas (
Baluchis?).
In RV 5.29.10, the word anasa is in connection with the Dasyus. Some scholars have translated anasa as "noseless". Although there is only one instance in the Rig Veda where this word occurs, this has led to belief that the Dasyus were "flat-nosed" people. But the classical commentator
Sayana translated anasa as "without mouth or face" (anas = an "negative" + as "mouth"). Sayana's translation is supported by the occurrence of the word mrdhravacah in the same verse. Sayana explains the word mrdhravacah as "having defective organs of speech" (Rg Veda 1854-57:3.276 n.).
The main difference between the Aryas and the Dasas in the Rig Veda is a difference of religion. Already A.A. Macdonell and A.B. Keith (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." The Dasas and Dasyus are also described as
brahma-dvisah in the Rig Veda
[(e.g. RV 5.42.9; 8.45.23; 10.36.9; 10.160.4; 10.182.3)], which
Ralph T.H. Griffith translates as "those who hate devotion" or "prayer haters". Thus Dasa has also been interpreted as meaning the people that don't follow the same religion as the Aryans. Rig Veda 10.22.8 describes the Dasa-Dasyus as a-karman (non-performers of Aryan sacrifices), anya-vrata (observers of other rites) and in Rig Veda 10.105.8 they are described as anrc (non-singer of laudatory hymns). In RV 8.70.11 they are described as a-deva-yu (not regarding the Aryan gods).
[e.g. Sethna 1992, Elst 1999, Ambedkar 1946 Who were the Shudras]Religious
Hindu 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.
[Parpola 1988, Sethna 1992:329]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)
[Sethna 1992:114-115 and 348-349][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)]Aurobindo explains that in this verse the struggle between light and darkness, truth and falsehood, divine and undivine is described.
[Sethna 1992:114-115 and 348-349] 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."
In the Rig Veda, Dasa, Dasyu and similar terms (e.g. Pani) occur sometimes in conjunction with the terms krsna ("black") or asikni ("black"). This was often the basis for a "racial" interpretation of the Vedic texts. But Sanskrit is a language that uses many metaphors. The word
cow for example can mean Mother
Earth,
sunshine, wealth, language,
Aum etc. Words like "black" have similary many different meanings in Sanskrit, as it is in fact the case in most languages. Thus "black" has many symbolical, mythological, psychological and other uses that are simply unrelated to human appearance.
Also Iyengar (1914) commented on such interpretations: "The only other trace of racial reference in the Vedic hymns is the occurrence of two words, one krishna in seven passages and the other asikini in two passages. In all the passages, the words have been interpreted as referring to black
clouds, a
demon whose name was Krishna, or the powers of
darkness." (6-7, Iyengar, Srinivas. 1914.)
Sri Aurobindo [Sethna 1992:114 and 340, Aurobindo, The Secret of the Veda, p. 220-21] 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."
[Sethna 1992:114 and 340] Thus, Aurobindo sees the Arya varna or lustre of the thoughts that Indra increases as psychological.
The term krsnavonih in RV 2.20.7 has been interpreted by Asko Parpola as meaning "which in their wombs hid the black people". Sethna (1992) writes, referring to a comment by Richard Hartz, that "there is no need to follow Parpola in assuming a further unexpressed word meaning "people" in the middle of the compound krsnayonih", and the better known translation by
Griffith, i.e. "who dwelt in darkness" can be considered as essentially correct.
[Sethna 1992:337-338] Another scholar, Hans Hock (1999), finds Geldner's translation of krsnayonih (RV 2.20.7) as "Blacks in their wombs" and of krsnagarbha (RV 1.101.1) as "pregnant with the Blacks" "quite recherché" and thinks that it could refer to the "dark world" of the Dasas.
In RV 4.16.13, Geldner has assumed that "krsna" refers to "sahasra" (thousands). But this would be grammatically incorrect. If krsna would refer to "sahasra", it should be written as krsnan (acc. pl. masc.). Hans Hock (1999) suggests that "krsna" refers to "puro" (forts) in this verse.
Tvac
There are only two or three instances in the
Rig Veda where the word "krsna (or asikni) tvac" occurs. ("Krsna tvac" occurs in RV 1.130.8 and 6.40.1). This has been translated by some as meaning "black skin". Maria Schetelich (1990) who has analyzed these three instances finds this as symbolic expression for darkness. Similary, Michael Witzel (1995b) writes about terms like krsna tvac that "while it would be easy to assume reference to skin colour, this would go against the spirit of the hymns: for Vedic poets,
black always signifies evil, and any other meaning would be secondary in these contexts". The rigvedic commentator
Sayana explains the word tvacam krsna (RV 1.130.8) as referring to an
asura (demon) called Krsna whose skin was torn apart by Indra. Koenraad Elst (1999) writes: "And when Usha, the dawn, is said to chase the "dark skin" or "the black monster" away, it obviously refers to the cover of nightly darkness over the surface of the earth. (This is admitted in so many words by Sir
Monier-Williams in his A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, entry tvac, Reference is to Rg Veda 1:92:5 and 4:51:9.)"
Hans Hock (1999) also points out that the term "tvac" refers to the surface of the world in RV 1.79.3, 1.145.5, 10.68.4, and possibly 4.17.14. Hock also remarked that in RV 1.65.8, a similar metaphor is used. In this verse, "roma prthivyah" refers to the "body-hair of the earth", i.e. to the plants.
The present day usage of Dasa in Hinduism has respectful connotation and not derogatory. It always means 'slave of god'. In the past, many saints from
Brahmin and
Shudra castes added it in their names signifying their total devotion to god. 'Das' is one of the common surnames of Brahmins, especially in East India. It looks like there was a complete break from Rig Vedic people and Hindu India when it comes to the word 'Dasa'. As any other proper word to translate the word "
slave" is absent in Sanskritized Hindi, the word Dāsa is used for the same.
*Ambedkar, B.R. (1946)
Who were the Shudras?*Aurobindo, Sri. 1971. The Secret of the Veda. Pondicherry: Shri Aurobindo Ashram.
*
Bryant, Edwin:
The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture. 2001. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195137779
*J. Bronkhorst and M.M. Deshpande. 1999. Aryan and Non-Aryan in South Asia. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
*
Elst, Koenraad Update on the Aryan Invasion Debate. 1999. ISBN 8186471774 [
1], [
2]
*
Frawley, David The Myth of the Aryan Invasion of India, 1995. New Delhi: Voice of India;
In Search of the Cradle of Civilization, Chapter 6
*Hock, Hans. 1999b, Through a Glass Darkly: Modern "Racial" Interpretations vs. Textual and General Prehistoric Evidence on Arya and Dasa/Dasyu in Vedic Indo-Aryan Society." in Aryan and Non-Aryan in South Asia.
*Iyengar, Srinivas. 1914. "Did the Dravidians of India Obtain Their Culture from Aran Immigrant [sic]." Anthropos 1-15.
*Macdonell, A.A. and Keith, A.B. 1912. The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects.
* Parpola, Asko: 1988, The Coming of the Aryans to Iran and India and the Cultural and Ethnic Identity of the Dasas; The problem of the Aryans and the Soma.
*Rg Veda 1854-57. Rig-Veda Samhita. tr. H.H. Wilson. London: H.Allen and Co.
*Schetelich, Maria. 1990, "The problem ot the "Dark Skin" (Krsna Tvac) in the Rgveda." Visva Bharati Annals 3:244-249.
*
Sethna, K.D. 1992.
The Problem of Aryan Origins. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan.
* Talageri, Shrikant G. 2000. The Rig Veda - A historical analysis. [
3]
*Trautmann, Thomas R. 1997, Aryans and British India. Berkeley: University of California Press.
*Witzel, Michael. 1995b, 325, fn, "Rgvedic History" in The Indo-Aryans of South Asia.
*
Mleccha*
Panis*
Asura*
Dahae
