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A Note on the Birth of the Hero in ancient India
by W.B. Bollée
in memoriam Otto Rank
The present paper is based on a system of coordinates the vertical line of which features the heroes, viz. Indra, Vrātya, Prajāpati, Nārāyaṇa, the Jina, and the Buddha, while the horizontal line is divided into conception, gestation, birth, and some bodily marks. As is well-known, there are two words for the concept ”hero" as early as the Rgveda, viz. vīra and śūra which apparently differ very little in meaning. And though we find only compounds with -śūra, like dana-śūra when we consider the scholastic list of hero types in the Mahābhārata (cr. ed. 13,74,22 sqq.), yet we also meet with dāna-vīra (MW).
Further, since Indians do not seem to distinguish their heroes anything more by formal designation than by class of beings, neither shall we separate divine and human heroes in the following discussion. The heroic ideal of the Vedic Aryans is particularly represented by the god Indra as a fighter against human as well as demon-enemies, alone' or as a leader. He is born for battle and victory;the complete conqueror, 5 who brings about peace and escapes the goddesses of death. ? It is this ideal which, modified in the times of the Brāhmaṇas, and in a largely sedentary society, will be transferred to the old creator deity Prajāpati, who is then put on a pár with Indra8 and the sacrifice. Later, between the 7th and the 5th century B.C., the idea of religious
RV 3,30,4. PRV 8,46, 13. SRV 7,20,5. *RV 4,20,6. SRV 3,51,3. SRV 10,30,7. PRV 8,24,24. 8TB 1,2,2,5.
ŚB 1,7,4,4.