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ORIGIN OF BRAHMIN GOTRAS
ពិត
Marshall (pp.64-5).takcs thc dcity and ministrant figures: in the sacrifice’ scal to bc fcmalc which sccms quite unlikely to me, whilc thc .aninal, is ascribed a 'human'.facc instcad of the quitc: obvious fish, which, argucs, lack of carc in cxamination, or' myopia..... pl.; : .....: : :, ;, ! .:
:.. The row of scien' figures: marching 'singlc filc-hand in. liand, but in the 'oppositc dircction appcars again'on 'à fragmentary scal. (Vats, Excavatious.al Harafipa, New Delhi 1940 plXcl 251): Thic principal difficulty lies in proving thcir connection with the seven Mesopotamian 'ancient apkallı whio wcrc bcforc the flood in Shiuruppaki' Thcir linc of desccht in India is clcár cnough. R:V. ; i.24.10 calls the stars of Ursa Major ykşāḥ, thc Bcars; 'Sat Brāh. ii.1.2.4 mak'cs thc Plciades (kļliikās) wives of thesc Bcar-rşis. Sat-Brüh. vi.1.1.1 cven: claims thati thcsc rşis. wore themselves out with toil.crcating thc univcrsc, which fits thc tkiv. 2.15; Sat-Brāli. ix 2:3.44 tells us that these scvcn wercaddresscd as 'scvcn tongucs, and were made into one person. The idea of our scven primary groups is obviously much older than the beginning of the present. clan system. The scycn; sagcs; as: vipras or, rşis arc callcd: iour ancestors”. Dyıthc Brahmin'secrs of Rgvedic lymns, particularly, by: thc Argirasas: in iv. 42.8 which makes them prcscnt.when.Durgahá's son - (Purukutsa),: was taken prisorcr. and vi: 22.2: taru nah hitaro navaqvā, sapla ,vipräso abhi vājaranta. This might sccm self-contradictory as the Scvcn cannot be split into thc Ninc or the Ton; but association of the scvcn'sages with tlic Navagvas, and. Dasagvas is rcpcated in i.62:4, and perhaps ix. 108.4 whcrc Dadhiañc appcars as a Navagva. At thc very lcast; -wc can say that thcy arc prc-Ariyan associates, ofa.mothergoddess in crcation: The goddess, survives, later as Uşas, daughter of the sky, after being.smashed up by Indrdias an.cvil-plotting: fcmalc: (iv.30,-8,11)... Tlic Mizar-Alcor combination in Ursa Major is still known as Vasiştha and Arundlatí, but we havc scvcral other versions, in which the smaller..companion star is thc coinmon:wifc.or all.scvcn of the 'sages. (Mbh. 1...188.,14): .-. , Pryslys 118.jir. ..4: ! W ... !! Hii 1 1. , 11:,,!!. 1,! :1119. ...,:!' It is clcar, though difficult to prove that 'thclunnamcd scvcn láid low by Indra (x:49:8),and whosc cncmy Indra' becamc.from: liis very birth'though thcy had' till then bocn without an cncmy:(viii. 96.16)arė thesc, seven sages. Thcir súppóscd'consorts, thc Plciades, arc to bc scen ostcn cnough as a constella'tioni on Mesopotamian' cylinder scals. ...;, ., Tus, a, irri siis !121:1., 11:... ..: ill. ; ils, i .:::... . . 1,17 ! ,!
Ugas as a mother goddess connccted with the seven sages appcars explicitly :in iv.2.15 : adhā mālur uşasah sapia viprā jāyemahi prathamā vedhasā nyn ;-'wc:scven sages will gcncratc, men from mother. Uşas who (will become the first ritualists'; we shall becomc Angirasas, sons of heaven, wc shall burst thc rich mountain, shining forth... Motlcr-goddess figurines arc pcrhaps thc .commoncst v Indus city finds, one typc'bcing bird-hcadcd, like the dovc-hcaded Venus of thc carly Mcdítcrrancan culturc. Marshall p.52 describes the scal,on. Plate
