| YouTube Channel

अभ्यावर्तिन्चायमान (abhyAvartincAyamAna)

 
Vedic Reference
English
Abhyā-vartin Cāyamāna appears in a Dānastuti (‘Praise of
Gifts’) in the Rigveda, ^1 and as conqueror of the Vṛcīvants
under the leader Varaśikha. It is probable though not abso-
lutely certain, that he is identical with the Sṛñjaya Daivavāta,
mentioned in the same hymn^2 as having the Turvaśas and
Vṛcīvants defeated for him by Indra. In this case he would
be prince (samrāj) of the Sṛñjayas. Daivavāta is mentioned
elsewhere^3 as a worshipper of Agni.
Abhyāvartin is also referred to as a Pārthava. Ludwig^4 and
Hillebrandt^5 maintained that he is thus a Parthian, the latter
using the evidence of the two places mentioned in the descrip-
tion^6 of Daivavāta's victories, Hariyūpīyā and Yavyāvatī, as
proofs for the western position of Abhyāvartin's people in
Arachosia, in Iran. But Zimmer^7 is probably right in holding
that the name Pārthava merely means ‘a descendant of Pṛthu, ’
and that its similarity to the Iranian Parthians is only on a par
with the numerous other points of identity between the Indian
and Iranian cultures.
1) vi. 27, 8. 5.
2) vi. 27, 7.
3) iv. 15, 4.
4) Translation of the Rigveda, 3, 198
et seq.
5) Vedische Mythologie, 1, 105
3, 268,
n. 1. Cf. Grierson, Journal of the Royal
Asiatic Society, 1908, 604 et seq.
6) Rv. vi. 27, 5. 6.
7) Altindisches Leben, 133 et seq., 433
Bergaigne, Religion Védique, 2, 362.