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त्र्यरुणत्रैवृष्णत्रसदस्यु (tryaruNatraivRSNatrasadasyu)

 
Vedic Reference
English
Try-aruṇa Trai-vṛṣṇa Trasadasyu is the name of a prince
whose generosity to a singer is celebrated in a hymn of the
Rigveda.^1 In the Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa^2 he appears as
Tryaruṇa Traidhātva Aikṣvāka, and is the hero of the
following story. He was out in his chariot with his Purohita,
or domestic priest, Vṛśa Jāna, and by excessive speed in driving
killed a Brahmin boy. This sin was atoned for by the Puro-
hita's using his Vārśa Sāman (chant). The Śāṭyāyana Brāh-
maṇa, cited by Sāyaṇa, ^3 elaborates the tale. As Vṛśa had
held the reins, king and priest accused each other of the murder.
The Ikṣvākus being consulted threw the responsibility for the
crime on Vṛśa, who thereupon revived the boy by the Vārśa
Sāman. In consequence of this unfairness of theirs — being
Kṣatriyas they were partial to a Kṣatriya — Agni's glow ceased
to burn in their houses. In response to their appeal to restore
it, Vṛśa came to them, saw the Piśācī (demoness), who, in the
form of Trasadasyu's wife, had stolen the glow, and succeeded
in restoring it to Agni. This version with some variations
occurs also in the Bṛhaddevatā, ^4 which connects the story with
a hymn of the Rigveda.^5 Sieg's attempt^6 to show that the
hymn really refers to this tale is not at all successful.^7
It is clear that Trasadasyu must here mean ‘descendant of
Trasadasyu, ’ and not King Trasadasyu himself. The difference
of the patronymics, Traivṛṣṇa and Traidhātva, by which he is
referred to can best be explained by assuming that there were
two kings, Trivṛṣan and Tridhātu (or possibly Tridhanvan),
from whom Tryaruṇa was descended.^8 The connexion with the
Ikṣvākus is important (see Ikṣvāku).
1) v. 27, 1-3.
2) xiii. 3, 12. Cf. the Tāṇḍaka recen-
sion, cited in Sāyaṇa, on Rv. v. 2,
where Trasadasyu is given as the king's
name.
3) On Rv., loc. cit. See also the
Jaiminīya Brāhmaṇa version in Oertel,
Journal of the American Oriental Society,
18, 20.
4) v. 14 et seq., with Macdonell's notes.
5) v. 2.
6) Die Sagenstoffe des Ṛgveda, 64-76.
Cf. Geldner, Festtgruss an Roth, 192.
7) See Oldenberg, Sacred Books of the
East, 46, 366 et seq.
Ṛgveda-Noten, 1,
312
Hillebrandt, Göttingische Gelehrte
Anzeigen, 1903, 240 et seq.
8) See Sieg, op. cit., 74-76, and Trasadasyu.