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रत्निन् (ratnin)

 
Capeller Eng
English
रत्नि॑न्
a.
 abounding in gifts or jewels.
Monier Williams Cologne
English
रत्नि॑न्
mfn.
 possessing or receiving gifts,
RV.
रत्नि॑न्
m.
pl.
N.
 of certain persons in whose dwelling the Ratna-havis (q.v.) is offered by a king (viz. the Brāhmaṇa, Rājanya, Mahiṣī, Parivṛktī, Senā-nī, Sūta, Grāma-ṇī, Kṣattṛ, Saṃgrahītṛ, Bhāga-dugha, and Akṣāvāpa),
TBr.
ŚBr.
 (°नि-त्व
n.
 ,
TBr.
 )
Monier Williams 1872
English
रत्निन्, ई, इनी, इ, Ved. having gifts, receiving
presents or offerings, possessing treasures, having
precious things, (Sāy. = रमणीय-धन-वत् or
रमणीय-फल-वत्, having valuable riches or
rewards)
epithet of certain persons in whose dwell-
ing the Ratna-havis (q. v.) is offered by a king.
Macdonell
English
रत्निन् ratn-ín,
a.
 possessing or receiving 🞄gifts (RV.).
Vedic Reference
English
Ratnin, ‘receiving gifts, ’ is the term applied to those people
of the royal entourage in whose houses the Ratna-havis, a
special rite, was performed in the course of the Rājasūya or
‘royal consecration.’ The list given in the Taittirīya Saṃhitā^1
and the Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa^2 consists of the Brahman (i.e.,
the Purohita), the Rājanya, the Mahiṣī (the first wife of the
king), the Vāvāta (the favourite wife of the king), the Parivṛktī
(the discarded wife), the Senānī, ‘commander of the army’
the
Sūta, ‘charioteer’
the Grāmaṇī, ‘village headman’
the
Kṣattṛ, ‘chamberlain’
the Saṃgrahītṛ, ‘charioteer’ or
‘treasurer’
the Bhāgadugha, ‘collector of taxes’ or ‘divider
of food’
and the Akṣāvāpa, ‘superintender of dicing’ or
‘thrower of dice.’ In the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa^3 the order is
Senānī
Purohita
Mahisī
Sūta
Grāmaṇī
Kṣattṛ
Saṃ-
grahitṛ
Bhāgadugha
Akṣāvāpa
Go-nikartana, ‘slayer of
cows’ or ‘huntsman’
and Pālāgala, ‘courier’
the ‘discarded
wife’ being mentioned as forbidden to stay at home^4 on the
day of the ceremony of offering a pap for Nirṛti in her house.
In the Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā^5 the list is Brahman (i.e., Puro-
hita)
Rājan
Mahiṣī
Parivṛktī
Senānī
Saṃgrahītṛ
Kṣattṛ
Sūta
Vaiśyagrāmaṇī
Bhāgadugha
Takṣa-Rathakārau, ‘car-
penter and chariot-maker’
Akṣāvāpa
and Go-vikarta. The
Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā^6 substitutes Go-vyacha for Govikarta, and
omits Takṣa-Rathakārau.
It will be seen that the list is essentially that of the royal
household, and of the king's servants in the administration of
the country, though the exact sense of Saṃgrahītṛ, Bhāga-
dugha, Sūta, Grāmaṇī, Kṣattṛ, is open to reasonable doubt,
mainly as to whether public officers or private servants^7 are
meant, for the names are of uncertain significance. A briefer
list of eight Vīras, ‘heroes, ’ as among the friends of the king,
is given in the Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa:^8 brother, son, Purohita,
Mahiṣī, Sūta, Grāmaṇī, Kṣattṛ, and Saṃgrahītṛ.
1) i. 8, 9, 1 et seq.
2) i. 7, 3, 1 et seq.
3) v. 3, 1, 1 et seq.
4) According to Kātyāyana Śrauta
Sūtra, xv. 3, 35, she goes to a Brahmin's
house, where she shares his inviolability
and exemption from jurisdiction.
5) ii. 6, 5
iv. 3, 8.
6) xv. 4.
7) Similarly Akṣāvāpa is either the
man who dices for the king — i.e., a
professional dicer who plays with the
king or watches his play — or a public
officer who superintends the gambling
halls of the state and collects the
revenue, as was regularly done later on.
Early English history shows similar
evolution of household officers into
ministers of state.
8) xix. 1, 4.
Cf. Weber, Indische Studien, 17, 200
Über den Rājasūya, 4
Hopkins, Journal
of the American Oriental Society, 13, 128
Eggeling, Sacred Books of the East, 41,
58-65
Hopkins, Trañsactions of the
Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences,
15, 30, n. 2.
Capeller
German
रत्नि॑न् gaben- o. schätzereich.
Grassman
German
ratnín, a., mit Geschenken [rátna] versehen.
-ínas [G.] siā́ma asya (savitúr) 〰 vibhāgé {556, 1}.
-ínīm vā́cam-vācam jaritúr 〰 kṛtam {182, 4}.