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==Parentage==
==Parentage==


The three Ribhus are said to be the sons of Sudhanvan, a descendant of Angiras.<ref> "RigVeda Samhita Vol I According to the translation of [[H.H. Wilson]] and Bhasya of Sayanacarya by Ravi Prakash Arya and K.L.Joshi"</ref> In later [[Hindu mythology]] ([[Vishnu Purana]] Book 2, Chapters 15 - 16<ref>H.H. Wilson ''The Vishnu Purana A System of Hindhu Mythology And Tradition'', [[Delhi]] 1980, Reprint 2003, Vol.1 p.366 ff.</ref> and the "Song of Ribhu"<ref>''The Song of Ribhu: Translated from the Original [[Tamil]] version of Ribhu Gita'': Translated by Dr. H. Ramamoorthy and [[Nome, Spiritual_Teacher|Nome]], Published by [[Society of Abidance in Truth]]</ref>), Ribhu (or Rhibhu) is said to be a son of [[Brahma]], but according to the "[[Puranic]] Encyclopedia" this Ribhu is not identical with the leader of the Rhibhus whose name is there Rbuksan.<ref>Vettam Mani ''Puranic Encyclopedia'', Delhi 1975, 9th Reprint 2010, p.647</ref>
The three Ribhus are said to be the sons of Sudhanvan, a descendant of Angiras.<ref> "RigVeda Samhita Vol I According to the translation of [[H.H. Wilson]] and Bhasya of Sayanacarya by Ravi Prakash Arya and K.L.Joshi"</ref> In later [[Hindu mythology]] ([[Vishnu Purana]] Book 2, Chapters 15 - 16<ref>H.H. Wilson ''The Vishnu Purana A System of Hindhu Mythology And Tradition'', [[Delhi]] 1980, Reprint 2003, Vol.1 p.366 ff.</ref> and the "Song of Ribhu"<ref>''The Song of Ribhu: Translated from the Original [[Tamil]] version of Ribhu Gita'': Translated by Dr. H. Ramamoorthy and [[Nome, Spiritual_Teacher|Nome]], Published by [[Society of Abidance in Truth]]</ref>), the leader of them, Ribhu (or Rhibhu), is said to be a son of [[Brahma]], but according to the "[[Puranic]] Encyclopedia" this Ribhu is not identical with the leader of the Rhibhus whose name is there Rbuksan.<ref>Vettam Mani ''Puranic Encyclopedia'', Delhi 1975, 9th Reprint 2010, p.647</ref>


==Works==
==Works==

Revision as of 07:13, 19 September 2012

The Ribhus (Sanskrit: ऋभु, ṛbhu) are three at first mortal beings first mentioned in the Rigveda and the Atharvaveda. Eleven hymns of the Rigveda are dedicated to them, RV 1.20, 110, 111, 161, RV 3.60, RV 4.33-37, RV 7.48. Their individual names were Ribhu (or Rhibhu), Vaja and Vibhvan, but they were collectively called after the name of their leader. The Name Rhibhus or Ribhus (ṛbhú-, pl. ṛbhava) means "clever, skillful, inventive, prudent", cognate to Latin labor and Gothic arb-aiþs "labour, toil", and perhaps to English elf.[1] The adjective in its lexical meaning "skillful" is in the Rigveda also applied to Indra, Agni and the Adityas. They attained godhood by austerities[2] and as gods they were besought to grant boons on their worshipers, specialy dexterity.[3]

Parentage

The three Ribhus are said to be the sons of Sudhanvan, a descendant of Angiras.[4] In later Hindu mythology (Vishnu Purana Book 2, Chapters 15 - 16[5] and the "Song of Ribhu"[6]), the leader of them, Ribhu (or Rhibhu), is said to be a son of Brahma, but according to the "Puranic Encyclopedia" this Ribhu is not identical with the leader of the Rhibhus whose name is there Rbuksan.[7]

Works

The Ribhus are supposed to dwell in the solar sphere, and are the artists who formed the horses of Indra, the carriage of the Ashvins, and the miraculous cow of Brihaspati. They made their parents young, and performed other wonderful works. According to Yaska they instituted the sacrifices.[8] When the gods heard of their skill, they sent Agni to them with the one cup of Tvashtar, the artificer of the gods, bidding the Ribhus to construct four cups from it. When they had successfully executed this task, the gods received the Ribhus among themselves gave them immortality[9] and allowed them to partake of their sacrifices. They appear generally as accompanying Indra, especially at the evening sacrifice.

The Ribhus are supposed to take their ease and remain every year for twelve days idle in the house of Agohya (an appellation of Aditya which means "one who cannot be concealed", therefore the Sun).[10] Bal Gangadhar Tilak describes this period as the holiest days of the year of which the ancestors of todays Indians believed, that the gods then would leave heaven to visit the homes of men.[11]

Interpretations

According to Yaska and Sayana the Ribhus represent the rays of the sun. Bal Gangadhar Tilak interprets them as representing the three seasons of the year of the early Vedic period.[12] In RV 1.164.48 the "three spokes" are supposed to mean this three seasons.[13] But according to A. Berriedale Keith "the assertion that the Rbhus are really the Rthus" (the seasons) "is not 'in the slightest degree plausible'".[14]

According to Bal Gangadhar Tilak refering to RV 1.161.13 the twelve days, when the Ribhus rested at the house of Agohya, took place "at the end of the year"[15] (when according to RV 7.103.7-8 the Atiratra rite of Soma was celebrated).[16] In this context he interpreted the hound or dog, which according to RV 1.161.13 woke the Ribhus, as the "dogstar" Sirius, which appears at the vernal equinox "at the end of the Pitriyana".[17] The "Pitriyana" (meaning "the path of the fathers", called Pitrs),[18] are the six southern signs of the Zodiak, by Bal Gangadhar Tilak also called "the eternal waters of Yamaloka".[19] This refers to Maitrayani Upanishad VI, 1[20] wherein the year is described as divided into two halfes, one of which belongs to Agni (Fire) and the other to Varuna (Water).[21] Thus according to Bal Gangadhar Tilak the year started that time at the vernal equinox[22] and the Ribhus recommenced working after their awakening in the beginning of the new year.[23]

He then interpreted the Period of twelve days as the twelve intercalary days,[24] which are according to Arthur Anthony Macdonell "in all probability" inserted at the winter solstice[25] to fix the difference between the lunar year of 354 days and the solar year of 366 days.[26] Keith criticized this interpretation by observing "... the fact that a year of 360 days and 12 months is ... the only year clearly known to the whole of Vedic literarure prior to the late Sutras".[27] A similar view was stated by George Thibaut and William Dwight Whitney.[28] But Keith also "admits that ancient Indians had knowledge of intercalation" [29] thus his statement about that point is rated as "confused".[30] Nevertheless he and A.A. Macdonell in "Vedic Index" hold that the 12 days are "merely the 'reflexion of the year' (samvatsarasya pratima) in the same way that they represent the twelve months and have no relation to chronology at all".[31]

Notes

  1. ^ suggested in OED
  2. ^ Dates and Eras in Ancient Indian History Collection of Articles from the Indian Historical Quaterly compiled by P. Mittal Geeta Dua, Delhi 2010, Vol.1 p.76 Note 83
  3. ^ Dates and Eras in Ancient Indian History Vol.1, p.76, Note 85
  4. ^ "RigVeda Samhita Vol I According to the translation of H.H. Wilson and Bhasya of Sayanacarya by Ravi Prakash Arya and K.L.Joshi"
  5. ^ H.H. Wilson The Vishnu Purana A System of Hindhu Mythology And Tradition, Delhi 1980, Reprint 2003, Vol.1 p.366 ff.
  6. ^ The Song of Ribhu: Translated from the Original Tamil version of Ribhu Gita: Translated by Dr. H. Ramamoorthy and Nome, Published by Society of Abidance in Truth
  7. ^ Vettam Mani Puranic Encyclopedia, Delhi 1975, 9th Reprint 2010, p.647
  8. ^ Dates and Eras in Ancient Indian History Vol.1, p.76, Note 72
  9. ^ Dates and Eras in Ancient Indian History Vol.1, p.76, Note 72
  10. ^ Dates and Eras in Ancient Indian History Vol.1, p.53
  11. ^ The Orion, Or, Researches Into The Antiquity Of The Vedas, Reprinted from 1893 Edition Delhi 2008, p.139
  12. ^ Dates and Eras in Ancient Indian History Vol.1 p.51
  13. ^ Dates and Eras in Ancient Indian History Vol.1, p.54
  14. ^ Dates and Eras in Ancient Indian History Vol.1, p.76, Note 85
  15. ^ The Orion, p.113 f.
  16. ^ Gods, Sages And Kings, p.173
  17. ^ The Orion, p.113 f.
  18. ^ David Frawley Gods, Sages And Kings, first Indian Edition, Delhi 1993, p.177
  19. ^ The Orion, p.114, see also p.109
  20. ^ http://www.gatewayforindia.com/upanishad/maitrayeni_upanishad.htm
  21. ^ Gods, Sages And Kings, p.157
  22. ^ The Orion, p.170
  23. ^ The Orion, p.169
  24. ^ Bal Gangadhar Tilak The Orion, p.168 f.
  25. ^ Dates and Eras in Ancient Indian History Vol.1, p.76, Note 86
  26. ^ Dates and Eras in Ancient Indian History Vol.1, p. 51
  27. ^ Dates and Eras in Ancient Indian History Vol.1, p.56
  28. ^ Dates and Eras in Ancient Indian History Vol.1, p.56 f.
  29. ^ Dates and Eras in Ancient Indian History Vol.1, p.57
  30. ^ Dates and Eras in Ancient Indian History Vol.1, p.56
  31. ^ Dates and Eras in Ancient Indian History Vol.1, p.57
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