Further questions on snakes

[birgit kellner]

I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time & energy to provide clues
about the relation between snake & mongoose as it was conceived of in ancient
India.

I was not able to follow up on all the references given, as our university
library does not have all the relevant journals; for my particular purpose,
Claudius Nenninger's article that was kindly recommended by Harunaaga Isaacson
was most helpful ("Wie kommt die Pharaonsratte zu den vedischen Göttern?",
Studien zur Indologie und Iranistik 18/1993, 161-168). The article shows
convincingly (at least to me) that the translation of "nakula" as "Ichneumon" is
mistaken, traces the misunderstandings that may have lead scholars to believe
so, and - which is of particular interest given that my initial concern was the
use of the hostility between snake and mongoose in inferences that are said to
be based on a "virodha" between probans and probandum - refers to the mention of
snake & mongoose as having a relation of "virodha" in the grammatical tradition,
based on PANini 2.4.9 yeSAM ca virodhaH zAzvatikaH, where the formation of
neuter Dvandva compounds in singular such as "ahinakulam" or "mArjAramUSikam" is
explained through the eternal hostility between these animals.

I have, for the time being, but one further zoological question. In certain
sources that detail the inference in question, I have come across the
description that someone observes a snake which is "visphUrjita", or emits a
"visphUrjanazabda", and on this basis concludes that a mongoose is present
behind the bushes (jhATAdyantaritanakula). Certain scholars apparently
understand this as meaning, or indicating, that the snake is excited, angry, or
agitated. I am wondering whether "vis-phUrj", which means "to thunder or roar",
is indeed metaphorically used to designate an emotional state such as anger
[leaving aside the thorny issue of whether animals can have emotions to begin
with :=)]. If so, "visphUrjanazabda" could mean (a) "a sound which arises from
agitation" or (b) "an angry sound". Otherwise, "visphUrjana" could also be used
to describe the character of the sound, i.e. "a sound which consists in ...". I
wonder what particular sound this might be, and what kind of snake one is
supposed to think of. Is "vi-sphUrj" used for the ordinary hissing sound of a
snake? Are there any "thundering" snakes in India?

In humble ignorance of Indian wildlife,

Birgit Kellner
Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies
Vienna University