Raining Blood: rudhiravar ṣa

[Som Dev Vasudeva]

Some further references worth pursing:

Atharvavedapariśiṣṭas.txt:3860: (AVParis_72,3.4) rajovarṣam upalavarṣaṃ dadhimadhughṛtakṣīravarṣaṃ majjārudhira varṣati /
The same but cited with variants in the Kauśikapaddhati :13870:yadapi pariśiṣṭeṣu paṭhyate sarve gṛhe praviṣṭe sarvamevālpakaṃ dṛṣṭvā sarvasammito vāyuṃ sambhrame udakaprādurbhāve gamaneṣu dhanuḥsandhyolkāḥ pariveṣāḥ vidyuddaṇḍāśaniparipraparighārddhe nirghāte rajovarṣa-upalavarṣadakṣimadhughṛtavarṣamajjārudhiravarṣatihīnagabhastī dve mārge vidyut vittakṣaye somasya kṣaye pūrṇapūraṇe kṣayasyavabhāsā sadyopararātrādi digdāhopadhūpanagrahavaiṣamyamārohaṇamākramaṇaṃ gandharvanagaramārutaprakopaḥ tithikaraṇamuhūrtanakṣatrayogadhruvakakāni grahādīnāṃ samaviyogaḥ /

Rāmāyaṇa 6.115.22ab: rajovarṣaṃ samudbhūtaṃ paśya vālukinīṃ prati /

Rājataraṅgiṇī of Śrīvara 1:1059: vṛṣṭyā saha rajovarṣam apatad gaganād bhuvi /

There are also substantial discussions of clouds in works of Kṛṣiśāstra see Wojtilla, Gyula, 2006 “History of Kṛṣiśāstra, a History of Indian Literature on Traditional Agriculture.” One such work I recently had the fortune to read that has abundant discussions of seasonal rainfall and prognostication was the Kṛśikarmavivecana. It seemed quite closely related to the little studied genre of “Tantric meteorology” such as can be found in the Bhairavīyameghamālā, that it might even be best identified as a separate genre: Tantric agriculture (?). I remember seeing an MS of this in the Wellcome Institute in London but cannot now find my photocopies of it. 

Best,

Somadeva Vasudeva

On Nov 16, 2010, at 12:05 PM, Bill Mak wrote:

> For portents, your best source would be a jyotiṣa text like Bṛhatsaṃhīta. I recall reading something about strange rain and bloody water. Try Ch.45 utpātādhyāyaḥ and you may find something there.
> 
> Good luck!
> 
> Bill M. Mak
> 
> University of Kyoto
> Graduate School of Humanities, Faculty of Letters
> Department of Indological Studies
> Yoshida-Honmachi, Sakyo-ku,
> Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan
> 
> bill.m.mak at gmail.com
> 
> On 2010/11/16, at 21:15, James Hegarty wrote:
> 
>> Dear Colleagues,
>> 
>> Has anyone come across this term (rudhiravarṣa) outside of the war books of the Mahābhārata?
>> 
>> I am especially interested where it occurs as a portent of future violence etc. I am aware of its use in Buddhist accounts of the birth of Ajātaśatru, but that is about it!
>> 
>> I have the wörterbuch entry, but the information here is somewhat lacking in context, by its very nature.
>> 
>> Can anyone help me?
>> 
>> With All Best Wishes,
>> 
>> James Hegarty
>> Cardiff University