Raining Blood: rudhiravar ṣa

[Robert Goldman]

Although the exact terms vary, the raining of blood is mentioned  
frequently in the Yuddhakāṇḍa of the Vālmīkirāmāyaṇa as one  
of the portents of calamity for the warrior to whom they appear. See  
the following verses in the critical edition:  6.26.22; 6.31.5;  
6.41.33; 6.83.33; 6.94.15. The most common expression is vavarṣa  
rudhiram...
Dr. R. P.  Goldman
Professor of Sanskrit
Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies
MC # 2540
The University of California at Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-2540
Tel: 510-642-4089
Fax: 510-642-2409




On Nov 17, 2010, at 2:44 PM, Dominic Goodall wrote:

> Raining blood (along with earthquakes, the weeping of images and  
> many other portents) is included in an account of Adbhutaśānti in  
> the Pūrva-Kāraṇāgama (p. 714 of edition of 1921 [Kaliyuga 5023]):
>
> bhūmikaṃpe nadīkṣobhe kūpakṣobhe taṭākake|
> pratimārodane caiva tataḥ śoṇitavarṣake|| 144F:5||
> …
>
> Dominic Goodall
>
> On 16-Nov-2010, at 8:51 PM, Som Dev Vasudeva wrote:
>
>> 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