Re: Raining Blood: rudhiravar ṣa

[George Hart]

>From the Karaṉ Vataip Paṭalam (Āraṇiya Kāṇṭam), Kamparāmāyaṇam:

69. 3040

Hearing those words, a Rākṣasa came
     whose name was Akampana, of great learning
and one among them who had good to him,
     and he said, “Lord! Let me say something.
It is right to be very fierce in battle,
     O you who are most virile among
all heroes!  but around this action
     we pursue, there have been evil omens.
 
70. 3041

“The clouds have been roaring, pouring down
     a very great rain of blood
and the Sun God, look at him,
     he is surrounded by a halo!
Notice how there are flocks of crows
     that hover above your flag
and fight each other, fall, cry out,
     and fallen roll on the earth...."

The relevant Tamil is:
kuruti mā maḻai corintaṉa
	mēkaṅkaḷ kumuṟi

No doubt there are other instances in Kampaṉ, since he was following Vālmīki.  I have not found anything in Sangam Literature.  George Hart

On Nov 17, 2010, at 2:58 PM, Robert Goldman wrote:

> 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