[INDOLOGY] Brahmin Priestesses

[Dr. T. Ganesan]

If it is Skt. devaantikaa, then it can be deva + antikaa = one (a woman) 
who is near the deva, the God. It may mean a priestess, who is nearer to 
God in the temple.

Ganesan




On 14-11-2013 17:13, Tieken, H.J.H. wrote:
>
> Instead of devavandhya-, could te-vantikai not correspond to Skt 
> deva-ntika-, fem. of deva-nta(ka), a name of a ra-ks.asa and of a 
> daitya (MW)?
>
>
> Herman Tieken
> University of Leiden
> The Netherlands
> website: hermantieken.com <http://hermantieken.com/>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *Van:* INDOLOGY [indology-bounces at list.indology.info] namens 
> palaniappa at aol.com [palaniappa at aol.com]
> *Verzonden:* donderdag 14 november 2013 12:11
> *To:* indology at list.indology.info
> *Onderwerp:* [INDOLOGY] Brahmin Priestesses
>
> Dear Indologists,
>
> The Cilappatika-ram, the Tamil epic, has a character named 
> Te-vanti/Ta-vantikai.  She was a brahmin and was a friend of the 
> heroine, Kan.n.aki. She married Ca-ttan_, a god in human form. Eight 
> years after marriage, he revealed to her his real nature and left her 
> asking her to come to his temple. Accordingly, she worshipped at the 
> temple of Ca-ttan_. At the end of the epic, when  the temple to 
> Kan.n.aki is inaugurated, Te-vantikai, under possession by Ca-ttan_, 
> Te-vantikai entered a trance and danced and Ca-ttan_ spoke through 
> her. Later, the Ce-ra king Cen.kut.t.uvan_ established a grant for 
> worship and daily celebration at the Kan.n.aki temple and appointed 
> her to offer flowers, incense, and fragrances at the temple. After 
> worshipping Kan.n.aki, the king and others including a brahmin named 
> Ma-t.alan_ entered a separate sacrificial hall where Te-vantikai again 
> spoke as an oracle.
>
> It is clear that Te-vanti was being appointed as a priestess in the 
> temple. Earlier in the epic, a priestess of the Kor_r_avai 
> (/ca-lin_i/) is mentioned. She belonged to the non-brahmin hunter 
> community. She also entered a trance, danced ecstatically, and spoke 
> as an oracle. What Il.an.ko-, the author, seems to be doing is 
> documenting a particular phase of transitioning of non-brahminical 
> religious rituals to brahminical rituals in the Tamil country when 
> brahmin females served as priestesses before being replaced by brahmin 
> male priests.
>
> This proposition is further strengthened by the name 
> Te-vanti/Te-vantikai. Il.an.ko- names some characters with 
> generic/class names as proper names. For example, the father of the 
> hero, Ko-valan_, is called Ma-ca-ttuvan_, which name simply means 'the 
> great one with caravans'. Similarly the father of Kan.n.aki is called 
> Ma-na-ykan_, which name means 'the great one with ships'. Both refer 
> to different types of merchants. We have to add Te-vanti/Te-vantikai 
> also to this category of names. The name Te-vanti/Te-vantikai can be 
> derived from Skt. */devavandhya-/ with the loss of '/va/' due to 
> haplology. As Tamil Lexicon show, Sanskrit /vandhya-/ can be Tamilized 
> as /vanti/ or /vantiyai/. Also we know Skt. -/ya-/ can be Tamilized as 
> -/kai/ as in Skt. /kanya-/ > Ta. /kan_n_ikai/ and Skt. /ahalya-/ > Ta. 
> /akalikai/.  So, Skt. /vandhya-/ > Ta. /vantikai/.
>
> Skt. /vandhya- /means 'barren or childless woman'. (A later Tamil 
> text, the Tiruvil.aiya-t.al Pura-n.am of Parañco-ti, presents a 
> character named Vanti, a childless woman, from Madurai.) Having 
> childless woman as priestesses seemed to be an ancient Tamil custom. 
> In Pur_ana-n_u-r_u 372, we come across such a priestess whom George 
> Hart refers to in his translation as 'barren sacrificial priestess'.
>
> Thus the name Te-vanti < /devavandhya-/ seems to suggest a class of 
> women who served as priestesses.  And brahmin Te-vanti in 
> Cilappatika-ram seems to indicate the presence of brahmin priestesses 
> in an earlier phase of transition from non-brahmin religious 
> ritualists to brahmin ritualists.
>
> I would like to know if there are instances of such brahmin 
> priestesses from other parts of India in early centuries CE.
>
> Thanks in advance
>
> Regards,
> Palaniappan
>
>
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