Devayāna and Dyutāna in some supposed fragments of the so-called Proto-Indo-Aryan I culture

PONTILLO, TIZIANA

2019-01-01

---

Abstract

Of the 13 ṚV occurrences of the term devayā́na, 9 are referred to the noun pathin (8 inflected as a plural), and 1 to adhvan, to denote the paths trodden by the Gods to reach Heaven or the sacrificial arena. Only in the X Book we find a couple of hints at the human chance to know these paths in ṚV 10.51.5 and 10.181.3. Moreover this divine way is contrasted with the path of Death in a passage (ṚV 10.18.1) that might constitute a quite remote piece of evidence to be added to the loci classici (recently listed e.g. in Jurewicz 2006) of the pitṛyāna-/ devayāna- opposition. In this paper the devayāna as a way available for men, which thus does not seem to pertain to the core of the ancient ṚV culture, is supposed to be a not generic Heavenly aspiration, i.e. a specific aim at achieving the divine condition pursued within the frame of the so-called Proto Indo-Aryan I culture (Parpola 1983; 2012), which was later re-elaborated and integrated or conversely labelled and marginalised as a Vrātya-culture in the Proto Indo-Aryan II and in the Brāhmaṇa culture. The present hypothesis relies both on the comparison with the use of some phrases such as devayānaṃ panthānaṃ prajñā- (PB 24.18) and te svargaṃ lokaṃ prājnā- (JB 2.221) included in the most renowned sources on Vrātyas, surveyed from the pioneering monograph by Hauer 1927 onward and on the survey of Vedic occurrences of terms dyutāná / dyútana / dyautana. Among these, the second one is repeated three times e.g. in the above mentioned ṚV 10.181 and generally interpreted as an adjective (“radiant”), whereas it is sometimes a proper name for the descendant of the Maruts mentioned as a leader in the same sources on Vrātyas.