Some Observations about Warrior-gods and Distinctive Weapons in the Imagery of vrātyas

Abstract

Heesterman (1962), moving away from the hypothesis of a non-Aryan background for the Vrātyas, went far beyond the brahmanical-grounded heterodox interpretation of their culture (see also Candotti and Pontillo 2015, Pontillo and Dore 2016, Vassilkov 2016). The Vrātyas are usually associated with the cult of Rudra (see, e.g., Charpentier 1911, Hauer 1927, Falk 1986) who is regarded as an outsider god. Dore (2015: 55; 2016) remarks that there is no reason to “consider the relationship between the Vrātya and Rudra as being more important or more revelatory compared to the relationship with Indra.” Taking for granted the influence of both gods on the culture and on the literary representation of the culture of this group, the present paper focuses on the analysis of Vedic textual traditions dealing with the bow associated with the leader of the Vrātyas, in order to understand to what extent such a weapon represents evidence of their aggressiveness.