20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

The bride with the yoke: Interpretation of the Kauśikasūtra 76.11-13 727the means of purification, that bring about auspiciousness by removingthe impurity. There is no doubt that Gold 19 and Waters 20 are means ofpurification. Yoke or yoke-hole, to be precise, mentioned in the mantrasalong with gold and water has to have the same purpose. Apālā, 21 referredto in the second mantra, was a maiden who had passed her marriageableage. She praised Indra (ṚV 8.91) and acquired the sun-skin in place of herdiseased skin as Indra pulled her through the yoke-hole for three times.It appears from the last stanza of that Ṛgveda hymn that she enjoyedintercourse with Indra, in short acquired marital happiness. Thus, thepresence of the yoke in the preliminaries of the wedding ritual can beexplained. The clear intention behind the employment of the Apālā-stanzaand the yoke in this rite seems that, the bride, just like Apālā, should befreed from all her impurities and should get a shining golden complexionlike the sun and should get all happiness in her marital life. The gold isoften associated with the sun. 22 The idea of tying gold in the yoke-hole,symbolizing the sun in the sky (Kha), is for the purpose of transferringthe luster of the sun or gold to the bride. 23 Thus, it is clear that this rite, inthe preliminaries of the Nuptial ritual is for removing the impurities of thebride and making her fit for the wedding ritual, that follows after this rite.The rite appears to be an archetype of the contemporary Haḷad ceremony inthe Nuptials in Maharashtra, where turmeric is applied to the bride beforewedding. The resemblance of yellowness of the sun, gold and turmeric iscrystal clear.“O Śatakratu [having hundered-fold power], in the hole of the chariot, in the hole of thecart, in the hole of the yoke, having thrice purified Apālā, O Indra, [you] made her sunskinned.”19On gold as a means of purification, see GONDA (1991:30).20On water as a means of purification, see GONDA (1980:281).21For various interpretations of the Apālā hymn, see Hans-Peter SCHMIDT (1987);Von SCHÖDER (1908).22GONDA (1991) on the association of gold with the Sun says: “Being intrinsicallyluminous, yellow and seeming to shine with a light of its own, gold is often associatedwith the sun and sunshine. Since its discovery it has been the sun's metal.”23Cf. DANGE (1967), where the author says that the gold is the symbol of the sun.There is a belief that water flowing over a piece of gold resembles sun-water that hasthe power to transfer the luster of the sun to a person who is coming in contact with thatwater. Also cf. KRISHNALAL (1970:45). On the use of gold in the rituals, cf. JOSHI(1969:251), where it is proposed that since Vedic times Gold is regarded as the symbolof brilliance or that of the Sun who removes darkness. And as darkness is supposed to befull of evils the presence of sun is symbolized in the rituals by employment of gold with ahope to drive away and have protection against evils.