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Semenenko A.A. Watery Humpback

Cattle Pattern in Rigveda and
Archeology of the Ancient East
Translated from: Semenenko А.А. Watery Humpback Cattle Pattern in Rigveda and Archaeology of
the Ancient East

Aleksandr A . Semenenko

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 TRANSLATION 1

Semenenko A.A. Watery

Humpback Cattle Pattern in
Rigveda and Archeology of the
Ancient East
Aleksandr A . Semenenko

Original Paper 

Abstract
Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education "Voronezh State
Agrarian University named after Emperor Peter I" Department of Russian and Foreign
Languages ​Council of Young Scientists and Specialists TOPICAL PROBLEMS OF AGRARIAN
SCIENCE, PRODUCTION AND EDUCATION FOREIGN LANGUAGES ) (Russia, Voronezh, April
2020) Voronezh 2020 Emperor Peter I” UDC [63+619]:005,745(06) BBK 4 А 437 А 437 Actual
problems of agrarian science, production and education: materials of the VI International
Scientific and Practical Conference of Young Scientists and Specialists (in foreign languages)
(Russia, Voronezh , April 2020) - Voronezh: Voronezh State Agrarian University, 2020.-327 p.
CURRENT PROBLEMS OF AGRARIAN SCIENCE, PRODUCTION AND EDUCATION This
collection contains articles of the participants of the International Scientific and Practical
Conference of Young Scientists and Specialists (in foreign languages), which was held in April
2020 at the Voronezh State Agrarian University named after Emperor Peter I. The working
languages ​of the conference are English, German, French and Serbian. The publication of the
collection of conference materials makes it possible to acquaint Russian and foreign
colleagues with the directions and results of research by young scientists and specialists
from different countries and expand their scientific contacts. URGENT ISSUES OF
AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE, PRODUCTION AND EDUCATION We proudly present collected
articles of participants of the International Conference on Agricultural Studies and Practical
Work that was held in Voronezh State Agricultural University in April 2020. Languages ​used
were English, German, French and Serbian. We hope that the articles under consideration are
to have not only Russian researchers, but their colleagues abroad acquainted with study
 TRANSLATION 2

trends and achievements of young scientists and experts, and enhance their academic
contacts.

The image of the watery humpback bull is present in all chronological layers of the
earliest Indo-Aryan (further IA) text -Rigveda Samhita (further RV, 3300-2600 BCE) [1] in the
descriptions of its mainhaving undoubtedly IA and Indo- European (further IE) background -
Playing-in-the-Light (Devas).

Thus, Vayu is described: imé yé te sú vāyo | antár nadī́ te patáyanti ukṣáṇo | máhi
vrādhanta ukṣáṇaḥ “Here, o Vayu, are those oxen of yours… which fly in the riverthe oxen that
are greatly arrogant” (I.135.9). Compare Ashvins: yuvám vr ̥ ṣaṇāv apáś aśvināv aírayethām
"You, o bulls, have sent... water... Ashvins" (I.157.5); prá vāṃ śarádvān vr ̥ ṣabhó ná niṣṣāṭ
pūrvīŕ íṣaś carati mádhva iṣṇán “Like a bull setting out to conquer, your (zebu bull -compare
vāṃ kakuhó piśáṅgarūpaḥ of I.181.5) of (many) autumns, dispatching many refreshing drinks
of honey, goes forth" (I.181.6). The sounding rivers are called bull's wives (vŕ ̥ ṣṇaḥ pátnīr
nadíyo) (V.42.12). Parjanya is described: kánikradad vr ̥ ṣabhó jīrádānū réto dadhāti óṣadhīṣu
gárbham "The constantly roaring bull of lively drops deposits of his semen as embryo in the
plants" (V.83.1). Indra acts as a watery bull many times: vŕ ṣā chándur bhavati haryató vŕ ̥ ṣā
kṣémeṇa dhénām maghávā yád ínvati "The bull becomes pleasing, the bull delightful, when,
as bounteous one, he impels the nourishing stream in peace" (I. 55.4); yáḥ saptáraśmir vr ̥
ṣabhás túviṣmān avāśr ̥ jat sártave saptá síndhūn | sá janāsa índraḥ “The mighty sevenreined
bull who let loose the seven rivers to flow… -he, o peoples, is Indra” (II.12.12); tásyéd imé
pravaṇé saptá síndhavo váyo vardhanti vr ̥ ṣabhásya śuṣmíṇaḥ "Just his vitality do these
seven rivers, in their torrent, increasethe vitality of the tempestuous bull" (X.43.3); [Indra about
himself:] aháṃ saptá sraváto dhārayaṃ vŕ ̥ ṣā dravitnúvaḥ pr ̥ thiviyāṃ sīrā́ ádhi "I, the bull,
held fast the seven streams that were flowing and racing upon the earth" (X.49.9). Indra is
characterized as the bull of rivers and the bull of the standing waters (vŕ ̥ ṣā síndhūnāṃ vr ̥
ṣabhá stíyānām) (VI.44.21). The waters being won by him-bull are named his wives (vŕ ̥
ṣapatnīr apó jayā) (VIII.15.6). Agni was also placed on the earth as the rivers' leader and the
bull of the standing waters (dhāýi agníḥ pr ̥ thivyāṃ netā́ síndhūnāṃ vr ̥ ṣabhá stíyānām)
(VII.5.2). Agni grows and roars in the waters' womb as a bull and a buffalo (agnír ā́ vr ̥ ṣabhó
roravīti | apāḿ upásthe mahiṣó vavardha) (X.8.1).

But it is Soma who is most often described as a watery bull pouring some liquid and
being identified with it and as a bull related to waters-waves-rivers: prá asya dhā́rā akṣaran vŕ ̥
ṣṇaḥ sutásya "His streams have flowed forth, those of the pressed bull" (IX.29.1); apāḿ
ūrmaú síndhuṣu antár ukṣitáḥ | vr ̥ ṣabhó “In the wave of the waters and within the rivers he is
sprinkled… | the bull" (IX.72.7); somiyám madhu | īśe yó vr ̥ ṣṭér itá usríyo vŕ ̥ ṣā apāṃ netā́ yá
“somian honey… | who, as a dawn-red bull, is master of the rain from here, who is the leader
of the waters” (IX.74.3); ágre sindhūnām pávamāno arṣati | vŕ ̥ ṣā “At the forefront of the
rivers, purifying himself he rushes… | the bull" (IX.86.12); sindhor ucchvāsé patáyantam
 TRANSLATION 3

ukṣáṇaṃ "the ox flying in the burbling up of the river" (IX.86.43); mahī́ ná dhāŕā ándho arṣati |
asarad vŕ ̥ ṣā háriḥ “Like a great stream he rushes beyond his stalk… | the tawny bull has run"
(IX.86.44); vŕ ̥ ṣā dadhanve adbhíḥ "The bull… has run together with the waters" (IX.93.2);
ákrān samudráḥ prathamé vídharmañ | vŕ ̥ ṣā br ̥ hát sómo vāvr ̥ dhe svāná índuḥ || sómo
mahiṣáś apā́ṃ gárbho “As the sea he has roared at his first expansion… | the bull… Soma has
grown loftily, the drop being pressed. || Soma the buffalo… embryo of the waters” (IX.97.40-
41).

Soma is a bull roaring loudly in the waters' womb (apāḿ upásthe vr ̥ ṣabháḥ kánikradat)
(IX.76.5), a bull flowing as a hundred of streams (śatádhāro vŕ ̥ ṣā) (IX.86.11) and as a
thousand of them (sahásradhāraṃ vr ̥ ṣabhám) (IX.108.8=IX.108.11). Soma is thus
described: sahásradhāraḥ arṣati | vŕ ̥ ṣā róruvat || rājā samudráṃ nadíyo ví gāhate apāḿ
ūrmíṃ sacate síndhuṣu śritáḥ “Having a thousand streams, he rushes… | the bull keeps
bellowing... || The king plunges through the sea, the rivers. Fixed in the streams he
accompanies the wave of waters" (IX.86.7-8).

The bull's image in RV and in the Vedic (Old) IA language is related to the waters'
designation on a deep etymological level. The most frequent (see above) terms to denote a
bull in the earliest Samhita are, on the one side, words vŕ ̥ ṣā, vr ̥ ṣabháḥ and vr ̥ ṣṇíḥ having
one and the same root, and ukṣánon the other side.

The terms vŕ ̥ ṣā, vr ̥ ṣabháḥ and vr ̥ ṣṇíḥ in Rigvedic hymns have not yet lost their
derivation from the verbal root varṣ-"to rain", "to pour" (compare the poets' play with this
meaning in: I. 108.3; II.34.2; V.63.3; V.83.6; VI.68.11; VIII.20.9; IX.74.3; X.75.3; X.96.13;
X.116.4). Thus it is evident that originally in the Vedic (Old) IA language and in RV the words
vŕ ̥ ṣā, vr ̥ ṣabháḥ and vr ̥ ṣṇíḥ meant/mean "flowing", "sprinkling", "pouring" some kind of
liquid or moisture .

It is clear that in RV vr ̥ ṣanand vr ̥ ṣabha-should be understood as "bull ejaculating the

seminal fluid": réto vr ̥ ṣabháḥ kánikradad | dadhad retaḥ kánikradat | agníḥ "the bull
(depositing) his seed ever roaring | -depositing his seed ever roaring… || Agni" (I.128.3); vr ̥
ṣabhó róravīti ní dadhāti rétaḥ "the bull… roaring… he deposits his seed" (III.55.17);
sahásraretā vr ̥ ṣabhás agnír "thousand-spurting... bull... Agni" (IV.5.3); tráyas vr ̥ ṣabhāśas
retodhā́ “three… bulls… the semen-givers” (V.69.2); [about Parjanya:] sá retodhā́ vr ̥ ṣabháḥ
"the bull is the inseminator" (VII.101.6); [about Soma:] ávāvaśanta dhītáyo vr ̥ ṣabhásyādhi
rétasi | sūnór vatsásya mātáraḥ || kuvíd vr ̥ ṣaṇyántībhiyaḥ punānó gárbham ādádhat
“Insightful words have bellowed over the seed of the bull, | the mothers of the calf, their son. ||
Will he indeed set an embryo for those females yearning for a bull, as he is being purified”
(IX.19.4-5).

It is worth noticing that the above-mentioned terms are used in RV to signify humpback
 TRANSLATION 4

(kakuhó, kakúdmān) bulls: kakuhó… vr ̥ ṣabhó (I.181.5-6), vr ̥ ṣabháḥ kakúdmān (X.8.2), vr ̥

ṣabhám … vr ̥ ṣabhó… kakúdmān… vr ̥ ṣabhásya (X.105.5-7, 9). Compare also: vŕ ̥ ṣṇaś
candrāń ná suśrávastamān girā́ vándasva marúto áha || gāvaś cid ghā samanyavaḥ
sajātíyena marutaḥ sábandhavaḥ | rihaté kakúbho mitháḥ “Those, like lustrous bulls (vŕ ̥
ṣṇaś), receiving the most praisesextol them with a hymn: the Maruts, yes! || Cows (gāvaś -
'bulls' in T. Ya. Elizarenkova's translation. -A.S.) also, likewise akin through common birth, o
Maruts of equal spirit, | lick each other's humps (kakúbho)" (VIII.20-21).

Moreover, the parallel relation of the several of the above-mentioned RVedic Devas to the
images of the watery bull (see above) and the humpback bull is characteristic. Thus zebu
(kakuhā(so)) bulls are described as the drawing animals (vacyánte vāṃ kakuhā. yugā́)
(I.184.3) of Ashvins' chariot (vacyánte vāṃ kakuhāśo yád vāṃ rátho pátāt (I.46.3), aśvinā
váhanti kakuhāś o rathe vām (IV.44.2)). Ashvins have a formidable (ugró vāṃ kakuhó)
(V.73.7) humpback beast-bull (vāṃ kakuhó mr ̥ gáḥ) (V.75.4) of a golden hue (vāṃ kakuhó
piśáṅgarūpaḥ) (I.181.5). Indra is called a humpback bull (kakuháṃ) (VIII.45.14) with three
humps (trikakúṃ) (I.121.4). Soma's moisture is characterized as a humpback bull (zebu)
(kakuháḥ somiyó rása) (IX.67.8), the same as Agni (vr ̥ ṣabháḥ kakúdmān) (X.8.2).

Another frequent term for the 'bull' (ukṣán) in RV is also derived from the synonymic root
(ukṣ-) denoting the pouring of the liquid. The image of the watery cow is also widespread in
RV: góarṇasaḥ "flooding with cows" (I.112.18); úpa kṣaranti sindhavo dhenávaḥ "the rivers…
milkcows, flow near to" (I.125.4); gaurīŕ mimāya salilāńi tákṣatī ékapadī dvipádī sā́ cátuṣpadī |
aṣṭāṕadī návapadī babhūvúṣī sahásrākṣarā paramé víoman || tásyāḥ samudrā́ ádhi ví
kṣaranti téna jīvanti pradiśaś cátasraḥ | tátaḥ kṣarati akṣáraṃ tád víśvam úpa jīvati “The
buffalo-cow (gaurīŕ) has bellowed, fashioning oceans. One-footed and two-footed, she is four-
footed, | having become eightfooted and nine-footed: she has a thousand syllables in the
highest heaven. || Seas flow everywhere from her: by that the four directions live, | from that
the syllable flows, upon that does everything live” (I.164.41-42); goarṇasā "flooding with
cows" (II.34.12); prá dhenáva udaprúto navanta "the cows swimming in the waters are
bellowing forth" (VII.42.1); yá usríyā ápiyā antár áśmano nír gā́ ákr ̥ ntad ójasā "He who with
his might cut the ruddy, watery cows out from within the rock" (IX.108.6); goarṇasi "flooding
with cows" (X.76.3).

Due to the limitations of the text we can't describe here all material embodiments of the
watery humpback cattle pattern in the archaeological record of the Ancient East regions
starting from the Indus Valley around 4000 BCE and moving further in time (between 2800-
1000 BCE ) and farther West through Afghanistan, Bactria-Margiana and Iran up to the Central
Anatolia. It is sufficient to state that the first ever in the IE studies' history exact
archaeological route of the RVedic (=(Pre)Harappan) IA migration has been reconstructed by
us supporting the Out-of-India Theory of IE dispersal. The readers wishing to learn more are
kindly asked to watch our video report on the 5th of December 2019 at the All-Russian
 TRANSLATION 5

conference at Voronezh State Art Institution entitled 'The motif of the humpback water bull in
the culture of the Ancient East: art history comes to the aid of history' and the conference's
presentation and an updated map. [2] Elizarenkova. In 3 vols. -M.: Nauka, 1989-1999 Cognitive
studies have become an integral part of modern linguistic science. Within the cognitive
approach language is seen as a means of access to the consciousness of a native speaker ,
to discrete units of consciousness -concepts and linguistic sign is a concept in the
communicative space . The urgent task of cognitive linguistics is the study of the language of
the semantic space , represents a particular concept, because it brings us closer to an
understanding of how language structures reflect the person's knowledge about the world. In
terms of solutions to this common problem , we turned to the study of social concept in the
semantic space CITY Russian and English languages.

Mapping concepts CITY , CITY, TOWN revealed their national identity . Conceptualization
realities city carried out in Russian on 19 grounds, in English "Sity" -16 signs , "town" -20 signs
, 10 of which are common. This indicates a significant communicative relevance of
corresponding concepts in both languages.

Demand and Derivative concepts confirms the activity of key tokens: Castle -over 70
derivatives , town -37 derivatives , city -28 derivatives , among which an absolute majority in
both languages ​are nouns, objectifies important general cognitive characteristics: size ( town
, townlet) ; functional variant ( satellite town , city -factory , city-state, town-ship), as well as a
number of features in different languages ​compare.

The information content of these concepts are common following essential features:
place of residence , the size , the administrative status , especially the organization of space ,
functional variant , to the sphere of activity , people living in the city.

In addition, there are signs in matching concepts and CITY TOWN: location, presence of
buildings , and in concepts CITY CITY: attitude towards the village. With common signs of
filling them has certain differences associated with socio-cultural features of people's lives.
Thus, the gaps for the Russian language are functional varieties of English town and city. For
example , city-state, company town, market town, boom-town. Conversely, for the English
language gap : garden city , resort town , a satellite town , twin city , etc.

References
K. Thomson