Ahir Budhnya in Rigveda

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Ahi budhnya — “Serpent of the Deep”

Ahi budhnya (“serpent of the depths”) is a Vedic deity whose name occurs only in hymns to the Viśvedevas. He is mentioned only a dozen times in the Ṛgveda and is seldom invoked alone. In the Saṃhitā he appears primarily in lists together with other deities rather than as the sole addressee of praise.

Name and nature

The epithet budhnya (“of the bottom, depth”) marks Ahi budhnya as a serpent linked to the deep or “bottom” region. A key verse hails him as “the serpent born in waters, sitting at the bottom of the streams in the spaces.”[2][9]

Associations and enumerations

Ahi budhnya is frequently named with other deities and cosmic elements. He stands five times with Aja ekapād, three times with Apāṃ napāt, three times with the samudra (“ocean”), and twice with Savitṛ. Typical enumerations include: “Aja ekapād, Ahi budhnya, the ocean, Apāṃ napāt, Pṛśni”[7]; “Ahi budhnya, Aja ekapād, Trita, Ṛbhukṣan, Savitṛ, Apāṃ napāt”[8]; and “the ocean, the stream, the aerial space, the air, Aja ekapād, the thundering flood, Ahi budhnya, and all the gods.”[6]

When invoked alone

There are only three verses where Ahi budhnya is directly addressed without other deities—ṚV 5.41.16 and ṚV 7.34.16–17.[1][2][3] In 7.34.16 the poet offers praise; in the next verse he implores Ahi budhnya not to deliver his worshippers to harm, a plea repeated verbatim at 5.41.16.[3][1]

Pairings and juxtaposition

When Ahi budhnya is mentioned with only one other deity, that companion is either Apāṃ napāt (ṚV 1.186.5)[4] or Aja ekapād (ṚV 10.64.4).[5] When Ahi budhnya and Aja ekapād appear together in the same verse, their names stand in immediate juxtaposition (with a slight exception at ṚV 10.66.11).[6]

Character and interpretation

The repeated appeal “do not give us over to injury” hints at a potentially harmful side to his nature,[1] and the term ahi (“serpent”) is otherwise commonly used for Vṛtra, who confines the waters in the atmospheric realm.[10] Similar language describes Agni in the air as a “raging serpent” (ṚV 1.79.1)[11] and “produced in the depth of the great space” (ṚV 4.11.1),[12] strengthening the reading of Ahi budhnya as an atmospheric being linked with the waters and the “deep” of the sky. From these clues the text infers that Ahi budhnya was “originally not different from Ahi Vṛtra,” though in the hymns he is invoked as a divine being whose likeness to Apāṃ napāt is evident while his baleful aspect is only hinted.

Later identifications

Later Vedic texts allegorically connect Ahi budhnya with Agni Gārhapatya (VS 5.33; AB 3.36; TB 1.1.10.3). In post-Vedic literature, “Ahi budhnya” can be a name of a Rudra and an epithet of Śiva.

Rigvedic References

  1. ṚV 5.41.16 — Ahi budhnya implored not to deliver worshippers to harm.
  2. ṚV 7.34.16 — “Serpent born in waters, sitting at the bottom of the streams in the spaces.”
  3. ṚV 7.34.17 — Following verse with a plea not to abandon the worshippers (paired in the text with 5.41.16).
  4. ṚV 1.186.5 — Ahi budhnya named together with Apāṃ napāt when only one other deity is mentioned.
  5. ṚV 10.64.4 — Ahi budhnya named together with Aja ekapād when only one other deity is mentioned.
  6. ṚV 10.66.11 — Grand enumeration including Ahi budhnya; slight exception to his usual juxtaposition with Aja ekapād.
  7. ṚV 7.35.13 — Enumeration: “Aja ekapād, Ahi budhnya, the ocean, Apāṃ napāt, Pṛśni.”
  8. ṚV 2.31.6 — Enumeration: “Ahi budhnya, Aja ekapād, Trita, Ṛbhukṣan, Savitṛ, Apāṃ napāt.”
  9. ṚV 10.93.5 — Parallel formulation supporting the “waters” and “depth” imagery for Ahi budhnya.
  10. ṚV 1.52.6 — Vṛtra situated “at the bottom (budhna) of the air,” aligning “serpent” imagery with the atmospheric region.
  11. ṚV 1.79.1 — Agni in the air called a “raging serpent (ahi).”
  12. ṚV 4.11.1 — Agni produced “in the depth (budhne) of the great space,” echoing Ahi budhnya’s deep/atmospheric locus.

Other sources alluded to (non-Ṛgvedic)

  • Naighaṇṭuka 5.4 — Lists Ahi budhnya among divinities of the middle/aerial region.
  • Yāska, Nirukta 10.44 — Explains budhna as “air,” supporting his atmospheric abode.
  • VS 5.33; AB 3.36; TB 1.1.10.3 — Later Vedic links between Ahi budhnya and Agni Gārhapatya.

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