Aja ekapād
Aja ekapād (“the one-footed Aja/Goat”) is a little-attested Vedic deity closely linked with Ahi budhnya, the “Serpent of the Deep.” In the Ṛgveda he appears chiefly in set enumerations of deities; only once is he invoked without Ahi budhnya. These passages place him among powers of the atmosphere, though later lists sometimes class him with celestial gods.
Etymology
Yāska (Nirukta 12.29) explains Aja as “driving” (ajana) and glosses ekapād as “he who has one foot” (or “he who protects/drinks with one foot”).
Rigvedic attestations
- RV 10.65.13: Aja ekapād is named among a striking cluster of powers—“the thundering Pāvīravī (daughter of lightning), Ekapād Aja, the supporter of the sky, the stream, the oceanic waters, all the gods, Sarasvatī.”[1]
- RV 10.66.11: The next hymn repeats a near-identical enumeration—“the ocean, the stream, the aerial space, Aja ekapād, the thundering flood, Ahi budhnya, and all the gods.” These paired verses suggest Aja ekapād is an aerial deity.[2]
Nature and classification
On the evidence of RV 10.65–66 he belongs to the middle region (atmosphere). Nevertheless, the Naighaṇṭuka (5.6) enumerates Aja ekapād among celestial deities, showing a degree of fluidity in his placement across textual traditions.
Later Vedic and ritual mentions
- Atharvaveda 13.16 credits Aja ekapād with “making firm the two worlds.”
- Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa 3.1.2.8 says Aja ekapād “has risen in the east.” A commentator there calls him a form of Agni; Durga on Nirukta 12.29 interprets him as the Sun.
- In domestic ritual (Pāraskara Gṛhya Sūtra 2.15.2), Aja ekapād—like Ahi budhnya—receives a libation, indicating continued cultic recognition even when no longer a prominently independent deity.
Epic and later identifications
In the Epic period, Ajaikapād becomes both the name of one of the eleven Rudras and an epithet of Śiva.
Scholarly interpretations
- Storm/driver genius: Roth (followed by Grassmann) read the name as “one-footed Driver/Stormer,” taking Aja ekapād as a storm power.
- Solar deity: Bloomfield and Victor Henry view him as solar (partly from TB 3.1.2.8).
- Lunar reading: Hardy suggested “the goat who goes alone” as the Moon.
- Metaphysical: Bergaigne read a-ja as “unborn,” the one-footed lord of an isolated, mysterious world.
- Lightning metaphor (conjecture): Taking “one-footed goat” literally, Macdonell proposes it may have been a figurative name for lightning—“goat” for its nimble leap in the cloud-mountains, “one foot” for the single streak striking the earth.
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