z:\ ambedkar\vol 04\vol4 05.indd MK SJ DK YS 23 9 2013/YS 8 11 2013 165
APPENDIX III
true nature of Vishnu. It is not possible to separate philologically the word Sepa ( Penis ) from sipi. Other similar idg. forms are Sipha (a root pkt. chepa, lat. oippus, seipio (staff) etc. Even Nirukta (V. 7) seems to be vaguely supporting this view though its further explanation is not clear. Added to that word is a form from the root viz., thus making the whole word mean ‘the changing phallus; the swelling and diminishing penis’. We may now easily understand why the Vedic poets speak in such guarded and obscure way about this form of Vishnu. In this connection it is very significant to note what Nirukta (V. 8-9) says of this name of Vishnu: The word sipivista has thus unmistakably preserved Vishnu’s ancient phallic nature. There are also many other incidental references to Vishnu in the Vedic hymns and ritual, which clearly associate him with the notion of fertility, productivity and self life.”
“One of the obscure features of the Vedic Shraddha-ritual is that the Angustha, without nail, is to be dipped into the offering intended for the pitars. This action is accompanied by an invocation to Vishnu. The Angustha is undoubtedly a symbol of the phallus. Vishnu is, in this rite, clearly connected with the phallic aspect of the Vedic ritual. In later literature we find Vishnu actually identified with the thumb. In the I.S. passage (VI.
2.4.2) we find another piece of evidence in this regard. Vishnu’s entering into the mother earth is a symbolical description of a fertility rite. The words, Tanvardhanah, used with reference to Vishnu’s (VII. 99.1; VIII. 100.2) may further be understood to be indicative of his phallic nature. Vishnu is significantly identified, in later literature, with Hiranyagarbha, and Narayana. Vishnu’s close connection with Sinivali (AV. VII. 46.3), the ‘broadhipped’ divinity protecting the feminine sex-functions, throws considerable light on this aspect of Visnu’s personality. According to the Sankhyana-grahyasutra (I. 22.13), the Mantra (X. 184.1) accompanies the garbha-ceremony, thus suggesting that Vishnu is the efficacious protector of the embryos. In AV (VII. 17.4), Vishnu is clearly connected with sex-functions. The two epithets of Vishnu Nisiktapa (VII. 36.9) ‘protector of the semen’, and Sumajjani (I.
156.2) ‘facilitating easy birth’ speak for themselves. The word, Paumsya ‘manly vigour’ is significantly used with reference to Vishnu in RV (E. 155.3-4). In the Vrsakapi-hymn (X. 86), Indra is said to have been exhausted, when a bold, lascivious monkey administered to him some medicine, through which Indra regained his manly power. This Vrsakapi is identified, in later literature, with Vishnu, the word-being also mentioned as one of his names “in the Vishnusahasranama.”
165