The Keśin were ascetic wanderers with mystical powers described in the Keśin Hymn (RV 10, 136) of the ''

Rigveda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' ( ', from ' "praise" and ' "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts (''śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one Sh ...

'' (an ancient Indian sacred collection of

Vedic Sanskrit Vedic Sanskrit was an ancient language of the Indo-Aryan subgroup of the Indo-European language family. It is attested in the Vedas and related literature compiled over the period of the mid-2nd to mid-1st millennium BCE. It was orally preserv ...

hymns A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

). Werner 1995, p. 34. The Keśin are described as homeless, traveling with the wind, clad only in dust or yellow tatters, and being equally at home in the physical and the spiritual worlds. They are on friendly terms with the natural elements, the gods, enlightened beings, wild beasts, and all people. Werner 1998, p. 105. The Keśin Hymn also relates that the Keśin drink from the same magic cup as

Rudra Rudra (; sa, रुद्र) is a Rigvedic deity associated with Shiva, the wind or storms, Vayu, medicine, and the hunt. One translation of the name is 'the roarer'. In the Rigveda, Rudra is praised as the 'mightiest of the mighty'. Rud ...

, which is poisonous to mortals. Fitzpatrick 1994, pp. 30-31. The Kesin hymn of the Rigveda is the earliest evidence of yogis and their spiritual tradition, states Karel Werner. The Hindu scripture Rigveda uses words of admiration for Kesins.

Description

The Keśin were lone ascetics, living a life of renunciation and wandering

mendicant A mendicant (from la, mendicans, "begging") is one who practices mendicancy, relying chiefly or exclusively on alms to survive. In principle, mendicant religious orders own little property, either individually or collectively, and in many ins ...

s. Flood 1996, p. 78.

Yāska Yāska was an ancient Indian grammarian and linguist st. 7th–5th century BCE(disputed)">disputed.html" ;"title="st. 7th–5th century BCE(disputed">st. 7th–5th century BCE(disputed) Preceding Pāṇini st. 7th–4th century BCE(Controv ...

(c. 500 BCE) offered several etymological meanings to Keśin, including the sun or the sun God ''Surya''. Sāyana (c. 14th century ACE) supported that view, followed by some early European Sanskrit scholars, including H. H. Wilson and M. Bloomfield. Werner 1995, p. 36.

Hermann Oldenberg Hermann Oldenberg (31 October 1854 – 18 March 1920) was a German scholar of Indology, and Professor at Kiel (1898) and Göttingen (1908). Work Oldenberg was born in Hamburg. His 1881 study on Buddhism, entitled ''Buddha: Sein Leben, seine Leh ...

took the view that the Keśin Hymn described the "orgiastic practices of the old Vedic times" and the "drunken rapture" of the Keśin. Werner 1977, pp. 291-292.

Ralph T. H. Griffith Ralph Thomas Hotchkin Griffith (1826–1906) was an English Indologist, a member of the Indian education service and among the first Europeans to translate the Vedas into English. He lived in the UK (Oxford) and in India (Benares and Nilgiris) ...

and

Heinrich Roth Heinrich Roth (December 18, 1620 in Dillingen, Germany – June 20, 1668 in Agra; also known as ''Henricus Rodius'' or ''Henrique Roa'') was a missionary and pioneering Sanskrit scholar. Life Having been born in Dillingen and raised in Augsburg ...

rejected both the Surya and intoxicant-drinking views. Griffith supported Roth's view of the Keśin Hymn:

The hymn shows the conception that by a life of sanctity the Muni can attain to the fellowship of the deities of the air, the Vayu, the Rudras, the Apsarases, and the Gandharvas; and, furnished like them with wonderful powers, can travel along with them on their course.

Werner contrasts Kesin with

Rishi ''Rishi'' () is a term for an accomplished and enlightened person. They find mentions in various Vedic texts. Rishis are believed to have composed hymns of the Vedas. The Post-Vedic tradition of Hinduism regards the rishis as "great yogis" o ...

, both loners, but the former being the silent wandering types and the latter being the satya (truth-teaching) settled-in-a-hut types.

The Keśin Hymn (RV 10, 136)

The description of Keśin is found in hymn 10.136 of the

.Sanskrit Original:
Wikisource
of the Keśin hymn);
केश्यग्निं केशी विषं केशी बिभर्ति रोदसी । केशी विश्वं स्वर्दृशे केशीदं ज्योतिरुच्यते ॥१॥ मुनयो वातरशनाः पिशङ्गा वसते मला । वातस्यानु ध्राजिं यन्ति यद्देवासो अविक्षत ॥२॥ उन्मदिता मौनेयेन वाताँ आ तस्थिमा वयम् । शरीरेदस्माकं यूयं मर्तासो अभि पश्यथ ॥३॥ अन्तरिक्षेण पतति विश्वा रूपावचाकशत् । मुनिर्देवस्यदेवस्य सौकृत्याय सखा हितः ॥४॥ वातस्याश्वो वायोः सखाथो देवेषितो मुनिः । उभौ समुद्रावा क्षेति यश्च पूर्व उतापरः ॥५॥ अप्सरसां गन्धर्वाणां मृगाणां चरणे चरन् । केशी केतस्य विद्वान्सखा स्वादुर्मदिन्तमः ॥६॥ वायुरस्मा उपामन्थत्पिनष्टि स्मा कुनन्नमा । केशी विषस्य पात्रेण यद्रुद्रेणापिबत्सह ॥७॥ – Rigveda 10.136, 2nd millennium BCE

Ralph Griffith translation

Karel Werner interpretation

Notes

References

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kesin Rigveda Hindu ascetics Hindu denominations Hindu mysticism Shamanism *