History of the rise and fall of the dAlbhyas

The pravara section of the bodhAyana shrauta sUtra informs us that the dAlbhyas or dArbhyas are bhAradvAjas of the harita branch. They were famous figures of the kuru-pa~nchAla realm in terms of ritual and war. While originally brahmins, they appear to have repeatedly transmuted to kshatriyas and rulers when the opportunity availed itself. Their first major figure was rathavIti (rathitara) dAlbhya who became a powerful monarch and was tutor and patron of the astronomer shyAvAshva atreya.

The history of final flash of the dAlbhyas is narrated, in a semi-mythologized form, in the jaiminIya brAhmaNa (JB). This is a very important chapter in the history of the post-mahAbhArata (MBh) unification of northern India by the Indo-Aryans that is largely missed by the vaishaMpAyana epic and the purANas. This is not surprising given that the former was very kuru (pANDava)-centric in its view, while the dAlbhya was one of the pa~nchAla realm. In the surviving fragments of the jaiminIya mahAbhArata (under the patina of vaishnavite theology), which is less favorable to the pANDavas, we are told that the yaGYas of the kurus succeeded because of the charms of the dAlbhyas. This, along with their frequent mention in the JB suggests that the dAlbhyas were important patrons of the jaiminis in the post-MBh period. Here we attempt to reconstruct this later history of the dAlbhyas from the JB, the brAhmaNa section of the taittirIya saMhita (TS), the bodhAyana shrauta sutra (BSS) and the kAThaka saMhita (KS) of the yajur veda.

The tale of the dAlbhyas in the kuru-pa~nchAla confederation may be initiated with that of chaikitAyana dAlbhya from the jaiminiya upaniShad brAhmaNa 1.59. chaikitAyana was a student of the great pa~nchAla monarch pravAhana jaivali, from whom he learnt to perform the role of the udgAtA in the soma sacrifice. He is said to have attended a sacrifice to the deva vAyu by the kuru minister abhipratArin kAkshaseni, when he offended the latter’s priest atharvan shaunaka during the madhuparka offering. The bhArgava challenged him by asking various questions on the mystic songs of the sAman, but he provided a detailed exegesis on the matter. The jaiminIya tradition uses these answers to explain the use of the sAmans in the soma rite. His sister appears to have become the wife of the bhArgava and their descendents were the dArbhAyana branch of the shrIvatsas.

We subsequently encounter his descendent a few generations later as vaka dAlbhi during the reign of dR^itharAShTra vaicitravIrya, lord of the kurus, which is narrated in KS 10.6. After officiating as a sAmavedic singer at a sacrifice for the kauravas at naimishAraNya, vaka dAlbhi went to the court of dR^itharAshTra and hoped to receive cows from him. The fierce god rudra pashupati had hurled a dart on the pasture of the kurus and and some cattle were afflicted by a pox. dR^itharAShTra thought that this was caused by a charm of vaka dAlbhi and handed over those sick cows to the dAlbhi. The brahmin furious over this slight, invoked rudra with a saman and offered those cows to him. The deadly charm of the brAhmaNa was destroying the possessions of the kuru king, when his courtiers informed him of the brahmin’s rite. dR^itharAShTra then asked his brahmins to perform a pratyAN^girasa rite to diffuse the brahmin’s charm. The jaiminIya bhArata tells us that vaka dAlbhi then aided arjuna with his charms in course of the ashvamedha of yudhiShThira. Then he seems to have left the pANDavas, along with the jaimini, and went over to the nAga chief takshaka and became his sAmavedic prastotA and udgAtA priest. He along with the AtharvaNa dhR^itarAShTra airAvata performed a soma sacrifice for the nAgas. The kurus were at that time simultaneously performing a soma sacrifice with the help of ajakeshin and his brahmins. But dAlbhi and airAvata with their superior performance (the correct insertion of the OMkAras in the sAman chant) got indra to aid their party. Vaka dAlbhi was considered the greatest exponent of the sAmaveda (of the jaimini school) till he was challenged to a contest by maudgalAyana, and beaten in it due the inability to explain the philosophical basis of the gAyatra and sAvitra chants.

During the memorable reigns of parIkshit and janamejaya the kurus attainted unprecedented power, and their western boundaries extended beyond takshashIla. But shortly after this, the Iranian tribe of the salvas became active in the northwest frontier beyond bAhlika and mUjavAta. The yadus, under kR^ishNa vAsudeva had smashed the salva horde and repulsed them during a earlier invasion about a century ago. But on this occassion the salvas over-ran the territories of the kurus and conquered much of their lands. It is possible that this invasion also introduced some Altaic elements, as is suggested by the emergence of the goddess uma (Altaic Umai) in the late upanishadic parlance. It was in this background that the revival of the Indo-Aryan power was connected with the rise of dAlbhyas. During this period of chaos, dalbha shatAnIkI, descendent of vaka (most probably the great-grandson) gained control of the pa~nchAla province. When he was faced with great unrest he performed the ekaha soma sacrifice. Then with the help of his ministers, keshin sAtyakAmi and ahInA Ashvatthi, he gained total control of the pa~nchAla realm (jaiminIya brAhmaNa 2.100). The grandson of janamejaya, the kuru king ucchaisravas kauvayeya defeated the salvas and liberated the domain of hastinApura.

His sister kauravAyaNi married dalbha shatAnIkI. Their son was the ambitious keshin dAlbhya who showed an inclination towards both brAhma and kshatra: the bharadvAja ideal of yore. He fought wars on salvas, and drove them away from the bhArata realm. In recognition of this, his uncle ucchaisravas, made him the viceroy of the pa~nchAla province. He is then said to have had a shamanic sight of the spirit of the bhArgava R^ishi, kabandha AtharvaNa, in the form of a gandharva, and acquired the knowledge of the vyUDhachandasaM dvAdashaM or the 12 day soma sacrifice with transposed meters. With the aid of this rite he is said to have pleased the devas and attained lordship over the pa~nchAlas. However, keshin had a rival in the form of the salva remnant, khaNDika audbhAri, who was also seeking control of the pa~nchAla realm. The two decided to perform rites to attain over-lordship. Just before the completion of the rite, audbhAri captured keshin’s saMrAj cow and it was eaten by a tiger. However, keshin and his 4 brahmin advisors, namely keshin sAtyakAmi, ahInA Ashvatthi, rAhakshita and lushakapi khArgali learned a new soma sacrifice called the antarvasu from his uncle, the kuru king, ucchaisravas (JB 2.122). As a result they were empowered by the devas and overcame audbhAri. audbhAri attempted to overthrow keshin yet again, but keshin’s brahmins performed the soma sacrifice called parikrI, and by its power keshin defeated audbhAri once and for all.

After the death of his kuru uncle, the united realm of the kuru-pa~nchAla came under the control of keshin. He decided to perform a dvadasha sacrifice in the honor of his uncle, when he realized that he had nobody to sing the vAravantIya melody in the right tune. So he is said to have set out in search of an udgAtA who could do this. In his search he came to a graveyard, where he saw a brahmin called prAtR^ida bhAlla, lying flat, performing a strange rite. This esoteric brahmin could perform the requisite role in his sacrifice, so he made him his chief priest. The other brahmins of the kuru and the pa~nchAla were annoyed at this stranger, but keshin declared that he was a fit priest and prAtR^ida performed the yaGYa for him. This tale may suggest the reconciliation brought about, by keshin, between the fringe elements, which were precursors of tantrism (the graveyard ritualist !), and the mainstream bhArata orthodoxy. This could explain the presence of the proto-tantra-like formulae in the AraNya gAnaMs. After the reunification of Northern India under keshin’s regime he appears to have formalized the structure of the vedic ritual. The most important of these was the standardization of the sAman melodies in the soma rites and revival of dIkshA rite, which is accordingly known as the kaishinI dIkshA. It is said that the rite was originally instituted by the R^ishi iTAnt bhArgava. The it was formalized by the pa~nchAla princes, shikhandin and sutvan, sons of drupada yaGYasena, the pa~nchAla monarch. It is claimed that the spirit of sutvan yAGYasena, in the form of bird, imparted the secrets of the dIksha rite to keshin. The final collation of several brAhmaNas and the early shrauta sutras also appear to have been carried out in his regime.

The rise and the reforms of keshin appear to have raised the ire of the sons of kuru brahmins, who decided to lead a vrAtya expedition against him (mentioned in bodhAyana shrauta sUtra 18.26). Despite their fathers’ warnings, they appointed aupoditi gaupAlAyana vaiyAghrapadya as their sthapati and arrived at the sacrificial arena of keshin, where he had installed the upavasatha altar. The next day they interrupted the bahiShpavamAna rite, when they were challenged by a young brahmachAri of the keshin’s realm for an intellectual contest and plainly shown as incompetents. Furious they tried to lay abhichArika charms on keshin. However, keshin’s distant cousin, the great bharadvAja ritual expert from the North-West frontier province, gandharvAyaNa vAleya Agniveshya laid a charm on the vrAtyas and hurled them back, while absorbing their charms.

These memorable developments, both on the military and ritual front under the reign of keshin contributed significantly to the unification of India and block any further incursions into India from the NW-frontier province. Why, then, is his reign not remembered beyond the texts of the late vedic period? One possibility is suggested by the upheaval during his son’s reign. Keshin was succeeded by aShADha kaishin, during whose reign the kshatriya confederation of the kuntayas arose (kAThaka saMhita of the yajurveda). Their leader was shyAparNa sAyakAyana, who assembled their horde on the south-west of the pa~nchAla heartland. He defeated aShADha kaishin and overthrew him, and celebrated it with a vAjapeya rite. However that did not end the dAlbhyas, they regrouped under his son rathaprota dAlbhya, whose purohitas were the kaulakAvatI twins. He is said to have performed the agni surabhimati rite and invoked the apsarAs, pu~njikastalA and krutastalA, and regained his kingdom.

The reign of the dAlbhyas appears to have marked the last major Indian unification before rise of the magadhan imperialism of ajAtashatru. After the dAlbyas, the Indo-Aryan realm appears to have politically devolved into the democratic gaNarAjyas for a while. But the political and religious unification of North India under successive dynasties emanating from the kuru and the pAnchAla, the last of which were the dAlbhyas had already provided the identity of the Indian nation.