Dadhikrā or Dadhikrāvan was likely the racehorse or warhorse selected for the Aśvamedha of King Trasadasyu, who ruled the Rigvedic

Pūru tribe The Purus were a Rigvedic tribe or a confederation of tribes. There were several factions of Purus, one being the Bharatas. The Purus and the Bharatas were the two most prominent tribes in most of the Rigveda. The Purus rallied many other groups ...

. Trasadasyu had led the Pūru eastward across the

Indus The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

river and there defeated the Anu-Druhyu and Yadu-Turvaśa tribal unions. The ritual would thus have been meant to strengthen Trasadasyu's royal legitimacy and signal the Pūru's newly preeminent position among the neighboring

Aryan Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...

tribes. Dadhikrā has achieved some level of divinity in 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 ...

, and represents the sovereignty of the Pūru and the power of the Aśvamedha as a whole. In the fourth book of the Rigveda he is invoked in three hymns, mostly on his own. Due to his impressive swiftness, Dadhikrā is frequently called a

falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

or a

hawk Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. Th ...

. He is extolled as fearsome and physically powerful, and compared to a skillful warrior seeking fame. In two later hymns, Dadhikrā is praised alongside

Agni Agni (English: , sa, अग्नि, translit=Agni) is a Sanskrit word meaning fire and connotes the Vedic fire deity of Hinduism. He is also the guardian deity of the southeast direction and is typically found in southeast corners of Hindu ...

Ushas Ushas (Vedic Sanskrit: / ') is a Vedas, Vedic goddess of dawn in Hinduism. She repeatedly appears in the Rigvedic hymns, states David Kinsley, where she is "consistently identified with dawn, revealing herself with the daily coming of light to t ...

and the Asvins, whose solar imagery he shares. Jamison and Brereton remark that "Though it is not entirely clear why Dadhikrā is so strongly associated with the dawn, it may be significant that the priestly gifts are distributed at the dawn ritual and horses are among the most prized of these gifts." The etymological origin of Dadhikrā's name is not certain but it has been suggested that it is derived from ''dadhi'' meaning thickened milk and ''kri'' meaning to scatter. This scattering could be attributed to the effect of the morning sun on

dew Dew is water in the form of droplets that appears on thin, exposed objects in the morning or evening due to condensation. As the exposed surface cools by radiating its heat, atmospheric moisture condenses at a rate greater than that at wh ...

hoar frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor in an above-freezing atmosphere coming in contact with a solid surface whose temperature is below freezing, and resulting in a phase transition, phase change from wa ...

References

{{Rigveda Rigvedic deities