Hastin (हस्तिन्) is a term for

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...

used in Vedic texts. Other terms for elephant include Ibha (इभ) and Vārana (वारण).

The elephant in the Rigveda

In Rig Veda 1.84.17 and 4.4.1. and probably other instances the Rig Veda seems to refer to

s (e.g. Bryant 2001: 323), an animal that is native to South Asia. It has been speculated that some of these verses might be references to domesticated elephants. In RV 1.64.7, 8.33.8 and 10.40.4, "wild" elephants are mentioned.

Mrga Hastin

In the Rigveda and in the Atharvaveda, the term is translated as elephant (according to Keith and Macdonell, Roth and other scholars). In the Rig Veda, ''Mrga Hastin'' (animal with a hand) occurs in RV 1.64.7 and RV 4.16.14.

Ibha

RV 9.57.3 and RV 6.20.8 mention 's, a term meaning "servant, domestics, household" according to Roth, Ludwig, Zimmer and other Indologists. Other scholars like Pischel and

Karl Friedrich Geldner Karl Friedrich Geldner (17 December 1852 – 5 February 1929) was a German linguist best known for his analysis and synthesis of Avestan and Vedic Sanskrit texts. Biography Geldner was born in Saalfeld, Saxe-Meiningen, where his father was a ...

translate the term as elephant.Vedic Index, I, 79 According to Sayana, Mahidhara and the

Nirukta ''Nirukta'' ( sa, निरुक्त, , "explained, interpreted") is one of the six ancient Vedangas, or ancillary science connected with the Vedas – the scriptures of Hinduism.James Lochtefeld (2002), "Nirukta" in The Illustrated Encyclope ...

, ibha is translated as elephant.

Megasthenes Megasthenes ( ; grc, Μεγασθένης, c. 350 BCE– c. 290 BCE) was an ancient Greek historian, diplomat and Indian ethnographer and explorer in the Hellenistic period. He described India in his book '' Indica'', which is now lost, but ha ...

and

Nearchos Nearchus or Nearchos ( el, Νέαρχος; – 300 BC) was one of the Greeks, Greek officers, a navarch, in the army of Alexander the Great. He is known for his celebrated expeditionary voyage starting from the Indus river, Indus River, through t ...

also connect ibha with elephant. The term ibha is only used in the Samhitas, and especially in the Rig Veda.

Varana

Another term that may mean elephant is "Varana" (RV 8.33.8; RV 10.40.4). According to Macdonell and Keith, "Varana" refers to elephants.Vedic Index, II, 288

The elephant in other Hindu texts

The Akananuru (27) and the

Purananuru The ''Purananuru'' (, literally "four hundred oemsin the genre puram"), sometimes called ''Puram'' or ''Purappattu'', is a classical Tamil poetic work and traditionally the last of the Eight Anthologies (''Ettuthokai'') in the Sangam literatu ...

(389) state that elephants were raised and trained in ancient Tamilagam's northern boundary of Venkatam hills

Tirupati Tirupati () is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirupati district. The city is home to the important Hindu shrine of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple and other historic temples and is re ...

Notes

References

*Bryant, Edwin (2001). The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture. Oxford University Press. . *Macdonell, A.A. and Keith, A.B. 1912. The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects. *Talageri, Shrikant: The Rigveda: A Historical Analysis. 2000. {{ISBN, 81-7742-010-0