The sea in the Vedas and the Itihasa

What defines it

1. 01

   Rigveda 1.116: the Ashvins rescue Bhujyu from the sea

2. 02

   Rigveda 1.116.5: a ship of a hundred oars

3. 03

   Rigveda 1.25: Varuna knows the ships of the sea

4. 04

   Mahabharata, Adi Parva: Vidura’s boat on the Ganga

01Bhujyu in the sea

In Rigveda 1.116 the rishi Kakshivan praises the Ashvins for saving Bhujyu, son of Tugra, who was left in the midst of the waters. The hymn says they carried him home in winged ships over three nights and three days, and verse 5 names a ship of a hundred oars, shataritra. Later hymns to the Ashvins return to the same rescue again and again, so it was a well-known deed.

02Varuna knows the ships

Rigveda 1.25, the hymn of Shunahshepa to Varuna, says that Varuna knows the path of the birds that fly in the sky and knows the ships of the sea. The sea here is a road, watched over by the Deva of cosmic order. The word samudra itself appears many times in the Rigveda, for the gathering of waters into which the rivers run.

03Vidura’s boat

In the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata, after the house of lac burns at Varanavata, Vidura sends a trusted man with a boat to the Ganga. The text describes it as fitted with machinery and banners, able to stand wind and wave, and it carries the Pandavas and Kunti across in the night. It is a river crossing, but it shows boat-building held in honour in the Itihasa.

In the texts

• Rigveda 1.25, 1.116, 1.117
• Mahabharata, Adi Parva (Jatugriha episode)

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