Phallus Worship in the Veda

Vidhushekhara Bhattacharya

Phallus Worship in the Veda

Vol. 10 · No. 1March - 1934pp. 156–157English

Summary

Contrary to its title, this brief note does not discuss phallic worship. It addresses a textual issue in the Pali *Saṃyutta Nikāya*. The author cites Rhys Davids’ translation of a stanza praising virtuous women and noting that a daughter may be a better offspring than a son. The Pali term *sassudeva* (husband’s mother) has been misread in some editions, and the author suggests emending it to *sasu‑deva*. He argues that the Siamese reading *itthiyo* is faulty because the subsequent verse uses a singular form. By comparing translations and the Siamese edition, the note clarifies the correct reading. The discussion underscores that the verse celebrates female virtue and does not involve phallic symbolism. The note thus exemplifies careful philological work on Buddhist texts.

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Conclusion

The conclusion points out that the note dispels a mistranslation in a Pali verse about virtuous women. It emphasises the importance of textual accuracy and notes that there is no reference to phallic worship.

Key passages

Chosen by AI from the article's text. Each one is checked word for word against the text before it is shown.

“In a note છા this pubject in ITHQ., wol, [૩ 1933, p. 103, I attempted to show that the word fidnadeva (RT., VII. 21.5; X. 10.00) does not mean a ‘phallus-worshipper,’ the irue sense of the word heing nothing but ‘Iustful.””
“Certainly it does not mean છ ‘mother-in-law. worthipper,” but ‘one who respects and serves one’s mother-in-law as a - god,””
“Rouse has rightly expressed the significance of the word uwnder dis-cussion in his translation of the verse as follows: ‘When women virtuous, wise and good here in the world are found, True wives, 10 husband’s mother kind even ag in duty bound.’”

Works cited in this article

Jataka, vol. TV
Samyutta Nikaye, vol, I
Mahdvasty, vol. I

Discussed in this article

People

Senart 15
Mr. Allan 3
C. Gangury
Fausbiéll
Mrs. Rhys David
VIDHUSHERITARA DBHATTACHARYA

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In this issue

Vol. 10 · No. 1

1–11Evolution of VijñanavadaVidhushekhara Bhattacharya 12–13Quotations by Bhoja from the KamasutraDasharatha Sharma 14–25Pre-Aryan Elements in Indian CultureAtul Krishna Sur 26–36Events leading to the Ambela ExpeditionR. R. Sethi 37–47Dravidic "Water"L. V. Ramaswami Aiyar 48–53Candragupta Vikramaditya and GovindaV. V. Mirashi 54–56Sohgaura Copper-plateB. M. Barua 57–66Old Brahmi Inscription of MahasthanB. M. Barua 67–81Persian and Greek Coins and their Imitations in Ancient IndiaSurendra Kishore Chakraborty 82–89CatustavaPrabhubhai Patel 90–98Eastern CalukyasDhirendra Chandra Ganguly 100–103Damaged Sripur PlatesL. P. Pandeya Sharma 105–111Pancatantra of VasubhāgaA. Venkatasubbiah 112–115Domicile of the Author of Campu BhārataV. B. Naik 116–120Trilingual Inscription (1734 AD)Puranchand Nahar 121–124Puranic TraditionsNarayana Tripathi 125–136A Further Note on the Origin of the Bell CapitalA. K. Mitra 137–142Home of AryadevaNalinaksha Dutt 143–147Some Dravidian Features in Indo-Chinese Social LifeS. V. Viswanatha 148–153A Note on Jaina Hymns and Magic SquaresHiralal B. Kapadia 154–156Vainyagupta DvadasadityaDhirendra Chandra Ganguly 156–157Phallus Worship in the VedaVidhushekhara BhattacharyaCurrent article 158–160A Note on the SalankayanasM. Rama Rao 161–163The Natyasastra and the AbhinavabharatiMano Mohan Ghosh 163–165The name of the Autlior of the NyayasaraDasharatha Sharma 165–166Vyomasiva, the author of VyomavatiDasharatha Sharma 167–196ReviewsSushil Kumar De, Mano Mohan Ghosh, U. N. Ghoshal, Batakrishna Ghosh, D. L. De 197–203Select Contents of Oriental Journals 204–209Bibliographical Notes

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