Rasatala or the Under-World
Summary
In this extensive essay the author investigates Rasātala – the under‑world of Indian cosmology – and the enigmatic Panis mentioned in the R̥gveda. He critically reviews D.R. Vasu’s claim that the Panis were Aryan traders who founded colonies in Phoenicia. Drawing on Vedic hymns, Purāṇic passages and classical sources, he argues instead that the Panis were non‑Aryan, nomadic Scythic tribes living beyond the Jaxartes. The article examines the Sarama story in the R̥gveda, where Indra’s hound Sarama confronts the Panis who have stolen cattle. Their ignorance of Indra and their description as Dasyus indicate to the author that they were foreign to the Indo‑Aryans. He relates the Panis to the Dahe or Dahae of Greek historians and identifies their homeland Rasātala with the fertile valleys of Transoxiana (Oṣruṣṇā). Linguistic evidence is marshalled to show that terms like Asura, Ahura and Osiris may originally have denoted inhabitants of Asura or Osrushna rather than demons. The author describes how nomadic hordes from Central Asia, including Huns and Turanians, ravaged Aryan lands and shaped myths about under‑world dwellers. He discusses milk‑drinking customs of Scythians, the etymology of Pani and Phoenik, and the adoption of serpent symbolism (Nāgas) in describing Pani leaders. The essay rejects attempts to derive the Sanskrit word vanik (trader) from Pani and contends that the Panis were herdsmen and raiders. Rasātala is depicted not as a subterranean hell but as the distant northern lands of nomads, equated with the Rasā or Araxes river region. By synthesising textual, linguistic and historical evidence, the author situates Rasātala myths within the context of early Indo‑Iranian contact with Central Asian tribes.
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Conclusion
After examining Vedic verses, Purāṇic lore and Greek accounts, the author concludes that the Panis were not Aryan merchants but Scythic nomads from the Rasā valley whose cattle‑raiding incursions inspired the myth of Rasātala. The story of Sarama’s search for Indra’s cows reflects the Aryans’ frontier conflicts with these tribes. Rasātala thus represents the remote trans‑Oxian homeland of Turanian peoples rather than an underground hell. Understanding this historical backdrop clarifies the evolution of terms like Asura and illuminates the interplay between mythology and ethnography in early Indian literature.