Alone as the rhinoceros horn

We know the onehorned rhino is the state animal of Assam As per a folk poetry in the Terai region Vishwakarma created this beast by mixing elephant skin horse hooves crocodile eyes bear brain lion heart and a bullrsquos hornIn the Harappan civilisation which thrived 4500 years ago along the northwest banks of the Indus River we find seals that show the rhinoceros This indicates that the rhinoceros lived even in the western part of India in ancient times when the ecology was very different We also find the mysterious onehorned bovine or cowlike unicorn unlike the equine or horselike unicorn of Western mythology on Harappan seals While the rhinoceros is a real animal seen in nature one is not sure if the Harappan unicorn was real or fantasticThe rhino is referred to as a thickskinned Khadga in the Rig Veda Arjunrsquos bow Gandiva is linked to the Gandaka another word for rhinoceros in Sanskrit Clearly the rhinoceros with its thick hide and sharp horn was venerated by warrior Aryans The thick hide of the rhinoceros has been used by warriors for their shields and is considered an impregnable weapon In the Gita there is a verse where we find Krishna referring himself to Ekashringa or the onehorned creature This leads people to often wonder whether the Varaha avatar was actually a rhinoceros and not a wild boarThe rhinoceros is part of Jain mythology as the symbol of the Jain Tirthankar Shreyansnath He is the eleventh Tirthankar Khaggavisana Sutta of the Buddhists uses the solitary horn of the rhinoceros as a metaphor of the solitary life of a monkWander alone like a rhinoceros Free from longing finding no pleasure in the worldrsquos games love or sensual bliss abstaining from adornment speaking the truth wander alone like a rhinoceros Abandoning offspring spouse father mother riches grain relatives amp sensual pleasures altogether wander alone like a rhinoceros Shattering fetters like a fish in the water tearing a net like a fire not coming back to whatrsquos burnt wander alone like a rhinoceros Eyes downcast not footloose senses guarded with protected mind not oozing or burning with lust wander alone like a rhinocerosAlso readSouth Asia record films at Toronto International Film FestivalIn Gujarat there is a folk deity known as the Dhavdi Mata who rides a rhinoceros Dhavdi Mata is from the Gujarat region and the Harappan seals are from the same area This suggests that the rhinoceros was a very important part of western part of India in ancient times and these are memories from that period Dhavdi Mata is worshipped even in parts of Pakistan and was sacred to local nomadic communitiesThe rhinoceros also appears in a folk version of the Mahabharata Here we are told that the Pandavas hunted a celestial rhinoceros whose flesh had to be offered as part of a ceremony to enable their dead father Pandu enter heaven In folk Ramayan Ram hunts the golden deer for the same reason The idea of offering meat to dead kings was clearly a common practice in India before puritanism took over and all funeral offerings became rice or barley or grainThis rhinoceros hunted by Pandavas in the Garhwali version of the Pandav Leela was found in Indraloka While in Sarla Dasrsquos Odia Mahabharata the rhinoceros was found in Shivarsquos garden Arjun hunted this animal but had to confront the animalrsquos caretaker who turned out to be his own son by a Naga princess This boyrsquos name was Nagarjuna a character much revered in folkloreThe author writes and lectures on the relevance of mythology in modern times Reach him at devduttpattanaikmiddaycom