142 RES 34 AUTUMN 1998

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 The Vedic house
LOUIS RENOU
edited and with a preface by Michael WA Meister
When Joseph Rykwert and I sat down to discuss
"hermits' huts" in India for Res almost a decade ago to
accompany the publication of Ananda Coomaraswamy's
important manuscript on "Early Indian Architecture:
Huts and Related Temple Types," Joseph made a point
that evidence from ancient India would have been quite
useful to him in writing his book On Adam's House in
Paradise: "It would have been invaluable, because there
was no material on the pre-Gupta architecture of India
then available to me."' Basing his work on India's long
tradition of ritual literature, however, the great French
scholar of Vedic India, Louis Renou (1 896-1966), had
already published his article on "La maison vedique" in
the Journal Asiatique in 1 93 9.2
In that essay, Renou chose to cull the surviving
religious literature of ancient India specifically to find
practical information on the "process of building" and
"techniques of construction" of shelters made for
domestic and ritual purposes and not to submit them to
a search for universal symbolism. Other scholars who
have continued his work tend to focus less on the
practical issues of construction than on meanings that
can be attached by priests or commentators.3 H.
Bodewitz, for example, writes
The Sadas hut is Praj-apati's belly. The Udumbara wood is
strength (life-sap). When the Udumbara pillar is erected in
1. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, "Early Indian Architecture: IV.
Huts and Related Temple Types,"RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics 15
(1 988):5-33, reprinted in Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, Essays in Early
Indian Architecture, ed. Michael W. Meister (New Delhi: Indira
Gandhi National Center for the Arts, 1992), pp. 1 05-125. Joseph
Rykwert, On Adam's House in Paradise, the Idea of the Primitive Hut
in Architectural History (Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1 981).
2. Louis Renou, "La maison vedique," Journal Asiatique 231
(1939):481-504. For examples of Renou's scholarship in English, see
his Religions of Ancient India (London: University of London, The
Athlone Press, 1953); Vedic India (Calcutta: Susil Gupta, 1 957).
3. H. W. Bodewitz, "Atharvaveda Sam.hita 3, 12: The Building of
a House," Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute 58-59
(1977-78): 59-67; id., "The Raising of the Central Pillar (Made of
Udumbara Wood) of the Sadas Hut by the Udgatr. According to
Jaiminiya Brahmana 1. 70-72," in Ludwik Sternbach Felicitation
Volume, pt. 1, ed. J. P. Sinha (Lucknow, India: Akhila Bharatiya
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the middle of the Sadas hut, one thereby places food, life
sap, in the middle.4
and
The central pillar of a house or of a sacrificial Sadas is
identical with the axis mundi which is placed in the navel
of the earth.5
It is perhaps Renou's caution about such
interpretative agendas that makes his scholarship
refreshing for architectural history today. He is quite
sensitive to the places his evidence has been stored in
the Indic tradition and to the various uses to which his
texts were put over time, but his objective is to
reconstruct the pragmatic practice of architecture in
Vedic India, for which he must put his ritual texts
through a non-universalizing sieve.
Much like Coomaraswamy, however, Renou's
scholarship is encrusted by his citations, written for a
small group of Vedic scholars. In working with my
student Carrie LaPorte on a usable translation of Renou's
article, I have attempted to bring to the surface the
practical information that is at the core of Renou's
narrative, but to retain the dense citation-with its
abbreviations-in notes for those who wish the references.
Renou looks first for "practical aspects of houses in
the Vedic period" in a layer of texts on ritual (Grhyasatras)
that in passing deal with "the rites that accompany
house construction" (? 1). From these, he learns about
materials-bamboo, thatch, straw mats, rope; orientation
and organization; and process-postholes, binding, and
so on. He then tests his understanding of construction
terms and procedures by looking at a further set of texts
that deal with the staging of sacrifice and ritual
(Srautasutras), where sheds and huts used in ritual
performance are described. "In spite of their special
role, these shelters provide valuable information
Sanskrit Parishad, 1979), pp. 77-82. See also Wilhelm Rau, The
Meaning of Pur in Vedic Literature (Munich: W. Fink, 1976).
4. Bodewitz, "The Raising of the Central Pillar" (see note 3), p. 79.
5. Ibid., p. 78, note 1. See also John Irwin, "'Mokan' Pillars: A
Reassessment of the Evidence, Part IV: Symbolism," Burlington Magazine
11 8 (1976), cited in Bodewitz, "Atharvaveda" (see note 3), p. 64.
144 RES 34 AUTUMN 1998
Figure 1. Reed hut with leaf dome from a relief carving from
Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India, circa second century A.D. After many of these in the context of illustrating Hindu castes
Percy Brown.
concerning the process of building" (? 9). Some of these
sheds shelter priests, the sacrificial platform, or chariots.
He finds additional practical terminology for roof systems,
crossbeams, and so on in the descriptions given in
these texts and some confirmation of the processes of
construction in the directions and timing of ritual.
He finally turns back to a much looser body of oral
chants (Mantras) to see "if there is some trace . .. of
allusions to the house and its organization, is this in
accord with facts given in the ritual and exegetic
literature?" Here he finds technical terms that have been
used as metaphors (? 18):
in one passage of a funerary hymn . . . the poet supplicates
the Earth to allow a thousand pillars to be raised in the
cavity where the dead repose, so that her weight will not
crush those who take refuge in her breast.
Yet for him the goal is clear: "gradually the conditions
for bringing together these prescriptive texts become
evident.... This is again an advance ... in determining
a technical terminology" (? 24).
Letting one type of literature illuminate the next,
Renou manages to establish a historian's sense of valid
evidence, proper process, and actual practice. He
manages, for example, to interpret one controversial
hymn that describes the "untying" of the house, not in
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terms of "magical symbolism" but as part of the process
of attaching mat walls to the house frame described in a
different class of texts (? 23).
It is Renou's pragmatism that makes his work vital
now. That the processes of construction he describes
had validity can be attested even by practices of hut
building today. Amita Ray, in her dissertation in 1957,
criticized Coomaraswamy for not giving
sufficient consideration to the humbler dwellings of the
poorer folks in the villages or the still humbler shelters of
hermits and mendicants.... [One misses] any
consideration of the aboriginal and indigenous prototype.6
While there are a variety of indigenous house types
scattered over the Indian subcontinent,7 the type of
structure described in Renou's Vedic sources seems
closest to the matted huts and shelters found in the
tropical climate of eastern India today (fig. 10). In a
remarkable set of hand-colored etchings made in the
1 790s, the Belgian artist Balthazar Solvyns documented
and customs in Bengal (figs. 4-9, 1 1 ).8 Scattered among
the lanes and byways of Calcutta's imperial city, or in
the fields or under trees in rural Bengal, these simple
structures mimicked and continued the constructional
traditions of Renou's Vedic India. (Solvyns comments on
one caste of Brahmans that "they are less corrupted than
the other Brahmans and have preserved more of the
purity of their primitive religion."9)
This is not a naive continuity, however. These huts
have also been validated by imitation over centuries in
eastern India, their form used as a conspicuous sign for
local identity and continuity both in mosque architecture
of the Sultanate period and in the brick temples built by
Hindu landlords in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries (fig. 1 2).10 The system of counting roofs or
6. Amita Ray, Villages, Towns and Secular Buildings in Ancient
India (Calcutta: Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay, 1964), pp. 2-3 (D. Phil.
diss., University of Calcutta, 1957).
7. As illustrated in Joseph E. Schwartzberg, A Historical Atlas of
South Asia (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978), p. 133, pl.
XII.A.3 ("Rural House Types of South Asia").
8. Balthazar Solvyns, A Collection of Two Hundred and Fifty
Colored Etchings: Descriptive of the Manners, Customs, Character,
Dress and Religious Ceremonies of the Hindoos, 2 vols. (Calcutta,
1 799). An edition of engravings reversing these etchings was published
in Paris, 1808-1812.
9. Ibid., section 1, no. 3.
10. David McCutchion, "Hindu-Muslim Artistic Continuities in
Bengal," Journal of the Asiatic Society of Pakistan 13.3
 Renou: The Vedic house 145

rooflines Renou finds in the Srautasuitras (? 1 7), for

example, parallels one modern form of classification still
used for these buildings.11 Ethnography and ethnohistory
must become self critical, of course, but Renou's careful
architectural graphing of texts can point the way.

THE VEDIC HOUSE12

Louis Renou
edited by Michael Meister

? 1. It is in the ritual literature, not the oral chants

(Mantras), that we may hope to find information
concerning the practical aspects of houses in the Vedic
period. All of the Grhyasutras, for example, describe
rites that accompany house construction.13 By means of
these descriptions, this ritual literature provides rare
glimpses into the process of building and even into the
organization of the house interior.
Terms used to denote a house vary in these texts. The
most common is grhal4; agara also is used,15 but the
more specific term is sala16 For example, the
Kausikasutra uses gal when discussing a ritual act that
is effective at a certain distance from the house or is to Figure 2. Leaf-thatched dome-and-cornice hut from a relief
be used upon entering a new house.17 The carving from Gandhara, Pakistan, circa second century A.D.
After Percy Brown.

(1 968):233-251; George Michell, ed., Brick Temples of Bengal From

the Archives of David McCutchion (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton
University Press, 1983). See also Michael W. Meister, ed., with Pika
Ghosh, Cooking for the Gods: The Art of Home Ritual in Bengal
(Newark, New Jersey: Newark Museum, 1995).
11. David McCutchion, Late Mediaeval Temples of Bengal:
Origins and Classifications (Calcutta: Asiatic Society, 1972).
12. [A rough translation of this text was made by a student of
mine, Carrie LaPorte, from which this version has been edited. A list of
abbreviations used in the notes is provided at the end of the article,
and elaborations of Renou's references are provided, where possible,
in brackets within the notes. I should thank David Nelson, South Asia
Bibliographer at the University of Pennsylvania, who helped with
abbreviations and references and read through the text. Ed.].
13. Except for Varaha, Jaiminiya, and Drahyayana; Kausika is an
exception.
14. Singular and plural are both used without distinction in meaning,
with the singular preferred in the direct case and plural in the oblique;
a variant, geha, is found in Kha. IV.2.4 (cf. also KSS. XXV.4.36).
15. With its variant agara, as in agnyagara, Gobh. 111.9.4. (The
assertion that this form is found in KSS. is erroneous.)
1 6. For precedents and antecedents, see the references in
Stenzler's index. [A. F. Stenzler, Wortverzeichniss zu den Hausregeln
von Acval3yana, P3raskara, C3nkh3yana und Gobhila. Leipzig: F. A.
Brockhaus, 1886)
17. Kau. XXIII.1, 5.
?atapata Brahmana uses saJa to designate "profane"
habitations as distinct from cultic constructions.18
Terms of a more general nature are also used, a
typical habit of ritualists to avoid a precise terminology.
Thus we find vesman, "habitation"; sarana, meaning
literally "refuge"; avasana, literally "place where one
removes the harness after a journey" but also meaning
"site of the house."19 The word that occurs most
frequently in this series, however, is vastu, designating
both the house and its site.20 One text uses the word
vimita ("construction") to refer to a ritual "hut" of the
same type described in the ?rautasOtras (? 1 1).21
18. SB. 111.1 .1 .7; TB. 1.2.3.1 (cf. Say.).
19. Kha. IV.2.19; Sa. 1.12.1; Gobh. 111.1.32; Lau. Xl.1; Gobh.
IV.7.15.
20. AMv. 11.7.7 and elsewhere; Bau. 111.5.6 & 9; Jai. 11.6; Vai. 111.7
(in vastupr>tha, "rear facade"), 16; Bha. 11.4 and elsewhere, where the
juxtaposition agaram vastu ca demonstrates how the two terms
circumscribe each other.
21. Sa. 11.14.5. Kau. XXIV.3, XXXIV.3.

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146 RES 34 AUTUMN 1998

? 2. The rituals (vidhi or karman) relating to a house

are generally called vastusamana (literally
"appeasement of the soil").22 In the Vaikhanas-iyas, the
ritual of building is integrated into the practices
N~~~~~~~~NN
concerning birthing; elsewhere it stands alone. We here
restrict ourselves to facts that reveal techniques of
construction, leaving aside instructions given in several
texts pertaining to the nature of the soil, choosing of the
date to begin construction, and so on.23
The ground is to be cleaned with an uduha, a type of
broom.24 Care is taken to lay out the surrounding wall
(parilikhya).25 The Asvalayana Srautasutra, always more
detailed, directs that a thousand furrows should be
Nq \N N. /E
made.26 It seems that a preliminary sketch should be
created by digging and tilling the soil (uddhatya).27
The Asvalayana orders that the site should be of such
a nature as to allow water flowing from all directions
toward the center to form an ambulatory path
(pradaksina) around the bedroom (sayanlya); then the
waters should drain without noise toward the east.28
According to Narayana's commentary, this means that
the soil should be raised at the sides, depressed in the
center, and slightly slanted to the east; and that there
should be a channel (syandanika) to the north so that
the water could drain off. The Baudayana SrautasCitra
states only that the location of the bed (talpadesa)
should be situated to the northeast.29
The Asvalayana assigns the kitchen (bhaktasarana) to - - SI

the place where the water drains (samavasrava), that is,

on the east side of the house, north of the bedroom.30
But the same expression, under the variant samavasrava,
is used to note that the general siting of the house is to
be chosen such that the draining of water should be the Figure 4. Balthazar Solvyns made a set of etchin
same everywhere; similarly, Devapala explains that "no 1 790s in Bengal to illustrate figures from differen
castes. The thatched huts that act as Solvyns's b
these etchings use bamboo posts, thatched roofs
awnings, matted walls, and other elements of co
much as Renou's sources describe them in the Ve
22. Hir. 1.27.9; Bha. 11.5; Bau. 111.5.21; Vai. 111.16 to vastusavana
form, which is not necessarily a corruption of vastusamana, as is
shown in the corresponding expression vastuhoma (ibid.) and cf.
salasava "construction of a house," Keg. ad Kau. LXVI.22.
side should be lower or higher than any oth
doubt these two
23. Notably Av. 11.7.2ff.; Hir. 1.27.1; Gobh. IV.7.2ff. divergent traditions arose f
earlier practice.
24. Ap. XVII; cf. Say. ad TB. 111.8.4.3, dandabaddhatrnasamuiha.
25. Bha. 11.3, trihpa?12; Hir. 1.27.1; Sa. 111.2.1.
26. Asv. 11.8.9 (that means "a lot" says Nar.).
? 3. The salon (sabha) in which Narayan
27. According to Ap., 1. c.; Haradatta glosses this as khanitrena
the master of the house
khanati yatha pamsava utpadyante, "the engraving with a spade so that
greets and receives
the sand comes to the surface." to be "built" in the part of the house "that
28. AMv. 11.7.7; Nar., ?ayaniya = ?a?2 grham.
29. Bau. 111.5.9.
30. AMv. 11.7.8; Nar., bhaktasarana = mahanasa. 31. Man. 11.1 1.3; Lau Xl.l.

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 Renou: The Vedic house 147

\3

/ 4 11
/ ~

Figure 5. The large rectangular hall with a curved thatch roof Figure 6. In this etching, Solvyns records a shelter w
in this Solvyns etching has a reinforced ridgeline, cagelike floor, moveable front awning propped up with a ba
awning, and plaited walls. and an interior divider made of woven mats tied to
structural poles that define divisions in the interior.

toward the south" according to the Asvalayana (that is, The shape of the site is either that of a brick
in the northern part according to Narayana's or of a 'circle" (manilaladv7pa), according to so
commentary).32 Finally, the same text implies that the texts.35 The Asvalayana uses less imagistic term
best situation for this room is at the water's confluence,
that is to say at the center of the depression as
southwest according to Ap. XVII.1; Lau. XI.1 allows a cho
Narayana mandates.33 the northeast and the northwest; Man. 11.1 1.4 gives the nort
also recognizes a slope to the south or even, as already no
distributed drainage.
34. Gobh. IV.7.12 (Kha. IV.2.12 reads 95ta, as Oldenberg
32. According to Av. 11.7.10; Nar.
but the su. is missing in the Mahadeva-Srinisacharya editio
33. Asv. 11.7.12. Other treatises provide fewer details: Gobh.
figures only in the commentary by Rudrask).
IV.7.3 confines itself to proscribing that water should drain to the east
35. Gobh. IV.7.13 (Kha., 1. c., in Oldenberg reads
or north; to the northwest according to Kha. IV.2.7; toward the
ma ndaladvTpin).

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148 RES 34 AUTUMN 1998
Figure 7. This Solvyns etching demonstrates bracing of the
bamboo frame, tied with knots, and the presence of a large
central pole.
space is either square (samacaturasra) or rectangular
(ayatacaturasra).36
? 4. Construction of the house itself begins first by
digging a certain number of holes (garta).37 These
postholes are to have a depth equal to the distance from
the ankle to knee so that the water drains well from
36. Mv. 11.8.9-10.
37. An archaic variant karta is found in Lau. XI.2; avata, Hir.
1.27.1, Par. 111.4.3.
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them (dh5rayisnCidakatara).38 Jayarama, in his
commentary on the Paraskara Grhyasuitra, speaks of four
corner holes. The Kausikasutra mentions a middle
posthole (madhyama garta).9
The next step in the process is the installation of posts
(sthuna) of udumbara wood. Sometimes wood of an
inferior quality is used, but the Barikhayana Srautasuitra
recommends a ritual of atonement (prayascitta) to avoid
potential problems.40 Nirukta calls the pillar (sthCkI)O
"that which rests in the cavity (darasaya)." Some
commentaries indicate that if the house is "white"
(dhavalagrha, which may mean "of stone" in this
context), stones replace the sthur.A, and one
commentary adds that for houses, a stone is placed at
the bottom of each hole to support the post placed on
top of it;41 however, no text of the Vedic period itself
mentions stone as a building material.
Because the number of holes is not specified, we do
not know the precise number of posts. The Paraskara
Grhyasutra speaks of four, but this may only refer to
those at the corners.42 In reality, a rather larger number
of pillars may have been used; nine are mentioned in
the S`6kh5yana Srautasutra (see ? 5).43
? 5. A central pillar (madhyama sthur.a) is frequently
named.44 (The compound form, madhyama-sthuna
confirms that we are dealing with a technical term.45)
The Sankhayana uses the more poetic phrase "king-post"
(sthOriaraja).46 Other texts speak of two such sthur.arJja,47
which Matrdatta's commentary understands to be the
"two long sthCu.5 to the north and south."48 The erection
of a "king-post" (that is, a central pillar capable of
supporting the entire structure according to Narayana's
38. Asv. 11.8.2; Man. 11.1 1.6, cf. paddhati, ad loc., and Asv. 11.8.4.
39. Kau. XLIII.6.
40. Sa. V.8 and 111.2.1 & 5; stambha is the term used in Par.
111.4.4, elsewhere sthuna is used.
41. Nir. 1.1.2. Commentaries of jayar. and Vp. ad Par., 1. c.
42. Par. 111.4.4.
43. As in Ap. XVII.4, passim.
44. Man. 11.1 1.1 1; Lau. XI.2.
45. Asv. 11.8.15.
46. Sa. 111.2.8. This may be borrowed from a Mantra, cf. Par.
111.4.18; Sa. 111.3.7; Ap. XVII.6; MP. 11.15.10.
47. Bha. 11.3 (which follows a yajus, cited in 111.13); Hir. 1.27.5.
48. The dual form sthunau elsewhere comes from a variation of
MP. Hir. in the Mantra of AV., as .rtena sthu.nam (see ? 20).
 Renou: The Vedic house 149

Figure 8. The monumentality and social function of these large thatched structures, even
within an urban setting in the seventeenth century, can be seen in this etching by Solvyns.

commentary) takes place last.49 More precisely, the A
pastamba Grhyasutra instructs that the pillar to the south
side of the door be first erected, then that to the north.50
These posts that support the door on the north and
south and their postholes are referred to as "of the
portal" (dvarya).51
? 6. From this it seems that the door of the house, or
at least the principal door,52 was on the east facade, but,
again, texts differ. According to the Gobhila Grhyascitra,
the door can be to the east, north, or south; a door to
the west is expressly excluded.53 According to the Manava
SrautasCitra, it is to the east or south; Laugaksi concurs.54
The Vaikh5nasiya mentions two doors located to the
east or north and enumerates east, west, south, and
49. According to Sa. 111.2.8.
50. Ap. XVII.4 ff.; the same information is found in Bha. 11.3, Hir.
1.27ff., and Sa. 111.2.5ff., the latter of which adds that the next step is
the erection of two pillars to the south, two to the west, then two to
the north; thus nine in total, including the sthunrianja (cf. also 111.3.3 ff.).
51. Par. 11.9.4; Sa. 111.2.5.
52. Dvara; dvar, Gobh. 111.5.7.
53. Gobh. IV.7.15ff.
54. Man. 11.11.1 6; Lau. Xl.
north doors.55 One text mentions a "door fastener"
(dvarapidhana); others mention paired dvarapaksas,
which undoubtedly denote either leaves or panels that
comprise a door or the doors themselves.56
Two texts say that there is an appended or rear door
(anudvara) "placed so that one cannot be seen" (yathJ na
samloki syat). One commentary says that this might
mean either a door overlooking the court or one
opposite the main door, and that this rule is intended to
prevent the master of the house from being seen by
untouchables (candalas, and so on).57 The VaikAnasiya
gives the name bhuvahga ("earth edge"), by which it
seems to mean the threshold (dvarapattika).58
55. Vai. 111.7, 11.1 6.
56. SB. X.1.1 1; Kau. XXXVI.2 and Asv. IV.6.7.
57. Gobh. IV.7.19ff. and KhM. IV.2.14; commentary cited by
Knauer ad Gobh. [Das Gobhilagrhyasutra, hrsg. und ubers. von dr.
Friedrich Knauer (Dorpat: Gedruckt bei C. Mattiesen; Leipzig: Simmel
& Co., 1884).1
58. Vai. 111.6 and cf. Caland's note on 111.7. [Vaikhanasasmartasutram:
The Domestic Rules and Sacred Laws of the Vaikhanasa School
Belonging to the Black Yajurveda, trans. W. Caland (Calcutta: Asiatic
Society of Bengal, 1929).I

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150 RES 34 AUTUMN 1998

Figure 9. A single long hut with projecting porch serves as a school in this etching
by Solvyns.

? 7. Returning to the foundation posts, bamboo
sleepers (vamspa) are laid so as to connect posts to one
another and to help support the roof, but no details are
furnished regarding the number and arrangement of these
transverse beams, apart from the central one (madhyama
vamsa).59 One begins by placing the east beam, then the
northern one.60 Because these two beams are "attached"
to the pillars, they bear the name "saiijan;" in one
source,61 and the two "pak5as" of a secular hall (the door
posts of, ? 6?) are connected to the central beam with the
aid of a cord according to another source.62 We learn
that ritual dwellings are characterized by the west to
east direction of their sleepers (vams'as) while secular
halls (salas) have these oriented south to north.63 The
wood used for these beams (varsnas) is subject to
splintering according to one text.64
Only one text in the Grhya tradition makes reference
to the disposition of rooms: the Asvalayana advises that
rooms (sarana) should be arranged (karayet) in the
spaces between the beams (varsnas; vamsanntara),
which means, according to Narayana, that divisions by
means of partitions (kusIya), and so on, are customarily
fitted in between two vamsras.65 This word kudya,
however, is attested in only one Vedic source, where it
refers to an exterior wall.66 It is also a wall or a wall's
junction with a post (sthuna), seeing the Paraskara
Grhyasutra's use of the word "sar.dhi" (juncture), but in
conformity with the Yajus (sacrificial prayers), which do
not view this as a technical meaning.67

59. Apart from Hir. 1.27.7, which speaks of the dorsal beam
(p.r^thavarp?a, glossed by Matrd. as madhyama vamsa), as does BhM.
11.3. This must certainly be identical to the madhyamam vamsam found
in Man. 11.1 1.14.
60. According to Lau. Xl.3. 64. Cf. Kau. CXXXV.1, who warns against this mishap.
61. Nir. 1.12. 65. AMv. 11.8.13.
62. TB. 1.2.3.1; Say. 66. Vai. 111.16.
63. SB. 111.1.1.7. 67. Par. 111.4.10ff.

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? 8. We are told, incidentally, that the house is
covered (channa) and that it includes roofs or awnings
(chadis).68 We know that the roof was thatched,69 but
specifics are given only in the Srauta. The word stupa
(literally, it seems, a "tuft of hair" in the form of an egret
bun)70 is found in one Mantra.7" As point of fact, the
sacrificial yupa post was assimilated into the symbolic
stopa,72 but it seems rather that the word stupa
originally designated the points of thatch that the Srauta
texts describe as being gathered back toward the post at
the center of the roof (? 1 7). Elsewhere it is the prastara
("bouquet of grasses placed on the vedi") that is
compared with the stupa.73
A point treated with great detail is that of a "water
reservoirr" (manika) installed on four stones.74 The
particulars given are not concerned with construction,
however: the question is of a portable utensil.75
Allusions are also made to seats (asana) and to niches
(upasthana) in which images of the gods are placed.76 A
"ritual foyer" (agninidhana) is also mentioned.77
We must recall that the act of constructing a house
and particularly of raising the pillars is designated by
the root mi-, which in the.Mantras is generally a
68. Hir. 1.27.8; Bha. 11.3; Bau. 111.5.6.
69. Cf. s<alatrna, Kau. XVIII.10 and elsewhere.
70. See B. Ghosh, Formations in -p-, p. 51). [Les formations
nominales et verbales en p du sanskrit, par Batakrishna Ghosh (Paris:
Adrien-Maisonneuve, 1933); Nominal and Verbal Formations in -p- in
Sanskrit, Batakrishna Ghosh, trans. Dilip Kumar Biswas (Calcutta:
Sanskrit Pustak Bhandar, 1 982).]
71. Par. 111.4.18; Sai. 111.3.7; MP. 11.1 5.1 1, where it seems to be
filtered through the prose of Sai. 111.3.10; Ap. XIX.7. Harad. and Sudars.
ad Ap. define it as prsthavarmsa, while its place in the enumeration of
Sa. moves it closer to being read as an equivalent of sthuInaraja (cf.
Oldenberg, Ind. Stud. XV, p. 72). [The ApastambFya Grihyasutra: With
Extracts from the Commentaries of Haradatta and Sudarsana^rya, ed.
Dr. M. Winternitz under the patronage of the Imperial academy of
sciences of Vienna (Vienna : A. Holder, 1 887).]
72. Of personified sacrifice, see SB. 111.5.3.4.
73. SB. 1.3.3.5.
74. Mv. 11.9.3; a type of bhanda, Nar. Without doubt, the word
abbhrin (Bau. 111.5.6, 9; cf. abbhra in the gaoap of Hemac., cited by
Eggeling Ganaratnamah, p. 480, n. 2) is another appellation.
[Ganaratnamahodadhih/Vardhamanaviracitah svakiyavrttisahito =
Vardhamana's Ganaratnamahodadhi, with the author's commentary,
edited, with critical notes, and indices by Julius Eggling (London:
Trubner & Co., 1879-1881).]
75. Cf. Mv. IV.6.4.
76. Par. 111.4.9, Jayar.
77. Bau. 111.5.6.
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Renou: The Vedic house 151
predicate. But the proper term to denote the erection of
sthuna is uc-chri.78
? 9. Some of these indications become clearer if one
compares them with those given in the Srautasutras.
These later texts describe on several occasions
normally in the discussion of the Agnistoma
ceremony a variety of small structures intended to
accommodate those people who oversee or assist in the
sacrifices or in ritual functions. The commentaries
sometimes incorporate them under the classification
"yajniagara." These are slight, temporary constructions
not used for habitation. In spite of their special role,
these shelters provide valuable information concerning
the process of building: that is, they form a commentary
on the description of the dwelling in the Grhyastutras,
and the shared vocabulary is considerable.
At the beginning of the Agnistoma ceremony, a hall
(s'1aa) used to shelter those assisting in the sacrifices is
described. One text calls this hall vimita,79 but vimita is
distinct from sala in that, as Sayana specifies, the former
is square and the latter, rectangular.80 According to
Baudayana's Sulbasutra, a sala forms a rectangle that is
16 or 12 feet in length, 12 or 10 feet wide.81
? 10. If we take Baudayana's description as a base,82
we see that this sala consists of a system of va,msa
sleepers oriented west to east, from which the name for
this edifice, pr5cinavarmsa, is derived.83 More precisely,
according to Sayana, two transverse beams are
positioned on the corner pillars and serve as lintels for
78. Cf. Kau. XLIII.8; Par. 111.4.4, passim.
79. Hir. Vi1.1, p. 580, a term that is also found in Ka. and goes
back to AB. (see BR.).
80. SB. 111.1.1.6. Moreover, there is a form, s'ala, not only in
dTksita?ala and other analogs, but also in the oxytone ?Jla' (SB. 1.1.2.5)
that Caland (The SB. in K., Recension 1, p. 41) suspects is not identical
to gala.
81. Bau. Sul. 4.
82. Bau. VI.1; Cf. Eggeling ad SB. 111.1.1.6; Say. ad TS. 1.2.1;
Caland, Agnist., p. 7. [The Satapatha-Brahmana, According to the Text
of the Madhyandina School, trans. Julius Eggeling (Oxford: The
Clarendon Press, 1882-1900); L 'agnistoma: description complete de
la forme normale du sacrifice de soma dans le culte ve'dique, par W.
Caland, V. Henry (Paris: E. Leroux, 1906-1907).]
83. Pragv 2, Ka. VIl.1 .20; Ap., passim, Garbe's index. [The Srauta
Sutra of Apastamba, Belonging to the Taittirfya Samhita', with the
Commentary of Rudradatta, ed. Richard Garbe (Calcutta: Asiatic
Society, 1 882-1902).]
152 RES 34 AUTUMN 1998
it
another.
The saIa is slightly raised to the east, lowered to the
west,86 and enclosed on all sides (paris'rita).87 On the
nature of this enclosure (bhittyadina),88 similar
descriptions provide us with more information. Openings
84. Cf. Karka ad Ka. 20.
85. SB. 111.1.1.11; parvardhyarm sthuinarajam (cf. also 5.1 1; on that
expression, see the analysis of grhya cited in ?5).
86. According to Ap. X.5.1 (this is also indicated in Ka. 21); the
same indications are found in Man. 11.1.1.7, as well as in Bha. and
Hir., according to Caland ad Ap.
87. Ap. (tanumisrena parisrayanti, Man 8; parisrayanti, SB.
111.1 .1 .8).
88. Karaka ad Ka.
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F
C
t
(atikasa) at the four cardinal points form doors.89 The
Grhyasutras(u of Apastamba and Hiranyakesin, however,
dissociate bthese openings from the doors, placing them
at cornersp (srakti) facing intermediary regions.90 There
need not t necessarily be four doors, according to the
ApastambaS Grhyascitra; however, the hall that has four
e
doors promises the greatest boon to those making the
sacrifice.91 Some texts mention two doors, which are
specified as dvisaya,92 the meaning of which can be
clarified if one compares a description that says the
opening of a tent for chariots is such that one can see
three rooms at the same time.93 This prescription contrasts
with the nonvisibility required by the Grhya (? 6).
89. Bau.; atiroka, Man. 9; atiroka, Hir., p. 58.2; aroka, Ap. 3 =
chidra, Rudrad. Ka. 23 excludes the northern region.
90. This divergence is perhaps due to a misinterpretation of the
meaning of a prescription in the Brahamana, cf. Caland, Ap. 3.
91. Ap. 5; MS. 111.6.1.
92. SB. 111.2.4.15; Man. 10; also dvihasta, Knauer, ad loc., and
sarpkasana (cf. also sa.mkasana-dvara 11.3.6.13).
93. Ap. XI.7.10; sarpkasina, cf. the passage in Vai., cited by

? 11. Baudayana again mentions a shelter (ag5ra)
when discussing the cooking of ritual food (milk); a hut
for the wife of the sacrificer (patnisala)94; and possibly
two other shelters (parivrte) serving as some sort of
bathing huts enclosed with mats. Libation huts referred
to in the Kausikas-utra have east and west doors.95
Finally, a structure used in the ritual of the dead (vimita
or agara) has a north and a south door.96
Elsewhere, two small semidetached sheds situated
just outside of the sacrificial area are mentioned: the
agnidhr7ya or agnidhra, which is the residence of the
priest officiating over the fire (Jgni), and the m5rjalTya,
where purifications are made. Both are square, each five
cubits per side. The first shed has a door to the south,
the second, a door to the north.97 The agn7dhr7ya has its
transverse beams oriented west-east and has four pillars;
it is bound on all sides with woven mats (parisrita), and
its entrance is to the south.98 The south side of the
marjaITya is to be left open for circulation (samcara)
according to one source; another instead places
circulation to the north in the agnidhr7ya. (This is a slight
divergence that does not necessarily indicate an
authentic dual tradition).99
? 1 2. The most explicit instructions regarding the
"house" for ritual are those that are given to us for the
construction of a chariot shed (havirdhanaman.dapa) and
a "seat" [or shed for the sacrificial assembly] (sadas).
These two descriptions are closely related and are
meant to be complimentary.100
The chariot "pavilion" (the word man.dapa only
figures in commentaries101) is a small building designed
to house two chariots for the soma; it obviously is
coordinated to the dimensions of the chariots, which are
not expressly given elsewhere.'102
Caland, ad loc., and Hir. V11.7, p. 722). This instruction references MS.
111.8.9.
94. '/I2?la, Asv. IV.10.1, and both forms again elsewhere, see BR.
95. Kau. XXIV.3, XXXIV.3.
96. Kau. LXXXIII.25 (Caland, Todtengebr., p.135).
97. Bau.VI.27 (cf. also Hir.V11.7, p. 714).
98. Ap. XI.9.4 (id. Hir.).
99. Ap. XI.14.6; Hir., p. 726; no new details are furnished by Ka.
V111.6.13, while M-an. 11.2.3.12 (and 4.5) seems to conform to Ap.
1 00. Again we turn to Bau. VI.25ff. for a base, as Caland has
done, Agnist., pp. 87ff., 92ff.
101. Except for LauGS. LXXI.1 4, where it is taken to signify
"bridge"; the term in SS. is simply havirdhana, which derives from Br.
102. Cf. Caland, p. 87, n. 18.
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Renou: The Vedic house 153
According to the Baudayana Srautas-utra, six holes
(garta; elsewhere also avata) are dug on the north-south
axis in front of the two chariots, which are placed side
by side; six holes are then dug behind them along a
parallel line.103 Into these holes are driven twelve posts
(sthuna), the brackets of which (literally "ears"; karna)
are oriented west-east. The M-anava Srautas-utra discusses
four sthuna on each side, those in front of shoulder
height and those in the rear shorter. The Apastamba
Grhyasutra speaks of pillars erected on all sides, while
Bhattanarayana's commentary only mentions two pillars
on the front and instructs that the man.dapa be slightly
higher in the front than in the back, which agrees with
the M-anava Srautasu-tra.104 Similarly, the Apastamba
Grhyasutra says the man.dapa should be slightly raised
in front, slightly lowered in back.105
? 1 3. According to Baudayana, there are two
crossbeams (vams'a), one south-north, the other east
west. Apastamba also mentions two north-oriented
crossbeams, placed respectively on front and back
pillars.106 Placement of a roof (chadis) comes next; the
term designates a "covering" of thatch (kata) laid over
the transverse beams.107 The central roof (madhyamam
chadis) is laid on first, then the lateral roofs to the north
and south of the central roof.108 This middle roof is
three cubits in width, nine in length.109 The interstices
of the roofs (antavarta) are crammed with thatch
matting (kata) and reeds (tejanl).110 Some texts also
refer to two doors.111
103. Cf. Say. ad TS. 1.2.13.
104. M-an. 11.2.2.28; Ap. XI.7.7; Bha., cited by Caland, p. 88 (cf.
also Hir. V11.5, p. 700).
105. Ap. Xl.8.10 (and Bh-a., Hir., Vai. cited by Caland in Ap).
106. Ap. Xl.7.9; the commentaries specify these instructions, see
Eggeling's note ad SB. 111.5.3.9.
107. The term appears already in BR.; cf. also Say. ad SB. 1. c.,
Karka ad Ka-. V111.4.20, and so on.
108. Cf. trtiyam chadih, TS. Vl.2.9.4.
109. Ap. XI.8.1 (and Vai. cited in Caland ad Ap.). Hir. VII.7, p.
720, speaks of a central roof oriented toward the north but ignores (as
does Bha-.) the lateral roofs discussed in Ap. 2. On the reason for this
disagreement, see Caland, Ap., ad loc., Eggeling, SB., 1. c.; M-an. 27
speaks of a central roof, a larger one in the rear, and another in front.
110. Br.; Ap. 2 and Hir., p. 721. Bau., who mentions antavarta a
little later (VI.2 7), glosses the word by trnavarta, rendered by the
commentary as trnapuladi.
11 1. SB. 111.5.3.7; Ap. Xl.l 0.14.
 154 RES 34 AUTUMN 1998
? 14. Above the east entrance, in the space between
the two middle pillars, is an ornamental fronton called
the "forehead" (rar[ff).112 This raratT is a strap-work of
finely knotted reeds (aisFkFl), inclined toward the east
and attached to the front crossbeam by a thread.113 The
M-anava Srautastutra says this raratF is a pad made of
grasses to prevent drafts (varasa) that one places at the
center of a strap-work of reeds; it seems that the grasses
are gathered together by encircling them several times
with thread, the two ends joined together, and the strap
work suspended from the front crossbeam.114
? 1 5. The enclosure (parisrayana) consists of two mats
that are hung to surround the hall (man.dapa). These are
called ucchr5yT.115 One of these is attached to the post
on the right side of the front door (dv5rbahu116) and
unrolled toward the right in order to cover the south
face and half of the east face up to the rear post on the
right side; the other is reversed and arranged
symmetrically with the first.117
These mats are attached to the pillars by the
following process: the Adhvaryu priest1 18 takes a
handful of kusa grass, grasps the front right pillar, ties
the grass where a needle is driven in,'19 and passes a
cord through the eye of the needle. He makes a knot
(granthi); at the hanging end of the knot, he secures the
smaller end of the rope, then undoes the knot. Assistants
cover the post from bottom to top, securing the grass by
winding the cord, but without making knots, and
undoubtedly attaching the matted wall covering at the
same time (according to Caland). The same procedure
occurs for the front left pillar and both of the rear pillars.
According to some authorities, the knots are only
112. Rara-tya, Ka. V111.3.26, 4.18; SB. 111.5.3.9 & 24; and cf. BR.
113. Hir. V11.5, p. 700; the same expression appears in Ka.
VIII.3.26; Hir., 1. c.; Ap. Xl.8.1; Ka-., 1. c.
114. Man. 11.2.2.29ff.
1 5. Ap. XI.10.14; Ka. VI11.3.27, 4.18; SB. 111.5.3.9.
116. Dvairabahu, L-t., after BR.; dvireyf, Hir., 1. c., and p. 721;
Vadh., Acta Or. 11, p. 162; dvaryai, Ka.VI1.4.21, 35, M-an. 11.2.3.31;
Asv. V.1 .4. [Vadhula Srauts-utra in Acta Orientalia 11 (1923).]
11 7. Cf. Caland, Agnist., p. 90.
118. [According to Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1899), p. 24, "The Adhvaryu priests 'had to
measure the ground, to build the altar, to prepare the sacrificial
vessels, to fetch wood and water, to light the fire, to bring the animal
and immolate it."' Ed.]
119. Dharbhana, Bau.; laspajani, Ka-. 21; '4ni, SB.
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undone when all this work is complete. All the other
knots referred to should also be removed.120
? 16. Most of the preceding description of the
construction of a chariot shed also applies for the "seat"
(sadas) placed in front of the chariot shed in the
sacrificial area, specifically, the roof joints (antarvarta; ?
1 3), cladding (paris<rayana; ? 1 5), instructions dealing
with visibi I ity (samkasina; ? 1 0), and the two doors.121
In some sources, this covered platform (sadas)
measures nine cubits in width, east-west, and 27 cubits
in length, north-south.122 Other sources give measures of
10 by 27 or 28; 9, 10.5, or 12 by 18, 21, or 24; some
suggest that the dimensions can be left indeterminate
or be well enough estimated by the officiants and
servants, as is done for the mound of earth that serves as
an altar (dhisnya).123
Three rows of holes are made.124 A central pillar of
udumbara wood (from which derives the name
audumbarf sthuna) is raised the height of the
sacrificer.125 Its brackets are oriented east-west.126 The
outer pillars (paryantTya) are of navel-height, as are all
the seats (sadas) (or they are improvised). The brackets of
the outer pillars are also oriented east-west.127
? 1 7. As noted earlier, the three principal crossbeams
are arranged in a south-north direction; this orientation
is characteristic of the sadas in contrast to the east
orientation of the chariot shed (havirdhana).128 But other
crosspieces are oriented east-west.
120. This description is given by Caland, with the aid of Bau., Ap.
XI.8.5ff.; Hir., pp. 701, 721 (summarizing Ka-. V111.4.21 ff.; Man.
11.2.2.32ff.), completed by the paddhati: they rely upon SB. 111.5.325,
61.25; TS. VI.2.9.
121. Cf. Ap. Xl.10.14; SB 111.5.3.7.
122. Man. 11.23.13; Ap. Xl.9.7; Ka. V111.6.6.
123. Baudh. 4; Ka. VIII.6.4ff.; Ap., Vai., and Bha., according to
Caland, Ap., ad loc., as well as in Hir., p. 715. For other
measurements given by Bha-. and Vai., as well as by the Sulba of Ap.,
see Caland ad Ap. 7.
124. Bau. Vl.27.
125. SB. 111.6.1.6.
126. Bau. VI.26; Ap. Xl.9.1 1; Man. 11.2.3.14ff.; Ka. V111.5.33; Hir.,
p. 719.
127. Ap. Xl.1 0.6; paryanta, Hir., 1. c.; the sadas are all of navel
height (or ad libitum), says Ka-. V111.6.1 ff.
128. Characterized as tirascinavarnm?a and pricinavamna: MS.
111.8.9, cf. Ap. 8; Hir., p. 720; M-an. 11.2.3.22.
 Renou: The Vedic house 155

Figure 11. This etching by Balthazar Solvyns shows a hut used for ritual among other
forms of temple and urban architecture in Bengal in the late eighteenth century.

The roofing system consists of nine roofs
(navacchadi).I29 The central roof, which rests on the
audumbarf post, is secured first; then the two side roofs
to the east and west; then three units to the south; and
finally three to the north. The edges of the roofs to the
north are inserted under those at the center so that the
front edges of the southern roofs would be slightly
above the others.130 The Manava ?rautasttra mentions
1 5, 1 7, 21, or 1 1 roofs; Apastamba mentions 1 5, 1 6, 1 7,
or 21 in conformance with the ceremonies.'31 An
awning (bhitti; perhaps made of woven bamboo) may
substitute for the roof (chadis) when the latter is
lacking.'32 The pitch of the roof is toward the north in
some sources; or toward the central post (audumbarT)
in others.'133
129. Hir., Bau., Ap. 13, Man. 24.
130. Man. 25, in conformity with TS. VI.2.10.7; cf. Caland,
Agni^t., p. 98.
131. Man. 24; these figures are greater than those of MS. and of
TS. Vl.2.10.6.
132. Ka. V111.3.24, following SB. 111.5.3.9.
133. Man. 25; Hir., p. 719, and Ap. Xl.10.10 (and Bha. cited in
Caland), who conforms to KS. XXV.1 0.
? 18. We have followed the systematic descriptions
given by the Srauta texts. Most refer back to the
Brahmanas or to the prose of the Samhitas, but only the
directions for ritual permit us to follow events in detail
and in progression.
Can one go still further? If there is some trace in the
Mantras of allusions to the house and its organization,
is this in accord with facts given in the ritual and
exegetic literature?
The Rkasarmhita has only very meager and predictable
evidence. It is noteworthy, however, in that it does
contain references to the principal elements of
construction. In one section, the term for beam (vamsna)
appears in a passage where it is said that the priests
raised Agni [the fire-god] like a beam (vamna).134 Indra
[the lord of heaven] is likened to the raised sky that
does not need beams (avamre).135 The Rg Veda also
refers to pillars (sthuna) in comparisons such as "you
134. Rkasamhita 1.10.1: ud va.man iva yemire. Say., who sees
there an allusion to acrobats perched on top of a bamboo pole,
shows clearly the extent to which he ignores the technical
terminology of the Veda.
135. 11.15.2 and elsewhere.

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 156 RES 34 AUTUMN 1998
carry men, 0 Agni, like a support pillar."136 One finds
the roots stabh-/skabh-, with the derivatives skambha
and skambhana closely connected in figurative uses,
which may be the more ancient name for pillars
(sthu-na). This root crops up again in that sense in the
form stambha in the prose of the Brahmanas and in the
Srauta and Grhyas0tras.137
The root sri is used in a similar sense in one
passage of a funerary hymn in which the poet
supplicates the Earth to allow a thousand columns to be
raised in the cavity where the dead repose, so that her
weight [that of the Earth] will not crush those who take
refuge in her breast. 138
? 1 9. The house itself is called grha,139 a term
corresponding to the archaic words dama140 and
durona. This last is probably composed of dur, "door,"
and oni, "arm," equivalent to "dvarbulu" in ritual texts,
thus confirming the importance of the door toward
which many prescriptive comments are directed.141 The
plural (both masculine and feminine) durya, which is
also a word for house, similarly encompasses an ancient
sense of stambha or sthuna as "the pillar of the portal,"
a meaning also preserved in ritual (? 5).142 In brief,
there is only slight discrepancy of expression between
the Mantras and the prose sources, not major rethinking
or changes.
The term for door itself (dvar, and so on) is seen only
in allegorical uses, but its frequency is significant.143 The
136. 1.59.1, sthuneva janam upamid yayantha; the same appears
in V.45.2 (with the epithet sumita), Vill.1 7.14 (with dhruva), V.62.7
(with nimita), X.1 8.13. As seen in these examples, the root mi- (ni-mi
and vi-mi and its derivatives) already has the preeminent position that
it retains in ritual. Among these, sumeka should be counted
(Windisch, Fest. Bohtlingk, p. 114; Oldenberg, Vedaforsch., p. 100).
The feminine nimiteva evokes only the idea of a "raised column"
(111.30.4). [Ernst Windisch in Festgruss an Otto von Bohtlingk zum
doktor-jubilaum, 3 februar 1 888, von seinen freunden (Stuttgart: W.
Kohlhammer, 1888); Hermann Oldenberg, Vedaforschung (Stuttgart:
J.G. Gotta, 1905).]
137. KS.; cf. Par., cited in ? 4, and Ka., cited in BR.
138. X.1 8.12, sahasram mitah upa hi srayantam. This use recalls
the ucchrayana mats on the pillars in the rites of house building.
1 39. Singular and more rarely plural.
140. Dam in the compound dampati, the juxtaposition patir dan,
the derivative damunas.
141. On oni, see Neisser, Zum Worterb. s. v. [Zum Worterbuch
des Rgveda, von Walter Neisser (Leipzig: F. A. Brockhaus, 1924-1930).]
142. The expression duryo yuvpah, "door pillar," appears in 1.51.14.
143. Dvar/dur; generally dual under the form dva-r, plural always
under the form dur. The singular persists after the RV., subject to the
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term ata is also, it would seem, a name for a "door
pillar or jamb."144
Harmya, a word with a very broad meaning ("house
and its dependencies" or "large house; castle") is a
poetic term not found often in the Mahabharata, from
which it passed into the common language.145 Other
words are less clear, such as vesman or okas; sadas does
not seem to designate a particular type of construction.
Finally, there is pastya, "residence." 146
The word chadis is used to designate the roof of a
vehicle (anas), analogous to an awning that in some of
the Srauta covers chariots (havirdhana), which are
known as chadis.147 As for stuLpa, the word has been
used to describe the high pinnacle of a tree, as a figure
of celestial space, and also the plumes that form the
flames of Agni.148 For its technical use, see ? 8.
Finally, the word sabha, translated uniformly from the
Mantras as a "(place of) public gathering, assembly,"
can be either a "meeting room of a private residence"
(notably where one plays)149 or a house itself. One
passage declares that a sacrifice confers a reward
consisting of sabha and praja: that is, "house" and
"lchildren."150
? 20. Some notable details appear also in the
Atharvaveda. The word sali appears to be its proper
term for "house."151 The specification of this word does
not hinder the survival elsewhere of terms such as grha,
vastu, avasatha, and so on. One notes also the
expression manasysa patni, "mistress of the
forms dvarye and dvarbahu of ritual, forming a type of gloss on the
dual dvira- of the Samhita.
144. In the words of H. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben (Berlin:
Weidmann, 1879), p. 154.
145. Cramer, Oudind. Stad. volg. h. Epos., p. 83. Might the
ancient form of that word be *gharmya, as in RV. gharmyestha-?
146. I do not agree with Pischel, Vedic Studies 11, p. 212, that a
feminine pastya ("water") can be distinguished from this word.
147. See also Ap. XI.6. 3.
148. Ap. 1.24.7, VII.2.1.
149. RV. X.34.6; this retains the same sense in AsvGS. 11.7.10ff.
150. IV.2.5. Bloomfield's note in JAOS XIX 2, p. 18, has
convincingly put forth the evidence for this meaning and the Vedic
Index 11, p. 426, justly follows Bloomfield. [Maurice Bloomfield's note
in Journal of the American Oriental Society; Vedic Index of Names
and Subjects, Arthur Anthony Macdonell and Arthur Berriedale Keith
(London: John Murray, published for the Government of India, 1912).]
151. The construction of which is hymned in 111.12 and IX.3.
 Renou: The Vedic house 157

Figure 12. The Keshta Raya temple built in brick in Bishnupur, Bengal, circa A.D. 1655 mimics
paired vernacular hut forms and its terracotta ornament is laid out in panels that suggest the hut's
bamboo frame. Photograph: Courtesy of Pika Ghosh.

establishment," which permits one to infer that a saIa is
only one part of an ensemble.152
The importance of the house is one of the
characteristic ideas of Atharvavedic literature. It is not by
chance that most of the Mantras that accompany
construction, according to the evidence of the
Grhyas0tras, are borrowed from the Atharvaveda, most
notably the chant to "climb on the column of bamboo
that serves as the transverse beam,"153 which stresses the
essential building operation.'154
152. As also the term salapati, IX.3.12; cf. Bloomfield ad AV.
111.12.5.
153. 111.12.6, sth-iam adhi roha varpma.
154. The corresponding Mantra in MGS. has the plural sthiao[bJ;
that in MP. HGS., the dual sthunau, which is not necessarily a
corruption (even though it is so stated in the Vedic Variants l1l, ? 740),
since the prose of some GS. mentions two sthuina(rJja), cf. ? 5. The
agreement between the AV. and the GS. is noted by Lele, Some Atharv.
Portions in the GS., p. 36. [Vedic Variants: A Study of the Variant
Readings in the Repeated Mantras of the Veda, Maurice Bloomfield
and Franklin Edgerton (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania,
1930); B. C. Lele, Some Atharvanic Portions in the GrhyasOtra (Bonn,
1927).]
The Atharvaveda maintains the productivity of verbal
groups uc-chri- and ni-mi.155 Besides the term upamit of
the Rg Veda, it uses pratimit and parimit to designate
pillars (sthuna) that determine the site, rather than
"buttresses," for which the justification is not clear. The
use of sam-car recalls the idea of ambulatory space
(sarmcara) of the Srautasutras (? 1 1).
? 21. Hymn IX.3 contains several more precise
details that are not in agreement with the facts gleaned
from ritual texts. That the house is called trnair avrtJ156
immediately recalls the thatched walls of the ritual sala;
and the term chadis [roofl is found with the epithet
catu5pakia, making a comparison to a quadruped, that
is, "a roof that rests on four corner posts."157
155. AV. 111.12.1-2 and elsewhere.
156. IX.3.17; and similarly troarnm vasana, 111.12.5.
157. 111.7.3. On the other hand, it is better to put aside chandas as
"roof," which Whitney and Bloomfield propose, ad 111.12.3, Zimmer,
Ai. Leben, pp. 150, 153. The name catuhsrakti for the sala in the

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158 RES 34 AUTUMN 1998
The mention of havirdhana, agnisala, and sadas'58
tends to show that the shelter described is less a private
dwelling than a ritual residence comprising all the
auxiliary structures necessary for large sacrifices.159
In verse 21, the poet plays with numbering 2, 4, 6, 8,
and 10 paksa. This does not appear to be a question of
wings of the residence, but simply pillars or, if one
wants, compartments that determine the placement and
number of pillars.160 This translation of paksa best agrees
with the attribution of catuspaksa above and of
dvarapaksa and paksas in ? 6 and ? 7.
As for kosa and kulaya in verse 20, it is too much of a
stretch to translate these as "plaiting and braiding,
mortise and tenon" as does Henry'61; kosa, at least,
could be a "recess" corresponding to the niches
(upasthana) in the Paraskara Grhyastutra (? 8).
? 22. Other features are less easily identifiable. We
ignore the role of samda.msa ("tenons"?; Henry) in verse
5. The "cord" (sikya) of verse 6 has many usages in
ritual.'62 None seems indispensable here. The translators
prefer to see this as an ornamental device,'63 but it is
perhaps better to recognize this as the cords that secure
the pillars (sthuna) to the beams (varnmsa).'64
version paipp. XVI.41 (= AV. IX.3.19) recalls the srakti mentioned by
ApSS. (? 10). Another epithet, but an obscure one, is paricakri.
[Atharva veda sanhita, hrsg. von R. Roth und W. D. Whitney (Berlin: F.
Dummler, 1856); Hymns of the Atharva-veda: Together with Extracts
from the Ritual Books and the Commentaries, trans. Maurice
Bloomfield (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1897); Altindisches Leben:
die Cultur der vedischen Arier nach den Samhita, dargestel It von
Heinrich Zimmer (Berlin: Weidmann, 1879).]
158. And even perhaps of patnTna-m sadaman, if it is a paraphrase
of patnisala in IX.3.7.
159. A further technical use of sadas very likely appears in the
hymn to the earth (XII.1.38), even though the sadas of the RV. is a
"living room" in its most general or figurative sense.
160. As can be deduced from AsvGS. (? 7). Ludwig, Rigveda, Ill,
p. 465, and Henry, BooksVIII & IX, p. 127, had this idea. [Der
Rigveda, oder, Die heiligen Hymnen der Brahmana: zum ersten Male
vollstandig ins Deutsche ubersetzt, mit Commentar und Einleitung,
von A. Ludwig (Prag: F. Tempsky, 1876-1888); Les livres VIII et IX de
I'Atharva-Veda, trad. et commentes par Victor Henry (Paris: J.
Maisonneuve, 1894).]
161. Henry, op. cit., p. 89 (and cf. p. 127).
1 62. Cf. notably TS. V.6.9. 1, AsvGS. 11.1 .2.
163. Evoked by the related expression ranyaya kam, which
signifies only "for the pleasure (of the owner of the Iala."
164. According to S-ay. (? 7).
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The palada [bundles of straw] that clad the house are
undoubtedly identical to trna, which one has seen
above, while parisvanijalya must indicate the enclosure
of mats that "embraces" the residence.165 The most
difficult term is aksu from verse 8; it is said that this aksu
has a thousand eyes (sahasraksa), resembling a
"diadem"166 in that it is spread out (vitata) and tied
(naddha) to the line of division (visuvati). Geldner thinks
another name for p.rsthava.msa might be "master
beam." 167 It is more likely a poetic term for the thatch
that covers the hall (sala) or the peak (stuOpa) that
surmounts the roof; variants168 clearly direct us toward
reading this as an element of "covering."
? 23. Finally, the hymn in question lays stress on a
point that has given rise to a variety of modern
interpretations. It is not contested that prayer is intended
to accompany the erection of a house, and the
Kausikas-utra confirms that the person for whom the
prayer is made receives the structure (sala) by right of a
ritual fee.169 But we read expressions such as these: "we
release what of you, oh house, is tied (naddha); we
undo your bonds (pasa) and your knots (granthi)." Bonds
(nahana) are untied, as, are, figuratively, the structural
members and joints of the house, and the covering
(apinaddha) made of ita reed is unravelled.170
One wonders with what fuss the poet so insistently
describes unbinding member by member the abode
whose construction he celebrates elsewhere. Zimmer
sought to identify in this some magical symbolism;
others argue that the hymn describes demolition, not
construction at all.171 Henry sees in these untied pieces
some sort of "scaffolding" rendered unnecessary once
the house is complete; Bloomfield stresses the
information given by the Kausikasutra above; and finally,
165. Verses 5 and 17.
166. According to Geldner, Ved. St. 1, p. 130; called opasa
("cushion"). [Vedische Studien, ed. Richard Pischel and Karl Friedrich
Geldner (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1889-1897).]
167. Ibid., p. 136.
168. Apinaddham and apihitam of the paipp. version.
169. Kau. LXVI.22ff.
1 70. Verses 4, 14, 18. The paipp. XVI.39 makes mention again of
knotted things for the paksa.
171. Zimmer, Ai. Leben, p. 153, and Grill, Hundert Lieder, p.
188; Ludwig, Rigveda III, p. 464. [Hundert lieder des Atharva-veda,
ibers. und mit textkritischen und sachlichen erlauterungen versehen
von Julius Grill (Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammmer, 1888).]

Oldenberg guesses that it has to do with the demolition
of a house and its transfer to a location where it would
be rebui It. 172
But these inverse transactions are presented with a
sort of simultaneity [in the text]: it is at the same
moment when the residence is raised that its bonds are
taken off one after the other. A single event fits this
description: that is the final event in the making of the
ritual mandapa (? 1 5) in which one unties the knots that
serve to attach the frame of the two mats to the enclosure.
? 24. The Mantras other than those of the Rg Veda
and Atharvaveda stress certain facts that are known from
the ritual prose; gradually the conditions for bringing
together these prescriptive texts become evident. The
Vajasaneyi Samhita enumerates sacrificial "shelters":
havirdhana, agnTdhra, sadas, patnlsIa.1a73 This is again
an advance in understanding from the Atharvaveda in
determining a technical vocabulary.
Other Mantras speak of sadas and of sadasas pati.174
A perhaps ironic expression is sabhasthanu, referring to
a persistent gambler as a "pillar of the games room."175
The word geha appears.176 One Mantra deals with a
residence of eight pillars and ten paksa;177 one variant
of this latter term apparently designates pillars of the
portal.178 Other terms that appear in Mantras are
apidhana, dvaraphalaka, and durya. I79 The verse that
accompanies the hanging of the raratT (door's fronton)
conforms with ritual processes: the peak is called syu
and the word raratF itself is evoked by the initial
expression visno raratam asi.180 Another Mantra
mentions talpya, which is undoubtedly equivalent to the
beds (talpadesa) cited in ? 2.181
172. Henry, op. cit, p. 122; Bloomfield, Hymns, p. 595, and
Atharvav., p. 78; Oldenberg, IFA. VI, p. 1 79 (verse 24 lends some
credence to this interpretation). [Hymns of the Atharva-veda: Together
with Extracts from the Ritual Books and the Commentaries, trans.
Maurice Bloomfield (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1897).]
173. VS. XIX.18.
1 74. TS. 111.2.4k and other Mantras.
175. VS. XXX.18.
1 76. VS. XXX.9 (and cf. already gehya in the RV.).
177. Kau. CXXXV.13.
1 78. VS. XXIX.5, in the form paksas, set next to ata.
1 79. SGS. 111.3.8 & 9; VS. V. 7. For stupa and sthunaraja, see
references cited in ? 5 and ? 8.
180. VS. V.21.
181. MP. 11.15.3.
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Renou: The Vedic house 159
? 25. A common fact in a group of Mantras, which
does not contradict any prescription, is that cattle are
lodged in the house. Actually, there is no decisive
passage on this matter in the Rg Veda, 182 but the
Atharvaveda is more conclusive: in the course of two
hymns that describe the house (sala), it is said "may
the calf, may the child, may the dairy cows come to
you (oh, s'ala), when they return in the evening"; also
"homage to bulls, to horses, all of which are born in
the house"; and "you cover (chadayasi) in your breast,
Agni, servants as well as cattle (oh, s'a).''183 Other
verses seem more clearly to confirm this situation than
do prose citations: in one the cowshed is called gostha
and in another an allusion is made to a gosalaJ. 184
Besides several terms that extend the notion of a
"living room" or "refuge" among the names of the
house given in the Naighantuka, we find chaya, which
is observably derived from the Vajasaneyi Sam.hita,
where it is juxtaposed with chadis.185
Summary
If we rely on Vedic texts, we are in the presence of a
type of house that is extremely rudimentary, composed
of an armature of posts, connected at the summit by
transverse beams onto which a thatched covering is
attached. The walls are woven mats. Neither stone nor
brick are used.
Brick, however, is well known in the tradition of the
Yajurveda, but its use there is limited to the "stacking"
of the fire altar (agnicayana) and of accessory annexes
(dhisnya). A series of five rows of bricks are laid in a
certain order and are separated by beds of earth. Some
of these-the "naturally perforated" svayamatmrna
seem undoubtedly some sort of porous stone. Others
are called "clay bricks" (Iogestaka). The circumference
of this construction is marked by twenty-one stones
called parisrit, some of which are of a large size.186
182. Although Zimmer, Ai. Leben, p. 149, believes so. The epithet
harmyesthab, "that which is held in the residence," doesn't necessarily
apply to the calves mentioned in the continuation of the verse
(VI1.56.1 6).
183. 111.12 (cf. also verse 7); IX.3.13, 14.
184. SGS. 111.9; Kau. XXIV.10.
1 85. Naigh. 111.4; VS. V.28. The term krdara rests on an
interpretation of VS. XXIX.1; krtti on that of RV. V11.90.6.
186. The most complete description is that of Weber, Ind. Stud.
XIII, p. 217; the most recent and the most clear is Dumont,
 160 RES 34 AUTUMN 1998

Nothing obliges us to consider that the shelters Renou's Abbreviations

described above were the normal type of private
[Ed. - Renou's referencing is compact and not always
residence; a significant amount of the details that assist
consistent, and he provided no list of abbreviations. In
us in their reconstruction are provided by descriptions
notes and this list, I recreate his citations as thoroughly
of ritual "huts," the intended use of which is entirely
as possible.]
different. And yet no other process of construction is
mentioned in these sources. This appears particularly Agnist. Agnistoma
singular today, when we are able to measure [through
Ap. Apastamba Grhyas-utra
recently discovered archaeological sources] the
degree to which architectural technologies were ApSS. Apastamba SrautasLu tra
known to certain prehistoric civilizations in the northwest
Asv. Asvalayana Srautas-utra
of India.187
AsvGS. Asvalayana Grhyasiutra
Translated by Carrie LaPorte
Atharv. Atharvaveda
AV. Atharvaveda
Bau. Baudayana Srautas-utra
Asvamedha, p. 71. Additionally, on the laying (cayana) of funerary
piles (ArmaAna), see Caland, Todtengebr., p. 145. [Indische studien. Bha. Bhattanarayana (comm. on Gobh.)
Beitr.age fur die kunde des indischen alterthums, Im Vereine mit
mehreren Gelehrten herausgegeben von Dr. Albrecht Weber (Berlin: BR. Brahmanas
F. Dummler, 1850-1863; Leipzig, F. A. Brockhaus, 1965-1998);
L'asvamedha, description du sacrifice solennel du cheval dans le culte BuGS. Grhyasu-tra
vedique d'apres les textes du Yajurveda blanc (Vajasaneyisamhita,
Gobh. Gobhila Grhyasutra
Satapathabrahmana, Katyayanasrautasutra) par P.-E. Dumont (Paris: P.
Geuthner, 1927); Willem Caland, Die altendeschen Todten- und GS. Grhyas-utras
Bestattungsgebraiuche, mit Benutzung handschriftlicher Quellen
(Amsterdam: J. Muller, 1896).] Harad. Haradatta (comm. on Ap.)
187. [Renou is here referring to recent excavations at Indus Valley
sites. Ed.] Hemac. Hemacandra
Hir. Grhyasiutra of Hiranyakesin
Jai. Jaiminiya BrThmaina
Jayar. Jayarama (comm. on P-ar.)
K. Kathaka Sam.hita
Kau. Kausikas-utra
Kes. Kesava (comm. on Kau.)
Kha. Khadira Grhyas-utra
KSS. Katyayana Srautastutra
Lat. L4tyayana Srautas-utra
Lau. Laugaksi
LauGS. Laugaksi Grhyas6tra
Man. M-anava Srautastutra
M-atrd. Matrdatta (comm. on Hir.)

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 Renou: The Vedic house 161

MGS. Manava Grhasiutra

MP. Markandeya Purana [?]
MS. Mairayini Samhit-a
Naigh. Naighantuka (comm. on Nir.)
N-ar. Narayana (comm. on Asv.)
Nir. Nirukta
paipp. paippalada Sam.hita of the Atharv.
Par. P-araskara Grhyas-utra
Rudrad. Rudradhyayah
RV. Rg Veda
Sa. Sankhayana Srautasutra
Say. Sayana
SB. Satapatha Brahmana
SGS. Sankhyayana Grhyasiutra
SS. Srautasutras
Sudars. Sudarsana
Sul. Sulbasutras
TB. Taittiriya Brahmana
TS. Taittiriya Sam.hit-a
Vadh. Vadhula Srautas-utra
Vai. Vaikhanasiyas
VS. Vajasaneyi Samnhit-a

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