Dakṣiṇa Kaparda-The Identity of Vasiṣṭhas
A short note on how ancient people identified each other.
Recently, I was deep into anthropological studies to understand the behavior of Modern Man in Indian Subcontinent from deeper antiquity, from the times when language has just started its refinement. We see that different tribes of the world have different cultures of their looks too apart from their laguages and other behaviors. One of the behavior of modern humans is to look different from the other flock people. When did this thought arrive to look different? Why there was a need to look different? And how a very similar type of tuft hairdo behavior became common in Asian subclades who moved to Europe (Germany-Suebian knot, Russia-Khokhol), Africa (Fulani, Himba etc), South-East Asia, some part of China (Manchuria-A queue or cue hairstyle) and Japan (Chonmage) etc.
Interestingly, southern Chinese used to call Manchurians suotou “braided”.
Braiding indeed gave typical identity very similar to Nair men and women in the past in India or the Brahmins with the tuft. This appears to be a worldwide phenomena, but how old we don’t know. Indeed, its a modern human behavior.
Here ‘Modern Human Behavior’ is not just a statement, it has some of its own societal behavior. Modern behavior (internationally) includes and emerge from Middle to Upper Paleolithic period. These modern human behaviour include…
- Burial
- Fishing
- Figurative art (Cave paintings, petroglyphs, dendroglyphs, figurine)
- Systematic use of pigment (such as ochre) and jewelry for decoration or self ornamentations
- Using bone material for tools
- Transport of resources over long distances
- Axe technology
- Blade technology
- Diversity, standardization, and regionally distinct artifacts
- Hearths
- Composite tools
- housing
What about the cultures, architecture attesting these Modern behavior? One who wants to understand the modern behavior in detail can read a brief here. In India the most advanced modern behavior, which continued till recently, w.r.t any other culture of the world, happened at least during 45,000 yBP. One can read about Riwat Site at Sohan( Rg-Vedic sushoma) River Valley, now in Pakistan. This site, called Riwat Site 55, shows a later occupation dated to around 45,000 years ago, during Middle to Upper Paleolithic period Site. This site shows the footing of the wall in parts very clearly. This not only shows that they were highly skilled people but also show that people were communicating and had language. Since to advance into such an art of community indulgence one needs to communicate. This is quite evident that Language, speech and communication was already there from 2 lakh+ years. Some scientist speculate it from 4 lakh+ years as hand axe and its flaking in trade scale can only happen if one has been communicating. Homo sapiens during Middle to Upper Paleolithic period were communicating since they were advancing in the art and architecture and were trading in stone tools vigorously.
The interesting feature of this Riwat site is due to the architectural footing of the wall evidence. The modern human behaviors can be seen very distinctly on this site which has its own Soanian Culture (500,000 yBP — 125,000 yBP), Indian contemporary to Acheulean, predecessor to Upper and Middle Paleolithic. Deem it as a prologue to the database on healthy and huge arguments to be followed in the future on ‘Language and its Origin’. This glimpse of ancient times is given to understand other modern human behaviour.
Finally back to the title of the article. Dakṣiṇa Kaparda-The Identity of Vasiṣṭhas
Kaparda means, ‘braid,’ Kapardin, ‘wearing braids.’ These words refer to the Vedic custom of wearing the hair in braids or plaits. Females used to have four plated hair known as catuṣ-kapardā and is described in Rv. x. 114, 3.
चतु॑ष्कपर्दा युव॒तिः सु॒पेशा॑ घृ॒तप्र॑तीका व॒युना॑नि वस्ते । तस्यां॑ सुप॒र्णा वृष॑णा॒ नि षे॑दतु॒र्यत्र॑ दे॒वा द॑धि॒रे भा॑ग॒धेय॑म् ॥
catu॑ṣkapardā yuva॒tiḥ su॒peśā॑ ghṛ॒tapra॑tīkā va॒yunā॑ni vaste । tasyāṃ॑ supa॒rṇā vṛṣa॑ṇā॒ ni ṣe॑datu॒ryatra॑ de॒vā da॑dhi॒re bhā॑ga॒dheya॑m ॥
Rudra and Pūṣan have also been described as wearing distinct hairstyle.
Vasiṣṭhas were distinguished by wearing their hair in a plait on the right (dakṣiṇatas-kaparda). The opposite was to wear one’s hair ‘plain’ known as pulasti probably like the contemporary tuft being kept by the Brahmins. Below is the picture of Himba from the collection of Anneliese Scherz, 1940. I am showing a close resemblance to what Kaparda of Vasiṣṭhas would look like.
Such braiding is also found on Khonsu’s head, the Lunar God who was Tutankhamun’s brother.
I deliberately started the article with the Upper Paleolithic Culture and with the description of 45,000~65,000 year old footing of a wall in Riwat which was on one of the tributaries of Rg vedic river on Saraswati — Sindhu site, out of twenty-one river system mentioned in Rg veda, known as Sushoma. Today we call the river as Soan- Sohan. Since I have a conjecture that the Rg veda is much older than previously thought (one can read my blogs here), much of the movement was happening to and fro from the Soan sites towards east and west, and also towards south. The similitude and the influence of vedic kind of braiding is quite visible, both in the west towards Africa, in the east till Japan and in Eurasia as well.
Our Vasiṣṭha Gotra brāhmins didn’t wear such braid even in the recent past during the 18th century, and we don’t have any pictorial or sketch information, neither we have such memory documented. This information embedded in the Rg veda appears to be an ancient one. But we do see slightly similar hairdo by the Vellalas-Pillai, Nair men and women both, yet not in braids and plaits.
While we find the remains of such memories in the Suebian knot of Germans attested by Tacitus in 1st AD or in Africans, who carry many other memories of Vedic type hairdos, used till recently, we don’t find much of those prevalent in today’s time. Indeed Rgveda is older to 1st AD and indeed the migrations to Europe from Asia happened around 45,000 Years before present and a type of genes, Kivisild et al proved, that U branched out of R, initially originated in India before 50,000 years. Stephen Oppenheimer also believes that it is highly suggestive that India is the origin of the Eurasian mtDNA haplogroups which he calls the “Eurasian Eves”.
Above are the Pictures of Fulani tribal women. We also have the memory of L3 going back to Africa from India during 60,000~80,000 BCE. L3-Fulani don’t look like Africans even in today’s time, they more or less look like Indians.
Ain’t that interesting that Rgveda mentions pṛthu ṣṭuka, ‘having broad braids, viṣita-ṣṭuka, ‘having loosened braids, Opaśa, ‘like horn’( see Nayar girls )and Pulasti, ‘to wear one’s hair plain’. You will find all these varieties in the Indian subclades outside India, but you will not find such depiction even in IVC seals or structures. How to reconcile on when Vedas were written? I was also curious if such mention is in our Itihāsās or Purāṇas or Dharmaśāstras like Gṛhya sūtras or Śrauta sūtras but as of now I have yet not cited the evidence. I will update as I find them.
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Note that Śikhaṇḍa and Śikhā denotes a ‘tuft’ or ‘lock,’ as a mode of wearing the hair, comes in the later Saṃhitās and the Brāhmaṇas.
