परस्वन्त्

यन्त्रोपारोपितकोशांशः

Vedic Index of Names and Subjects

पृष्ठभागोऽयं यन्त्रेण केनचित् काले काले मार्जयित्वा यथास्रोतः परिवर्तयिष्यते। तेन मा भूदत्र शोधनसम्भ्रमः। सज्जनैः मूलमेव शोध्यताम्।

Parasvant denotes a large wild animal which Roth conjectures to be the wild ass. It is mentioned in the Vṛṣākapi hymn of the Rigveda, twice in the Atharvaveda, and in the list of victims at the Aśvamedha (‘horse sacrifice’) in the Yajurveda Saṃhitās, in all of which passages the sense of ‘wild ass’ is satisfactory. More doubtful is the meaning of the word paraśvā(n) in the Kauṣītaki Upaniṣad, where the commentary explains it as ‘serpent.’ It is, of course, quite possible that the word has nothing to do with parasvant. Bühler suggests connexion with the Pāli palāsāda, ‘rhinoceros.’