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Legend · 1 telling · Pan-India
The sleep charm at the house door
Who is in it
Vastoshpati guardian of the house, invoked first Sarama mother of the watchdog addressed
Texts: Rigveda
The story, beat by beat
The Lord of the Dwelling is asked to be a kind friend. A tawny watchdog, son of Sarama, bares its teeth; it is told to bark at thieves and go to sleep. Mother, father, dog, master, kinsmen and all the people around are told to sleep. The eyes of whoever sits, walks or watches are shut as the house is shut.
Where the tellings disagree Who speaks is not said. Later tradition gives the charm to Vasishtha entering a house by night; that account was not read and is not used.
household sleep charm dog
How it is told, place by place
Base telling · Primary text (translation)
Rigveda 7.55
Pan-India
All traditions
After one verse to Vastoshpati the hymn speaks to a tawny dog, son of Sarama, whose teeth gleam like spear points: bark at the robber, not at Indra's singers, and go to sleep. Then it lulls the mother, the father, the dog, the master, the kin, the women lying in the court and on beds, and closes every watching eye as the house is closed.
Hymns of the Rigveda, tr. R. T. H. Griffith (1896), hymns read for the Vedic layer § 7.55; Vedic Mythology, A. A. Macdonell (1897) § s49
Sources: Hymns of the Rigveda, tr. R. T. H. Griffith (1896), hymns read for the Vedic layer; Vedic Mythology, A. A. Macdonell (1897)
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