Dadhichi
character in Hindu religious history
Dadhichi (Sanskrit: दधीचि, romanized: Dadhīci), also rendered Dadhyanga and Dadhyancha, is a sage in Hinduism. He is best known for his sacrifice in the Puranas, where he gives up his life so that his bones could be used to manufacture the Vajra, the diamond-like celestial thunderbolt of the deity Indra, in order to slay Vritra.
Literature
In the Bhagavata Purana, Dadhichi is described as the son of the rishi Atharvan and his wife, Chitti. Atharvan is said to be the author of Atharvaveda, which is one of the four Vedas. Chitti was the daughter of the sage Kardama.
The names of Dadhichi's wife and son were Suvarcas and Pippalada, respectively. After the death of Dadhichi, when Suvarcas was about to ascend the funeral pyre, she heard an aśarīriṇī vāṇī (a disembodied voice) that informed her that she was pregnant. Suvarcas removed the foetus from her womb with a stone, and placed it near a banyan tree, proceeding to end her life. Her child, Pippalada, became a famous rishi, associated with the Pippalada school of thought in Hinduism, and he is best known for being attributed with the Praśna Upanishad.
Dadhichi is also mentioned in various hymns (Richas–Suktas) of the Rigveda.
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