2.19. Rudra as Tryambaka

This name occurs in the Ṛgveda,^[1] Vājasaneyisaṃhitā,^[2] Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa^[3] for Rudra. There is a controversy regarding the original meaning of this word tryambaka.

Sāyaṇācārya in his commentary of the Ṛgveda says that:

trayāṇāṃ brahmā viṣṇu rudrāṇāmambakaṃ pitaram

“He who is the father of Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Rudra is called Tryambaka.^[4]

In the Vājasaneyisaṃhitā, Mahīdhara derives the term tryambaka thus—

trīṇyambakāni netrāṇi yasya tādṛśaṃ devameva trinetro’yaṃ deva iti 

Or one who is the possessor of three eyes.^[5]

In another mantra, Mahīdhara remarks that tryambaka is:

netratrayopetaṃ rudram.^[6]

From the explanation of Mahīdhara, it can be known that Rudra is Tryambaka or one who has three eyes. According to Aitareya-brāhmaṇa Keith, a western scholar, Tryambaka is one who has three wives or sisters.^[7] Max Müller^[8] and Macdonell^[9] opine their views in this context and say that he who has three mothers is known as Tryambaka. Hillebrandt^[10] remarks that tri is same to strī (female). A reference has been found in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa where it is stated that—he is called Tryambaka because that share belongs to Rudra with a strī or female.^[11]

In the Purāṇic literature, lord Śiva is renowned by the name Tryambaka^[12] and Trinetra.^[13]

In general Sanskrit, ambakam means an eye.^[14]

Again in the Rāmāyaṇa it is said that:

parvataḥ tryambakaḥ.^[15]

So, from here it can be understood that ambaka is equal to śṛṅga and that is why Tryambaka means triśṛṅga or threepeaked mountain. According to Hopkins, Tryambaka is ‘originally the god itself.’^[16]

Mahadev Chakravarti writes in his book entitled The Concept of Rudra-Śiva Through the Ages,

“Ambā or ambikā is a Vedic word meaning ‘mother’ and Tryambaka may mean ‘[the god] born of three mothers’, though it appears physically impossible to us... As no three mothers of either Rudra or Śiva are known to us, Hopkins (Epic Mythology, p.220) suggests that Tryambaka Śiva has not three mothers but three Mother-goddesses (Gaurī, Kālī and Umā), who are the Ambikās, each originally an Ambā or Mother.”^[17]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

tryambakaṃ yajāmahe sugandhiṃ puṣṭivardhanam | urvārukamiva bandhanānmṛtyormukṣīya māmṛtāt || Ṛgveda, 7.59.12

[2]:

atha rudramadīmahyava devaṃ tryambakam | Vājasaneyi-saṃhitā, 3.58

[3]:

ava rudramadīmahyava devaṃ tryambakam | Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa, 2.6.2.11

[4]:

Sāyaṇa on Ṛgveda, 7.59.12

[5]:

Mahīdhara on Vājasaneyi-saṃhitā, 3.58

[6]:

Mahīdhara, Ibid., 3.60

[7]:

Vide, Keith, Aitareya-brāhmaṇa, The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads, p.143

[8]:

Vide, Max Müller, F., The Sacred Book of the East, Vol. XXXII, p.389

[9]:

Vide, Macdonell, A.A., Vedic Mythology, p.74

[10]:

cf., Hillebrandt, A., Vedic Mythology, Vol. II, p.188

[11]:

...svasā tayāsyaiṣa saha bhāgastadasaiṣa striyā saha bhāgastasmāttryambakā nāma...|| Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa, 2.6.2.9

[12]:

(a) lokottarasphuṭolokaḥ tryambako nāgabhūṣaṇaḥ ||Śiva-purāṇa, 4.35.98 (b) Liṅga-purāṇa, 1.35.18

[13]:

sudhūmravarṇaṃ raktākṣaṃ trinetraṃ candrabhūṣaṇam || Ibid., 1.76.29

[14]:

cf., Apte, Vājasaneyi-saṃhitā, The Student’s Sanskrit-English Dictionary, p.47

[15]:

Rāmāyaṇa, 7.46.20

[16]:

Vide, Hopkins, W., Epic Mythology, p.220

[17]:

Vide, Chakravarti, Mahadev, The Concept of Rudra-Śiva Through the Ages, p.38