Panis

For other uses, see Panis (disambiguation)}}}.

The Panis are a class of demons in the Rigveda, from paṇi-, a term for "bargainer, miser, niggard", especially applied to one who is sparing of sacrificial oblations. The Panis appear in RV 10.108 as watchers over stolen cows. They are located behind the stream Rasa, and sought out by Sarama, the bitch of Indra. They boast towards Sarama that they are well-armed and will not yield the cows without battle, and that the cows are furthermore well hidden in a rocky chamber. Sarama threatens them with the might of Indra and the Angirasas who will recover the cows.

The "rocky treasure-chest" of the Panis is identical to Vala, the stone split by Indra to liberate Dawn. The myth is a variant of that of Indra slaying Vrtra, imagined as a stone serpent, liberating the blocked rivers.

Graeco-Roman authors equated the Parthians with a Scythian tribe called Parnoi, which has been equated by some authors (Parpola 1988) with the Panis. Strabo (11.9.2) mentions that the Parnoi belonged to the Dahas and lived in Margiana and that they founded the Arsacid empire of Parthia (Parpola 1988).

References

Parpola, Asko: 1988, The Coming of the Aryans to Iran and India and the Cultural and Ethnic Identity of the Dasas; The problem of the Aryans and the Soma.

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