दध्यङ्

{ dadhyaṅ }

Puranic Encyclopaedia

DADHYAṄ   A hermit. Once Indra taught this hermit Madhuvidyā (the art of mead) Indra told the hermit that his head would be cut off if he taught anybody this art. The Aśvinīdevas approached Dadhyaṅ to learn this art. Fearing Indra the hermit refused to teach them the art. Aśvinīdevas cut off his head and buried it in a place. Then they cut off the head of a horse and fixed it on the neck of Dadhyaṅ. Having the head of the horse he taught the art to the Aśvinīdevas. When Dadhyaṅ had finished teaching, they took away the head of the horse and fixed his own head in place. [Ṛgveda, Maṇḍala 1, Anuvāka, 17, Sūkta 166] .

Note: 1) The stories regarding the two hermits Dadhici and Dadhyaṅ in the Purāṇas are not very clear. In Mahābhārata Dadhīca is mentioned as the son of Bhṛgu, and in Ṛgveda it occurs that Dadhīca was the son of Hermit Atharva who was the son of Vasiṣṭha. Moreover the story of Dadhyaṅ teaching the Aśvinīdevas the ‘Madhuvidyā’ is connected with Dadhici in some other purānas Some statements in the Ṛgveda make it difficult to assume that both Dadhyaṅ and Dadhīci are one and the same person. So relving on the majority of statements in the various purāṇas this book has accepted the fact that these hermits are separate persons and that Dadhīci was the son of Bhṛgu whereas the hermit who taught Madhuvidyā to the Aśvinīdevas was Dadhyaṅ.]