Indian Ballads
By S. N. RUDRA
Summary
Vidhusekhara Bhattacharya’s short essay discusses the Sanskrit words jāhā and kāh, which appear together in Rigvedic hymns. He notes that a similar word, jahāhā, occurs in the Taittirīya Āraṇyaka and examines German scholarship on its meaning. Bhattacharya suggests that the term jāhāka in the Tāittirīya text may be connected to the Avestan word Dahāka, raising the question of whether the two terms are etymologically related. A separate query by S. N. Rudra asks readers to send in lists of ballads sung by rural folk in various Indian provinces, indicating an interest in collecting vernacular oral literature.
Conclusion
Bhattacharya’s linguistic note raises intriguing connections between Vedic and Iranian vocabulary, while Rudra’s query illustrates the journal’s role in fostering collaborative research on Indian folk traditions. Together they highlight the diversity of topics addressed in the quarterly.