Trayī
Trayī, “the threefold Veda”
Grammar: feminine noun, from traya (threefold): “the threefold one”. Also veda-traya, “the three Vedas”.
Meaning: the three Vedas taken together as one vidyā (branch of knowledge); with ānvīkshikī (the science of reasoning), vārttā (farming, cattle-keeping and trade) and daṇḍanīti (the science of rule), one of the four vidyās a king must know.
In the scriptures: the Agni Purāṇa names trayī in these places.
- The king’s learning: Pushkara tells Paraśurāma the rāja-dharma. A king without vinaya (discipline) perishes; one with vinaya obtains the kingdom. From those learned in the three Vedas the king must learn trayī, the ancient daṇḍanīti, ānvīkshikī and the artha-śāstra; vārttā he must learn from the world (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 225).
- A form of Lakshmī: in the stotra by which Indra once praised Lakshmī to keep his royal fortune steady, and which a king recites for victory, Indra says: “O Devī, you who shine and give the form of mukti! You are also Yajña-vidyā, Mahā-vidyā, Guhya-vidyā, Ātma-vidyā, Ānvīkshikī, Trayī, Vārtā and Daṇḍanīti” (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 237).
- What trayī gives: in the rāja-nīti that gives victory, which Śrī Rāma told Lakshmaṇa, the king, endowed with vinaya, should sit with the learned and with those skilled in the practice of each, and reflect on the four vidyās: ānvīkshikī, the three Vedas, vārttā and daṇḍanīti. From ānvīkshikī come knowledge of the ātmā and of the true nature of things. Knowledge of dharma and adharma depends on the three Vedas. Gain and loss depend on the practice of vārttā, and justice and injustice on the right use of daṇḍanīti (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 238).
- The purohita: the king’s purohita should be well-versed in the three Vedas and skilled in daṇḍanīti, and should perform for the king the rites of śānti (pacifying troubles) and pushṭi (increase) by the method of the Atharva Veda (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 239).
Related terms: Veda · Ānvīkshikī · Vārttā · Daṇḍanīti · Rāja-dharma · Vidyā
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 225, 237–239