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Rig Veda · 973 of 1027
Mandala 10: HYMN CXXXVI. Kesins.
1.HE with the long loose locks supports Agni, and moisture, heaven, and earth: He is all sky to look upon: he with long hair is called this light.
2.The Munis, girdled with the wind, wear garments soiled of yellow hue. They, following the wind’s swift course go where the Gods have gone before.
3.Transported with our Munihood we have pressed on into the winds: You therefore, mortal men. behold our natural bodies and no more.
4.The Muni, made associate in the holy work of every God, Looking upon all varied forms flies through the region of the air.
5.The Steed of Vāta, Vāyu’s friend, the Muni, by the Gods impelled, In both the oceans hath his home, in eastern and in western sea.
6.Treading the path of sylvan beasts, Gandharvas, and Apsarases, He with long locks, who knows the wish, is a sweet most delightful friend
7.Vāyu hath churned for him: for him he poundeth things most hard to bend, When he with long loose locks hath drunk, with Rudra, water from the cup.
Asked of Guide
Why are the Kesins described with long loose locks and linked to wind and gods?
The chapter presents the Kesin as a liminal ascetic whose long loose locks mark him as one who moves between realms: he “supports Agni, and moisture, heaven, and earth” and “flies through the region of the air.” The hair signals bodily renunciation combined with cosmic function, a visible sign that the Muni shares the gods’ motion and power, like Vāyu’s steed dwelling “in both the oceans.”
These verses tie stylized appearance to ritual competence and divine companionship—he “made associate in the holy work of every God” and drinks with Rudra—so the locks are credential and cosmological emblem. For a comparative angle, see Mircea Eliade’s The Sacred and the Profane on how sacred specialists wear marks that reveal their role between sacred and profane worlds.
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