Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T16:58:15.201Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Art. X.—Mythological Studies in the Rigveda

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

Extract

The name of Trita occurs forty times in twenty-nine hymns of the Rigveda; no single hymn, however, is addressed to him, nor is he mentioned among the Vedic deities in the ancient list of Vedic words explained by Yāska, the earliest Vedic commentator.

Type
Original Communications
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1893

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

page 419 note 1 The word does not appear at all in the third, fourth, and seventh books.

page 421 note 1 This word, as distinguished from re, may refer to the refrain ‘vittám me asyá rodasī.’

page 421 note 2 This is evidently meant for an etymological explanation.

page 422 note 1 This also seems to be an etymological explanation from tri, three.

page 422 note 2 The only passage (possibly also V. 41, 10) affording even the slightest grounds for supposing Trita to be a Rsi is I. 105, 17, where he cries to the gods for help from a well. Yāska, misunderstanding the myth, here regards Trita as a man and makes him the composer of the hymn on the principle followed by the ancient native scholars in assigning a verse or hymn to the speaker (cp. Sarvānukramanā, Introd. § 2, 4, ‘yasya vākyam sa rsih’). This single statement of Yāska's may have given rise to the later view that Trita was a seer. Thus the Anukramanī regards him as the composer of five hymns in which his name occurs, as well as of seven others (RV. X. 1–7), in which it does not occur at all, though curiously enough it occurs twice in the next hymn (X. 8). Sāy. appears to have been struck by the absence of the name of Trita from these first seven hymns of book X, for he seizes the earliest opportunity of smuggling it in when he translates (X. i. 3) Vísnur … paramám asyá abhí pāti trtīyam (Visnu guards his, Agni's, highest third sc. place) by ‘May Agni protect the third, i.e. Trita, me’ (the seer of the hymn)!

page 424 note 1 Sacred Books of the East, vol. xxxii. p. ix.

page 425 note 1 Cp. (9) line 4.

page 425 note 2 Cp. Zimmer, , Altindisehes Leben, p. 231Google Scholar.

page 425 note 3 See Grassmann's Lexicon, s.v. iva.

page 426 note 1 See (36), p. 460.

page 427 note 1 Cp. nadá, ‘reed’ (ἃπ. λεγ. in RV.) and ‘music,’ nādī, ‘pipe’ (ἃπ. λεγ. in RV.).

page 427 note 2 I do not think that in one of these cases, the ‘brightness’ of laughter, loudness was really suggested to the Indian mind, but only whiteness (viz. that of the shining teeth). Mallinātha, for example, commenting on Meghadūta 50 and 58 expressly says that the basis of comparison in similes connected with laughter is whiteness (dhāvalyād dhāsatvenotprekshā), this being a well established convention of poets (hāsādīnāam dhāvalyam kavisamayasiddham). See Sāhityadarpana, 590a, and cp. Wilson's Hindu Theatre, vol. ii. p. 197.

page 428 note 1 In which the deity, according to the Anukramanī, of stanzas 7 to 9 is Indra.

page 428 note 2 With the construction of the words icchán dhītím pitúh, cp. the first line of (29) utá vah çámsam uçíjám iva çmasi.

page 428 note 3 Commonly but inconsistently spoken of in the nominative form Dyaus. See 448 and cp. X. 45, 8 (where Dyu begets Agni), and cp. p. 437 (where the son and the supreme name of the father are contrasted).

page 428 note 4 See III. 2, 2; III. 25, 1, etc.

page 428 note 5 Called the udder of Prçni in (19).

page 428 note 6 In R.V. VI. 44, 22, Soma, in alliance with Indra, is described as appropriating the weapons of his father (ayám svásya pitúr āyudhāni Indur amusnāt) in order to vanquish the demon Pani.

page 429 note 1 SBE., vol. iv. p. Lxiii. (§12).

page 429 note 2 In I. 146, 1, Agni is called three-headed, seven-rayed (trimūrdhānam saptaraçmim). Cp. Hillebrandt, , Vedische Mythologie, I. p. 532Google Scholar, who conjectures that Viçvarūpa is the moon, and that his father Tvastr is the sun (pp. 513–30).

page 430 note 1 This word occurs five times in the RV. always preceded by pati, and always at the end of a tristubh-Pāda. There can, therefore, be no doubt that the parts of the compound ‘dam-pati’ have been transposed for metrical reasons. ‘Dan’ stands for ‘dam’ (which, as an inflected word, occurs only once in the RV.) by the euphonic rule, which changes final radical m to n (cp. Whitney's Sansk. Gr. § 143a).

page 430 note 2 RV. I. 149, 1, and I. 153, 4.

page 430 note 3 Patī dán and dámpatī mean either ‘husband and wife,’ or refer, in each case once, to the Açvins.

page 431 note 1 Cp. Hillebrandt, V.M. p. 531–2.

page 431 note 2 In the preceding stanza (I. 61, 6) Indra is said to have ‘reached the vitals of Vrtra with the bolt.’

page 431 note 3 Vídhyad varāhám tiró ádrim ástā.

page 431 note 4 In I. 52, 8, the bolt of Indra is said to be ‘made of iron’ (āyasá).

page 432 note 1 Cp. vrdhānáh in (6).

page 432 note 2 Cp. (2) last line.

page 433 note 1 The meaning of (8) is parallel to that of (3).

page 433 note 2 Cp. Indrasya sakhyāya in (15).

page 433 note 3 Rel. Véd. vol. ii. p. 327: ‘Le nom de Trita paraît même être au vers II. II, 20, directement appliqué au Soma.’

page 433 note 4 See (31) to (34).

page 433 note 5 Cp. (6) asya ‥ ojasā vrdhanah; also (2) dhrsamāno andhasā; (18) yasya Trito vi ojasā, the reference being to the effect of Soma in the two latter passages.

page 433 note 6 Trp, prī, vrdh: Delbrück, AIS. § 109, 2.

page 433 note 7 There is a reference in (20) to Trita riding on a car (āvavartat ‥ cakriyā).

page 433 note 8 Cp. p. 479.

page 434 note 1 This stanza (9) occurs without variation in the SV.

page 434 note 2 Cp (11) where ‘apibaA’ is used in a similar collocation of words.

page 434 note 3 Visnu pours Soma for Indra in X. 113, 2 also.

page 434 note 4 Cp. however IX. 1, 9.

page 434 note 5 The first two Pādas are identical with those of VIII. 51, 1, except that ‘Sāmvaranau’ is there read instead of ‘Vivasvati.’

page 435 note 1 i.e. Vālakhilya 6, 2: ‘As thou didst rejoice with Samnvarta and Krça, so do thou, o Indra, rejoice with us.’

page 435 note 2 This stanza occurs without variation in SV. II. i. 2, 21, 3.

page 435 note 3 IX. 14, 5–7; 15, 8; 26, 5; 28, 4; 36, 3; 38, 3; 61, 7; 68, 7; 70, 4; 71, 5; 72, 2; 80, 4–5; 85, 7; 91, 1; 92, 4; 94, 4, 7, 8; 97, 23.

page 436 note 1 Cp. Delbrück, AIS. § 221.

page 436 note 2 Cp. (8).

page 436 note 3 This stanza occurs in. SV. II. ii. 1, 17, 2, where asisyadat is read for acikradat, while the last two Pādas run as follows:

Tritasya nāma janayan madhu ksarann

Indrasya Vāyum sakhyāya vardhayan.

page 437 note 1 Cp. divi rocanesu tritesu, p. 482.

page 437 note 2 Also IX. 9, 3; cp. V.M. p. 430. He is often called ‘diváh çiçuh’; cp. V.M. p. 354.

page 437 note 3 In IX. 85, 12, Gandharra does the same (prārūrucad ródasī mātárā çúcih).

page 437 note 4 Cp. Oldenberg, Prolegomena, p. 263.

page 437 note 5 That the celestial courser, as represented in this hymn, is intimately connected with the real nature of Trita, I hope to show in a subsequent paper.

page 437 note 6 This and stanza 9, as well as I. 162, 17, show that riding was known in the time of the RV., though driving was certainly the ordinary practice. Cp. Zimmer, , AIL., p. 295Google Scholar.

page 438 note 1 See p. 467.

page 438 note 2 Utéva me Várunaç chantsi,, arvan, yátrā ta āhúh paramám janítram.

page 438 note 3 See Muir, , Sanskrit Texts, vol. v. p. 158Google Scholar.

page 439 note 1 kūpe (36), vavre (5).

page 439 note 2 Cp. Ludwig, vol. v. p. 384.

page 439 note 3 Cp. Delbrüick AIS. p. 466.

page 439 note 4 Ksipanim, a word occurring only here, but clearly derived from the root ksip ‘to hurl or speed’ (cp. ksipra, swift); according to BR. it meaas ‘whip.’

page 439 note 5 Probably referring to the jagged course of lightning.

page 439 note 6 Utá syá vājī ksipaním turanyati, grīvāyām baddhó apikaksá āsáni, kratum dadhikrā ánu samtávītuat, pathām áṅkāmsi ánu āpánīphanat.

page 440 note 1 Trīni ta áhur diví bándhanāni, trīni apsú, trīni antáh samudré.

page 440 note 2 Cp. Haug, , Vedische Räthselfragen und Räthselsprüche, p. 20Google Scholar.

page 440 note 3 ‘Annastuti’ according to the Anukramam.

page 440 note 4 Cp. (4) and (6).

page 440 note 5 The same verb is used in connexion with Indra in X. 147, 2 (Vrtram ardayah).

page 440 note 6 Purutrā Vrtró açayad vyãstah: I. 32, 7.

page 441 note 1 Vistīrnatamah prakhyātakīrtis trisu ksityādisthānesu tāyamāno 'pi Indrah.

page 441 note 2 i.e. her sons, the Maruts themselves.

page 441 note 3 This change from the second to the third person is not uncommon in the RV.

page 441 note 4 i.e. their mother, the rain-cloud. In VIII. 7, 16 the Maruts milk the unfailing spring (utsam), and in IX. 34, 5, the sons of Prçni (the Maruts) milk Soma.

page 441 note 5 Lit. reproach or blame.

page 441 note 6 i.e. Vrtra.

page 441 note 7 Either from √nu ‘to praise,’ ‘of him who praised himself’ (cp. manyamānam, ‘him who thought himself mighty’ in 5), or from √nu ‘to shout’ (cp. tuvīravam, ‘roaring mightily,’ p. 430, and I. 52, 10, ‘heaven reeled with fear at the roar of the dragon’).

page 441 note 8 i.e. the serpents (ahi) that cast their old skins.

page 441 note 9 Supplying ‘duha’ the second pers., owing to the vocatives, from the preceding third pers. duhuh: lit. ‘milked out,’ i.e. elicited from the rain-cloud Trita who larked in it (cp. 4 and 36).

page 442 note 1 In (4) he is in a lurking place (vavre) preparing for the conflict with vrtra, and in (36) buried in a well (kūpe) he prays to be released.

page 442 note 2 This antithesis is also contained in the last stanza of this hymn: ‘ye free (your) praiser from blame’ (nidó muñcátha vanditāram).

page 442 note 3 Áhir ná jũrnām áti sarpati tvácam.

page 442 note 4 Vedic hymns, SBE. vol. xxxii. p. 305.

page 442 note 5 Cp. (9).

page 443 note 1 Cakrī, lit. ‘wheel.’

page 443 note 2 I take avarān predicatively, ‘as lower (sacrificers),’ i.e. on earth.

page 443 note 3 A group of wind-gods, mentioned seven times in the RV., who assist Indra in hattle and offer him Soma and songs of praise.

page 443 note 4 Té Dáçagvāh prathamā yajñám ūhire. This is probably only a mythological way of saying that wind is necessary for wafting the sacrifice.

page 443 note 5 Cp. also X. 124, 1: ‘Come, O Agni, to this our sacrifice, which has five courses, is threefold, and seven-threaded.’

page 444 note 1 i.e. Trita.

page 444 note 2 dadhanti and dadhantu each occur once, dadhate (3rd sing. Ā.), seven times in the RV. This is a beginning of the transition from the second to the first conjugation, which became fixed in the pre-Vedie period, e.g. in sthā, tisthati (Gr. 'Ιστημι).

page 444 note 3 SBE. vol. xxxii. p. 325.

page 444 note 4 Rel. Véd. II. 327.

page 445 note 1 Trisu sthānesu tāyamāno megho marudgano vā.

page 445 note 2 Agni, as well as Indra, is in the RV. called marút-sakhi,' ‘having the Maruts for his friends.’

page 446 note 1 Tritam trisv āhavanīyādisu sthānesu tatam vistrtam tvām.

page 446 note 2 And not improbably associated with him in (6) also.

page 446 note 3 Cp. divyáh in (24).

page 446 note 4 dhmātári in the Pada text.

page 446 note 5 Tritas tri-(su sthānesu ta-) to vyāptas trīni sthānāni vātītya.

page 447 note 1 Sá íd Agníhnvatamahnvasakhā: X. 115, 5.

page 448 note 1 Trisu ksityādisthānesu tāyamānah.

page 448 note 2 Cp. abhistaye in (20).

page 448 note 3 Which Sāyana here, by way of a change, explains not by apām putrah but by āptavyah sarvaih, ‘who is to be obtained by all.’ This explanation is to be traced to Yāska's remark ‘āptyā āpnoteh’ (the word) āptyāh (is derived) from the root ‘āp’ (Nir. XI. 20).

page 448 note 4 See p. 473–4.

page 449 note 1 -i is, of course, the regular termination of the 3rd sing. aor. passive (a-stāv-i, etc.) and -i coalescing with a preceding thematic a to e is common in the 3rd sing. pres. middle (stave, stushe, etc.).

page 449 note 2 In stanzas 3, 7, 8, and 14.

page 449 note 3 11, 13, 16, 18.

page 449 note 4 See p. 476, line 7.

page 449 note 5 Cp. p. 475.

page 449 note 6 Cp. ‘Trita roars’ in (21).

page 450 note 1 Mares are regarded in the RV. as especially swift, and are, therefore, frequently referred to in similes. Cp. AIL. p. 231.

page 450 note 2 In I. 164, 44, the Sun, Agni, and Lightning are spoken of as the three having flowing hair (trayah kecinah). Cp. Haug, , Vedische Räthselfragen, p. 52Google Scholar.

page 450 note 3 Which recur in RV. VI. 12, 4, with reference to Agni: ‘By our friends that Agni, Jātavedas in the house, is praised like a fleet mare owing to his pantings (sásmākebhir etárī ná çūusair Agníh stave dáma ā jātávedāh).

page 450 note 4 Cp. éta, ‘swift antelope,’ and éta-ça, ‘steed.’

page 450 note 5 Tritas tīrnatamas trisu sthānesv anyesu tritvāpannesu tāyamāno 'gnih.

page 450 note 6 RV. IX. 72, 7 and IX. 86, 10.

page 451 note 1 á-ghnyā or a-ghnyā, ‘not to be slain or injured’ (√han), bears witness to the fact that even in the time of the RV. the cow was regarded in the light of a sacred animal. The word occurs sixteen times in the RV., while the corresponding masc. form is to be found three times.

page 451 note 2 See especially s.v. ‘go’ in BR.

page 451 note 3 For ceva-vrdha.

page 451 note 4 Imám vidhánto apām sadhásthe paçúm ná nastám padaír ánu gman, gúhā cátantam uçíjo námobhir icchánto dhīra Bhŕgavo avindan. The words gúhā cátantam and padaír ánu gman occur also in I. 65, 1.

page 451 note 5 With this line compare ‘sá matúr yónā párivīto antáh, said of lightning in I. 164, 32.

page 452 note 1 bhānúbhih … párivīto víbhāvā.

page 452 note 2 Cp. X. 80, 4: Agnér dhāmāni víbhrtā purutrā, ‘Agni's abodes are distributed in many places.’

page 452 note 3 a-yantra is a ἂπ. λεγ but yantra occurs twice in the RV. in the sense of ‘bond’; and the compound daçyantra, ‘having ten reins,’ is twice (VI. 44, 24, X. 94, 8) used with reference to Soma as prepared by the ten fingers. Cp. X. 51, 3.

page 453 note 1 Op. Hillebrandt, V.M. p. 504.

page 453 note 2 Ludwig thinks it is a contraction for çams-masi.

page 453 note 3 e.g. vibhāvā vibhāti in X. 6, 2. Cp. also the fourth and fifth line of (30).

page 454 note 1 Tīrnatama, a kind of etymological explanation borrowed from Nirukta IV. 6, where Yāska says ‘Tritas tīrnatamo medhayā babhūva.’ Cp. p. 4.

page 454 note 2 Even Savitr is once (I. 22, 6) called apām napāt. Of Abir budhnyah and Aja ekapād I propose to treat in a later article.

page 454 note 3 Cp. (25) and p. 475.

page 455 note 1 This refrain, which has no connection in sense with the rest of the stanza, occurs throughout this, the following, and the two preceding hymns. Cp. the refrain of X. 133, 1–6.

page 455 note 2 As to the importance of this identification cp. p. 456.

page 455 note 3 I. 50,6; IV. 1, 2.

page 455 note 4 See p 476.

page 455 note 5 víçvasya nahhim cárato dhruvásya. Cp. also (26).

page 455 note 6 See 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17.

page 455 note 7 This stanza occurs without variation in SV. II. 5, 2, 7, 3.

page 456 note 1 Cp. (35). Ludwig thinks they are the Dawns.

page 456 note 2 Cp. (32) and (34).

page 456 note 3 divi (23), divyah (24).

page 456 note 4 Cp. IX. 43, 1: ‘who is purified with milk like a steed’ (yó átya iva mrjyáte góbhih).

page 456 note 5 Cp. (31) Tritásyādhi sānavi.

page 456 note 6 i.e. rushes in the pressing vats, the figure of the bull being kept up.

page 456 note 7 Cp. Hillebrandt, V.M. p. 348 and p. 389.

page 456 note 8 e.g. IX. 8, 5–6.

page 456 note 9 Named Kathenotheism by Prof. Max Müller.

page 457 note 1 çatrūnām nivārakam, (as a kind of etymology of the word Varuna).

page 457 note 2 This stanza occurs without variation in the SV.

page 457 note 3 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 32.

page 457 note 4 Cp. X. 181, 2, ‘they found the highest seat of the sacrifice which was hidden’ (ávindan té átihitam yád āsīd yajñásya dhāma paramām gúhā yát).

page 458 note 1 Cp. IX. 86, 27: trtīye prsthé ádhi rocané diváh, ‘on the third ridge in the brightness of heaven.’

page 458 note 2 As to the value of the various readings of the SV. cp. Aufrecht RV. vol. ii. pp. xli.–xlv.

page 458 note 3 Cp. p. 441, note 3.

page 458 note 4 Ví no rāyé dúro vrdhi. Cp. also IX. 102, 8: ‘open the stall of heaven,’ rnór ápa vrajám diváh.

page 458 note 5 rayír ví rājati ‥ mádhor dhārābhih.

page 458 note 6 Cp. p. 440, note 2.

page 458 note 7 Cp. p. 483 cp. also the trīni diví bándhanāni of the celestial steed in (17).

page 459 note 1 Cp. p. 483 (41).

page 459 note 2 Cp. (23) and (24) in heaven; (31) and (34) on a height; (33) in secret.

page 459 note 3 Cp. nābhih in (26) and (30) note 5.

page 459 note 4 Refrain.

page 459 note 5 Cp. jāmíbhih in (31), and yajñásya saptá dhāmabhh in (33).

page 459 note 6 Cp. X. 7, 3: ‘Agni I deem my father, my kinsman, my brother, my friend for ever; as the face of great Agni I will honour the holy light of Sūrya in the sky.’

page 459 note 7 Cp. I. 164, 1: ‘the middle brother (of the three) is lightning.’ See Haug, , Räthselfragen, p. 13Google Scholar.

page 460 note 1 He explains the word Tritá by ‘tīrnatama,’ elucidating this explanation further by ‘tiraskrtājñāna’ ‘one who has overcome ignorance.’ Cp. p. 421.

page 460 note 2 Brhaspati also releases the nectar (= fertilising rain) from the well of rock (=rain-cloud) in II. 24, 4 and X. 68, 4, 7, 8.

page 460 note 3 Here called kūpa or well; otherwise the cloud is often called utsa, fountain, avata, well, or ūdhar, udder (of the sky) by a very natural metaphor. Cp. (19).

page 461 note 1 Cp. Pischel, , Vedica in ZMG., vol. xl. p. 111Google Scholar.

page 461 note 2 The sense would then be ‘even though parts of it be pleasant, we put the whole of the evil dream away.’

page 461 note 3 p. 112.

page 462 note 1 pp. 113–118.

page 462 note 2 p. 121.

page 462 note 3 Ib.

page 463 note 1 In the TS. and ÇB.: see BR. s.v.

page 463 note 2 Grassmann, Translation, Vol. I. p. 175, is of this opinion.

page 463 note 3 Dvitāya mrktávāhase … indum sá dhatta ānusák stotā cit te amartia.

page 463 note 4 ἅπ. λεγ RV. X. 16, 9.

page 464 note 1 In stanzas 14, 15, 16 and 18.

page 464 note 2 ‘suva,’ with the frequent etymological play on the word savifr; in the following stanza he is called upon to carry away evil deeds (duritāni) as the Ādityas in (37).

page 464 note 3 Again ‘suva.’

page 464 note 4 The third passage is X. 36, 4, where the pressing stone (grāvan) is called upon to dispel evil spirits and evil dreams.

page 464 note 5 The sense usually given to the word by the native commentators, though BR. and Grassmann assign to it the meaning of ‘radiant,’ ‘flaming.’

page 464 note 6 Vedica, ZMG. vol. xl. p. 111.

page 464 note 7 With the exception of the one occurrence of the word in the plural, which I wish to reserve till later (p. 482).

page 466 note 1 See above pp. 463–4.

page 466 note 2 Cp. Hillebrandt, , V.M. p. 388Google Scholar.

page 466 note 3 Ibid. p. 362.

page 467 note 1 He is constantly spoken of as a hotr in the RV.

page 468 note 1 Cp. Hillebrandt, , V.M. p. 342Google Scholar.

page 468 note 2 There can be no doubt that the three sacrificial fires were meant to represent these three forms of Agni. Cp. Ludwig, , RV. vol. iii. p. 356Google Scholar.

page 469 note 1 III. 20, 2.

page 469 note 2 Agni is represented as speaking.

page 469 note 3 III. 26, 7. Hillebrandt (Cp. V.M. p. 334) thinks that the third form of Agni is the moon; but that a luminary, whose rays become the type of what is cooling, should be regarded as a representative form of the burning and scorching god is highly improbable, apart from the weakness of the evidence in the RV.

page 469 note 4 This epithet is often applied to Agni, e.g. V. 4, 8; VI. 12, 2.

page 469 note 5 VI. 8, 7.

page 469 note 6 III. 2, 9.

page 469 note 7 IV. 1, 7.

page 469 note 8 As the sun.

page 469 note 9 As lightning.

page 469 note 10 IV. 1, 11. Cp. p. 474, note 10.

page 469 note 11 VIII. 39, 8.

page 469 note 12 Referring to the threefold division of heaven, earth, and atmosphere, so often alluded to.

page 469 note 13 VIII. 39, 9.

page 469 note 14 X. 45, 1.

page 469 note 15 Most probably ‘Trita’; cp. X. 5, 2.

page 469 note 16 Cp. kūpe in (36).

page 469 note 17 X. 45, 2. Cp. X. 5, 1, where it is said of Agni that he ‘lurks in the udder, in the lap of the secret ones; in the midst of the spring rests the place of the bird’ (sísakti ūdhar niniór upástha, útsasya mádhye níhitam padám veh).

page 469 note 18 Probably Varuna, who, in V. 85, 2, is said to have placed Agni in the waters (Váruno apsú Agním diví sūryam adadhāt).

page 470 note 1 Perhaps the Maruts.

page 470 note 2 X. 45, 3.

page 470 note 3 Here the sun.

page 470 note 4 Ordinary fire.

page 470 note 5 Lightning, III. 29, 11.

page 470 note 6 I. 164, 1: cp. Haug, Räthselfragen, p. 13Google Scholar.

page 470 note 7 X. 1, 3.

page 470 note 8 The other gods along with whom Indra is invoked are Varuna (seven hymns), Soma (two), Pūsan (one), Visnu (one).

page 470 note 9 I. 108, 3.

page 471 note 1 Ib. 5.

page 471 note 2 Pisehel, who translates the whole of I. 109 in V.S. part ii. takes vrtra-hatya here in the sense of ‘fight’ (in general).

page 471 note 3 I. 109, 5.

page 471 note 4 Ib. 8.

page 471 note 5 III, 12, 4.

page 471 note 6 Ib. 6.

page 471 note 7 Ib. 9.

page 471 note 8 VII. 59, 2.

page 471 note 9 VIII. 40, 8.

page 471 note 10 X. 65, 2.

page 471 note 11 III. 22, 1.

page 471 note 12 The very name dadhi-krā (or-krā-van) ‘curd-mixing’ (-√kr or kir) is suggestive of lightning, which (or thunder) turns milk sour.

page 471 note 13 The sun is often spoken of as a bird in the RV. Cp. p. 469, note 17.

page 472 note 1 Lightning.

page 472 note 2 A regular epithet of Agni as the sacrificial fire.

page 472 note 3 Common designation of Agni as the domestic fire.

page 472 note 4 I. 74, 3.

page 472 note 5 I. 78,4.

page 472 note 6 III. 20, 4.

page 472 note 7 VI. 16, 19.

page 472 note 8 Agnír vrtrāni jaṅghanat, Ib. 34.

page 472 note 9 Indra and Agni are the only gods conjointly termed ‘Vrtra-slayers.’

page 473 note 1 Marúdvrdha, III. 13, 6.

page 473 note 2 Agnijihvá, I. 89, 7.

page 473 note 3 III. 26, 6

page 473 note 4 VIII. 7, 32.

page 473 note 5 I. 124, 6.

page 473 note 6 IX. 16, 3.

page 473 note 7 ámaptam apsú dustáram sómam.

page 473 note 8 See p. 478.

page 474 note 1 RV. 1.105, 9.

page 474 note 2 See p. 479.

page 474 note 3 See Bergaigne, R.V. II. 16.

page 474 note 4 III. 25, 5.

page 474 note 5 I. 144, 2.

page 474 note 6 X. 46, 1.

page 474 note 7 Ib. 2.

page 474 note 8 II. 4, 2.

page 474 note 9 III. i. 3.

page 474 note 10 III. 9, 4. Cp. IV. i. 11; III. i. 14.

page 474 note 11 Soma, see next quotation.

page 474 note 12 X. 32, 6.

page 474 note 13 X. 9, 6 = I. 23, 20.

page 474 note 14 X 120, 6.

page 475 note 1 Yāska (Nir. XI. 20) deriving the word from āp ‘to obtain,’ explains Āptyám Āptyānām by āptavyam āptavyānām!

page 475 note 2 This single occurrence in the RV. of the word in the plural is the only justification for ‘Āptyāh’ appearing among the deities of the middle region in the Nighantus; (5, 5).

page 475 note 3 This is the view accepted by the majority of Vedic scholars. Hillebrandt, (V.M., pp. 365–80)Google Scholar inclines to the belief that Apām napāt is the moon. The evidence of the RV. is distinctly in favour of the received opinion. Dwelling and concealment in the waters, swiftness, and fieriness is essential to the nature of lightning, but not to that of the moon.

page 475 note 4 II. 35, 8 and 9.

page 475 note 5 X. 30, 4. It is to be noted that the waters released by the celestial Agni are here distinctly regarded as the celestial Soma which strengthens Indra for the conflict. So Trita prepares Soma for Indra.

page 476 note 1 In (40).

page 476 note 2 Darmesteter, , SBE. vol. iv. p. lxiiiGoogle Scholar.

page 476 note 3 In X. 5, 3, Agni is called ‘the centre (nābhi) of all that moves and is fixed’; cp. VIII. 41, 6, above (30).

page 476 note 4 V. 3, 1.

page 476 note 5 VII. 88, 2.

page 476 note 6 V. 85, 3.

page 476 note 7 I. 93.

page 476 note 8 I. 93, 4.

page 476 note 9 Ib. 5.

page 476 note 10 VI. 8, 2.

page 476 note 11 V. 2, 10.

page 477 note 1 I. 65, l.

page 477 note 2 I. 67, 2. Cp. 469, note 10, and 474, note 10.

page 477 note 3 V. 11, 6.

page 477 note 4 III. 1, 14.

page 477 note 5 VI. 8, 4.

page 477 note 6 X 51, 1.

page 477 note 7 This represents an older form of the word than tritá, being the basis of the secondary formation trt-īya, = Lat. tertius, etc. Cp. Brugmann, Grundriss, II. part i. p. 229.

page 478 note 1 This verse occurs again in the TB. I. 7, i, 4.

page 479 note 1 I quote Eggeling's, translation, SBE. vol. xiii. p. 47Google Scholar.

page 479 note 2 As to the three former Agnis, cp. ÇB. I. iii. 3, 13–16; also TS. II. vi. 6.

page 479 note 3 This concealment and discovery of Agni in the waters is evidently based on the myth so frequently alluded to in the RV.

page 479 note 4 It is to be noted that the epithet here is Āptya, regarded as a derivative of ap, ‘water,’ while the TB. has āpya.

page 479 note 5 These three names are also mentioned a little further on in § 5.

page 479 note 6 In TS. II. v. 1, 1, Viçvarūpa is slain by Indra. Cp. above (5) RV.X. viii., where in stanza 8 Trita slays Viçvarūpa, and in 9 Indra slays him.

page 480 note 1 Nirukta VII. 13.

page 481 note 1 The t of which by Verner's law points to Proto-Gennanic-dó cp. Paul's, Grundriss, p. 327Google Scholar; Brugmann, II. part i. p. 229.

page 481 note 2 Which points to Proto-Germanic accentuation on the second syllahle, as it would otherwise have heen thrithya.

page 481 note 3 The common adverb dvitā in the RV. is also based on dvi-ta, second.

page 481 note 4 Cp. Brugmann, l.c.

page 481 note 5 SBE. vol. xxxi. p. 233.

page 481 note 6 Sanskrit Soma.

page 482 note 1 See (41) below.

page 482 note 2 Grundriss, vol. ii. part i. p. 229 sub fine.

page 482 note 3 Vol. i. p. 63.

page 482 note 4 See (40) above.

page 482 note 5 V. 18, 2: see above p. 463.

page 482 note 6 As it were the ‘One-th.’

page 482 note 7 See above p. 479.

page 482 note 8 The last three stanzas (22–24), however, being in praise of Soma.

page 483 note 1 Soma.

page 483 note 2 The Sun, whose wife is the Dawn (sūryasya yósā) in RV. VII. 75, 5.

page 483 note 3 Cp. above (31) ‘Só … arocayat. Sūlryam.’

page 483 note 4 Cp. (31) and (34).

page 483 note 5 V.M. p. 312. None of the interpreters give a reason for this rendering.

page 483 note 6 Sāyana translates ‘among the shining Tritas,’ taking rocanesu as an adjective and explaining tritesu by gods pervading the third region (trtĩye sthāne tatesu vistrtesu devesu).

page 483 note 7 Cp. ‘Trīni Tritásya’ (34).

page 483 note 8 Amrta or Soma is called threefold because of its three ingredients—juice, milk, and water.

page 483 note 9 See I. 102, 8; I. 149, 4; IV. 53, 5; V. 61, 1; V. 81, 4.

page 483 note 10 The same three words occur in V. 29, 1.

page 483 note 11 The three earths being the first, and the three atmospheric regions (trīni rajāmsi) being the second.

page 484 note 1 Transactions of the Oriental Congress at Vienna, Aryan section, pp. 1–10.

page 484 note 2 Cp. Darmesteter, , SBE. vol. iv. p. lxiiGoogle Scholar.

page 484 note 3 Azi=Skt. ahi ‘serpent,’ dahāka allied to Skt. dāsa ‘fiend.’ The latter term is in (6) applied to the three-headed six-eyed fiend.

page 484 note 4 Described both as the weapon of Ahura (= Skt. asura), Heaven, and as his son. Cp. Darmesteter, I.c.

page 484 note 6 Cp. svar-jit ‘light-winning,’ svar-vid ‘light-finding’ (battle, Indra, etc.), in the RV.

page 485 note 1 SBE. vol. iv. p. lxiv.

page 485 note 2 Modern Persian, through vāhrām, varahrān, from Verethraghna.

page 485 note 3 SBE. vol. iv. p. lxxxix.

page 485 note 4 Mills, SBE. vol. xxxi. p. 233.

page 485 note 5 In the Avesta there are two kinds of Haoma, the yellow earthly Haoma, the king of healing plants, and the white Haoma, or Gaokerena, which grows in the midst of the atmospheric sea and furnishes the drink of immortality (SBE. vol. iv. p. lxix.). So in the RV. we have the terrestrial Soma and that which is prepared hy Trita in the heavens.

page 485 note 6 SBE. vol. iv. p. 219.

page 485 note 7 SBE. vol. iv. p. 220.

page 486 note 1 I. 158, 5.

page 486 note 2 He probably came to be regarded as tbe son of Ātbwya, because that word, the original meaning of which (= āptya) had been forgotten, seemed like a patronymic formation. Bartholomae, , Indogermanische Forschungen, I. pp. 180–2Google Scholar, thinks in opposition to Pischel, , V.S. I. 186Google Scholar, that the original form of the word was ātpiá (not āptiá). Now in the form of a myth, which is manifestly late and corrupt, like the present one in the Avesta, a phonetic corruption is much more likely to occur than in the form which is older and clearly intelligible in its origin, as is here the case in the RV. Not only is the etymology of Āptya obviously supported by Trita's connexion with the waters, but that connexion is emphatically corroborated by the myth of the conflict between Thraetaona and Azi Dahāka in the Avesta itself. The meaning of Āptya is absolutely consistent with the original form of the myth, while ātpiá seems to have no meaning and no connexion with anything.

page 486 note 3 In the RV. the demon slain by Trita is in (5) called three-headed, and in (6) three-headed and six-eyed.

page 487 note 1 SBE. vol. iv. p. lxiii.

page 487 note 2 Skt. Varuna, i.e. the four-sided heavens.

page 487 note 3 SBE. vol. iv. p. 221.

page 487 note 4 No satisfactory etymology of this name has yet heen found. Cp. Jacobi in Kuhn's, Zeitschrift, vol. xxxi, pp. 316–19Google Scholar.

page 488 note 1 SBE. vol. iv. p. lxxii.

page 488 note 2 As we have seen (p. 472) this epithet is applied to Indra over seventy times and to Agni only sixteen times in the RV.

page 488 note 3 Cp. Mogk, in Paul's, Grundrias, p. 1075Google Scholar.

page 488 note 4 Originally an adjectival derivative (from a base corresponding to Skt. vāta, wind) used as an epithet of the god of heaven, Tiu (=Skt. Dyu, Gk. Ζες). Cp. Mogk, ib. p. 1070.

page 488 note 5 Cp. Grimm, , Deutsche Mythologie, 2nd ed. p. 148Google Scholar; Müller, Max, SBE. xxxii. p. 305Google Scholar, footnote.

page 488 note 6 Cp. Dvita beside Trita.

page 495 note 1 Vālakhilya, 4.

page 495 note 2 Vālakhilya, 6.