Avestan .aspa-, Rigveda 4.43, and the myth of the Divine Twins

Avestan .aspa-, Rigveda 4.43, and the myth of the Divine Twins

Avestan
.aspa-, Rigveda 4.43, and the myth of the Divine Twins*
Alexander Nikolaev
Avestan H
t.aspa-, known from later Zoroastrian tradition as the name of an ancestor of
Zaraθuštra,1 is twice attested in the Gāthās. In Y. 46 the singer addresses several characters of the
Gāthic world by name, beginning with Zaraθuštra himself and continuing in stanza 15 with
t sp sp t m
(voc. pl.), apparently a branch of Zaraθuštra‘s own clan. Bartholomae
interpreted the form as a genitival formation ‗descendants of H.‘, derived from the name of that
individual through accent shift,2 but it seems likelier that
t sp here is simply the plural of
the ancestor‘s name used to designate the entire family. 3 In addition, in Y. 53.3 we learn that
Zaraθuštra‘s daughter Pourucistā had a propatronymic
t sp n .4 On the basis of this
evidence a personal name *haič t-a ua- can be safely posited.5
The first member of this compound is clearly derived from the root of Avestan
ṇ -ti,
Vedic siñcá-ti ‗pour out‘.6 This verb is used with different kinds of liquids and substances,
including semen and urine; accordingly, H
t.aspa- has been translated as ‗having stud-
horses‘ (Justi7) or as ‗having horses that urinate‘ (Humbach, followed by Mayrhofer).8 Both of
these translations lack conviction. Humbach‘s reference to Yt. 5.120 for a myth about the urine
of the heavenly steeds does not support his argument, because the critical form mīšt which he,
*
It is a pleasure to thank Timothy Barnes, Jay Jasanoff, Alexis Manaster Ramer, Jeremy Rau, Martin
Schwartz, and Martin West, as well as Stephanie Jamison and two anonymous JAOS referees for their
careful reading of an earlier version of this note and for their remarks. It goes without saying that they
may or may not agree with my conclusions and no one of them is to be blamed for what I have done in
response to or despite their advice.
Haecatasp (Pāzand) was Zaraθuštra‘s great-great-grandfather according to the Iranian Bundahišn 35.52
(ed. Pakzad = IndBund 32.1) and Dēnkard 7.2.70 (ed. Molé).
1
2
Bartholomae 1904: col. 1728.
3
Rau 2007: 60 n.27.
4
On the patronymic suffix - n - see Rau 2007: 60–65.
5
The accent is reconstructed based on the accentuation of Vedic compounds of the bharád-v j - type.
Schwartz 2006: 55, 61 has shown that Pourucistā‘s patronymic is compositionally connected with instr.
sg. ī in Y 32.14b (see also Schwartz 2009: 431).
6
7
Justi 1895: 124: ―Springhengste besitzend‖.
Humbach 1973: 96: ―mit sich ergiessenden Rossen‖. This interpretation was accepted by Mayrhofer
1979: 48–49 and Remmer 2006: 210 n. 210.
8
1
following Geldner,9 translated as ‗with urine‘ is extremely unclear: the context and etymology
allow a plethora of other possibilities, including ‗with seed‘, ‗by care‘, ‗always‘ or ‗together‘.10
The alleged Vedic parallel cited by Humbach also fails, if RV 10.96.1
ru s
rt
n
r
11
t means ―[soma] which flows like lovely butter in golden [drops]‖, and not ―[soma],
like lovely butter, which is gushed out by the golden [steeds]‖.12
In my opinion, the translation of H
t.aspa- to be preferred is ‗having horses that
splash‘.13 Importantly, the first member of the compound is synchronically associated with the
middle stem:14 even though *
-t is not attested in Avestan, its absence is likely to be
fortuitous, since such a stem is the expected cognate of Vedic séca-te.15 The translation of the
compound should therefore be ‗having horses that besprinkle/bathe themselves‘ (
uvrī ) and
not ‗sprinkling/bathing the horses‘.16
Geldner 1881: 399; 1904: 1095. Geldner, apparently, assumed that mīšt - was remade from *mīžd (Avestan m z-, Sanskrit mih-). According to de Vaan (2003: 238), Oettinger in his 1983 monographic
study of Yt. 5 likewise translated mīšt as ‗mit Harnen‘.
9
The text of Yt. 5.120 is:
ϑβ r rš n / m t š t ur m zd / v təm v rəm m γəm
f
um / mīš i (v. l. mūšt ) zī m īm / sp t m z r ϑuštr / v rəṇt
sn ž ṇt
/ sr s ṇt
/
f
uṇt
/
uu uu t
n n m / n uu s t š z rəm ―for whom Ahura Mazdâ fashioned
together four males: the wind, the rain, the fog, and the hail. For by mīš i, O Spitama Zarathustra, they
rain, snow, drip, and hail on her for me, who has as many armies as nine hundred and a thousand.‖
The translation ‗seed‘ is based on a comparison with Khotanese mäṣṣ - ‗field‘, Lithuanian m ẽž
‗barley‘ (Bailey 1956: 38). However, ‗care‘ has been proposed as well, this time on the basis of Old
Avestan m n š, m zən (Kellens 1984: 166). Next, the problematic mīšt could be the same word as m št
(Yt. 7.2; Ny 3.6) ‗together‘, ‗l‘un avec l‘autre‘, viz. ‗in mixture‘ (Kellens 1974: 302). Lastly, Bartholomae
also analyzed mīšt as derived from the root of Sanskrit m kṣ -ti ‗mix‘ (1904: col. 1187; 1906: 207–8),
but attributed to it the rather different meaning ‗always‘ on the basis of the Armenian borrowing m št.
10
11
Gotō 1987: 327.
12
Geldner 1951: 3, 304: ―Oder ist gemeint daß die Falben den Soma als Harn herabgießen?‖
13
Cf. Bartholomae‘s ―Rosse mit Wasser besprengend, badend‖ (1904: col. 1728).
14
For a first member in -at made from a stem with intransitive meaning, compare Vedic svanád-ratha-,
Avestan v n t.caxra- ‗having rattling chariot / wheels‘.
15
The stem séca-te is only attested in the Rigveda once (RV 10.96.1, cited above in the main text), but
nevertheless seems quite secure: the pair séca-te (intrans.) : siñcá-ti (trans.) corresponds to a pattern that is
well established in the language; moreover, the full grade *seikwe/o- is also reflected in Germanic
*seihwa- ‗sieve‘ (trans.), see Joachim 1978: 166–67.
16
This was seen by Kellens, who had originally followed Bartholomae (above n. 13), translating
H
t.aspa- as ―celui qui asperge les chevaux‖ (Kellens–Pirart 1988: 8), but later changed this to ―celui
dont les chevaux s‘éclaboussent‖ (Kellens 1991: 68; 1995: 72).
2
But what is such a name actually supposed to mean? It looks like a reference to a
mythological narrative of some sort. The first step towards a solution was made by Kellens, who
noted en passant that both members of *hai t-a ua- corresponded exactly to the Vedic phrase
sñ d
v n (RV 4.43.6).17 Kellens did not attempt to build on this important observation, and
this Vedic parallel has been overlooked by nearly all later scholarship. 18 It behoves us therefore
to examine the context in which s ñ d
v n is attested.
RV 4.43 is a hymn to the Aśvins. In it we learn first that Sūryā had chosen the chariot of
the divine twins (2cd: r t
(5ab: r t ḥ …
sūri s
t s mudr d
du t vrṇīt ), that this chariot comes from the sea
v rt t v m), and finally (in stanza 6) that the Aśvins
obtained Sūryā on a trip during which their horses were bathed in the water:
s nd ur
v
r s
sñ d
rṇ v o ruṣ s ḥ p r
t dūṣ v m jr
n p tī
v t
t
v n
m n
n
ḥ sūr
ḥ
Sindhu sprinkled your horses together with Rasā;19
the red birds (viz. horses — A. N.) have escaped the heat.20
This rapid vehicle of yours has just appeared splendid,
through which you become the masters of Sūryā.
There is no consensus among the commentators regarding this passage. Bergaigne thought that
v n here is a metaphor for streams poured forth by both Sindhu and Rasā.21 Pirart saw here a
17
Kellens 1977: 663 n.5; the Vedic-Avestan correspondence is mentioned in Kellens–Pirart 1988: 8.
It is missing from Mayrhofer‘s standard handbook of Iranian onomastics (1979: 49) and his Sanskrit
etymological dictionary.
18
19
Or: ―with moisture / water‖, see below n. 28.
20
The second pada has a few problems which, while not insurmountable, are significant enough to be
signaled here. First, the padapā ha has instr. sg. rṇ , for which acc. pl. rṇ (ḥ) is usually accepted
(Oldenberg 1909: 303). Secondly, the meaning ‗to avoid‘ is not attested for pári-gam- and is posited
solely on the strength of the usage of pári- - (e.g. RV 2.33.14b p r tv ṣ s durm t r m ī t ‗may
the great hatred of the boisterous one pass (us) by‘, cited by Lüders 1951: 139). While Geldner apparently
considered both difficulties negligible and translated ―Sindhu mit der Rasa benetzte eure Pferde; die
rötlichen Vogelrosse entgingen den Gluten‖, Renou with some hesitation offered an alternative
translation: ―ils ont fait le tour (du ciel) sous la chaleur-torride‖ (1967: 35).
21
Bergaigne 1878: 258.
3
―mythe autrement inconnu‖ of Sindhu consecrating the horses for the Aśvins.22 Others have
assumed that s ñ d
v n refers to a moistening that protected the horses from overheating
during a race: as the result, the Aśvins won and obtained Sūryā.23 But nothing else in the hymn
suggests a chariot race, nor are there any hints of such a competition in two other Rigvedic
stanzas, where the Aśvins‘ horses are said to suffer from heat in the presence of Sūryā.24
Moreover, whenever in the Rigveda Sūryā ascends the Aśvins‘ chariot, she does so of her own
v r , as Jamison has shown25, and so any
will (avrṇīt ): Sūryā‘s marriage was a sv
interpretation according to which the bride Sūryā was the prize in a race is effectively precluded.
Now the presence of síndhu- in pada 6a is potentially significant, and the word is a
promising starting point for the exegesis of the entire passage, because síndhu- is not just any
river, but rather the frontier of the inhabited world26 or a mythical stream in heaven.27 What the
Vedic text is telling us therefore is that the Aśvins went to the ends of the earth or to heaven,
where their horses got wet in the waters of some mythical stream,28 and as the result of this
adventure Sūryā willingly got into the Aśvins‘ chariot. Is there any evidence for a myth in which
the Aśvins took such a trip? Yes, but it has to be reconstructed from scattered parts.29
22
Pirart 2001: 146.
23
Geldner 1951: 1, 476. Elsewhere Geldner adduces several parallels for the idea of wetting down a horse
after a race (1951: 1, 31–2), but at RV 1.30.1 the meaning of krívi- remains uncertain, while Geldner‘s
other examples have the verb ukṣ-, not sic-. According to yet another proposal the horses were moistened
not in or after a race, but for some other purpose, for instance, in grooming (Schwartz 2006: 56), but this
idea is difficult to prove or disprove, since the necessary textual support is lacking.
RV 5.73.5; 7.69.4. The race for the Sun Maiden is known only from the Brāhmaṇas (JB 1.213; AB 4.7–
11; KB 18.1–5), but see Oertel (1909: 174) who compellingly argued that the legend about a chariot race
of the gods was only secondarily connected with originally separate story of the wedding.
24
25
Jamison 2001.
26
Thieme 1970.
27
Lüders 1951: 138–51.
As for r s -, this word elsewhere denotes a remote mythical stream (just like its Avestan cognate
r
-): for instance, it is in the Rasā that the island with the Vala cave and primordial cows is located.
Still, the etymological meaning of the word is ‗dew‘ (cognates include Latin r s, OCS rosa, Lithuanian
rasà ‗dew‘), and in principle nothing seems to stand in the way of the translation ‗water, liquid, moisture‘
for our passage: this was Sāyaṇa‘s understanding, followed by the St.Petersburg dictionary, Lommel
(1926: 194) and García-Ramón (2008: 162 n. 23). (Cf. Lüders‘ heated objection: ―Ein Femininum r s
mit der Bedeutung ―Feuchtigkeit‖ […] ist gänzlich unwahrscheinlich‖ (1951: 139 n. 1)).
28
29
The following review of the relevant facts is admittedly cursory; the excuse for this is that these facts
will be quite familiar to most readers. For the Aśvins see Zeller 1990; Oberlies 1992; 1993; Gotō 2006.
4
Firstly, we know that the Aśvins, one of whose epithets is s nd um t r ‗having síndhuas their mother‘ (RV 1.46.2), are strongly associated with water. The evidence is ubiquitous: they
are said to be in company with rivers,30 their chariot comes out of the sea31 or is parked right at a
ford,32 they often ride it at sea, etc.
Secondly, the Aśvins are known for their ability to save others, especially from
drowning; in fact, their ―middle name‖ N s t
(Avestan N
θiia-) is derived from the root
*nes- ‗to save‘.33 The most frequently occurring story is the one about Tugra‘s son Bhujyu, who
was drowning in a shipwreck, when the Aśvins came to the rescue (18x in the RV).34 The theme
of rescue at sea must predate the Rigveda simply because the immense ocean (samudrá-) in
which Bhujyu was fighting for his life is unlikely to have been inspired by any of the river basins
with which the Rigvedic Aryans were familiar (e.g. the Punjab).35 And indeed, this narrative
finds a close parallel in Yt. 5.61–63 (the story of Pāuruua) and can therefore be projected to the
Common Indo-Iranian period.36
Thirdly, Sūryā is one of the three female deities to which the Aśvins are linked in the
Vedic myth (along with Uṣās and Saraṇyū). Their tangled relationship is characterized by
polyandry and incest: the d v n p t ―scions of the sky‖ act as suitors and joint husbands of the
―Sun maiden‖, d v du t (RV 1.92.5+).37
All of the above is also true of the Greek Dioscuri, whose unmistakable affinity with the
Vedic Aśvins has long been noted and has become firmly entrenched in handbooks of
30
RV 5.74.2 k v
RV 4.43.5 v
from the sea‖.
31
32
RV 1.46.8 tīrt
n dīn
s
r t ḥ…/
s nd ūn
―Which of you two is in company with rivers?‖
t s mudr d
r t
v rt t v m ―your chariot ... when it rolls here to you
ḥ ―[your] chariot is at the ford of the rivers‖.
Gothic nasjands ‗ζωηήρ‘, Vedic násate and Greek νέομαι ‗return home safely‘ (see Güntert 1923: 259;
Frame 1978: 134–52; Gotō 2006: 262–63).
33
34
See recently Ronzitti 2010.
35
Michalski 1961: 12.
36
Oettinger 1988; Gotō 2000: 152 n. 18.
E.g. RV 1.116.17: v
r t
du t sūr s / k rṣm v t ṣ d rv t j ntī // v v d v nv
m n nt rd ḥ / s m u r n s t s t ―the Daughter of the Sun stepped on your chariot, as if
she were winning a race on a steed. All deities assented with their hearts, and you, Nasatyas, united
yourselves with the beauty‖ ( rī = Sūryā). In RV 10.85 (the Sūr -Sūkt ) the Aśvins appear as suitors
wooing Sūr both for them and for Soma.
37
5
comparative mythology.38 The Dioscuri often act as rescuers from danger, hence their most
frequent epiclesis ζωηῆρες ‗saviors‘.39 They were protectors of the sailors, invoked before a sea
trip or during the storm.40 Finally, the Dioscuri are closely associated with a female figure, their
sister Helen: the key theme of this relationship is the saving of Helen, whether from Athens or
from Egypt.41 (The legend of Helen may have more than one point of contact with the Vedic
tradition).42 Other accounts about miraculous twins in Greek mythology are likewise focused on
the theme of rescuing a female relative and restoring her to her rightful place.43
38
Ward 1968: 9–29; Puhvel 1987: 284–90; Euler 1987: 46–51; Nagy 1990: 92–93, 112–13; West 2007:
186–91; Frame 2009: 59–102. The equation is supported by many phraseological correspondences: Vedic
d v n p t ―scions of the sky‖ (RV 1.117.12+) matches Ionic Διόζκοσροι, Vedic ( v n ) su v ―(the
Aśvins) having goοd horses‖ (RV 7.68.1) matches εὐίππων (Τσνδαριδᾶν) (Pi. O. 3.39), Vedic epithet
r p s ―flawless (Aśvins)‖ (RV 5.73.4) matches ἀμώμηηος (Πολσδεύκης) (H. Hom. 33.3), Vedic
p ru ndr ―greatly shining‖ (RV 8.5.32) matches Πολσδεύκης if from *Πολσ-λεσκής (Durante 1976:
164 n. 7; but see Càssola 1984; Bader 1986), etc.
Cf. ὦ Ζηνὸς καὶ Λήδας κάλλιζηοι ζωηῆρες ―O most handsome saviors, of Zeus and Leda (born)‖ PMG
1027c adesp. = Terp. fr. 9 Gostoli.
39
40
See Jaisle 1907: 6–23; Ξσπνηηός 1982–83.
41
See West 1975.
RV 10.17.1–2 names Saraṇyū as the mother of the Aśvíns and tells that when she disappeared from her
own wedding, the gods substituted a phantom, s v rṇ , lit. ―having the same appearance‖. It has long been
noticed (e.g. Pisani 1928) that this legend is reminiscent of the εἴδωλον of Helen which, according to one of
the traditions, Paris took with him to Troy instead of the Dioscuri‘s sister (Hdt. 2.112–20; Eur. Helen;
Stesich. Palinodia (192 PMGF)).
42
The identification of Ἑλένη and S r ṇ ū may extend beyond the s v rṇ / εἴδωλον motif: in the
paper just cited Pisani argued that both proper names were related to each other etymologically. The well
known and much debated obstacle to this idea is the digamma attested in Helen‘s name (e.g. in Laconian
ελέναι SEG 26.457, 7th cent., see West 2007: 231 n. 115 for full documentation). Other etymologies of
Ἑλέν , separating it from S r ṇ ū, have been proposed, the most noteworthy of which is the derivation
from the root *uelh1- ―to choose‖ proposed by Jamison (2001: 314, accepted by Janda 2005: 346–48;
2010: 248–49; for other suggestions see Clader 1976: 80 (to ἡλένη ―sprig‖) and Böckisch 2006: 34–35 (to
ἕλος ―swamp‖)). Nonetheless, Pisani‘s comparison of Ἑλένη to S r ṇ ū remains viable. Those scholars
who have accepted it thus far have either tried to find an explanation for the problematic Anlaut that
would be internal to Greek or operated with two different epithets, *sueleneh2- and *seleneh2- (Skutsch
1987; Jackson 2006: 84–92), but a simpler solution may lie at the Indic end: an original *suaraniu- (
*suaranā- > Ἑλέν ) could be changed into *saraniu- under the influence of the root *sar- ―to run, to
flow‖. An adj. s r ṇ - is attested in the RV with the meaning ―quick‖, applied to horses, and at RV
3.32.5 we clearly have a word-play with sar-: s r ṇ
r p rṇ s s rṣ ―you stir floods and waters
(together) with the fleet ones‖. According to Yāska Nir. 12.10 (on RV 10.17.2), when Saraṇyū was trying
to escape from Vivasvant, she turned into a mare and then gave birth to the Aśvíns (on the legend see
Bloomfield 1893: 172–88; Lommel 1945–49: 243–52); if this tradition is genuinely old, and not a late
invention prompted by the transparent name of the Aśvíns, it would be entirely understandable that the
name *Sv r ṇ ū was changed to S r ṇ ū in order to reflect the hippomorphic aspect of her personality. If
this is correct, Ἑλέν / *Sv r ṇ ū would be a sun figure, whose name goes back to the root *suel- ―to
6
The tertium comparationis for the Aśvins and the Greek Dioscuri has long been sought in
the ―sons of the sky‖ in Baltic mythology, Lithuanian Dievo suneliai and Latvian D v d l who
exhibit all the characteristics intrinsic to the Divine Twins in the other traditions.44 The Latvian
dainas, despite being merely short folk songs, nearly devoid of plot, actually help us to tie up the
loose ends and reconstruct the relevant exploits of the Nāsatyas. In several dainas the ―sons of
the sky‖ are called the suitors (precinieki45) of the daughter of the sun, which immediately calls
to mind the Aśvins wooing Sūryā; even more importantly, one can easily glimpse a narrative
about the sons of the sky coming to the rescue of the daughter of the sun, who was drowning. For
instance: S ul s m t jūru r d , / N m t ņus n r dz j ; / D v d l
met jūr
n r dz j , / Kur
ur ulīšus ―Daughter of the sun went to walk in the sea, (and now) not even a hair to be
seen, the sons of the sky only saw where the sea bubbled (over her)‖ (LTD 11.33965); Saules
m t jūru r d , / V n dz ņu v n r dz j . / Ir t l vu, D v d l , / Gl
t S ul s dv s līt
―Daughter of the sun was wading in the sea, (and now) only her crown was visible, row your
boat, sons of the sky, rescue the soul of the sun‖ (LTD 11.33969).
It is thus only in Latvian folk songs that we find all of the three themes, each of which is
amply, but separately attested in the Rigveda in connection to the Aśvins: the sea, the rescue, and
the Sun Maiden. In view of the comparative evidence marshalled above, it seems quite plausible
that the inherited mythological narrative, reconstructible on the basis of at least three traditions,
featured the Divine Twins rescuing the drowning Sun Maiden from the sea.46 The union of the
burn‖ (Greek εἵλη ―sun‘s heat‖, Old English swelan ―to burn‖, Iranian *suar- ―glow, burn‖ in Mid.
Persian <hwlg> ―amber‖, Kurdish lī ―ashes‖), as already suggested by Mannhardt (1875: 310) and
Brandenstein (1954: 137).
43
For instance, the twins Euneus and Thoas rescued their mother Hypsipyle from captivity in Nemea (the
legend is recounted in Didymus‘ hypothesis to Pindar‘s Nemeans and in Stat. Theb. 4-6; Euripides treated
the myth in his Hypsipyle); another pair of twins, Cleobis and Biton, transported their mother Κσδίππη
(‗famous for horses‘) to the sanctuary of Hera (Hdt. 1.30-32). On the relationship between Cleobis and
Biton and the Dioscuri see Eitrem 1905 and Grottanelli 1986.
44
The pioneering study by Mannhardt 1875 still remains a valuable collection of the data. Latvian dainas
are now conveniently available in the LTD. A recent study of these texts from a comparative perspective
is Kalēns 1995.
For instance: Saules meita jostas auda, / M n snī s d d m ; / Dieva d l precinieki, / Ā ol n
kumeliņ ―Sun‘s daughter was weaving a band, while the moon was sitting; sons of heaven – suitors,
dappled studs‖ (LTD 11.33962).
45
46
As for the further interpretation of this myth, ever since A. Weber the Indologists have viewed the story
of Sūryā / Uṣās (and Bhujyu) rescued by the Aśvins as an allegory of the sun, going into the ocean in the
west and brought back by the morning star and the evening star (Weber 1862: 234; Myriantheus 1876:
7
Aśvins and Sūryā, in RV 4.43 and elsewhere in the Rigveda, can therefore be viewed as a result
of her successful deliverance from the waters of the síndhu-.47
Let us sum up what we have learned thus far. One of the episodes in the career of the
Indo-European Divine Twins involved rescuing a person from drowning somewhere at the ends
of the earth and taking her home across a large mass of water. We know from Latvian dainas
that the drowning person in this myth was the twins‘ consort or sister who also had distinctive
solar properties. Now the role of the Sun Maiden in the story is confirmed through a new
interpretation of RV 4.43: this hymn features Sūryā, rescued by the Aśvins, and the horses of the
Nāsatyas who get wet in the waters of the ocean during the most important rescue operation of
the Divine Twins. This is the myth that the Indo-Iranian phrase *saik- *a uā(n)s refers to.
I have tried to demonstrate a relationship between the phraseology and the myth; but it
does not follow from the results of this inquiry that a personal name like H
t.aspa- was
necessarily a ―speaking name‖ at the time when the Gāthās were composed. Rather, I have
shown what *saičat-a ua- may have meant when it was first coined, but the name may have lost
any connection to the myth it encapsulated on the way from Indo-Iranian to the lineage of
Zaraθuštra, real or fictional, where it was inserted into a series of names in -aspa.48
161–69; von Schroeder 1895: 131–32; 1916: 442–43; Macdonell 1897: 51; Oldenberg 1917: 207–15;
Güntert 1923: 253–77). Crusades against the ―solar mythology‖ rendered this interpretation unpopular for
some time, but first G. Nagy and D. Frame in 1970‘s, and then, more recently, J. Haudry, T. Gotō and A.
Manaster Ramer, have all argued that in the case of the Divine Twins and the Sun Maiden the arguments
in favor of a solar interpretation are overwhelmingly strong (Nagy 1973: 172–73; Haudry 1998; Gotō
2006: 263–66; Manaster Ramer ms.).
47
Under the allegorical interpretation presented in the previous footnote, síndhu- in RV 4.43.6 denotes a
mass of water into which the sun is thought to go at sunset and which is therefore thought of as situated
on the earth. As Lüders (n. 27) and others have repeatedly emphasized, síndhu- may also denote a
heavenly river (e.g. RV 1.164.25 síndhum diví), but there is no reason to think that the word has this
meaning in our passage: the Aśvins perform their rescuing feats in various locations, some of them quite
bizarre (for instance, Bhujyu is drowning n r m ṇ t m s ‗in the anchorless darkness‘ RV 1.116.5;
182.6), but never in heaven.
48
Pāzand P rūš sp , P ītīr sp, Urvandasp, P t r sp.
8
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88. Berlin; New York: W. de Gruyter.
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