Avestan Haēcat̰.aspa-, Rigveda 4.43, and the Myth of the Divine

Avestan Haēcat̰.aspa-, Rigveda 4.43, and the Myth of the Divine

Avestan Haēcat̰.aspa-, Rigveda 4.43,
and the Myth of the Divine Twins
Alexander Nikolaev
Harvard University
To the memory of my teacher Leonard Herzenberg (1934–2012)
Avestan Haēcat̰.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 haēcat̰.aspā spitamā̊ŋhō (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 haēcat̰.aspā 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 haēcat̰.aspānā. 4
On the basis of this evidence a personal name *hai̯čát-aću̯a- can be safely posited. 5
The first member of this compound is clearly derived from the root of Avestan hiṇca‑ ti,
Vedic siñcá‑ti ‘pour out’. 6 This verb is used with different kinds of liquids and substances,
including semen and urine; accordingly, Haēcat̰.aspa- has been translated as ‘having studhorses’ (Justi 7) or as ‘having horses that urinate’ (Humbach, followed by Mayrhofer). 8 Both
of these translations fail to convince. 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
mīšti which he, 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’,
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.
1. Haecat̰asp (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). On Zarathuštra’s genealogy see Cereti 2002.
2. Bartholomae 1904: col. 1728.
3. Rau 2007: 60 n. 27.
4. On the patronymic suffix -āna- see Rau 2007: 60–65.
5. The accent is reconstructed based on the accentuation of Vedic compounds of the bharád-vāja- type.
6. Schwartz (2006: 55, 61) has shown that Pourucistā’s patronymic is compositionally connected with instr. sg.
hīcā in Y 32.14b (see also Schwartz 2009: 431). To my knowledge, the only scholar who did not derive *hai č̯ átaću̯a- from *sai̯k ‘pour out’ was Bailey (1958a: 530): he posited an Indo-Iranian root *saik̯ ‘satiate’ (hence, ‘feeding
the horses’), but the evidence for this root is suspect.
7. Justi 1895: 124: ‘Springhengste besitzend’.
8. Humbach 1973: 96: ‘mit sich ergiessenden Rossen’. This interpretation was accepted by Mayrhofer (1979:
48–49) and Remmer (2006: 210 n. 210).
9. Geldner 1881: 399; 1904: 1095. Geldner, apparently, assumed that mīšti- was remade from *mīždi- (Avestan
maēz, Sanskrit mih). According to de Vaan (2003: 238), Oettinger in his 1983 monographic study of Yt. 5 likewise
translated mīšti as ‘mit Harnen’.
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‘always’, or ‘together’. 10 The alleged Vedic parallel cited by Humbach also fails, if RV
10.96.1 ghr̥táṃ ná yó háribhiś cā́ru sécate means “[soma] which flows like lovely butter in
golden [drops],” 11 and not “[soma], like lovely butter, which is gushed out by the golden
[steeds].” 12
In my opinion, the translation of Haēcat̰.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 *haēca‑tē̆ 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’ (bahuvrīhi)
and not ‘sprinkling/bathing the horses’. 16
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 in passing that both members of *hai̯ćát‑aću̯a- corresponded exactly to the Vedic phrase
siñcad áśvān (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 behooves us
therefore to examine the context in which siñcad áśvān 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: ráthaṃ . . . yáṃ sū́riyasya duhitā́vr̥ṇīta), that this chariot comes from
the sea (5ab: ráthaḥ . . . ā́ yát samudrā́d abhí vártate vām), and finally (in stanza 6) that the
Aśvins obtained Sūryā on a trip during which their horses were bathed in the water:
síndhur ha vāṃ rasáyā siñcad áśvān
ghr̥ṇā́ váyo aruṣā́saḥ pári gman
tád ū ṣú vām ajiráṃ ceti yā́naṃ
yéna pátī bhávathaḥ sūriyā́yāḥ
10. The text of Yt. 5.120 is yeŋ́he caϑβārō aršāna / hąm tāšat̰ ahurō mazdā̊ / vātəmca vārəmca maēγəmca
fiiaŋhumca / mīšti (v. l. mūšti) zī mē hīm / spitama zaraϑuštra / vārəṇtaēca snaēžiṇtaēca / srasciṇtaēca
/ fiiaŋhuṇtaēca / yeŋ́he auuauuat̰ haēnanąm / nauua satāiš hazaŋrəmca “for whom Ahura Mazdā fashioned together four males: the wind, the rain, the fog, and the hail. For by mīšti, O Spitama Zaraθuštra,
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 mäṣṣa- ‘field’, Lithuanian miẽžiai ‘barley’ (Bailey 1958b: 38). However, ‘care’ has been proposed as well, this time on the basis of Old Avestan minaš, mizə̄n
(Kellens 1984: 166). Next, the problematic mīšti could be the same word as mišti (Yt. 7.2; Ny 3.6) ‘together’, ‘l’un
avec l’autre’, viz. ‘in mixture’ (Kellens 1974: 302). Lastly, Bartholomae also analyzed mī̆šti as derived from the root
of Sanskrit mekṣáy‑ti ‘mix’ (1904: col. 1187; 1906: 207–8), but attributed to it the rather different meaning ‘always’
on the basis of the Armenian borrowing mišt.
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 xvanat̰.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 *sei̯kwe/o- is also reflected in Germanic *sei̯hwa‑ ‘sieve’ (trans.), see
Joachim 1978: 166–67.
16. This was seen by Kellens, who had originally followed Bartholomae (above n. 13), translating Haēcat̰.
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).
17. Kellens 1977: 663 n. 5; the Vedic-Avestan correspondence is mentioned in Kellens–Pirart 1988: 8.
18. It is missing from Mayrhofer’s standard handbook of Iranian onomastics (1979: 49) and his Sanskrit etymological dictionary.
Nikolaev: Avestan Haēcat̰.aspa-, Rigveda 4.43
569
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 áśvān here is a metaphor for streams poured forth by both Sindhu and Rasā. 21 Pirart
saw here a “mythe autrement inconnu” of Sindhu consecrating the horses for the Aśvins. 22
Others have assumed that siñcad áśvān refers to a moistening that protected the horses from
overheating during a race: as a 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 will (avr̥ṇīta): Sūryā’s marriage was a svayaṃvara, as Jamison has shown, 25 and
so any 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 world 26 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
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 Padapāṭha has instr. sg. ghr̥ṇā́, for which acc. pl. ghr̥ṇā́(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-gā (e.g., RV 2.33.14b pári tveṣásya durmatír mahī́ gāt “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.
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.
24. 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 the originally separate story of the wedding.
25. Jamison 2001.
26. Thieme 1970.
27. Lüders 1951: 138–51.
28. As for rasā́‑, this word elsewhere denotes a remote mythical stream ( just like its Avestan cognate raŋhā‑):
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 rōs, 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 rasā́ mit der Bedeutung ‘Feuchtigkeit’ [. . .] ist gänzlich
unwahrscheinlich” [1951: 139 n. 1]).
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Journal of the American Oriental Society 132.4 (2012)
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
Firstly, we know that the Aśvins, one of whose epithets is síndhumātarā ‘having síndhu‑
as 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 sea 31 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” Nā́satyā (Avestan Nā̊ŋhaiθiia‑) 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 (18× 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 whom the Aśvins are linked in the
Vedic myth (along with Uṣas and Saraṇyū). Their tangled relationship is characterized by
polyandry and incest: the divó nápātā ‘scions of the sky’ act as suitors and joint husbands of
the Sun maiden, ‘daughter of the sky’ divó duhitā́ (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 comparative mythology. 38 The Dioscuri often act as rescuers from danger, hence their most frequent epiclesis σωτῆρες ‘saviors’. 39 They were protectors of 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
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.
30. RV 5.74.2 kó vāṃ nadī́nāṃ sácā “Which of you two is in company with rivers?”
31. RV 4.43.5 . . . vāṃ ráthaḥ . . . / ā́ yát samudrā́d abhí vártate vām “your chariot . . . when it rolls here to you
from the sea.”
32. RV 1.46.8 tīrthé síndhūnāṃ ráthaḥ “[your] chariot is at the ford of the rivers.”
33. Gothic nasjands ‘σωτήρ’, Vedic násate, and Greek νέομαι ‘return home safely’ (see Güntert 1923: 259;
Frame 1978: 134–52; Gotō 2006: 262–63).
34. See recently Ronzitti 2010.
35. Michalski 1961: 12.
36. Oettinger 1988; Gotō 2000: 152 n. 18.
37. E.g., RV 1.116.17: ā́ vāṃ ráthaṃ duhitā́ sū́riyasya / kā́rṣmevātiṣṭhad árvatā jáyantī // víśve devā́ ánv amanyanta hr̥dbhíḥ / sám u śriyā́ nāsatiyā sacethe “the Daughter of the Sun stepped on your chariot, as if she were
winning a race on a steed. All the deities assented with their hearts, and you, Nasatyas, united yourselves with the
beauty” (śrī́ = Sūryā). In RV 10.85 (the Sūryā-Sūkta) the Aśvins appear as suitors wooing Sūryā both for themselves
and for Soma.
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 divó nápātā
‘scions of the sky’ (RV 1.117.12+) matches Ionic Διόσκουροι; Vedic (aśvinā) suváśvā ‘(the Aśvins) having goοd
horses’ (RV 7.68.1) matches εὐίππων (Τυνδαριδᾶν) (Pi. O. 3.39); the Vedic epithet arepásā ‘flawless (Aśvins)’ (RV
5.73.4) matches ἀμώμητος (Πολυδεύκης) (H. Hom. 33.3); Vedic púruścandrā ‘greatly shining’ (RV 8.5.32) matches
Πολυδεύκης if from *Πολυ-λευκής (Durante 1976: 164 n. 7; but see Càssola 1984; Bader 1986), etc.
39. Cf. ὦ Ζηνὸς καὶ Λήδας κάλλιστοι σωτῆρες “O most handsome saviors, of Zeus and Leda (born),” PMG
1027c adesp. = Terp. fr. 9 Gostoli.
40. See Jaisle 1907: 6–23; Xypnitos 1982–83.
Nikolaev: Avestan Haēcat̰.aspa-, Rigveda 4.43
571
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
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 Dieva dēli,
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 (precinieki 45) 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: Saules meita jūru brida, / Ne matiņus neredzēja; /
Dieva dēli gan redzēja, / Kur met jūra burbulīšus “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 meita jūru brida, / Vainadziņu vien redzēja. / Iriet laivu,
Dieva dēli, / Glābiet Saules dvēselīti “Daughter of the sun was wading in the sea, (and now)
41. See West 1975.
42. 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, sávarṇā, lit. ‘having the same appearance’. It has long been noticed (see,
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]).
The identification of Ἑλένη and Saraṇyū may extend beyond the sávarṇā / 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 Ϝ̣ε̣λ̣έν̣α̣ι ̣ SEG 26.457, 7th
cent.; see West 2007: 231 n. 115 for full documentation). Other etymologies of Ἑλένᾱ, separating it from Saraṇyū,
have been proposed, the most noteworthy of which is the derivation from the root *u̯elh1 ‘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
Saraṇyū 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 (Laneres 2007) or have operated with two different epithets,
*su̯eleneh2‑ and *seleneh2‑ (Skutsch 1987; Jackson 2006: 84–92), but a simpler solution may lie at the Indic end: an
original *su̯arani̯u‑ (~ *su̯aranā‑ > Ἑλένᾱ) could be changed into *sarani̯u‑ under the influence of the root *sar ‘to
run, to flow’. An adj. saraṇyú- 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: saraṇyúbhir apó árṇā sisarṣi “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 *Svaraṇyū was changed to Saraṇyū in order to reflect
the hippomorphic aspect of her personality. If this is correct, Ἑλένᾱ / *Svaraṇyū would be a sun figure, whose name
goes back to the root *su̯el ‘to burn’ (Greek εἵλη ‘sun’s heat’, Old English swelan ‘to burn’, Iranian *su̯ar ‘glow,
burn’ in Mid. Persian <hwlg> ‘amber’, Kurdish xōlī ‘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 Κυδίππη (‘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.
45. For instance: Saules meita jostas auda, / Mēnesnīcā sēdēdama; / Dieva dēli precinieki, / Ābolaini kumeliņi
“Sun’s daughter was weaving a band, while the moon was sitting; sons of heaven – suitors, dappled studs” (LTD
11.33962).
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Journal of the American Oriental Society 132.4 (2012)
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 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 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 *sai̯k
*aću̯ā(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 Haēcat̰.aspa- was
necessarily a “speaking name” at the time when the Gāthās were composed. Rather, I have
shown what *sai̯čat-aću̯a- 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
46. As for the further interpretation of this myth, ever since A. Weber Indologists have viewed the story of
Sūryā / Uṣas (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: 161–69; von Schroeder
1895: 131–32; 1916: 442–43; Macdonell 1897: 51; Oldenberg 1917: 207–15; Güntert 1923: 253–77). Crusades
against “solar mythology” rendered this interpretation unpopular for some time, but first G. Nagy and D. Frame in
the 1970s, 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 anārambhaṇé
támasi “in the anchorless darkness,” RV 1.116.5; 182.6), but never in heaven.
48. Pāzand Pōrūšāspō, Paītīrāsp, Urvandasp, Paētirasp. On Indo-Iranian personal names in -aspa-/-aśva- see
recently Sadovski 2009.
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