vii. 78, 4. ã asthât rátham svadháyâ yugyámânam.

She, the dawn, mounted the chariot which was harnessed by itself, by its own power, without requiring the assistance of people to put the horses to.

x. 129, 1. ẩnît avâtám svadháyâ tát ékam.

That only One breathed breathlessly, by its own strength, i.e. by itself.

In the same sense svadhâbhih is used in several passages: i. 113, 13. amrítâ karati svadhabhih.

The immortal Dawn moves along by her own strength, i. c. by herself.

viii. 10, 6. yát vâ svadhấbhih adhi-tíshthathah rátham. Or whether ye mount your chariot by your own strength, ye Asvins.

i. 164, 30. gîváh mritásya karati svadhẩbhih ámartyah mártyena sá-yonih.

The living moves by the powers of the dead, the immortal is the brother of the mortal.

iii. 26, 8. várshishtham rátnam akrita svadhẩbhih.

He (Agni) made the best jewel by his own powers, i. e. by himself.

v. 60, 4. varah-iva ít raivatasah híranyaih abhí svadhabhih tanvãh pipisre.

Like rich suitors, they (the Maruts) by their own strength, i. e. themselves, adorn their bodies with gold ornaments.

There are doubtful passages in which the meaning of svadhabhih, too, is doubtful. Thus, i. 180, 6. In vi. 2, 8, svadha looks like an adverb, instead of svadháyâ, and would then refer to párigmâ. The same applies to viii. 32, 6.

But svadha means also food, lit. one's own portion, the sacrificial offering due to each god, and lastly, food in general.

i. 108, 12. yát indrâgnî (íti) út-itâ suryasya mádhye diváh svadháyâ mâdáyethe (íti).

Whether you, Indra and Agni, delight in your food at the rising of the sun or at midday.

X. 15, 12. tvám agne îlitáh gâta-vedah ávât havyẩni surabhĩni kritvĩ, prá adâh pitrí-bhyah svadháyâ té akshan addhí tvám deva prá-yatâ havïmshi. 13. yé ka ihá pitárah yé ka ná ihá yấn ka vidmá yẩn ûm (íti) ka ná pra-vidmá, tvám vettha

yáti té gâta-vedah svadhabhih yagñám sú-kritam gushasva. 14. yé agni-dagdhẩh yé ánagni-dagdhâh mádhye diváh svadháyâ mâdáyante, tébhih sva-rất ásu-nîtim etẩm yathâ-vasám tanvam kalpayasva.

12. Thou, O Agni Gâtavedas, hast carried, when implored, the offerings which thou hast rendered sweet: thou hast given them to the fathers, they fed on their share. Eat thou, O god, the proffered oblations. 13. Our fathers who are here, and those who are not here, our fathers whom we know and those whom we do not know, thou knowest how many they are, O Gâtavedas, accept the well-made sacrifice with the sacrificial portions. 14. They who, whether burnt by fire or not burnt by fire, rejoice in their offering in the midst of heaven, give to them, O king, that life, and thy (their) own body, according to thy will.

iii. 4, 7. saptá prikshẩsah svadháyâ madanti. The seven horses delight in their food.

x. 14, 7. ubhẩ rấgânâ svadháyâ mádantâ. The two kings delighting in their food.

ix. 113, 10. yátra kẩmâh ni-kâmẩh ka, yátra bradhnásya vishťápam, svadhẩ ka yátra tríptih ka tátra mẩm amrítam kridhí.

Where wishes and desires are, where the cup of the bright Soma is, where there is food and rejoicing, there make me immortal.

i. 154, 4. yásya trĩ purna mádhuna padāni ákshiyamana svadháyâ mádanti.

He (Vishnu) whose three places, full of sweet, imperishable, delight or abound in food.

V. 34, I. svadha ámitâ,

His unlimited portion or offering.

ii. 35, 7. dhenúh svadhẩm pîpâya.

The cow yields her food, her portion, her milk. i. 168, 9. ất ít svadhấm ishirẩm pári apasyan. Thereafter (the Maruts) saw the vigorous food. i. 176, 2. ánu svadha yám upyáte.

After whom, or for whom, his food is scattered.

In the tenth book svadha is used very much as it occurs in the later Sanskrit, as the name of a peculiar sacrificial rite.

x. 14, 3. yẩn ka devẩh vavridhúh yé ka devẩn svẩhâ anyé svadháyâ anyé madanti.

Those whom the gods cherish, and those who cherish the gods, the one delight in Svâhâ, the others in Svadhâ; or, in praise and food.

Verse 4, note 3. The expression garbha-tvám â-îriré is natched by that of iii. 60, 3. saudhanvanẩsah amrita-tvám a îrire, the Saudhanvanas (the Ribhus) obtained immortality. The idea that the Maruts assumed the form of a garbha, lit. of an embryo or a new-born child, is only meant to express that the storms burst forth from the womb of the sky as soon as Indra arises to do battle against the demon of darkness. As assisting Indra in this battle, the Maruts, whose name retained for a long time its purely appellative meaning of storms, attained their rank as deities by the side of Indra, or, as the poet expresses it, they assumed their sacred name. This seems to be the whole meaning of the later legend that the Maruts, like the Ribhus, were not originally gods, but became deified for their works.

Váhni.

Verse 5, note1. Sâyana explains váhnibhih in the sense of
Marúdbhih, and he tells the oft-repeated story how the cows
were carried off by the Panis from the world of the gods,
and thrown into darkness, and how Indra with the Maruts
conquered them and brought them back. Everybody seems
to have accepted this explanation of Sâyana, and I myself
do not venture to depart from it.
Yet it should be stated
that the use of váhni as a name of the Maruts is by no
means well established. Váhni is in fact a most difficult
word in the Veda. In later Sanskrit it means fire, and is
quoted also as a name of Agni, the god of fire, but we do
not learn why a word which etymologically means carrier,
from vah, to carry, should have assumed the meaning of fire.
It may be that vah, which in Sanskrit, Greek, and Latin
means chiefly to carry, expressed. originally the idea of
moving about (the German be-wegen), in which case váh-ni,
fire, would have been formed with the same purpose as

1

ag-ní, ig-nis, fire, from Sk. ag, uy-w, ag-o. But in Sanskrit Agni is so constantly represented as the carrier of the sacrificial oblation, that something may be said in favour of the Indian scholastic interpreters who take váhni, as applied to Agni, in the sense of carrier. However that may be, it admits of no doubt that váhni, in the Veda also, is distinctly applied to the bright fire or light. In some passages it looks very much like a proper name of Agni, in his various characters of terrestrial and celestial light. It is used for the sacrificial fire:

v. 50, 4. yátra váhnih abhí-hitah. Where the sacrificial fire is placed. It is applied to Agni:

vii. 7, 5. ásâdi vritáh váhnih â-gaganvẩn agníh brahmẩ The chosen light came nigh, and sat down, Agni, the priest. Here Agni is, as usual, represented as a priest, chosen like a priest, for the performance of the sacrifice. But, for that very reason, váhni may here have the meaning of priest, which, as we shall see, it has in many places, and the translation would then be more natural: He, the chosen minister, came near and sat down, Agni, the priest.

viii. 23, 3. váhnih vindate vásu.

Agni finds wealth (for those who offer sacrifices?).

More frequently váhni is applied to the celestial Agni, or other solar deities, where it is difficult to translate it in English except by an adjective:

iii. 5, 1. ápa dvẩrâ támasah váhnih âvar (íty âvah). Agni opened the two doors of darkness.

i. 160, 3. sáh váhnih putráh pitróh pavítra-vân punati dhirah bhúvanâni mâyáyâ.

That light, the son of the two parents, full of brightness, the wise, brightens the world by his power.

Agni is even called váhni-tama (iv. 1, 4), which hardly means more than the brightest.

ii. I7, 4. ẩt ródasi (íti) gyótisha váhnih ẩ atanot.

Then the luminous (Indra) stretched out or filled heaven and earth with his light.

ii. 38, 1. út ûm (íti)·syáh deváh savitẩ—váhnih asthât. The bright Savitar, the luminous, arose.

Besides this meaning of light or fire, however, there are

clearly two other meanings of váhni which must be admitted in the Veda, first that of a carrier, vehicle, and, it may be, horse; secondly that of minister or priest.

vi. 57, 3. agah anyásya váhnayah hárî (íti) anyásya sámbhritâ

The bearers of the one (Pûshan) are goats, the bays are yoked for the other (Indra).

i. 14, 6. ghritá-prishthâh manah-yúgah yé tvâ váhanti váhnayah.

The horses with shining backs, obedient to thy will, which carry thee (Agni).

viii. 3, 23. yásmai anyé dása práti dhúram váhanti váhnayah. A horse against whom other ten horses carry a weight; i. e. it requires ten horses to carry the weight which this one horse carries. (See x. 11, 7. váhamânah ásvaih.)

ii. 37, 3. médyantu te váhnayah yébhih ïyase. May thy horses be fat on which thou goest.

These

ii. 24, 13. utá ấsishthâh ánu srinvanti váhnayah. The very quick horses (of Brahmanaspati) listen. may be the flames, but they are conceived as carriers or horses.

i. 44, 13. srudhí srut-karna váhni-bhih.

Agni, who hast ears to hear, hear, on thy horses. Unless váhni-bhih is joined with the words that follow, devaih sayava-bhih.

iii. 6, 2. vakyántâm te váhnayah saptá-gihvâh*.

May thy seven-tongued horses be called. Here váhnayah is clearly meant for the flames of Agni, yet I doubt whether we should be justified in dropping the simile, as the plural of váhni is nowhere used in the bald sense of flames.

In one passage váhni is used as a feminine, or at all events applied to a feminine subject:

viii. 94, 1. yuktẩ váhnih ráthânâm.

She is yoked as the drawer of the chariots.

The passages in which váhni is applied to Soma in the 9th and 10th Mandalas throw little light on the subject. (ix. 9, 6; 20, 5; 6; 36, 2; 64, 19; 89, 1; X. 101, 10.) Instead of visẩm vispátih, lord of men (vii. 7, 4), we find

* Cf. i. 58, 7. saptá guhväh.