In all the passages which we have hitherto examined vríshan clearly retained its etymological meaning, though even then it was not always possible to translate it by male.

The same meaning has been retained in other languages in which this word can be traced. Thus, in Zend, arshan is used to express the sex of animals in such expressions as aspahé arshnô, gen. a male horse; varâzahe arshnô, gen. a male boar; géus arshnô, gen. a male ox; but likewise in the sense of man or hero, as arsha husrava, the hero Husrava. In Greek we find äpony and äppóny used in the same way to distinguish the sex of animals, as ἄρσενες ἵπποι, Boûv aporeva. In Latin the same word may be recognized βοῦν ἄρσενα. in the proper name Varro, and in varo and báro.

We now come to another class of passages in which vríshan is clearly intended to express more than merely the masculine gender. In some of them the etymological meaning of spargere, to pour forth, seems to come out again, and it is well known that Indian commentators are very fond of explaining vríshan by giver of rain, giver of good gifts, bounteous. The first of these meanings may indeed be admitted in certain passages, but in others it is more than doubtful.

i. 181, 8. vríshâ vâm megháh may be translated, your raining cloud.

i. 129, 3. dasmáh hí sma vríshanam pínvasi tvákam. Thou art strong, thou fillest the rainy skin, i. e. the cloud.

See also iv. 22, 6; and possibly v. 83, 6.

It may be that, when applied to Soma too, vríshan retained something of its etymological meaning, that it meant gushing forth, poured out, though in many places it is impossible to render vríshan, as applied to Soma, by anything but strong. All we can admit is that vríshan, if translated by strong, means also strengthening and invigorating, an idea not entirely absent even in our expression, a strong drink.

i. 80, 2. sáh tvâ amadat vríshâ mádah, sómah—sutáh.

This strong draught inspirited thee, the poured out Soma-juice.

i. 91, 2. tvám vríshâ vrisha-tvébhih.

Thou, Soma, art strong by strength.

i. 175, 1. vríshâ te vríshne índuh vâgi sahasra-satamah. For thee, the strong one, there is strong drink, powerful, omnipotent.

In the ninth Mandala, specially dedicated to the praises of Soma, the inspiriting beverage of gods and men, the repetition of vríshan, as applied to the juice and to the god who drinks it, is constant. Indo vríshâ or vríshâ indo are incessant invocations, and become at last perfectly meaningless.

There can be no doubt, in fact, that already in the hymns of the Veda, vríshan had dwindled away to a mere epitheton ornans, and that in order to understand it .correctly, we must, as much as possible, forget its etymological colouring, and render it by hero or strong. Indra, Agni, the Asvins, Vishnu, the Ribhus (iv. 35, 6), all are vríshan, which means no longer male, but manly, strong.

In the following passages vríshan is thus applied to Indra:

i. 54, 2. yáh dhrishnúnâ sávasâ ródasî (íti) ubhé (íti) vríshâ vrisha-tva vrishabháh ni-ringáte.

(Praise Indra) who by his daring strength conquers both heaven and earth, a bull, strong in strength.

i. 100, 1. sáh yáh vríshâ vríshnyebhih sám-okâh maháh diváh prithivyẩh ka sam-rất satîná-satvâ hávyah bháreshu marútvân nah bhavatu índrah ûtî.

He who is strong, wedded to strength, who is the king of the great sky and the earth, of mighty might, to be invoked in battles, may Indra with the Maruts come to our help!

i. 16, 1. a tvâ vahantu hárayah vríshanam sóma-pîtaye, índra två súra-kakshasah.

May the bays bring thee hither, the strong one, to the Soma-draught, may the sunny-eyed horses (bring) thee, O Indra!

iv. 16, 20. evá ít índrâya vrishabhaya vríshne bráhma akarma bhrígavah ná rátham.

Thus we have made a hymn for Indra, the strong bull, as the Bhrigus make a chariot.

X. 153, 2. tvám vrishan vríshâ ít asi.

Thou, O hero, art indeed a hero; and not, Thou, O male, art indeed a male; still less, Thou, O bull, art indeed a bull.

i. 101, 1. avasyávah vríshanam vágra-dakshinam marútvantam sakhyaya havâmahe.

Longing for help we call as our friend the hero who wields the thunderbolt, who is accompanied by the Maruts.

viii. 6, 14. ní súshne indra dharnasím vágram gaghantha dásyavi, vríshâ hí ugra srinvishé.

Thou, O Indra, hast struck the strong thunderbolt against Sushna, the fiend; for, terrible one, thou art called hero!

viii. 6, 40. vavridhânáh úpa dyávi vríshâ vagrĩ aroravît, vritra-ha soma-patamah.

Growing up by day, the hero with the thunderbolt has roared, the Vritra-killer, the great Soma-drinker.

v. 35, 4. vríshâ hí ási rấdhase gagñishé vríshni te sávah. Thou (Indra) art a hero, thou wast born to be bounteous; in thee, the hero, there is might.

It is curious to watch the last stage of the meaning of vríshan in the comparative and superlative várshîyas and várshishtha. In the Veda, várshishtha still means excellent, but in later Sanskrit it is considered as the superlative of vriddha, old, so that we see vríshan, from meaning originally manly, vigorous, young, assuming in the end the meaning of old. (M. M., Sanskrit Grammar, § 252.)

Yet even thus, when vríshan means simply strong or hero, its sexual sense is not always forgotten, and it breaks out, for instance, in such passages as,

i. 32, 7. vríshnah vádhrih prati-manam búbhûshan purutrả vritráh asayat ví-astah.

Vritra, the eunuch, trying to be like unto a man (like unto Indra), was lying, broken to many pieces.

The next passages show vríshan as applied to Agni:

iii. 27, 15. vríshanam tvâ vayám vrishan vríshanah sám idhîmahi.

O, strong one, let us the strong ones kindle thee, the strong!

V. I, 12. ávokâma kaváye médhyâya vákah vandẩru vrishabhaya vríshne.

We have spoken an adoring speech for the worshipful poet, for the strong bull (Agni).

Vishnu is called vríshan, i. 154, 3:

prá víshnave sushám etu mánma giri-kshite uru-gâyấya

vríshne.

May this hymn go forth to Vishnu, he who dwells in the mountain (cloud), who strides wide, the hero!

Rudra is called vríshan:

ii. 34, 2. rudráh yát vah marutah rukma-vakshasah vríshâ ágani prísnyâh sukré űdhani.

When Rudra, the strong man, begat you, O Maruts with brilliant chests, in the bright bosom of Prisni.

That the Maruts, the sons of Rudra, are called vríshan, we have seen before, and shall see frequently again, (i. 165, 1; ii. 33, 13; vii. 56, 20; 21; 58, 6.) The whole company of the Maruts is called vríshâ ganáh, the strong or manly host, i. e. the host of the Maruts, without any further qualification.

Here lies, indeed, the chief difficulty which is raised by the common use of vríshan in the Veda, that when it occurs by itself, it often remains doubtful who is meant by it, Indra, or Soma, or the Maruts, or some other deity. We shall examine a few of these passages, and first some where vríshan refers to Indra:

iv. 30, 10. ápa ushah ánasah sarat sám-pishtât áha bibhyúshî, ní yát sîm sisnáthat vríshâ.

Ushas went away from her broken chariot, fearing lest the hero should do her violence.

Indra, who, as we trying to conquer

Here vríshan is clearly meant for learn from the preceding verse, was Ushas, as Apollo did Daphne; and it should be observed that the word itself, by which Indra is here designated, is particularly appropriate to the circumstances.

i. 103, 6. bhűri-karmane vrishabhaya vríshne satyá-sushmâya sunavâma sómam, yáh â-drítya paripanthï-iva surah áyagvanah vi-bhágan éti védah.

Let us pour out the Soma for the strong bull, the performer of many exploits, whose strength is true, the hero

who, watching like a footpad, comes to us dividing the wealth of the infidel.

Here it is clear again from the context that Indra only can be meant.

But in other passages this is more doubtful:

iii. 61, 7. ritásya budhné ushásâm ishanyán vrísha mahĩ (íti) ródasî (íti) ấ vivesa.

The hero in the depth of the heaven, yearning for the dawns, has entered the great sky and the earth.

The hero who yearns for the dawns, is generally Indra; here, however, considering that Agni is mentioned in the preceding verse, it is more likely that this god, as the light of the morning, may have been meant by the poet. That Agni, too, may be called vríshan, without any other epithet to show that he is meant rather than any other god, is clear from such passages as,

vi. 3, 7. vríshâ ruksháh óshadhîshu nûnot.

He the wild hero shouted among the plants.

In vii. 60, 9, vrishanau, the dual, is meant for Mitra and Varuna; in the next verse, vrishanah, the plural, ·must mean the same gods and their companions.

That Soma is called simply vríshan, not only in the ninth Mandala, but elsewhere, too, we see

passages as,

see from such

iii. 43, 7. índra píba vrísha-dhûtasya vríshnah (a yám te syenáh usaté gabhẩra), yásya máde kyaváyasi prá krishťĩh yásya máde ápa gotra vavártha.

Indra drink of the male (the strong Soma), bruised by the males (the heavy stones), inspirited by whom thou makest the people fall down, inspirited by whom thou hast opened the stables.

Here Sâyana, too, sees rightly that the male bruised by the males' is the Soma-plant, which, in order to yield the intoxicating juice, has to be bruised by stones, which stones are again likened to two males. But unless the words, enclosed in brackets, had stood in the text, words which clearly point to Soma, I doubt whether Sâyana would have so readily admitted the definite meaning of vríshan as Soma.

i. Io9, 3. mã khedma rasmin íti nadhamânâh pitrinam