passage under myak, but under mraksh, and this seems indeed preferable. No doubt, there is ample analogy for mimikshuh, and the meaning would be, their spears stick firm to their shoulders. But as the MSS. give mimrikshuh, and as it is possible to find a meaning for this, I do not propose to alter the text. The question is only, what does mimrikshuh mean? Mraksh means to grind, to rub, and Roth proposes to render our passage by the spears rub together on their shoulders.' The objections to this translation are the preposition ni, and the active voice of the verb. I take mraksh in the sense of grinding, pounding, destroying, which is likewise appropriate to mraksha-krítvan (viii. 61, 10), and tuvi-mrakshá (vi. 18, 2), and I translate, the spears on their shoulders pound to pieces.'

6

Verse 4, note. The idea that the Maruts owe everything, if not their birth, at least their strength (svá-tavasah, svá-bhânavah, sva-srítah), to themselves is of frequent occurrence in these hymns.

Verse 5, note 1. They are themselves compared to kings (i. 85, 8), and called îsâná, lords (i. 87, 4).

Verse 5, note 2. Dhúni is connected with root dhvan, to dun or to din. Sâyana explains it by bending or shaking, and Benfey, too, translates it by Erschütterer. Roth gives the right meaning.

Verse 6, note 1. I translate sudanavah by bounteous, or good givers, for, if we have to choose between the two meanings of bounteous or endowed with liquid drops or dew, the former is the more appropriate in most passages. We might, of course, admit two words, one meaning, possessed of good water, the other, bounteous; the former derived from dẩnu, neuter, water, or rain, the other from dânú, giving. It cannot be denied, for instance, that whenever the Maruts are called sudanavah, the meaning, possessed of good rain, would be applicable: i. 40, 1; 44, 14; 64, 6; 85, 10; ii. 34, 8; iii. 26, 5; v. 52, 5; 53, 6; 57, 5; viii. 20, 18; x. 78, 5; i. 15, 2; 23, 9; 39, 10. Yet, even in these passages, while sudanavah in the sense of possessed

of good rain is possible throughout, that of good giver would sometimes be preferable, for instance, i. 15, 2, as compared with i. 15, 3.

When the same word is applied to Indra, vii. 31, 2; x. 23, 6; to Vishnu, viii. 25, 12; to the Asvins, i. 112, 11; to Mitra and Varuna, v. 62, 9; to Indra and Varuna, iv. 41, 8, the meaning of giver of good rain might still seem more natural. But with Agni, vi. 2, 4; the Âdityas, v. 67, 4; viii. 18, 12; 19, 34; 67, 16; the Vasus, i. 106, 1; x. 66, 12; the Visve, x. 65, 11, such an epithet would not be appropriate, while sudẩnavah, in the sense of bounteous givers, is applicable to all. The objection that dânu, giver, does not occur in the Veda, is of no force, for many words occur at the end of compounds only, and we shall see passages where sudẩnu must be translated by good giver. Nor would the accent of dânú, giver, be an obstacle, considering that the author of the Unâdi-sûtras had no Vedic authority to guide him in the determination of the accent of dânú. Several words in nu have the accent on the first syllable. But one might go even a step further, and find a more appropriate meaning for sudấnu by identifying it with the Zend hudânu, which means, not a good giver, but a good knower, wise. True, this root dâ, to know, does not occur in the ordinary Sanskrit, but as it exists both in Zend and in Greek (Sáŋui, Sáeis), it may have left this one trace in the Vedic word sudanu. This, however, is only a conjecture; what is certain is this, that apart from the passages where sudanu is thus applied to various deities, in the sense of bounteous or wise, it also occurs as applied to the sacrificer, where it can only mean giver. This is clear from the following passages:

i. 47, 8. ísham priñkántâ su-kríte su-dẩnave.

Bringing food to him who acts well and gives well.

vii. 96, 4. gani-yántah nú ágravah putri-yántah su-dẩnavah, sárasvantam havâmahe.

We, being unmarried, and wishing for wives and wishing for sons, offering sacrifices, call now upon Sarasvat. viii. 103, 7. su-dẩnavah deva-yávah.

Offering sacrifices, and longing for the gods. Cf. x. 172, 2; 3; vi. 16, 8.

iv. 4, 7. sáh ít agne astu su-bhágah su-dãnuh yáh trà nítyena havíshâ yáh ukthaíh píprîshati.

O Agni, let the liberal sacrificer be happy, who wishes to please thee by perpetual offerings and hymns.

vi. 16, 8; 68, 5; X. 172, 2, 3

See also

It must be confessed that even the meaning of danu is by no means quite clear. It is clear enough where it means demon, ii. 11, 18; 12, 11; iv. 30, 7; x. 120, 6, the seven demons. In i. 32, 9; iii. 30, 8, danu, demon, is applied to the mother of Vritra. From this danu we have the derivative dânavá, meaning again demon. Why the demons, conquered by Indra, were called dẩnu, is not clear. It may be in the sense of wise, or in the sense of powerful, for this meaning is ascribed to dânú by the author of the Unâdisûtras. If the latter meaning is authentic, and not only deduced ex post from the name of Dânu and Dânava, it might throw light on the Celtic dána, fortis, from which Zeuss derives the name of the Danube.

But the sense of the neuter danu is by no means settled. Sometimes it means Soma:

X. 43, 7. ấpah ná síndhum abhí yát sam-áksharan sómâsah índram kulyah-iva hradám, várdhanti víprâh máhah asya sádane yávam ná vrishťíh divyéna dẩnunâ.

When the Somas run together to Indra, like water to the river, like channels to the lake, then the priests increase his greatness in the sanctuary, as rain the corn, by the heavenly Soma-juice.

In the next verse gîrádânu means the sacrificer whose Soma is always alive, always ready.

As an

In vi. 50, 13, however, dẩnu páprih is doubtful. epithet to Apẩm nápât, it may mean he who wishes for Soma, or he who grants Soma; but in neither case is there any tangible sense. Again, viii. 25, 5, Mitra and Varuna are called sriprá-dânû, which may mean possessed of flowing rain. And in the next verse, sám yẩ dẩnûni yemáthuh may be rendered by Mitra and Varuna, who brought together rain.

The fact that Mitra-Varunau and the Asvins are called danunaspátî does not throw much more light on the subject, and the one passage where danu occurs as a feminine,

i. 54, 7, dẩnuh asmai úparâ pinvate diváh, may be translated by rain pours forth for him, below the sky, but the translation is by no means certain.

Danukitra, applied to the dawn, the water of the clouds, and the three worlds (v. 59, 8; 31, 6; i. 174, 7), means most likely bright with dew or rain; and dấnumat vásu, the treasure conquered by Indra from the clouds, can be translated by the treasure of rain. Taking all the evidence together, we can hardly doubt that dẩnu existed in the sense of liquid, rain, or Soma; yet it is equally certain that dấnu existed in the sense of giver, if not of gift, and that from this, in certain passages, at all events, sudẩnu must be derived, as a synonym of sudavan, sudẩman, &c.

Verse 6, note 2. Cf. vii. 50, 4, (nadyah) páyasâ pínvamânâh, the rivers swelling with milk. Pinvati is here construed with two accusatives, the conception being that they fill or feed the waters, and that the waters take the food, viz. the rain. The construction is not to be compared with the Greek τρέφειν τροφήν τινα τοιήνδε (Herod. ii. 2), but rather with didáσkev tivá ti.

Cf. vi. 63, 8. dhenúm nah ísham pinvatam ásakrâm.
You filled our cow (with) constant food.

Similarly duh, to milk, to extract, is construed with two accusatives: Pân. i. 4, 51. gâm dogdhi payah, he milks the cow milk.

Rv. ix. 107, 5. duhânáh űdhah divyám mádhu priyám. Milking the heavenly udder (and extracting from it) the precious sweet, i. e. the rain.

Verse 6, note 3. The leading about of the clouds is intended, like the leading about of horses, to tame them, and make them obedient to the wishes of their riders, the Maruts. Atyah vâgĩ is a strong horse, possibly a stallion; but this horse is here meant to signify the cloud. Thus we read:

v. 83, 6. diváh nah vrishtím marutah rarîdhvam prá pinvata vríshnah ásvasya dhẩrâh.

Give us, O Maruts, the rain of heaven, pour forth the streams of the stallion (the cloud).

In the original the simile is quite clear, and no one required to be told that the átyah vâgĩ was meant for the cloud. Vagín by itself means a horse, as i. 66, 2; 69, 3. vâgĩ ná prîtáh, like a favourite horse: i. 116, 6. paidváh vâgĩ, the horse of Pedu. But being derived from vaga, strength, vâgín retained always something of its etymological meaning, and was therefore easily and naturally transferred to the cloud, the giver of strength, the source of food. Even without the ná, i.e. as if, the simile would have been understood in Sanskrit, while in English it is hardly intelligible without a commentary. Benfey discovers some additional idea in support of the poet's comparison: Ich bin kein Pferdekenner,' he says, 'aber ich glaube bemerkt zu haben, dass man Pferde, welche rasch gelaufen sind, zum Uriniren zu bewegen sucht. So lassen hier die Maruts die durch ihren Sturm rasch fortgetriebenen Wolken Wasser herab strömen.'

Verse 6, note. Utsa, well, is meant again for cloud, though we should hardly be justified in classing it as a name of cloud, because the original meaning of útsa, spring, is really retained, as much as that of avatá, well, in i. 85, 10-11. The adjectives stanáyantam and ákshitam seem more applicable to cloud, yet they may be applied also to a spring. Yâska derives utsa from ut-sar, to go forth; ut-sad, to go out; ut-syand, to well out; or from ud, to wet. In v. 32, 2, the wells shut up by the seasons are identified with the udder of the cloud.

Verse 7, note 1. Svátavas means really having their own independent strength, a strength not derived from the support of others. The yet which I have added in brackets seems to have been in the poet's mind, though it is not expressed. In i. 87, 4, the Maruts are called sva-srít, going by themselves, i. e. moving freely, independently, wherever they list. See i. 64, 4, note 1.

Verse 7, note 2. Mrigah hastínah, wild animals with a hand or a trunk, must be meant for elephants, although it has been doubted whether the poets of the Veda were