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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2011
The Aṣvins seem to have been a puzzle even to the oldest Indian Commentators. Yâska thus refers to them in the Nirukta, xii. 1: “Next in order are the deities whose sphere is the heaven; of these the Aṣvins are the first to arrive. They are called Aṣvins, because they pervade (vyaṣnuvāte) everything, the one with moisture, the other with light. Aurṇabhâva says they are called Aṣvins, from the horses (aṣvaiḥ, on which they ride). Who, then, are these Aṣvins ? ‘Heaven and Earth,’ say some; ‘Day and Night,’ say others; ‘The Sun and Moon,’ say others; ‘Two kings, performers of holy acts,’ say the legendary writers.
page 1 note 1 See the different interpretation given by Professor Goldstiicker, below.
page 1 note 2 R. V. i. 181, 4, is quoted by Yâska in illustration of his view:—“Born here and there, these two have striven forward (?) with spotless bodies according to their respective characters. One of you, a conqueror and a sage [is the son of] the strong one (?); the other is born onward, the son of the sky.” Comp. Roth's transl. in illustration of Nirukta, p. 159.Google Scholar
page 2 note 1 For some speculations of Professors Müller, and Weber, , on the Aṣvins, see the lectures of the former, 2nd series, p. 489,Google Scholar f, and the Indische Studien of the latter, vol. v., p. 234.Google Scholar
page 2 note 2 In i. 181. 4, only one of them is said to be the son of the sky.
page 2 note 3 On this the commentator remarks that although it is the Sun and Moon that are sprung from the sea, yet the same epithet applies equally to the Aṣvins who in the opinion of some are identical with the former.
page 2 note 4 See also A. V. vi. 82, 2.
page 3 note 1 Comp. A.V. xi. 8, 1, “when Manyu brought his bride from the house of Sankalpa, who were the bridegroom's friends ?” etc.
page 3 note 2 Weber asks (Ind. S. v. 183, 187,) whether Pûshan here is not meant to designate Soma the bridegroom. In vi. 68,4, the gods are said to have given Pûshan to Sûryâ.
page 3 note 3 See the part of my former paper referring to Soma, p. 140;Google Scholar and Weber's, Ind. Stud. v. 179.Google Scholar
page 4 note 1 vii. 67, 2, “Agni, being kindled, has shone upon us; even the remotest ends of the darkness have been seen; the light preceding the dawn has been perceived, springing up for the glory of the daughter of heaven (Ushas). 3. Now, Aṣvins, the priest invokes you with his hymns,” etc.
page 4 note 2 viii. 5, 1, 2; “When the rosy-hued dawn, though far away, gleams as if she were near at hand, she spreads the light in all directions. 2. Ye, Aṣvius, like men, follow after Ushas in your car which is yoked by thought, and shines afar.”
page 4 note 3 viii. 9, 17, “Wake, o great and divine Ushas. the Aṣvins,” etc.
page 4 note 4 x. 39, 12, “The daughter of the sky (the dawn) is born when your car is yoked; as are also day and night.”
page 4 note 5 x. 61, 4, when the dark [night] stands among the tawny cows (rays of dawn), I invoke you, Aṣvins, sons of the sky.”
page 5 note 1 Two epithets very commonly applied to them are dasrû, and nûsatyû. The former term is explained by Sâyaṇa to signify destroyers of enemies, or of diseases (note on i. 3, 3), or beautiful (on viii. 75, 1). Professor Roth s.v. understands it to signify wonder-workers. The second word nûsatyû is regarded by Sâyaṇa, following one of the etymologies given by Yâska (vi. 13) as equivalent to satyû, truthful. If this is the sense, satyû itself might as well have been used. In the later literature Dasra and Nâsatya were regarded as the separate names of the two Asvins. See Müller's Lectures, 2nd Series, p. 491.Google Scholar
page 5 note 2 The word vandhura is variously explained by Sâyana as nîḍabandhanûdhûrabhûtam (on i. 34, 9), unnatûnatarûpa-bandhana-kûshṭham (on i. 47, 2), veshṭhitam adhishṭhûna-sthûnam (on i. 118, 1), sûrathyàṣraya-sthûnam (on i. 157, 3), sûrathy-adhishṭhûna-sthûnam (on vii. 71, 4), and trivandhura as triphalakûsanghaṭitena (on viii. 74, 8). The epithet would thus mean either (1) having three perpendicular pieces of wood, or (2) having a triple standing place or seat for the charioteer. In i. 34, 2, the chariot is said to have three props fixed in it to lay hold of (trayaḥ skambhûsaḥ skabhitûsa ûrabhe) which the commentator says were meant to secure the rider against the fear of falling when the chariot was moving rapidly. This explanation would coincide with one of the senses assigned to vandhura. In i. 181, 3, their chariot is called sṛpra-vandhuraḥ, which according to the commentator is = vistîrṇa-purobhûgah, “having a wide fore-part.”
page 5 note 3 See the legend in the Aitareya Brahmana, p. 270–273Google Scholar of Dr. Haug's translation.
page 6 note 1 See my paper on the “Progress of Vedic Religion, etc.,” p. 363.Google ScholarIndra has a golden whip, viii. 33, 11.Google Scholar
page 6 note 2 In Taitt. Br. iii. 1, 2, 11, the Aṣvins are called the physicians of the gods, the bearers of oblations, the messengers of the universe, the guardians of immortality; and in that and the preceding paragraph (10) they are connected with their own asterism (nakshatra), the Aṣvayuj.
page 7 note 1 The family of the Kalis is mentioned viii. 55, 15.Google Scholar
page 7 note 2 A rishi of this name is mentioned R.V. viii. 9, 15;Google Scholar x. 20, 10; x. 23, 7; and a family of Vimadas in x. 23, 6.Google Scholar
page 8 note 1 Compare the word viṣpalûvasû in R. V. i. 182, 1.Google Scholar
page 9 note 1 See Roth's, explanation of the words ṛbîsa and gharma, and his Illustrations of Nirokta, vi. 36.Google Scholar
page 10 note 1 Lectures on language, second series, p. 512.Google Scholar
page 11 note 1 Compare the request preferred to Indra to bring forward the chariot of his worshipper from the rear to the front (viii. 69, 4. f.)
page 11 note 1 The commentator explains this of a common ancestry by saying, in accordance with later tradition, that Vivasvat and Varuṇa were both sons of Kaṣyapa and Aditi, and that Vivasvat was the father of the Asvins, while Varurṇa was father of Vasistha the Rishi of the hymn. See Sanskrit Texts, i. 75, f.Google Scholar
page 12 note 1 See Haug”s Ait. Br. ii. p. 120, note 13.Google Scholar
page 13 note 1 In the Mahâbhârata, Sântip. v. 7589 f. it is said that the Aṣvins are the Sûdras of the gods, the Angirases being the Brahmans, the Âdityas the Kshatriyas, and the Maruts the Vaiṣyas. With the objection made against the Aṣvins of too great familiarity with mortals, compare the numerous instances of help rendered to their worshippers, which have been quoted above from the R. V., and which may have given rise to this idea.
page 13 note 2 Comp. S. P. Br. viii. 2, 1, 3.Google Scholar
page 14 note 1 See the similar account of Chyavana's power in the passage from the Anuṣâsana parva quoted in Sanskrit Texts, i. 167 f.
page 15 note 1 Nir. xii. 1. tayoḥ kâlaḥ ûrdhvam ardharâtrét prâkâṣîbhâvasyânuvishtambham anu (the last word is omitted in Durga MS. I. O. L., No. 206) tamobhâgo hi madhyamo jyotirbhâga âdityaḥ; tayor eshâ bhavati Vasâtishu sma, etc.
page 16 note 1 Durga I. O. L., No. 206; Tayoḥ kâla ûrdhvam ardharâtrât prakâṣîbhâvasyânu vishṭambham; jyotishâ vyatibhidyamaânam ûrdhvam ardharâtrât tamo yadâ jyotir anu vishṭabhnâti so 'ṣvinoḥ kâlaḥ; [tataḥ prabhṛti sandhistotraṃ purodayâd âṣvinam, udite sauryâṇi]; tatra yat tamo 'nuvishṭaṃ (The MS. of Prof. Müller, Lect. 2nd series, p. 490, reads, 'nupravishṭam) jyotishi tadbhâgo madhyamasya rûpaṃ (the MS. of Prof. M., ibid: tadbhâgo madhyamaḥ, tan madhyamasya rûpam); yaj jyotis tamasy anuvishṭaṃ (the same, ibid., anupravishṭam) tadbhâgam tadrûpam âdityah. Tâv etau madhyamottamâv iti svamatam âchâryasya, yataḥ samarthanâyodâharati tayor eshâ bhavati Vasâtishu smeti. Professor Roth, in his illustrations of Nir. xii. 1, very correctly observes that the verse quoted by Yâska (vâsatishu sma, etc.) does not bear out the view that the Aṣvins are Indra and Âditya; but the proper inference to be drawn from this circumstance would seem to be, not that Yâska quoted a verse irrelevant to his view, but that Prof. Roth attributed to him a view which he had not entertained, and that it may be preferable to render âditya as proposed above: “the solar (Aṣvin)” or the Aṣvin of a solar nature.
page 17 note 1 Indrâṇî says in R. V. x. 86, 9:Google Scholar “This mischievous creature treats me with disdain as if I had no husband or sons, and yet I am the wife of Indra, and the mother of a hero,” etc.; and in v. 11, it is said: “I have heard of Indrâṇî as the most fortunate of all these females, for never at any future time shall her husband die from decay.” Indrâṇî is mentioned in the Taitt. Br. ii. 4, 2, 7, from which it appears that different goddesses had been competitors for the hand of Indra, and that Indrâṇî has been chosen because she surpassed them all in voluptuous attractions. In the same work, ii. 8, 8, 4, Vâch is said to be the wife of Indra.
page 18 note 1 See also Sâyaṇa on R. V. i. 3, 12:Google ScholarDvividhâ hi Sarasvati vigrahavad-devatâ nadî-rûpû cha.
page 18 note 2 Sarasvatî sara ity udaka-nûma sartes tad-vatî (Nir. ix. 26).Google ScholarThe Brahmavaivartta-purana, ii. 5,Google Scholar as referred to in Prof. Aufrecht's Cat. p. 23, col. 2, has a legend that the Sarasvatî was changed into a river by an imprecation of the Gangâ. In the A. V. vi. 100, 1, three Sarasvatîs are spoken of, but no explanation is given of their difference.
page 18 note 3 R. V. iii. 23, 4: “I place thee, Agni, on the abode of Iḷâ (comp. iii. 29, 4), on the most excellent spot of the earth, on the most auspicious of days. Shine, so as to enrich us, in a place of human resort, on the banks of the Dḥishadvatî, the Âpayâ, the Sarasvatî.”
page 18 note 4 It is clear from the passages quoted in Sanskrit Texts, ii. 415 ff. that the Sarasvatî continued in later times also to be regarded as a sacred river, but this character was shared by other Indian streams, if not by them all.
page 19 note 1 Sâyaṇa understands i. 3, 12, of the river, and explains it thus: “The Sarasvati by her act (of flowing) displays a copious flood.” Roth in his Illustrations of the Nirukta (xi. 26) p. 152,Google Scholar translates, “A mighty stream is Sarasvatî with her light she lightens, illuminates all pious minds.” He, however, regards the commencing words as figurative, and not as referring to the river. Benfey renders: “Sarasvatí by her light causes the great sea to be known: she shines through all thoughts.” He understands the “great sea” as the universe, or as life, which he says is often designated in common Sanskrit also by the word sâgara. Benfey's explanation seems to me to be unsuitable. The conceptions of Sarasvatî as a river and as the directress of ceremonies may be blended in the passage.
page 20 note 1 Sâyaṇa says that Mûdhyamikû Vâch, or the goddess Vâch, who resides in the region intermediate between heaven and earth, is here intended.
page 20 note 2 See Roth s. v. and compare x. 65, 13.Google ScholarProfMüller, , in Kuhn and Sehleicher's Beitröge, etc., iii. 448,Google Scholar assigns to pëvîravî the sense of “thundering.”
page 20 note 3 Sâyaṇa says her husband is Prajâpati. Would it not rather be Sarasvat?
page 21 note 1 Hiraṇyavarttiniḥ. Sâyaṇa explains varttini as chariot, and the compound as meaning “having a golden chariot.” The same word occurs again, applied to a river, in viii. 26, 18, where Sâyaṇa makes it mean “having a golden path,” i.e. golden banks. The words rudra-varttani, “whose path is dreadful,” and ghṛtavarttani, “whose path is unctuous,” are also applied to different deities in the Rig Veda. Kṛshṇa-varttani, “he whose path is marked by blackness,” is an epithet of Agni in viii. 23, 19, and the sense of that term is fixed by the use of the synonym kṛshnûdhvan. The substantive varttani occurs in vii. 18, 16.Google Scholar
page 21 note 2 Compare Ait. Br. iv. 1,Google Scholar at the end, where her two breasts are said to be truth and falsehood.
page 22 note 1 In the S. P. Br. vii. 5, 2, 52,Google Scholar it is said, “Mind is the ocean. From mind, the ocean, the gods, with Vâch for a shovel, dug out the triple science (i.e. the three Vedas). Wherefore this verse (ṣloka) has been uttered,” etc. In the Bhîshma-p. of the M. Bh. v. 3019, Achyuta (Krishna) is said to have created Sarasvatî and the Vedas from his mind. In the Vana-p. v. 13432, the Gâyatrî is called the mother of the Vedas.
page 22 note 2 Compare the verse quoted by Ṣankara on the Brahma sûtras (see Sanskrit Texts, iii. 68Google Scholar), from a Smṛti: “In the beginning a celestial voice, formed of the Vedas, eternal, without beginning or end, was uttered by Svayambhû, from which all activities have proceeded.”
page 23 note 1 On these goddesses see Weber's Ind. Stud. v. 228 ff. and 237.Google Scholar
page 23 note 2 In the Vâj. Sanhitâ, xix. 30Google Scholar, it is said that faith (ṣraddhá) is obtained by gifts (dakshiṇû) and truth (satya) by faith. In xix. 77 of the same work it is declared that “Prajâpati beholding, made a distinction between the forms of truth and falsehood (satyûnḥte), connecting disbelief (aṣraddhû) with the latter, and faith or belief (ṣraddhû) with the former.” This declaration, that truth is the only proper object of faith, has a far deeper signification than this ancient writer could possibly have assigned to it, viz., that it is the ultimate truth, and not the so-called orthodoxy of any proposition, which can alone entitle it to reception.
page 24 note 1 See what is said of the daughter of Sûrya above, in connection with the Aṣvins.
page 24 note 2 In this passage a great deal is said in praise of Ṣraddhâ. She smites the man who smites her. The gods, it appears, had decided that the offerings of a niggardly student of the Veda (ṣrotriya) and a liberal usurer were of equal value. But Prajâpati determined that they were wrong (see the same sentiment in nearly the same words in Manu, iv. 224 ff.Google Scholar), and that the liberal man's oblation, being purified by his faith (ṣraddhû), was to be accepted, whilst the other man's, being vitiated by his unbelief, was to be rejected. Unbelief, it is added, is the greatest of sins, but faith takes away sin.
A similar sentiment is expressed in the Vana-parva, 13461 ff.: “The doubter enjoys neither this world nor the next, nor any gratification. Those ancient sages who possess true knowledge have said that faith (pratyaya) is a sign of final liberation…. Abandoning fruitless (lit. dry) argumentations (ṣushka-tarkam), adhere to the ṣruti and the smṛti” (the Vedas and other books dependent on them).
page 24 note 3 In the words bhadrû eshûm lakshmî nihitû, adhi vûchi, “an auspicious fortune is attached to their words.”
page 25 note 1 Vandanû. This word does not occur in Wilson's Dictionary, but I find there vandû in the sense of a creeping plant.
page 25 note 1 Lelûyantî. As fixing the sense of this word Prof. Aufrecht refers me to S. P. Br. p. 136; Bṛhad araṇyaka p. 737; Muṇdaka Up. pp. 274, 276; and Ṣvetâṣvatara Up. p. 332.