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216
AITAREYA-ARANYAKA.
ever from evil, therefore there are (the poets of the fifth Mandala of the Rig-veda, called) Atrayah. Therefore people call him who is really Prâna (breath), Atrayah.
SECOND KHANDA. 1. He (breath) is likewise a Bibhradvaga (bringer of offspring). Offspring is vaga, and he (breath) supports offspring. Because he supports it, therefore there is (the poet of the sixth Mandala of the Rig-veda, called) Bharadvâga. Therefore people call him who is really Prâna (breath), Bharadvåga.
2. The Devas (speech, &c.) said to him : 'He it is who chiefly causes us to dwell on earth. Because the Devas said of him, that he chiefly caused them to dwell on earth, therefore there is (the poet of the seventh Mandala of the Rig-veda, called) Vasishtha. Therefore people call him who is really Prâna (breath), Vasishthal
3. He (breath) went forth towards : all this whatsoever. Because he went forth toward all this whatsoever, therefore there are (the poets of the eighth Mandala of the Rig-veda, called) the Pragathas. Therefore people call him who is really Prâxa (breath), the Pragathas.
4. He (breath) purified all this whatsoever. Because he purified all this whatsoever, therefore there
1 I translate in accordance with the commentator, and probably with the intention of the author. The same etymology is repeated in the commentary on II, 2, 4, 2. It would be more natural to take vasishtha in the sense of the richest.
. This is the interpretation of the commentator, and the preposition abhi seems to show that the author too took that view of the etymology of pragatha.
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