________________
NOTES. I, 167, 7.
277
yavyå. It means the youthful maid, and corresponds to yuvati in verse 6. Yavyå would be the exact form which Curtius (Grundzüge, p. 589) postulated as the Sanskrit prototype of Hebe'. Now, if the Maruts correspond to Mars in Latin, and to Ares in Greek, the fact that in the Iliad Hebe bathes and clothes Ares, may be of some significance. Sådharani is used in the sense of uxor communis, and would show a familiarity with the idea of polyandry recognised in the epic poetry of the Mahabharata.
But although the Maruts cling to this maid (the Vâk, or thunder), they do not cast off Rodasî, their lawful wife, the lightning, but wish her to grow for their friendship, i. e. as their friend.
Ayásah yavyá must be scanned u Yu-u--. In VI, 66, 5, ayasah mahnă must be scanned as uyucu-- (mahimna ?).
Note 2. Veldham, as the accent shows, is here an infinitive governed by gushanta.
Verse 5. See von Bradke, Dyaus Asura, p. 76.
Verse 6. I translate arká by poet. The construction would become too cumbersome if we translated, as soon as the hymn with the libations was there for you, as soon as the sacrificer sang his song.'
Verse 7. The meaning of the second line is obscure, unless we adopt Ludwig's ingenious view that Rodasỉ is here conceived as Eileithyia, the goddess who helps mothers in childbirth. I confess that it is a bold conjecture, and there is nothing in Vedic literature to support it. All I can say is that Eileithyia is in Greek, like Hebe (Yavyà) and Ares (Marut), a child of Hera, and that lightning as well as dawn might become a symbol of birth. The etymology and the
& Wir müssen ein vorgriechisches yavå oder möglicherweise yavyâ annehmen.
b Il. V, 905.
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