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I am, however, led to hazard a few observations regarding these queries though I realize full well that the scantiness of my equipment would hardly justify my venturc.
As is apparent from the gencalogy of these Vasus, u Prajapati had 60 daughters, 10 of these were given in marriage to Dharma. They were
326744), ay, afh, gar, Hrg, Heidal, i keq, ggaf, gent and faal. • The second in the above list viz. ag had 8 sons who are known as Vasus. These Vasus are , , QA, BE, 3773, ofta, Trio and gara. Sometimes ea: is substituted by 3119; (Aple's Dictionary).
BHTA (“eminently shining") had married the sister of 29 and had through her a son named fast fåa. This faqaf was endowed with consummate skill in fine arts, architecture, sculpture, painting, including both their constructive as well as decorative aspects. He was an excellent craftsman as he had constructed conyeyances moving on land, sea and air. He was an expert in designing weapons of various kinds to minister to the comforts, convenience and safety of men. These and other qualities have rigtitly won for him the cpithet commonly attributed to him -viz. the architect of gods, and naturally it would not, on that score, be absurd at all, if in inference is held out that it was his parentage that was responsible for the rich heritage which he came to inherit. Most of these Vasus, as might be inferred from the above, were the artificers in ancient times. They occupied a very respectable position in the society in Ancient India.
"From the Vedic times, Indian civilization had at its disposal the services not only of the carpenter, the wheelwright and the blacksmith, of the potter, the weaver and other fabricators of objects of prime necessity but also of those whom we call art-workers, painters, goldsmiths, carvers in ivory or wood etc."( Beginnings of Buddhistic Art by M. Foucher ). It was the family of these Vasus or their progeny who applied theinselves to these various crafts-branches of art, and so naturally, these art-workers-artificers in a wide range of arts, were brought under the category of the term 99. It must be admitted that it is difficult to differentiate the functions of these 8 as individually. The information regarding them is too meagre to base sound deductions upon. Some names of these Vasus, for example, #14: (water) wao (fire), * (wind) might obviously suggest that the one had to deal with hydraulic works, another with such arts as required the handling of fire etc., a third with air transport and so on, but it inust be admitted frankly that nothing definite could be ascertained regarding all of them. 44% son of 13 was one of the law-givers in India and also a recognised referee in matters of Aita. (Vide गजेन्द्रमोक्ष.)
The inference as regards the function of these Vasus based on the constructive genius of faal,-that the Vasus were artificers in different
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