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remember that in the hymns to the Maruts the poets speak occasionally of the countries, far and near, visited by the storm-winds. We must also bear in mind that in our very passage the poet asks the Maruts to come to him, and not to tarry with other people. When, therefore, he says, that they went to Saryanâvat, &c., is that likely to be meant for a tank of Soma at his own or any other sacrifice?
Saryanâvat is derived from sarya, this from sara. Sara means reed, arrow; sarya, made of reeds, saryâ, an arrow, but also reeds tied together and used at the sacrifice for carrying Soma-oblations. From it, saryana, which, accord-. ing to Sayana, means lands in Kurukshetra (RV. VIII, 6, 39), and from which Saryanâvat is derived, as the name of a lake in that neighbourhood (not a Landstrich, B.-R.). When this saryanâvat occurs in the Rig-veda, the question is, does it mean that lake, evidently a famous lake and a holy place in the early settlements of the Vedic Aryas, or does it mean, as others suppose, a sacrificial vessel made of reeds? It occurs in the Rig-veda seven times.
VEDIC HYMNS.
In I, 84, 14, Indra is said to have found the head of the horse, which had been removed among the mountains (clouds) at Saryanâvat. This seems to me the lake in which the sun sets. In the 8th Mandala saryanâvat occurs three times. In VIII, 6, 39, Indra is invoked to rejoice at Saryanâvat, or, according to others, in a vessel full of Soma. In our passage the Maruts went to Saryanâvat, to Sushoma, Argîka, and Pastyâvat, countries, it would seem, not vessels. In VIII, 64, 11, after saying that the Soma had been prepared among the Pûrus, it is added that the Soma is sweetest in Saryanâvat, on the Sushomâ, and in Årgîkîya. In IX, 65, 22, we read of Somas prepared far and near, and at Saryanâvat, and in the next verse we read of Somas to be found either among the Årgîkas, among the Pastyâs, or among the Five Tribes. In IX, 113, 1; 2, Indra is asked to drink Soma at Saryanâvat, and the Soma is asked to come from Årgîka. In X, 35, 2, the aid is implored of heaven and earth, of the rivers and the mountains, and these mountains are called saryanâvatah.
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