________________
442
VEDIC HYMNS.
mean a stream of milk, or of some other liquid, poured out (visrishta) from the clouds or at a sacrifice. It often occurs in the dual dhene, and has then been taken as the upper and lower lips (not the nares, as Roth suggests), distinguished from sipre, the upper and lower jaws. See note on II, 34, 3. Sayana (Rv. Bh. I, 101, 10) explains it by gihvopagihvike. Durga adds (Nirukta Bhashya, VI, 17) adhastye damshtre và gihvopagihvike vâ, ity eke, tayor hy annam dhîyate.
Benfey translates: Väyu, deine vorkostende Lippe schreitet zum Opferer, weit hingestreckt zum Somatrank.' Prapriñkatî can hardly mean vorkostend.
Verse 4. Note 1. The instrumental práyobhih is best translated here by 'for the sake of;' see Wenzel, Instrumental, p. 104.
Verse 5. Note 1. On vàgini and våga, see 'India, what can it teach us ?' pp. 164, 166. The transition of meaning from vâga, booty, to vaga, wealth in general, finds an analogy in the German kriegen, to obtain, also in Gewinn, and A.S. winnan, to strive, to fight, to obtain. Vaginîvasů, in the dual, is a frequent epithet of the Asvins, II, 37, 5; V, 74, 6; 7; 75, 3; 78,3 ; VIII, 5, 3 ; 12; 20; 8, 10; 9, 4; 10, 5; 22, 7; 14; 18; 26, 3; 85, 3 ; 101, 8; of Indra, III, 42, 5; X, 96, 8.
It differs little from våginîvat, which is likewise applied to the Asvins, I, 120, 10, and comes to mean simply wealthy, liberal; cf. I, 122, 8; VII, 69,1. Väginîvati is an epithet of Ushas, Sarasvatî, and Sindhu. A common phrase is vágebhih vàginîvatî, lit. wealthy in wealth, cf. I, 3, 10. Vagini occurs as the feminine of vågin, wealthy, or strong, but never in the sense of mare; cf. III, 61, 1. úshah vágena vagini, Ushas wealthy by wealth or booty; VI, 61,6. Sarasvati vágeshu vagini, Sarasvati, strong in battles; cf. I, 4, 8; 9. Native commentators generally explain vågini by sacrifice, våginivasu, by dwelling in the sacrifice. I take vågini in compounds like vàginivasu as a collective
Digized by Google
