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:: D. D. KOSAMBI.. Syāvāśva and the Atris or the Atris alonc. They also occur in vi. 50. 10, vii. - 68.5, vii.71.5 and are therefore respected by or associated with both the Bharadvāja-Angiras and thc Vasiştha groups. We cannot expect much in the way of special features from these. It might be objected here that the Angirasas and to a lesser extent the Bhrgus also appear prominently outside their own books. Actually, a distinction has to be made between the remote deified ancestors, those in the middle distance on the dividing line between myth and history, and those contemporary with the hymn. These three stages Angirasas in x.62 (by the scer Nābhānediştha), in a prayer addressed to the Angirasas themselves; the important middle stage being in x. 62.7, which mentions unity with Indra, i.e. going over to the Aryans. A tendency to respect the legendary and scorn the modern rşis is manifest in the Sat. Brāh : "Now when the Bhrgus or thc Angirasas attained the heavenly world, Cyavana the Bhārgava or Cyayana the Angiras was left behind here (on carth) decrepit and ghostlike" (iv.1.5.1). The remaining groups are those of Viśvāmitra, and the Vasişthas. Before seeing what tradition has to say about these, let us consider for a moment the general nature of this tradition.
It is not the purpose of the vedas to provide the reader with historical information, for they were purely liturgical works in language that soon became obscure, with changed interpretacion of many terms. Possible historical references have to be gleaned with caution, for they are fortuitous, and the main question before any reader is not only what many of the hymns mean but. even whether a given characier is human, or a supernatural being. For example, Indra is the principal god of human type, and next to Agpi the most important. Was he a human being later deified? It would appear to be a reasonable guess, but when Indra's help to such and such a person is lauded, it generally remains an open question as to whcther it was help given by the god in answer to a prayer, as for example the Homeric deities helping their favourite heros on the field of battle, or whcther an Aryan chieftain actually appeared upon the scéne in person and took part in the fight. In some cases, the divine inter
1 Indra had been deificd. by some Aryan tribes as carly as 1400 B.C. if we may trust the famous indentifications of Hugo Winckler, who found Aryan gods on Boghaz-koi tablets; E., Forrer, ZDMG. lxxvi, 1922,174-259. The actual gods, as reported by Forror (p.250) are: 13. (the gods) mi-id-ra-ass si-il 14. (the gods) u-ru-va-na-as-si-el(var, a-ru-na-as-si-il), 15. (the god) in-tar(var, in-da-ra), 16. (the gods) na-sa-ad-ti-an-na,. The cquivalents would secm to bc Mitra, Varuņa Indra (cf. Grassmann col. 213-214), and the Näsatyas, but the question remains unanswered as to why the first two are mentioned in the plural (with the unique termination sil) when the honorific plural is never known for any god in Hittite records. The Aryan element in those records is not to be doubted, and so Forrer's statement that an Aryan tribe Manda(=the later Mcdcs) seems to have existed near lake Urumiah has to be accepted. The terms traivartana, pascavartana ctc recognizable in their cunieform equivalents, and the mcthod of breaking in horses which they seçm to set forth, are particularly interesting. Sec also P.-E.Dumont in JAOS. 67. 1947, pp. 251-253, for Indo-Aryan names in Mitanni, Nuzi, and Syrian documents.
- In the case of Agni, there is no ambiguity. Fire was always used for clearing land by burning it over, as in x. 28.8, Sat. Brāh ii. 1.2.21, and even for destruction of hostile cities and fortifications. The Mahābhārata (1.214-219) story of burning down the Khāndava forest shows the combination of a sacrifice to Agni, land-clearing, and military operation.
