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ORIGIN OF BRAHMIN GOTRAS
and destroyer (dhilii and vidluitü appear as wcaving women, likc thc Norns, in Mbl, 1.3.172); thic funcrary lyrin x.18.5-6 spccially calls upon Tvaşte to protect thc living, though the end of thc hymn sends thc dcad man to his fathors and Yama. Tlc rcason for Tvanli's bcing invokcd appcars in x.18,10-11 in
burial is first described as return to the cartlı-mother's womb. Thus we have thic combination of two cntircly diffcrcnt rituals and a succession of Yama to Tvager-Višvakarman, apparently by mother-right. Thercforc Tvaşır is not originally an Aryan god like Varuna, pushed into the background by Indra and thc figliting life, but rather a cult figurc from thc prc-Aryan background, adopted at various times under different names which arc Sanskrit adjcctives. The faint similarity between Varuna's supcrscssion and Tvaştr's was utilized in ancicnt timcs : in x. 124.5-7, Varuņa is virtually a supporter of Vţtra against Indra (laking the obvious rather than thc Sāyaṇa mcaning); in iv.42.3, Varuna cvcn proclaims himself Tvaştr, perhaps in thc adjcctival scnsc, but in any casc uniquc. Thcsc arc clcarly attempts at assimilation. Thc Rbhus who quadruplicatc Tvaşt;'s wooden cup (1.206 ;iv.33.5-6) sccm to bc purcly Aryan craftsman-gods of limited aspect. Acarpcntcr-god implics thic cxistcncc and relativc importance of craftsmen among his worshippers. Wc know that carpenters would bc important when chariots and hcavy wagons (anas) wcrc; also that somc indigenous craftsmen wcrc far supcrior to thosc of thc invaders. It would then sccm that Tvaştfirst cntcr thc panthcon as a god brought in by thc prc-Aryan craftsmcn. But this docs not ncccssarily mcan that hc was only a craftsman-god among thc prc-Aryans.
In the south, to this day, Tvaşıp is worshipped under the namc of Viśvakarman by thc fcw surviving imagc-makcrs of thc old school. They form a castc (sthapalis) by thcmsclvcs, and still claim the right of wearing thc sacred thrcad. In vicw of all this, it might bc considcrcd ridiculous to propound the vicw that Tvaşır is borrowed or adopted from thc prc-Aryans. Lct mc, thcrcforc, point to Siyana's gloss on the word brsaya which is cithcr a namc or mcans wizard. On i. 93.4, the commentator says "bysayo'suras Ivaşļā," though thc supposcd, Asura is herc connected with thc Paņis by thc text of thc pk. On vi. 61.2, commenting upon visvasya bysayasya māyinah, Sāyaṇa again says "Brsaya ili Tvasfur náma-dheyam". Now Tvaşt; having a clear position among thc gods, to the extent of being includcd in cvcry aprī-lymn, to call him an Asura Bțsaya would have required grcat couragc on thc part of a devout fourteenth century commentator*, unless thcrc had been a very clcar tradition to that cffcct which could not be contested. As will be sccn, wc should havc bccn driven to this conclusion cvcn without thc addcd help of Sāyaṇa's report.
• Sāyana again calls Tvaşlr an Asura when commenting upon ji.48.4 but Prajapati on iv.42.3, Vi vakarma on 1.32.2; 1.01.0; 1.85,0. Onc god entering into the panthcon under different names would make it casy to dcyclop the latcr monotheistic ayncretism. RV.ix.6.0; tvaşlaram agrajām gopam burovīvānam huve; indur indro urshi harih pavamanah prajapatill shows an carly beginning of such identification which is also to bc scen in x. 126, and iv.20, for other gods,
