Reviews Of Different Books

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REVIEWS 229 mitram, it is obvious that a decision about its meaning (e.g., "contract" or "friendship") is bound to have consequences for one's ideas about Mitra. Gonda's study of this problem is to appear separately. What follows are personal reflections of this reviewer, here inserted as an excursus. If one limits oneself to the Vedic evidence, leaving aside all etymological speculations and the Avesta, there is, apart from interpreting all occurrences of mitra, a possibility of attempting a more formal analysis of the ways in which mitra is used, as distinct from, e.g., sakhya "friendship". The compounds and derivatives mitrin and mitreru (Mayrhofer, s.v.) do not prove much, but mitradruh is interesting. It occurs in MS. IV.3.4 (43,12) apam phenena siro 'chinat, tad va enam anvavartata mitradrug asfti, TB. 1.7.1.7 apam phenena sira udavartayat, tad enam anvavartata mitradhrug iti. It has long been compared to Avestan midro.zyam(ca) mioro. drujimca (Y. 61.3, Yt. 10.82) "the infringer of the contract and the man false to the contract", cf. Parthian drwxtmyhr "committing a breach of contract" and Pahlavi miorandruzan "covenantbreakers" (Gershevitch, Hymn to Midra, pp. 113, 153). More instructive is mitram dha, without Old Iranian parallels and mostly occurring in the later portions of the Rigveda. It shows that, although a god can be said to be a sakha as well as a mitra of the devotee, the abstract noun mitram differs from sakhyam "friendship" in that it is established. It is said to be concluded with another person or god in VIII.96.6c indrena mitram didhisema girbhih "we wish to make a mitram with Indra by means of words of praise", X. 108.3c mitram ena dadhama "we will make a mitram with him" (viz. Indra)". Cf. also IV.33.10cd te rayas posam dravinany asme dhatta rbhavah ksemayanto na mitram "(give) us increase of wealth, riches, make, O Rbhus, a mitram like people who are longing for peace!" In these passages "to conclude an alliance" and "to contract a (specific form of) friendship" are both possible. Renou translates "contracter un pacte"; Gonda prefers the latter meaning and has his doubts about other translations (p. 106, n. 6). The incidental use of a plural form in I.170.5ab tvam isise vasupate vasunam tvam mitranam mitrapate dhesthah (to Indra) "Thou, O lord of the goods, hast power over the goods (and) over the mitras, O lord of the mitra(s), being the best establisher (of them)" gives no clue to the exact meaning. In view of the repetition of tvam and the normal construction of dhestha and destha with an accusative the genitive mitranam can (but need not) primarily be construed with isise. Renou, EVP, X, p. 56 renders: "O maitre de pactes, tu es celui qui conclut au mieux les pactes". Otherwise Gonda, p. 106 n. 6: "O lord of friendship, thou givest most friendships". It should be noted that this plural, a hapax in the Rigveda, is reminiscent of midroibyo in Zarathustra's Gathas but that, on the other hand, also sakhya- is once used in the plural. In my interpretation of I.1.70.5 an accusative mitrani must be understood before dhesthah, cf. the parallel passages IV.41.3a indra ha ratnam varuna dhestha "ye, O Indra and Varuna, are the best givers of wealth", VII.93.1d ta vajam sadya usate dhestha (to Indragni) "ye, the best bringers, at once, of prizes to him that desires them". This parallelism is complete in the first case: just as we find in the Rigveda ratnadha and ratnadheya by the side of ratnam ... dhestha, so mitradha and mitradheya are found in the Atharvaveda. Cf. AS. II.6.4 mitrena 'gne mitradha yatasva "O Agni, occupy thy proper position as a establisher of mitram, together with Mitra" (and the curious and isolated passage KS. XXXVII.10: 91,6 mitradha no mitre dadhatai "the establisher of mitram must establish us in mitram"; corruption of no mitrar ?), ASPaipp. III.33.5 mitrena 'gne mitradheyam yatasva, for which the Yajurvedic recensions read mitradheye yatasva "occupy thy proper place in the establishing of a mitram". This much would seem apparent from these passages that mitram had a cosmic significance: Indra presides over them as over the wealth he produces, and he and Agni establish the mitra(s), alone or with Mitra. When surveying all the Rigvedic passages where mitra is used as a (masculine or neuter) appellative, one is led to conclude, first, that this had something to do with a