Gods and Saints of tJic Great BniliDiaija. 4^ 



is reversed. He was "wise" as magician and was hence regarded 

 as son of a "Wise man" or, more remotely, was Iranian.^ 



Indra's conduct with the Tvastar faniil}- is typical, hi this case 

 also he kills unjustifiably the son of Tvastar, and an inauspicious 

 voice addressed him, sa3ang " O brahma-sla3-er ! ". hidra fled to 

 Agni for help and b}' means of the Agni-laud, discovered for this 

 end b\- Agni, he removed the inauspicious voice, 17. 5. 1 (fire burns 

 away sin). 2 The story is found in all the Brahmanic (cf TS. 2. 5. 

 1. 2, etc.) and epic literature ; but less well known is the fact that 

 when hidra had ophthalmia, aksyaniayin, other beings could not put 

 him to sleep, but " Tva.star's daughters " put him to sleep by sing- 

 ing to him the chaunt that bears their name. Again, when Indra 

 was running awa}' from \>tra. he entered a cow, and Tvastar's 

 daughters bv the same means "brought him forth," abntvau jana- 

 yanie 'ti, tani ctailj sumabJiir ajauayan, 12. 5. 19—21, and so metaphor- 

 ically became his mothers. These daughters may be so called from 

 their curative abilit\- and reall}- have nothing to do with the god. 

 The first story seems akin to that of TS. 6. 1. 1. o, where it said 

 that, when hidra killed Vrtra, his e5'e fell out and became coUyrium. 

 Compare also ."^B. 3. 1. 3. 13 (and 11), where the same story makes 

 the ointment come from mount Trikakud, into which the eye changed 

 on falling ovit.^ With the second tale, cf. Indra's flight into the 

 Anustubh (above), or into water, SB. 7. 4. 1. 13. 



hidra in connection with saints and seers : The action of the 

 Brahmana, though Nam! Sapya, a Vaidehan king, is known (25. 10. 17), 

 has to do with the holv-land of India, where are the Sarasvati river. 



1 Here his name was Kavi or Kava. On the Iranian origin of this 

 and the preceding chaplains of the demons, see Hillebrandt, Ved. Myth. 

 3. 442. •• Kavj'a "' also of Idhat, who '* saw heaven." 14. 9. 16 (aidhafa 

 Sanian. for Itot^ ditata) ; and of Uksnorandhra, 13. 9. 19. 



"- Cf. SB. 11. 1. h. 7-8, Vrtra = sin. to be Inirned a\\ay (TS. 2 1. 4. 

 6-7). 



' Compare also the common story about Prajapati's eye swelling and 

 falling out and becoming the horse, or entering barlej-, as7'o yad asvayat, 

 TS. .5. 3. 12. 1 ; 6. 4. 10. 5 (barley); PB. 21. 4. 2 and 4 ; SB. 13. 3. 1. 1, f., 

 where the horse is gouged in the thigh by a bee. In VS. 8. 14, Tvas- 

 tar himself is a healer ; in PB. 9. 10. 3, he is the •' transformer of the 

 forms of cattle," as in SB. 3. 7. 2. 8 and 3. 11 ; 3. 8. 3. 11 : 13. 3. 8. 1 ; 

 TS. 2. 4. 6. 1 ; 6. 6. 6. 2, he, like Wind, is the fashioner of seed ; and 

 he is the lord of cattle, who at fii'st used to try to protect them from 

 sacrifice by spitting on their heads, as Amerinds spit on snakes in the 

 Hopi dance. 



Trans. Conn. Acad., Vol. XV. 4 Jdly, 1909. 



