NO. I THE DARKER SIDE OF DAWN COOM ARASWAM Y 5 



(siikra) and shining (sHvarca)", I, 95, i ; as Pusan he is of two dif- 

 ferent aspects, like Day and Night, one bright, one dark (\ I, 58, i) ; 

 Hke the Dawns, he " goes back and forth ", I, 164, 38, " now becometh 

 sterile (stanli), now begets (silte, tantamount to smnfa bJiovati, 'be- 

 comes Savitr'), he shapes his aspect as he will", VII, loi, 3; cf. 

 Atharva Veda, VI, 72, i, "As the black snake displays himself, as- 

 suming such forms (vapfuUsi) as he will, by titan magic " ; " Immortal, 

 uterine-brother (sayonih) of the mortal, they move eternally con- 

 versely, men mark the one and fail to mark the other ". I, 164. 38/ 

 When Night and Day (usasa, the " sister dawns ") have carried him, 

 Agni is born " full strong and white, in the beginning of days " (V. i, 

 4) ; " the use of usasa (du. f .) here to mean Night and Day is paralleled 

 by " days of diverse hue " (visiirilpe ahanl, I, 123, 7 and VI, 58, i), 

 and " black day and white day " (alms ca krsnam ahar arjiinam ca, 



VI. 9, i).° These sister Dawns are not only thought of as mothers 

 of the Sun or Agni, but are brides of the Sun, as in I, 123, 10 where 

 Dawn is desired by the Sun to be his maiden {yosa), IV, 5, 13 where 

 the Dawns (pi.) are called the consorts {patmh) of the immortal Sun, 



VII, 75, 5 where the generous Dawn (maghoul ttsa) is called the 

 maiden of the Sun (sftryasya yosd) ; in VII, 69, 4, she is again the 

 Sun-maiden {silryasya yosa), and in AV., VIII, 9, 12, the sister 

 Dawns are called the Sun's consorts (M^a.y.a .... silrya-patu'i). The 

 Dawn is also a sister of Bhaga and kinswoman {jami) of Varuna 

 (I, 123, 5); and is "Heaven's daughter", passim. In VII, 69, 4, 

 she is the daughter of the Sun (yosd .... silro duhitd), involving 

 the incest motif more familiar in connection with Prajapati, cf. also 

 V, 55, 6, where Piisan is called the second husband of his mother 

 and the seducer of his sister (nmtur didisuni .... svastir jdrah) ; 

 "incest" being inevitable because of the kinship (jdmifva) of all 

 the manifested principles, ab infra. Piisan is Surya's lover in VI, 58, 3. 

 The identity of Dawn (usas) with Siirya is thus evident, as is also 

 that of the sister Dawns (usasa) with Saranyu and her savarm.'' 

 In Vdjasaneyi Samhitd, III, 10, Night (rdtrl), and Dawn (usas) or 

 Day (ahas) are Indra's consorts (indravati), Indra representing the 

 Sun. 



That Usas may thus denote as well the Night as Dawn or Day 

 renders intelligible certain neglected passages of RV. in which the 

 Dawn is referred to as a sinister power ; sinister, that is, essentially, 

 and not merely accidentally in that the passing days shorten the span 

 of life (I, 92, 11) whence Usas is called jarayantl (VII, 75, 4) from 

 jr. "to inveterate".* In IV, 30, 8-1 1, Indra is praised as having 

 " struck down Heaven's daughter, that ill-designing woman " (striyam 



