NO. I THE DARKER SIDE OF DAWN COOMARASWAMY II 



blindfold the vicious beings that beset the paths, the highwaymen 

 {paripaniJiinah) who are inimical to the proceeding principles. Verses 

 2 and 3 are apotropaic in the same sense. Verse 4 continues in a 

 language which is now readily comprehensible, " Let the two feet go 

 forward, let them visibly proceed; bear (her) to the homes of Prna 

 (vahafam prnatah grhdn) ; let Indrani go forth foremost, uncon- 

 quered, unrobbed, to the East ". Here vahatarh grhdn is a quite tech- 

 nical expression implying " lead home the bride ". Prna is a designa- 

 tion either of the Sun, cf. Satapatha Brdhmana, VIII, 7, 2, i where 

 the " world-filling " {lokaih-prna) brick represents the Sun, who 

 " fills the worlds " (lokaiii pfirayqti) ; or of Indra as the Sun, cf. RV. 

 IV, 19, 7, where Indra " fills the waste-lands ", apruak dhanvdni; or 

 of Agni who " fills the regions " (a rajas'i aprnat, III, 2, 7, prnaksi 

 rodasl ubhe, X, 140, 2, and passim). 



In any case, the evidence assembled above suffices to show that the 

 procession of the " Serpents " on the male side, who " creep further " 

 (ati sarpante) and become Adityas, as related in the Pahcavimsa 

 Brdhmana, XXV, 15, ample support for which can be cited from the 

 Rg Veda, is paralleled on the female side. Apart from their ontologi- 

 cal interest, the general conclusion provides a sound basis for the 

 interpretation of many peculiarities of the later Indian iconography ."" 



