NO. I THE DARKER SIDE OF DAWN COOMARASWAMY I7 



khe yugasya). In Jaimimya Up. Brahmana, I, 3, the kha anasah and kha 

 rathasya are identified with the divas chidra or " hole in heaven ", which is " all 

 covered over by rays ", and is the Sun through the midst of which the Com- 

 prehensor "utterly escapes" (atimucyate) ; cf. Chandogya Up., VIII, 6, 6, 

 where the Sun is called the "portal of the worlds" (lokadi'ara) and RV. V, 

 81, 2 where it is the Sun that "lets out the forms of all things" (7nh<a 

 rupani prati muhcate .... savitr). Obviously the way out and the way in are 

 the same (cf. John, X, 9) ; to be dragged forward through the hole of the 

 chariot is to be born into the worlds, to pass out through the hole is to die, 

 whether temporarily or finally. With the description of the axle-hole as all 

 covered over with rays", cf. X, 132, 6, "Wash her (Aditi) with sun-rays" 

 {suro ninikta rasmibhih) . 



In all probability kha rathasya, kha anasah, kha yugasya are synonymous 

 expressions, all equivalent to kha as " hole in the wheel through which the 

 axle passes ", see my " Kha and other words denoting ' Zero ', in connection with 

 the metaphysics of space ", in Bulletin of the School of Oriental Stxtdies, VII, 

 1934. But even if we hold with Sayana that three successively smaller openings 

 in different parts of the chariot are intended (which seems improbable), it by 

 no means follows that the three operations by which the " delivery " is made 

 are to be understood as taking place upon one and the same occasion ; we 

 understand in any case that Indra drags Apala three times through the "hole 

 of his chariot ", in other words makes her to be born thrice, as in the story of 

 Sujata cited below; cf. khad-iva yoiii-jdtah in Buddha Carita, i, 30. 



Since writing the above I find in Jaimimya Brahmana, II, 419, yatha ratha- 

 n-abhau arah pratistha, " when the spokes are afiixed to the hub of the chariot " ; 

 and inasmuch as " hub of the chariot " can only mean " hub of the chariot wheel ", 

 so we may take it that " aperture of the chariot ", kha rathasya, means " aperture 

 of the chariot wheel ", as the sense requires. 



There is an analogous ritual use of " ringstones ", which are regarded as 

 yonis or female symbols of generation (see Marshall, Mohenjo-Daro, p. 62, 

 and references there cited) ; those who are passed through such ringstones are, 

 as it were, " born again ". That such stones are really symbolic representations 

 of the solar loka-dvara through which one "escapes altogether" (atimucyate) 

 is clearly seen in the case of the well-known example at Satrunjaya, where the 

 opening in the stone is called the "door of liberation" {mukti-dvara). 



For further references to the story of Apala see Oertel in Journ. Amer. 

 Oriental SocXVlll, 26 i. 



22. With all the purifications referred to above may be compared those 

 performed by the Saman and Rk antecedent to the consummation of their 

 veiled union on the night of the sabbath (iipavasathiyam ratriih, sadasi, 

 Jaimimya Up. Brahmana, I. 54). In this case (in many respects analogous 

 to that of Yama and Yami, RV. X, 10, but with a "happy ending"), that 

 which Rk removes and casts forward (pratyatihat) becomes the " vision of 

 living creatures" (dhlr eva prajanam jlvdnam eva), and the whole is once 

 more a story of creation. 



23. Not an independent " Person ", but an essential name of Agni, as ex- 

 plicitly recognized in I, 38. 13. 



24. Amuh pare, i. e. " on the farther shore ", awaiting transportation over the 

 flowing river, like for example, Bhujyu, samudra a rajasah para Inkhitam, 

 whom the Asvins bring across in their winged ships, X, 143, 5. The thrice 



