100 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. (April, 1909 
which the poet was when he composed it. He remembers an 
instance in which one of his own people—Z'rita a member of his 
owr family—when visited by a calamity prayed for help. He 
was relieved by Brihaspati, one of the most powerful Angirases 
who had attained to divinity. The Risi seems to complain that 
though he is similarly crying for help none of the gods come to 
his rescue. 
 Yaska has here taken T'rita for a man in distress. Profes- 
mythologically the third form of fire or lightning ; (2) His being 
thrown into a well is the obscuration of the atmosphere by the 
clouds :—(3) this atmosphere—the mid-region—is according to 
him the a: of rik I, 105-17, the am: of rik X, 8-7, and the 3@ 
of X, 45-2. (4) This is also, he thinks, the distant place men- 
tioned in riks VIII, 47-10 to 16. 
Before taking up these points for discussion, I think it 
should be noted here that in the Rigveda there are many in- 
stances of men falling into wells and of being rescued by the 
gods. Here is one: The rik istakenfrom the next hymn, com- 
posed also by Kutsa, and it was a Risi of the same name, prob- 
ably one of his predecessors who had fallen into a well. 
ee Fat casa watufd we fasree sefacweaa | 
Vixedi€ 
Risi Kutsa thrown into a well invoked Indra for aid, the 
np he of Vritra and lord of Cacht (=valorous deeds).—I, 
While citing this example I am aware that this Kutsa him- 
self has been by some scholars taken for a mythic personage 
and even a form of fire. But if ‘‘ Rist Kutsa”’ be so taken we 
Some became gods—some a sort of demi-gods, others, again, 
more or less malignant demons. 
