Vol. V, No. 4.] The Hero-Gods of the Rigveda. 125 
[NV.S.] 
Trita had to go, and Indra the most popular and mighty god of 
the Rigveda held sway over this region. 
fiks 13 to 17 of the 47th Hymn of the VIII Mandal 
indicate, there can be no doubt, a very late stage in the idea 
of Trita. Here Trita is not the mighty god who originally per- 
formed some of the most important valorous deeds which have 
been most enthusiastically sung in the Rigveda over and over 
again, nor is he now the great ruler of the mid-region sharpening 
Agni like a smelter and wielding the thunder. He has been 
turned out and driven to a distant place where the Risis pray 
to the gods to remove all their evils and sins. . 
._ We have no definite information in the Rigveda as to the 
place where Trita was driven to. But, I believe, a pretty 
accurate guess may be made about tt from hints given with 
regard to the place of Nirriti the goddess of Death and Destruc- 
tion. This place and where Trita was driven to must be iden- 
tical as the following riks shew. 
Wa at washes: aTaqal avila gatas Be | 
qa Zt fasta ware: ad fata: oy qarwAT I yi ReLE 
You have a hundred, a thousand remedies, O king (Varwna). 
May your graciousness (to us) be wide an ; 
Bind Nirriti far away from us. Remove from us even the 
sin we have committed—I, 24-9. 
emarks :—The Rist wishes his sin removed to Niérriti as 
aig the gods were asked to remove all evils and sins to 
rita. 
ataraat fa zea fradtaaiar al at waataay | 
He wat fasefa qerace wat dtsaaths w_ | ¢/98/2 
Remove O Soma and Rudra the disease Visichi that has 
entered into our house. 
Bind Nirriti far away from us. May there be for us much 
excellent food. 
a wade faecn waa at us caster Surf: | 
BEX a ateg <ztq Bla Ml at cata fawaaTM19 (Rosie 
Those who by their movements steal thee hymns composed 
by men of experience and those who owing to their evil nature 
speak evil of righteous men; ; 
ay Soma make them over to Ahi or place them in the lap 
of Nirriti—vII, 104-9. 
This is Ahi below the earth. 
