Vol. V, No. 10.] Reference to Babylon in the Rigveda. 417 
[NV.S.] 
in some cases the sense in which words were used in the Rig- 
veda, though lost in the literary Sanskrit, has been retained in 
the village dialects. Here is an example: 
_ a a quisasat 4 af aaa a wadt Tea 
y Cae ba: bd 
a faet sua We Sew UfaMe Bs WH Ui Xeri 9 
In the second line of this verse there occurs the word @<. 
The word has, it appears, lost the sense in which it is used here 
so far as the Sanskrit language is concerned, and commentators 
both of the east and of the west are at a loss what to make of 
it. The Dictionary meanings of the word are crossing astream, 
a vessel, the ferry, etc., and these make no sense. But it so 
happens that the real meaning though lost in the literary lan- 
guage has been still retained in the popular dialects. Every 
man and woman of the Eastern Bengal know that #< means land 
—ait qq (land route) is opposed to ##t ya (water-route). 
In the above rik at: is opposed to ara | The arg: here, as in many 
other places in the Rigveda, is the celestial sea. The az: is the 
land of the earth. The line therefore may be translated thus: 
He the learned Brihaspati placed between the earth and 
the celestial sea, like a vulture, sees them both. i. 190. a. 
gefeee in our rik makes good sense if g@ or get be taken 
in its ordinary meaning of a file ora cutting instrument with 
teeth. 
The meaning of rik iv. 19. 9 is therefore as follows : 
Yama, the son of the river maiden Saranyu (or of the un- 
married woman), was beheaded by the Babylonians under Ahi. 
But, through the kindness of /ndra, after his death his limbs got 
reunited, and he became a god (the sun according to ¢’.D.). 
From other statements of the Rigveda we know that Yama 
offered his dear body as an oblation, discovered the path to 
the other world, and with the Pitris founded a Kingdom in the 
dise of the sun. Cf. my papers on “‘ Yama *” and dai : 
That my interpretation of rik iv. 19. 9is correct, ) on 
from rik iv. 30. 16 the only other place in the Ri veda ina 
the expression yaaya: occurs. It should be noticed that this 
rik is also the composition of Risi Vamadeva. 
Sa ae UAADs: YeTTA WANT: | 
wayfay TUT 1 a | 8° 1 te 
And to him—to Agri’s son whose hea 
0 Catakratu, 
You gave a share in the hymns, 0 Indra. 
Giving a share in the hymns is a peculiar wa 
that, you made him a god. 
d had been cut off, 
iv. 30. 16. — 
y of saying 
