MYTHOLOGICAL NAMES, 
29 
naai(f)drj and Mti/w? explain the most important features 
of the myths connected with those names. 
I shall introduce now three equally important names of 
Aryan mythology, the etymologies of which have not yet 
been settled. These are Indra, Roma, and Kevravpo^. Indra 
has the following attributes and functions. He is the lord of 
the sky and the celestial world (f^^^qfH-Divaspati). As lord 
of the sky he is mounted on clouds (I)4r^r^^-Meghavahana), 
and accompanied by storms (ir^f^tT -Marutvat). He is 
the enemy of heat (Ml^h^ir^T^T-Pakasdsana) and destroyer of 
mountains (111^11?- Grotrabhid). He holds an adamantine 
weapon called g^-Vajra and is the foe of ^^H-Namuci, 
who is a personification of darkness. ^ All these and other 
attributes of Indra are unintelligible to us and may appear 
arbitrary, unless we understand the original meaning of 
the word Indra. According to the Eev. Sir George Cox, 
the word means " moisture." But this, though not very far 
from the right meaning which I am going to mention, does 
not atford a proper clue as to the above attributes and 
functions of Indra. Compare the following words : — 
Sans. ^T^^cii-salila, ^ritT-sarira, ' water,' Gr. aX?, OdXaaa-a 
and daXaTTa 'sea,' Sans. ^TTj^-sagara, ' sea,' ^fr-saras, and 
;c|x^ft.sarasi, ' lake,' ^ni^-sarasvati, originally the ' river 
goddess,' ^f^cT-sarasvat, 'the ocean' (radically having 
water), rTTf-taranga, ' a wave,' c^fTT-lahari, ' a wave,' %f^^- 
sisira, * cold,' Lat. sal 'salt,' Sans. 5Tc5-j*^*> ' water,' ST^-jada, 
' cold,' Lat. gelu ' frost,' perhaps Gr. 7rayeT6<i ' frost,' Sans, 
j^r^-prsat, Sans. ^fr^T-sikara ' drop of water,' ^^i^-kasara, 
and cTZT^-tataka, Lat. lacus, and Gr. \dKKo<; ' a tank or lake,' 
flf'^cTT-sikata, 'sands,' Gr. Xaraf 'drop of wine,' originally' 
any fluid, Lat. latex ' a liquid fluid;' Gr. uypo^ ' moisture,' 
Fide Notes on Aryan and Dravidian Philology, vol, I, p. 139. 
