SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS

VOLUME
94.

NUMBER

THE DARKER SIDE OF

DAWN

BY

ANANDA

K.

COOMARASWAMY
and

for Research in Indian. Persian

Muhammadan Art

Museum

of Fine Arts, Boston

(Publication 3304)

CITY OF WASHINGTON PUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION APRIL 17, 1935

C6e Botb

(^afftmore (press
0. 8. A.

BALTIMORE, MD.,

THE DARKER SIDE OF DAWN

By

an an da

K.

COOMARASWAMY

INTRODUCTION
Students of theology and mythology are well aware that the concept
of deity presents
itself to

us under a clouble aspect

on the one hand

In the

as gracious, on the other as awful.

He

evokes both love and fear.

He

is

both a light and a darkness, a revelation and a mystery.

and darkness are round about him. The Light is Life, the Darkness Death. The one corresponds to our concept of Good, the other to our concept of Evil, within the recognized definitions of good as " that which all creatures desire ", and of evil as " that which all creatures would avoid." A majority of religions in their exoteric formulation treat these contrasted aspects in outward operation as distinct and opposed forces, divine and satanic, celestial and chthonic. Satan is commonly thought of as a Serpent or Dragon and is often so represented, upon the stage or in art. Yet the Solar hero and the Dragon, at war on the open stage, are blood brothers in the green room. From the Christian point of view, the fallen Angels are " fallen in grace, but not in nature " and from the Islamic, Iblis in other words Satan becomes again is restored at the end of time Lucifer. The same deity, Zeus for example in Greek mythology, may be worshipped and represented both in anthropomorphic and in snake forms. Serpent worship and its iconography, despite their outwardly " primitive " appearance, have profound metaphysical foundations.
latter

and awful

aspect, clouds

Metaphysical religion envisages a " Supreme Identity " (in the

Rg

which the outwardly opposing forces are one impartible principle the lion and the lamb lying down together. The contrasted powers are separated only by the very nature
in
;

Veda

tad ckaiii, "

That One ")

of reason, which sees things apart as subject and object, affirmation and negation, act and potentiality. Heaven and Earth. Contemplative practice alike in East and West seeks to approach divinity in both aspects, avoiding a one-sided vision of the Unity willing to know Him both as being and non-being, life and death, God and Godhead.
;

The contcmplatio
of deity
;

in caligine, for
to the

example,

is

directed to the dark side

and corresponds

Indian cult of Siva-Rudra. for the

94,

Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol.

No.

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS

VOL. 94

Up.,\,

2).

Evidence can be assembled from the Rg Veda and other sources to show that the deity in the darkness, unmanifested, in his ground, not
proceeding, or as
in
it is

technically expressed, ab intra,

is
;

conceived of

forms that are not human-angelic, but theriomorphic and typically in that of a brooding serpent or fiery dragon, inhabiting a cave or lying on a mountain, where he guards a treasure against all comers, and above all restrains the Rivers of Life from flowing. The creative
act involves a

maiming, division, or transformation of the girdling serpent, often thought of as " footless and headless ", that is with
tail in its

its

mouth.

The

contraction and identification of this priis

mordial and impartite Unity

life-desirous

envisaged on the one hand as a volun-

tary sacrifice, or on the other as affected

by

violence, exercised

by the

Powers of Light. The the Serpent by the Powers of Light

celebration of the conquest of

is

a basic theme of the Vedic

hymns an
;

Devas and Asuras ("Angels " and " Titans ") for the possession of the worlds of light. It is the battle between St. George and the Dragon. At the same time there can be no question that the Powers of Light and Powers of Darkness are the same and only Power. Devas and Asuras are alike
aspect of the Great Battle between the
Prajapati's or Tvastr's children
;

the Serpents are the Suns.

It

is

entirely a question of " orientation ".

At

the end of an

Aeon

the

Powers of Darkness are in turn victorious. The Powers of Darkness are also at home as Water-snakes ( Indian naga) or Merfolk in the Sea that represents the maternal possibility of being. The first assumption in Godhead, Death, is being. Life and Death, God and Godhead, Mitra and Varuna, apam and para Brahman, are related from this point of view as a progenitive pair (Indian
mithiina)

The determinative, paternal principle accomplishes in conjunction with the passive maternal principle " the act of fecundation
.

latent in eternity " (Eckhart).

The generation

of the

operation from a conjoint principle

begets
a.2,
is

....

that

Son " is a vital by which the Father

the divine nature " (St.

q.41, a.5).

and

The Father

Thomas, Siimma Theologica, I, q.27, is Intellect, the Mother Word, the

I,

Child Life {Brhaddranyaka Upanisad,

5,

7).

Just as the Father

"

works through the Son, so the human ceived in his intellect" (St. Thomas,

artist

works

by a word conIn this

loc. cit., I, q.45, a.6).

way every

ontological formulation affirms the duality of the

It will

Unity

as well as the unity of the Duality.

be evident that whatever

holds for the masculine will hold also for the feminine aspect of the
L'nity
;

in the following essay

it is

primarily the \'edic concept of the

is

ab intra form of the feminine principle that

discussed.

NO.

THE DARKER

SIDE OF

DAWN-

COOMARASWAMY

For many readers the

the

of interest and value, not so

ontological principles outlined above will be much by first intention as " traces " of

Way,

but rather and only as providing a logical explanation for

of

forms of the creation myth that is a common property " Regarded, however, even from this purely " scientific point of view, the student of mythology, folklore, and fairy tale will find in these principles a valuable means of recognizing and correlating the varying forms that the world myth assumes. The story is not only of a time before history began, but was already told in a time before history was recorded. We may be sure that the pseudo-historical aspects that the story has assumed, for example in the Volsunga Saga, in Beowulf, or the Mahiibharata, are later developments and
certain typical
all

cultures.

partial rationalizations.

Fragments of the story

;

will be recognized in

the dogmatic life of every Messiah

in the miracles, for

example, at-

tributed to Cuchullain, Buddha, Moses, and Christ.

Other fragments

survive in fairy tales and even in nursery rhymes

in the story, for ex-

ample of the human hero who crosses water or climbs a tree and thus returns to the magical otherworld, where he rescues or carries off the imprisoned daughter of a giant or magician and in the stories of mermaids or Undines, who fall in love with a mortal, acquire a
;

soul,

and

feet in place of their scaly tails.

trusts that the foregoing remarks will serve to introduce, however inadequately, the theme of the Darker Side of Dawn, the real sense of which may not be immediately apparent to the general reader. For the professed student of the Rg Veda the actual evidences of the texts are assembled in the accustomed and more technical manner the thesis, although it might have been expanded at much greater

The author

length,

may

be taken to be complete in

itself.

THE DARKER SIDE OF DAWN

In an article due to appear in the Journal of the American Oriental
Society, but of which the pubUcation has been delayed for lack of
space, I have discussed the relation of the masculine Angels (devuh) on the one hand with the Titans (asumh) and Serpents (sarpuh) on the other, showing that the former are to be regarded as sacrificial

conversions or transformations of the

to

latter.

By way

of introduction

what follows, and for the sake of the

parallel wordings, the gen-

eral nature of the evidence for the transformation of the Serpents

in this sense

may

be indicated.

The evidence

is

primarily

Rg

Vedic,
15,

but

is

conveniently resumed in Pancaviiiisa BrdJimana,

XXV,

where the Serpents, by means of

a sacrificial session, are enabled to

4
cast

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS

their inveterated
'

VOL. 94

skins

{hitvd j'lrnan

tacain)

and

to

glide

forward (ati-srp), changing their forms, and thus " the Serpents are the Adityas " (sarpya va aditydh) of. Satapatha Brahmana, VII, 3, " crept up 2, 14, where Agni is found upon the lotus leaf, having out of the Waters" (adbhya upddsrptani). The evidence for the identification of Agni ab extra W\\h. Ahi Budhnya ah intra need not be presented in detail, but it may be noted that in IV, i, 11,^ Agni,
;

" footless

and headless, hiding both

that in the

his

ends " {apad asirso guhamano

its

anta)
in its

is

clearly thought of as a coiled snake, perhaps with

;

tail

same way the Sun is originally " footless ", but is given feet by Varuna that he may proceed (apadc padd prati dhdtave, I, 24, 8) in other passages. Indra, Agni, Soma, and Varuna

mouth and

are similarly described as " footed " (padav'ih, m.)

as footprint, vestigium pedi^ in
I,

cf.

padavl (f.)

and similarly pada, passim. Apdd, on the other hand, is a natural kenning for " snake " in III, 30, 8, the demons Kunaru and Vrtra are handless and footless {ahastam, apadam), and Vrtra similarly in I, 2,2, 7. The
72. 2 71, 3,
;

and X,

Satapatha Brahmana,
of Soma,
is

I,

6, 3, 9, in

connection with the transformation

;

explicit " In that

he was

footless,

rolling, he became Vrtra in that he became Ahi " (yad apdt samahhavat tasmad ahis).

he was

In the following shorter discussion, complete in

nine principles.

itself,

there

is

as-

sembled a part of the corresponding evidence on the side of the femi-

We
mind,

now proceed

to consider the case of

are so familiar to every student of the

that Night

Dawn {iisas), whose lauds Rg Veda. It is well known

of like
"

and Day or Dawn {naktosasd du. f.) are sisters, who move successively upon a common path, Night
(I,

when
to

she hath conceived for Savitr's quickening yielding the

womb
Devi

Dawn"
(I,

113, 1-3).
it

" Sister to

mightier sister yields the

is

womb"
re-

124, 8;

is

the younger sister that

cf.

victorious, the

placing the Asurl,

MahdbMrata XII,

" 35, 25,

The Asuras

are

the elder brothers, the Devas indeed the younger"). "Successively they nurse the Yearling Calf " (T, 95, i), i. e. Agni, who has thus two

mothers {ubhe sa mat r or abhavat putra,

sim)
"
;

III, 2, 2,

and dinindtd, pas-

variant
is

One mother holds the Calf, the other rests (kseti) Ye, pair, have made yourselves twin beauties (vapiimsi), one that

2).

black (krsnajii) and one that shines " (III, 55, 4 and 11, cf. V, 2, In the same way the Bambino, whether Sun or Fire, has two

4),
*

aspects corresponding to those of the sister Dawns (usasd virupe, V, i, " with one of whom is he glaucous (Jiari). with the other bright

For Notes, see

p. 12

f.

NO.

THE DARKER

SIDE OF

DAWN
;

COOM ARASWAM

and shining (sHvarca)", I, 95, i as Pusan he is of two difDay and Night, one bright, one dark (\ I, 58, i) Hke the Dawns, he " goes back and forth ", I, 164, 38, " now becometh sterile (stanli), now begets (silte, tantamount to smnfa bJiovati, 'becomes Savitr'), he shapes his aspect as he will", VII, loi, 3; cf.
(siikra)

ferent aspects, like

Atharva Veda, VI, 72, i, "As the black snake displays himself, assuming such forms (vapfuUsi) as he will, by titan magic " " Immortal,
;

uterine-brother (sayonih)
versely,

of the mortal, they

move

eternally con-

men mark the one and fail to mark the other ". I, 164. 38/ Night and Day (usasa, the " sister dawns ") have carried him, Agni is born " full strong and white, in the beginning of days " (V. i, 4) " the use of usasa (du. f .) here to mean Night and Day is paralleled by " days of diverse hue " (visiirilpe ahanl, I, 123, 7 and VI, 58, i),

When
;

VI.

and " black day and white day " (alms ca krsnam ahar arjiinam ca, 9, i). These sister Dawns are not only thought of as mothers of the Sun or Agni, but are brides of the Sun, as in I, 123, 10 where Dawn is desired by the Sun to be his maiden {yosa), IV, 5, 13 where the Dawns (pi.) are called the consorts {patmh) of the immortal Sun,
VII, 75, 5 where the generous Dawn (maghoul ttsa) is called the maiden of the Sun (sftryasya yosd) in VII, 69, 4, she is again the Sun-maiden {silryasya yosa), and in AV., VIII, 9, 12, the sister
;

.... silrya-patu'i). The Bhaga and kinswoman {jami) of Varuna In VII, 69, 4, (I, 123, 5); and is "Heaven's daughter", passim. she is the daughter of the Sun (yosd .... silro duhitd), involving the incest motif more familiar in connection with Prajapati, cf. also
Dawns
are called the Sun's consorts (M^a.y.a
also a sister of

Dawn

is

V, 55, 6, where Piisan is called the second husband of his mother and the seducer of his sister (nmtur didisuni .... svastir jdrah)
;

"incest" being inevitable because of the kinship (jdmifva) of all the manifested principles, ab infra. Piisan is Surya's lover in VI, 58, 3. The identity of Dawn (usas) with Siirya is thus evident, as is also that of the sister Dawns (usasa) with Saranyu and her savarm.''
In Vdjasaneyi Samhitd, III, 10, Night (rdtrl), and

Dawn

(usas) or

Day (ahas)
Sun.

are Indra's consorts (indravati), Indra representing the

That Usas may thus denote as well the Night as

renders intelligible certain neglected passages of

Dawn
in
is,

or

Day

RV.

which the
essentially,

Dawn

is

referred to as a sinister power

sinister, that

and not merely accidentally in that the passing days shorten the span of life (I, 92, 11) whence Usas is called jarayantl (VII, 75, 4) from In IV, 30, 8-1 1, Indra is praised as having jr. "to inveterate".*
" struck

down Heaven's

daughter, that ill-designing

woman

" (striyam

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS

VOL. 94

yad dtirhanayuvani .... diihitaram divah) ,^ who is described as " flowing away " (sarat) from her ruined chariot viz. that chariot that she, " the Daughter of Heaven, and Mistress of the Universe, yokes afar {pardkat, i. e. ah intra) and straightway visits the Five Homes, to look upon the restless ways of the Kindreds " (VH, 75, 4); Similarly, in X, 138, 5, Usas is afraid of Indra's bolt, and goes her way {akramat), abandoning her lovely chariot, cf. H, 15, 6. Agni " ravisher " or " spoiler " of Dawn {iiso na is commonly called
;

jarah)
jar a,

this

has usually been rendered as " lover of

Dawn

",

but

from jr " to inveterate ", even when it means " lover ", has always a somewhat sinister significance, and in the passages referred to, Yaska's and Sayana's equations of jdra with jarayitr are certainly
correct, in this sense, that with the rising of the Sun, the

Dawns

are always thought of as retiring and departing, to join the former

In VH, 6, 5, Agni, "driving olt the e. g. in I, 113, 10. Nights (nirudhya nahitsah), makes the Dawns to be consorts of the Arya " {aryapatmr usasas cakdra; Sayana equates arya with si'irya).'"'

Dawns,

In

I,

123,

I,

"rises from the dark night as herself an arya), where

it

Daksina, synonymous with Usas in the same hymn, Arya" {krsudd ttd asthdt
is,

of course, to be understood that she had been

is Indra's mother by Yajna and that Daksina is Vac, whose

anaryd;
in

it

may
is

be noted that Daksina

i,

Taittmya Samhitd, VI,

notorious.

3, 6,

asura origin

Dawn

precedes the actual day, and must not delay,

lest

the

Sun

scorch her like a thief or

thirty parts of the

enemy (V,

79, 9).

It

is

not until the

whole twenty-four hours have elapsed that she becomes again an auspicious power, meanwhile as in VI, 59, 6, b, " moving headless, with babbling tongue, she descends thirty grades " {hitvl siro jilivyd vavadac carat trUhsat padd ny akraiiut; hitvl siro

combined with

ih., a,

apdd, cited below, giving us the analogy to Agni,

in IV,
to
i,

apad aslrso guhamdno antd where the sisters are said

yojandni), alternately"
for the " ancient

ii)

and

similarly in

I,

123, 8,

"traverse thirty leagues

{trinisataiii

due course, paritakmydydui, born again and again (punah punar jdyamana purdni) decking herself with the selfsame hue " (saindnaui varnam^^ abhi smiibJiamdnd, I, 92, 10). Meanwhile the Sun, throughto reappear in

Dawn

is

out the thirty stations of her decline, rules supreme {triiiisad

vi
raijati,

dhdma

X,
is

189, 3).

What

then the status of the

Dawn ab

intra, in the

Night, as Night,
,

and especially at the end of the Night's course (parifakniydydui) as in V, 30, 14, where " Night at the end of her course shines-forth-asDawn (auccJwf) at the coming of the Debt-collector " king of the Glit-

NO.

THE DARKER
",

SIDE OF

DAWN

COOMARASWAM

"J

tering-folk

and

in

the Daughter of the

sion of

VII, 69, 4, where " at the end of her wandering, Sun chooses his glory (sriyam) "? The proces-

is in fact described in terms exactly parallel to those 8 cited above with respect to the procession of the Sun in I, 152, 3, "The footless-maid proceeds as first of footed things" (apad eti prathanui padvatlnam), and this is nearly identical with " VT, 59, 6 " This footless-maid came earliest forth to footed things (apad lyaui piirva a agat padvat'ibhyah apad in both passages repre-

Usas

of

I,

24,

senting apad'i). That

" serpent
",

plied

who had been a now assumes an angelic-human form. The same is imwhen it is said that " Our Lady puts off her dark robe " (apa
is

as

much

as to say that she,

krsnan nirnijam devl avarityavah,

it is

I, 113, 14, cf. VIII, 41, 10. where makes the black robes white ", svetan adhi nirnijas for this is the same as putting off desuetude and cakrc krsnan) impotence (I, 140, 8 jaram pra niuncan, Pancavimsa Brdhiimnan, XXV, 17, 3 jaram apahat, etc.), it is really the snake-skin, the old skin, jtrndn tacam as in Pancavimsa Brahmana, XXV, 15,

Varuna

that "
;

that

is

taken

off.

It

is

similarly that Urvasi

and her

sisters,

in

X,

" evade Puriiruvas like snakes " (tarasantl na hhujyiih), 95, 8-9, but when they yield " display themselves as swans " (dtayo na tanvah

snmbhata), or "with swan-skins", for tanu

"'

is

often tantamount to

skin

".
I,

In

185.

where Day and Night (ahanl) are

it

if

not absolutely

identified with, at least very closely assimilated to

Heaven and Earth

(dyavaprfhivl. or rodas'i),

is

said, in the

second verse, that

"The

twain (unspecified),'' though not proceeding (acarantl) and footless {apad'i), yet support a mighty Germ {garhha = Agn\) that proceeds

and hath
22, 14, "

feet "

(carantam padvantam)

This

is

closely related to

X,

Thou
i.

smotest Susna to the right for sake of Universal-Life

for Agni), that Earth (ksah) that
apad'i, cf. Ill, 30, 8, cited

{visvdyavc,

e.

had neither hands

nor feet {ahastd yad

(vardliata),

above) might
feet

wax
".

"

and

III,

55,

14 where

"As having

(padyd)
beauties

she

standeth up erect {urddhvd tasfhau), adorned with

many

We
when

can

now compare

all

of the foregoing matter with a part of the

account of the marriage of Surya in X, 85, 28-30. Here, immediately before her actual wedding, Surya is called Krtya," and it is only
this krtya nature that is like a clinging garment (asakti) is put off that she comes to her husband " Krtya that clingeth close is taken off (vyajydte) .... this Krtya hath come to be with feet and
:

consorts with her husband as a bride" (krtya esd padvati hhutvd

jdyCi visatc patim).^'

aspect of the

The text goes on to Sun himself when united with

describe the inauspicious

this

same Krtya. ab

intra:

5
" Inglorious

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS

VOL. 94

(aJrim) becomes his form when it ghtters in (rusatl) (papaya amuyd, as in X, 135, 2 with reference to the evil way of Yama), what time the husband wraps his body in the garment
this evil

of his wife

",

which

is,

of course, the " robe of Night " of

I,

115, 4.

Analogous to
yiivate patim)

this is the allusion in I, 105, 2,

Trita's " complaint that

;

"the wife holds

fast

where it is a part of her husband" (a jaya

it

is

in fact only "

when

the parents that cohabit in

the dark are separated that they pass over the

Babe " (krsnaprutati vemje asya saksitau ublid tarete ahhi matara sisian, I, 140, 3) " In the Angel's mansion were the First, from their diremption rose the others" (krntatrad esdin upara itdayan, X, 27, 23) it is when the sacrificer makes his Soma offering that mighty Father Heaven breaks from the embrace, I, 71, 6; and this separation of Heaven and Earth,
:

effected
(e. g.,

by the

sacrifice, is the essential act of creation, R\'\

is

passim

VII, 80, i) for thereby there

made

that

*'

space

",

antariksa,

which the desirous principles are destined to find a home and line, as in a promised land. If the husband is inglorious when he wears the woman's robe, that is in fact a snake-skin, she herself becomes glorious when she puts off the dark robe (I, 113, 4 cited above), and shines forth radiant in
in

prolong their

robes of light (sukravasah, I, 113, 7), when as in I. 92, 11 wakes, uncovers Heaven's ends " and drives her sister far away

"She ....

shines out in the bright-eye of her seducer " (jdrasya caksasa vl bhati,

X, 189, 2, antas carati vocandsya) That is indeed her marriage she becomes a woman clothed with the Sun. when as in VII, 81, 2, " The rising Sun, refulgent Star, pours out his beams in company with hers; and then, O Dawn, may we partake together of thy
ct.
,

when

and her death, for expires " (asya pranad apdnatl, X, 189,
shining and the Sun's
"
;

when he
2, called

suspires then she

the

hymn

of the

Serpent Queen

",

Sarpavajni).

story of Apala,

Another version of the Dawn's procession can be recognized in the whose name means " unprotected ", i. e., husbandless

and free woman. In VIII, 91, where Indra represents the Sun and is described in terms appropriate to the Sun, the maiden (kanya), who is at enmity with her (former) husband (patidvisah) ^* reflects, " What if we go and wed with Indra? " " She gives him Soma, that is, virtually performs a sacrifice to him, and asks him to raise up hair upon her father's (bald) head, his field, and upon her own body, " here below the waist ", that is, to restore the fertility of the universe ^ the reference to her own body indicating her extreme youth. Indra draws her through the three apertures (kha) "' of his (solar) chariot, and so cleansing (putvi) her makes for her a " sunny skin " (snrya-

XO.

THE DARKER

SIDE OF

DAWN

COOMARASWAM

tvacani).

According to the quite

intelligible

legend cited by Sayana,

Apfda, daughter of Atri, had in fact suffered from a skin-disease, and

the three skins that Indra
Jaiiiiin'iya

removed from her became

reptiles.

In the

BraJiuiana version (I, 220)

we

are told that Apala desired

;

to be rid of her " evil colour " (papaiii

varnam)

with the two

first

cleansings she becomes successively a lizard (godhd) and a chameleon

(krkalasa), with the third cleansing she becomes saiiisvistikd (evidently " whitened " the Safapatha Brdhmana version has samsUstikd,
;

apparently "fit to be fondled") and her form

beautiful of
all

is

called the

"most

forms
2,

".

In the nearly identical version of Pancavimsa

Brdhmmia, IX,

14, the

woman's name
",
it

is

Akupara
she

(in literal sigis

nificance identical with "Aditi

''In-finite"),

an ArigirasT
"

(thus of Agni's kin), and

like a lizard's"

is

expressly stated that her

is

skin

was

(godhS), that

Surya's cast off garment samala. " foul ", than any

In X, 85, 34, (sdiiiulyaiii, to be connected rather with

reptilian
scaly.

and

word implying " woollen ") is significantly described as " rasping, coarse, prickly, poisonous, and inedible " the
;

curious expression "inedible" {na Atliarva Veda,

I,

....

attave)

corresponding to
said to be " for

11, 4,

where the chorion or after-birth {jardyu, a

snake in
ib. I.

term applied
the

to the slough of a

27,

i )

is

eat" (sime .... attave). In any case, it is clear that the old skins are removed, and a glorious skin revealed, making Apala

dog

to

fit

to be Indra's bride,^
cf.

tvacam above
(sfoya-tvak)
sacrificers

i. e.. Surya to be the Sun's. With silryaAtharva Veda, II, 2, i. where the Gandharva Vis-

vavasu (=:Vena, the Sun,

;

ih. II,

i)

is

himself " sim-skinned "

16,
5,

in

Pancavimsa Brdhmana, XXIII,

where the

"make a skin for themselves" (tvacani eva kiirute) a " sun-skin " is to be understood like that of those who are sunskinned " in Vdjasaneyi Samhitd, X, ^r'
;

We
sires a

have long suspected that Apala becomes

in the

Buddha legend

Sujata,

who

in the

Jataka

(I,

69)

is

the daughter of a farmer, de-

husband, and brings an offering of milk to the Bodhisattva,

seated beneath the Bodhi tree, on the eve of the Great Awakening.

Sujata, in fact, becomes the consort of Indra.

occurs in Jataka No. 31. text

I.

p.

205.

The fullest account Here Sujata is the fourth

three having died are re-

of Indra's handmaidens (pddaparicdrikd)

same status, according to their virtue, but Sujata, " because she had performed no deed of virtue " (kusalakamassa akatattd, cf. " akrtyd" discussed in Note 13) is reborn as a crane. Indra seeks her, finds, and instructs her, and proves by a trial that she has experienced a change of heart. She is next reborn in a potter's family Indra seeks her out. and makes her a gift in acknowledgment of
born
in the

10
her virtue.
Vepacittiya

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS

She
is

VOL. 94

reborn a third time as the daughter of the Asura

not be overlooked that the three births correspond
of Apala)/^ and because of her virtue
;

(it will

to the three cleansings

is

very beautiful (abhirupa)

in the

her father (who corresponds to Tvastr

Surya versions) arrays her for marriage, and summons an may choose a husband for herself. Indra assumes the "Asura colour, or appearance" {asiiravanmm = asurya-varnam, and this corresponds to X, 85, 30 quoted above) and takes his place in the assembly (really a svayauivara) where Sujata chooses him to be her husband, and he makes her his chief queen. Indra in this story represents a previous incarnation of the Buddha. In the last incarnation where the Bodhisattva is no longer identified with Indra (in the sense of the Vedic dual Indragni) the requirement of the narrative makes it impossible for Sujata to become the Buddha's wife, and she remains Indra's, though we may suspect that the Bodhisattva's actual wife Yasodhara is really the alter ego
assembly of Asuras so that she
of Sujata.

Given the other

once in
duhitar
as " Sujata "
(I,

parallels,

it is

worth noting that Usas

if

is

more than
name,

RV. addressed

as " well-born ", or

we

treat this as a

123, 3, nso devl

;

....

itsah sujate)

this

VII, yy, 6. d'lvo merely confirmatory evidence was

siijate ;

....

remarked only after the identification had already been in mind for some years. Conversely, the designation of Usas as Maghoni in VII, 75, 5, is already suggestive of Maghavan. i. e. Indra. We are also inclined to identify the kanyd and sujata of our texts with the siikanyd, daughter of Saryata, who becomes the wife of Cyavana in Satapatha Brdhmana. IV, 1,5; but as this involves a discussion of the identity of Cyavilna, Atri, and others, the possibility must remain to be taken

up on another occasion.
the
"

It

may, however, be pointed out that just as

the guise of Krtya, so in Sai,

Sun

is

inglorious

when he wears
i,

tapafha Brdhmana, IV,

5,

the inveterated (jtrnah)

;

Cyavana

is

of Krtya's aspect " (krtyd-rupah) that jahe, " he was left behind ", corresponds to X, 53, 8, " leave we there the impotent " (atra jahdnia

jahdmi)

" I leave behind the Father " (pitaraiii 4, and that the name Cyavana or Cyavana, " fallen away "', cor" responds to X, 124, 4 where "Agni, X'aruna, and Soma fall away {cyavantc). Cf. too the "five-fold offering " made by Sunrta to Brahmanaspati " in RV. I, 40, 3. Atharva l^eda I, 27 ofifers unmistakably a condensed account of

....

asevah) and X, 124,

;

Indrani's procession and marriage. Verse

opens, "

On

yonder shore
to

{amuh pdre)

are thrice seven adders (prddkvah) that have cast their

All that the cast skins are

skins "(nirjardyavah).'*

good for

is

NO.

THE DARKER

SIDE OF

DAWN

COOMARASWAMY

II

blindfold the vicious beings that beset the paths, the

{paripaniJiinah)

highwaymen

who
is

are inimical to the proceeding principles. Verses

readily comprehensible, " Let the

2 and 3 are apotropaic in the same sense.

language which

Verse 4 continues in a two feet go forward, let them visibly proceed; bear (her) to the homes of Prna (vahafam prnatah grhdn) let Indrani go forth foremost, uncon-

now

quered, unrobbed, to the East

nical expression

".

implying " lead

Here vahatarh grhdn is a quite techhome the bride ". Prna is a designaBrdhmana, VIII,
7, 2,
i

tion either of the Sun, cf. Satapatha

where

the
"

" world-filling "

{lokaih-prna)

brick represents the

;

Sun,

fills

the worlds " (lokaiii pfirayqti)

or of Indra as the Sun, cf.

who RV.

IV,

19, 7,

where Indra
"
fills

of Agni

who

" fills the waste-lands ", apruak dhanvdni; or the regions " (a rajas'i aprnat, III, 2, 7, prnaksi
2,

rodasl ubhe, X, 140,

and passim).

In any case, the evidence assembled above suffices to show that the
procession of the " Serpents " on the male side,
(ati sarpante)

who

" creep further "

and become Adityas, as related in the Pahcavimsa Brdhmana, XXV, 15, ample support for which can be cited from the Rg Veda, is paralleled on the female side. Apart from their ontological interest, the general conclusion provides a sound basis for the
interpretation of

many

peculiarities of the later Indian

iconography

.""

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS

VOL. 94

NOTES
1.

The Angels

(devCih) in RV., although

from one point

of view, that

is

to

say throughout the duration of their

(ajara, a jury a, amrta, amartya),

aeviternity

(anirfattva),
to

incorruptible
at

are subject nevertheless

inveteration
;

the end, and resurrection at the beginning, of every aeon (ytiga)

for example,

Agni, the very principle of

ated,
is

life

(ay its, visvayus,

forthwith born youthful" (jujiir^'an yo

RV. passim) " Being invetermuhur a yxiva bhiit, II, 4, 5),

and with respect to the aeviternity of his manifestation is also said to be "of unaging youth" (yiivd ajarah, V, 44, 3), and called "Life-universal, deathless amongst them that die" (visvaynr yo aiiirto martesu, VI, 4, 2). Similarly in X, 124, 4 "Agni, Varuna, and Soma decline" (cyavante), in IV, 19, 2 the in\eterated deities are re-emanated {ai'asrjanta jivrayo na dcvah) and in V, 74, 5, " From him that hath declined (cyavaiiat) ye (Asvins) loosed the covering cloak, when ye made him young (yuva) again, and stirred the bride's desire".
,

2. 3.

All references unspecified are to the

Rg Veda

Satiihita.

For the significance of the vestigium pedi in Vedic. Zen. and Christian tradition see my Elements of Buddhist iconography, 1935, p. 16 and Note 146. {dve rfipe) of 4. These two forms of his are the same as the two forms Brahman, "immortal, imageless " {amrta, amftrta) and "mortal, in a likeness" {martya, mftrta) of Brhadaranyaka Up., II, 3. i, cf. Maitri Up., VI, 3, 15. and 22. The immortal form is that of Varuna, Death, the para- and nirguijaBrahman: the mortal that Martanda (=Vivasvan, Surya) whom "Aditi bore hitherward unto repeated birth and death ", RV.. X, 72, 9 Pururavas " when in altered aspect I kept with mortals", X, 95. 16; Purusa, whom the Angels sacrificed, X, 9; Agni as the sacrifice, X, 88, 9; Brhaspati as the sacrifice, Yama "who gave up his own dear body", X, 13, 4; Yama, "the sole mortal", X. ID, 3; Vasistha of the "only birth", VII, 33, 10; the "only son" (ekaiii putram) of Varuna, Mitra, and Aryaman, VIII, loi, 6; the apara- and saguna- Brahman of the Upanisads. " Mitra is the Day and Varuna the Night ",
;

Paiicavinisa Brahiiiana,
5.

The Vedic hymns

cf.
I,

to

XXV, 10, 10. Dawn are primarily

concerned with her

first

appear-

ance at the beginning of the aeon, and analogically with her constant reappearance,
123, 9,

of the first day's

name

where Dawn, coming forth day after day, " hath knowledge ". In the same way the " Days " are primarily periods of

supernal time, and only analogically

the

human

days,

cf.

I,

" 164, 51

Day

after

Day

Waters rise and fall ", and II, 30, i, " Day after Day the sparkling of the Waters moves ". Another version of the hesitation before the battle occurs in the Kulavake Jataka, No. 31, Jafaka, text I, pp. 202-203, where Indra (Sakra) corresponds to Arjuna and Matali to Krsna Indra's words "Let me not for the sake of empire (issaram^=aisvaryam) destroy life, rather would I for their sake sacrifice my own life to the Asuras ", very closely parallel those of Arjuna in the Bhagavad G'lta, I, 33-35, though the detail of the motivation is brought
;

out in a slightly different manner.

6.

The concatenation
is
is

but corresponds to that of

Great Fight

whose name

by no means fortuitous, Malmbharata, where the nothing else but the Vedic conflict of Devas and Asuras. Krsna, significant of his descent, comes over from the other side to aid
of

krsna and arjuna here

is

Krsna and Arjuna

in the

NO.
the

THE DARKER

SIDE OF

DAWN

COOM ARASWAM

I3

Aryan Pandavas,
is

just as does Vibhisana in the

is

Ramdyaua, and Usanas

Kavya, who

over to the side of the Devas. in Pancavimsa Brahmana, VII, 5, 20 Bandh. Sr. S., XVIII, 46, and Jaiminlya Brahviana, I, 125-126; cf. Visvarupa, Vrtra's brother, called "priest of the
the priest of the Asuras but

won

Devas

" in Taittirlya
It is

Samhita,

II, 5,

and Indra's guru

in

Bhagavata Purana,

VI, 7-13.

that Arjuna, in and teachers "

;

because of the intimate relationships of the Devas and Asuras Bhagairad Gita, I, 28 ff., shrinks from the slaughter of "kinsmen
cf.

Satapatha Brahmana, IV,

7-8,

i, 4, 8,

dislikes to take part in the slaying of

Soma, while

where Mitra (= " Arjuna ") in the same way Taittiriya

where Namuci reproaches Indra as the " betrayer of a and Pancavimsa Brahmana, XII, 6, where Namuci reviles him as "guilty hero-slayer of the guiltless" {znrahann adruho druha), provide a literal prototype for Bhagavad Gtta, I, 38, where Arjuna shrinks from the "sin of the betrayal of a friend" (dosam mitra-droheh). Arjuna, in fact, shrinks from taking upon himself what in RV. are Indra's typical kilbisani. It is also very significant, though the implications are ton many to be followed up here, that of the two original brothers of the lunar stock, Dhrtarastra is blind, while Pandu means the " son of a eunuch ", the former corresponding to the form of deity ab intra, the latter to his generated aspect ab extra, as son of him that had been impotent ab intra; "blindness" and "impotence" being

Brahmana,
friend"

I,

7,

i,

(mitra-dhrnk)

typical of the interior operation (giihya zrata) in

RV.

passim, as

may

be seen

by an analysis of those verses in which are found the words andha, and vadhri or stari (it may be noted in this connection also that srona, "halt", generally coupled with andha, " blind " in the texts alluded to, corresponds to apad,

Can we not indeed identify Pandu Sun) whom the Asvins gave to her "whose consort was unmanned" (I, 117, 24)? The victory of the Pandavas corresponds to RV., X, 124, 4, where Agni. Varuna, and Soma decline (cya"footless", as cited in the present article).

with

the

"

golden-handed son "

(the

z'antc)

and the "kingdom

is

reversed"

(pary

avart

rasfram).

The Epic

Pandavas to Heaven, their " disappearance ab intra, accompanied by Draupadi, whose alter nomcn " Krsna confesses her Asura origin, and who as the wife of the five Pandava brothers may be compared to Usas or Surya, successively the wife of Soma, Gandharva, (sc. Vivasvan, Pururavas, Yama), X, 85, 40, and .A.gni, and a "mortal" elsewhere also referred to as the consort of the Asvins or may be compared
naturally concludes with the final return of the
;

by the Five Kindreds (pafica ja)ia). spondences outlined above could be followed up in great detail.
with Vac, as participated
in
7.

The

corre-

For some of these equivalents see Bloomfield in Jonrn. Amer. Oriental Soc, 172, iT. It should be added that the whole concept of the two wives and two mothers survives in the nativities of Buddha, Mahavira, and Krsna. Apart from the more obvious parallels, it will be remarked that Mayadevi, the Buddha's mother who does not survive, derives by her name itself from the Asura side, while the co-wife Pajapati, called in the Buddhacarita, II, 19, her samaprabhava, tantamount to savarna, lives and that Devaki, the mother of Krsna, is the sister of the Asura Kaiiisa, in whose realm both parents are imprisoned, while the child is taken over water (the Yamuna, although in flood, becoming fordable for him, like the Sarasvati in RV. passim) to the human-angelic world where he is fostered by another mother. In the case of Mahavira, the circumstances of whose nativity are so exactly paralleled in RV., I, 113, 2 and I, 124, 8 cited above, the choice of the Ksatriya womb (and similarly in Buddhism, the

XV,

14

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS

VOL. 94

Brahman) by no means necessarily reflects a contemporary social conflict of values, but can be better understood in the light of the whole Vedic concept of the contrasted relations and functions of the spiritual (brahma) and temporal (ksatra) powers, the former being primarily Brahman, the latter those of Indragnl. Nor need we be those of Varuna confused by the fact that when the relation of Agni to Indra is considered per se, and ab extra, this is again that of the spiritual to the temporal power for just as Agni delegates the temporal power to Indra (VIII, 100, 1-2, X, 52, 5 and 124, 4, etc., cf. Satapatlia Brahmana V, 4, 4, 15) though sometimes playing an active part, so the Buddha (who for the most part corresponds to Agni, " Gautama Buddha " for example reflecting Agni usar-budh) declines the temporal power and as an actual teacher plays the Brahman part, although in the conflicts with Mara (^ Mrtyu Vrtra, etc.) and the "Ahi-naga " (sic
opposition of Ksatriya to

Mahavagga, I, 15, 7) of the Jatila shrine, he takes that part which more often by Indra than by Agni or BHiaspati in person.
in
8. " Sinister " also in a literal sense
:

is

played

for the act of creation and procession an extroversion, as appears in innumerable texts, e. g. X, 124, 4 "the kingdom was reversed" (pary avart rastram), IV, i, 2 " O Agni, turn thy brother Varuna round about" (bhrataram z'arumm agne a vavrtsva), cf. Aitareya Brahmana, IV, 5 where, the Angels and Titans being of equal heroism, "there
is

was a delay in turning back" {na vyavartanta) the latter; and this extroversion is a right hand or sunwise turn, as in III, 19, 2= IV, 6, 3, "Agni, choosing
(pradaksinit dcvatatim tiranah), or X, 22, 14. (Indra) smotest Susna to the right {pradaksinit) for Visvayu " (i. e. Agni). Cf. SatapaUia Brahmana, III, 2, i, 13 and VII, 5, i, t^j.
rightwise the angelic office"

"Thou

Remembering
Samhita,
spell
III,

that Night

and

Dawn
it

are the

two wives

of Indra {Vajasancyi

10, cited

above)

is

obvious that

RV. X,

145

directed against a co-wife

{sapatntbadhanam)

in application a

is

by

first

intention

an

imprecation launched by IndranI herself, to whom the hymn is attributed, against her rival sister Night; while X, 129, attributed to SacI PaulomI (Indrani) is her song of triumph (cf. X, 125, attributed to Vac). Atharva Veda I, 14, is

RV. X, 145. hymns illustrates very well the basic principle of magical incantation; the recital of what was done in the beginning is held to be effective in particular application here and now. In the same way, for example, RV. V, 78, the immediate reference of which is to Agni's or the Sun's nativity, is employed as a birth rune. The application is by analogy, and takes for granted the correspondence of macrocosm and microcosm.
apotropaic in the same sense as

The

application of these

9.

of

Heaven"

Night and Day (itsasanakta) are both favorably regarded in X, 70, 6, but this is as being seated together
is

"
at

Daughters
the altar

(yonau), that

analogically ab intra, for yoni as altar corresponds to

13,

"navel"

(ndbhi) "where Aditi confirms our kinship" (jamitva) X, 64, the "navel of Order" (rtasya nabhan) that "I throughly

and it is at purify" {sain

punami, X,
10.

13, 3).

The word nahusah

contrasts with usasah, both fern.

pi. ace.

Nahusa (m.),

from a root nah implying "bondage", is a designation of Agni's father in I, 31, II and V, 12, 6; in fem. pi. it may therefore appropriately designate at the same time " nights ", (as rendered also by Fay in Joiirn. Amer. Oriental Soc., XXVII, p. 411, q. V.) and the recessive "false dawns" that have been Agni's " first mothers " in his successive manifestations, but are set back yielding

5"

NO.

THE DARKER
dawns

SIDE OF

DAWN

COOMARASWAMY

place to the true

It
is

that are the Suns' brides and Agni's " second mothers

".

further noteworthy that in

some

later

texts

Nahusa

is

or becomes a

serpent. In literal significance and as an essential rather than personal name, nahusa may be compared to varuna and zfrtra, as derivates of zr. 11. The samanam varncm daily put on is of course the aryaih varnam of III, 34. 9 as distinguished from the asuryaih varnam of IX, 71, 2 (=^ papam vaniam in Jaimin'iya Brdhmana, I, 220, with reference to Apala) and being in fact the " cast(e)" of the Sun, the Dawns are described virtually as becoming
;

(Vivasvant) in every morning savarna in Bloomfield's second sense of character or class" (Journ. Amcr. Oriental Soc, XVI, p. 178). 12. Rnancaya, lit. "debt-collector": either Brhaspati-Brahmanaspati, as in
II,

" like

23,

II

and

17

{rnaya, rnacid rnaya),

toll

or

Indra himself

(rnacid

....

rnayd, IV, 23, 7), the

being exacted in either case from the fiend (druli). Monier-Williams, for rnancaya, has nothing better to offer than "name of a man", and it is in this fashion that essential names have generally been
treated

by translators of the

Vedas.

How many

needless

obscurities

and

complications have been introduced into Vedic studies by a persistent neglect of the warning "Even as He seemeth, so is He called" (V, 44, 6) it would
be hard to
tell.

Katha

Up., IV, 14 can be pertinently cited:

"He who

sees

the principles separately, pursues

13;

them separately

".

Heaven and Earth,

as being the
ib.).

as parents of Agni,

lap,

Eternal

Germ" (garbham ....

upasthe,

This nityani, incidentally, recurs

The son within his parents' nityant na sunum pitror in Katha Up., V, 13, "Eternal
"

mid the transient" (nityo' nifyanam). done", is per14. Krtya as feminine personification of krtya, "that to be spicuous in the present context; where that which should be, but is not yet
done, and merely in potentia, procedure from potentiality to
is

as such evil.

The

putting

ofif

of

krtya

is

act,

nonbeing to being, privation to abundance,

For the conception, typical also in Christian Scholastic philosophy, be compared in connection with Indra's procession " Many a thing not yet done I have to do" (bahtlni me akrta kartvani, IV, 18, 2, cf. "Wot ye in connection not that I must be about my Father's business?", Luke II, 49) with Usas, "Delay not to go about thy labour" (ma ciram taimtha apah, V,
death to
there
life.

may

79, 9)

again in connection with Indra,

I,

"Do

what thou hast to do" {karisya

indeed "does what must be done" (cakrih yat karisyan, VII, 20, i), i. e. in Christian formulation "Those things which God must will of necessity" (St. Thomas, Sum. Theol., I, q. 45, a. 2 c), who is also described
krnulii,
165, 9),

who

as being " wholly in act

III,
2,

Brhaddranyaka Up., was Action (karma)", and the doctrine regarding karma yoga in the Bhagavad G'ltd. Cf. also knsalamassa akatatta (= kusalasya akartatvat) in Jataka, text, I, 205; akarya as "sin" in Mrcchakatika, VIII, 22, 4; and akaranasamvaram as "sins of omission" in Sadha".

The

principle involved underlies

13,

"What

they praised

nainala No. 98 (Gaekwad's Oriental Series,

XXVI,
respect

p.

201).
to

The following

verse

is

apotropaic

with

the

"

consumptions

(yaksma) which may be transmitted from the bride's stock (yanti janat ami), and which the Angels are besought to return to the place of their origin. Yaksma is, of course, a disease always thought of as proceeding from Varuna Following words derived from RV., X, 17, i rein his unfriendly aspect. ferring to Tvastr's gift of his daughter Surya in marriage, the Atha>rva Veda, III, 31, 5 similarly expresses the wish "May I be separated from evil

"

l6
ipapmana)

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS

and consumption
59,

VOL. 94

(yaksmcija)

RV. VII,
(ba)idliaimt

"

Release us from the

niiikslya

and united to life (aynsa)". cf. bonds of death, not those of life
is

mrtyor

na amrtat), that

in efifect also
".

"May we

pass

over from Varuna, from Death, to Agni Vaisvanara, to Life

16. 17.
I. e.

Agni, ab

intra,

and eager (icchan,

in

etc.) to proceed.

Converse of githamano anta

IV,

I, 35, Winter and Spring, the two ends of the Year or, indeed, any pair of contrasted and limiting concepts which are united ab intra and divided ab extra. The distinction of the limits is temporal and spatial their indistinction eternal. (pati) with whom she is at variance is no doubt the 18. The husband Gandharva, the jealous protector of unwedded maidens, cf. X, 85, 21-22. " Rise up from hence, Visvavasu; this maiden hath a husband .... Seek in her father's home another willing maid ". Compare also X, 95, 2, where Urvasi (who corresponds to Usas, Surya, and Apala, as does Pururavas to Surj'a and Indra) deserting Puriiravas says "like the first of Dawns I leave thee". From the Brahmana and other versions of the legend (knowledge of which is taken for granted in X, 95) we know that Urvasi is in fact taken back into the Gandharva world (the "Assumption of the Virgin"), and that it is only when the sacrifices of the Year have been completed that Pururavas himself recovers his Gandharva status and is reunited to his immortal bride. Pururavas is " mortal ", not as man is mortal by contrast with the devas, but as the devas are mortal when contrasted with the asiiras, as Mitra is mortal by contrast with Varuna (I. 164, 38 and X, 85, 17-18) he is the "dying god", the Year,

the halting places of the Sun, or as in

The "ends" are Jaimimya Up. Brahmana,

i,

11.

either as here

the father of " Life " (ayus).

19.

Apala's uninhibited procedure corresponds to the shamelessness of

passim, where she
is

Dawn.

RV.

referred to as like a dancer, as unbaring her bosom,

(I,

or unveiling her charms

rising as
if

92,

4;

I,

124,

3-4;

VI,

64,

2), or described as

from a bath (V,

80, 5-6;

Apala's meeting with Indra also taking

place beside the river, where, as Sayana takes it, she has gone to take her morning bath). Urvasi and her sister apsarases are similarly described in X, " Youthful and shameless she 95, 9. Cf. RV., VII, 80, 2 speaking of Dawn, goeth forward, having come to know of Sun, and sacrifice, and Agni ", and also Jaimimya Up. Brahmana, I, 56, " In the beginning, the woman went about in the flood, desirously seeking a husband (strl .... sanicarantl icchantl saJilc patim, perhaps a reflection of RV. V, 37, 3, vadhur iyaiii patim icchaufi, "This woman desiring a husband", whom Indra makes his chief queen). The woman's boldness, of which the memory survives in the later rhetorical allusions
to the inconstancy of SrI-LaksmI,
is

admirably illustrated in the early Indian

representations of apsarases, best perhaps in the Alathura Museum example. J 2. 20. Cf. Atharva Veda, III, 17, 5, " Tvastr made a marriage for his daughter,

bhuvanam vi ydti), where in Amcr. Oriental Soc, XVI, p. 183, I venture to think that vi ydti is intransitive and has visvam bhuvanam as subject. It is in the same way that Urvasi " bestows upon her husband's father wealth, when her lover (iisah, m.) woos her from the nearby home" (X, 95, 4), i. e. from in the Gandharva world, from within, cf. the reference to the origin of \^ac
and
all this

universe went forth" {idam visvam

spite

of

Bloomfield, Journ.

" another's house

21.

Apala

is

", RV. X, 109, 4. drawn three times "through

the opening of
"

the

chariot,

the

opening of the wain, the opening of the team

{khc rathasya, khc anasah.

NO.

THE DARKER

SIDE OF

DAWN

COOMARASWAMY
I,

I7

khe yugasya).

In Jaimimya

Up. Brahmana,

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 Comprehensor "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

finally.
cf.

through the hole

(Aditi)

is

to die,
all

whether temporarily or

With

the description of the axle-hole as

covered over with rays", {suro ninikta rasmibhih)

In
all

X,

132, 6,

"Wash

her

with sun-rays"

probability kha rathasya, kha anasah, kha yugasya are

all

synonymous

expressions,

equivalent to kha as

"

hole in the wheel through which the

axle passes

",

see

my

"

Kha and
",

other words denoting

the metaphysics of space

1934.

in Bulletin of the

Zero in connection with School of Oriental Stxtdies, VII,

'

',

But even

if

we hold with Sayana

that three successively smaller openings

(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 rathain different parts of the chariot are intended
;

n-abhau arah pratistha, "

when

the spokes are afiixed to the hub of the chariot "

"

and inasmuch as
so

"
it

hub of the chariot

",

can only mean

",

we may
There
is

take

that " aperture of the chariot as the sense requires.

ritual

" hub of the chariot wheel ", kha rathasya, means " aperture

of the chariot wheel

an analogous
cited)
".

use of " ringstones

(see

",

which are regarded as

p.

yonis or female symbols of generation

Marshall, Mohenjo-Daro,

62,

and references there

as
it

those

who

are passed through such ringstones are,

were, "

born again

That such stones are really symbolic representations

of the solar loka-dvara through

is

which one "escapes altogether" (atimucyate) 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.
clearly seen in the case of the

Oriental
22.

SocXVlll,
all

26

i.

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

With

the

purifications

more a story of creation. 23. Not an independent

plicitly

"

Person

",

but an essential

name

of Agni,

as

ex-

recognized in
pare,
i.

I,

38. 13.

24.

Amuh

e. "

flowing river, like

for example,

on the farther shore ", awaiting transportation over the Bhujyu, samudra a rajasah para Inkhitam,

whom

the Asvins bring across in their

winged

ships,

X,

143, 5.

The

thrice

"

l8

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS

VOL. 94

seven adders or addancs are no doubt the twenty-one rivers of X, 5, 5, 64, 8, and 75, I, cf. X, 99, 4 where the young restless streams that Indra pours out

hitherward are as yet " footless and earless ", and IX, "JT, 3 where the streams are referred to as "beautiful like snakes" {ahyo tm caravo).
latter

Soma
If the

it must comparison seems strange in view of what has been remembered that the beauty of wginls becomes a cliche in later Indian a beaiite de diable must be attributed to Night, literature, and that at least with whom the Sun is in love before her transformation takes place; just as in folk-lore the human hero is in love with the mermaid before she acquires a human form and soul. Nirjarayavah is literally " freed from the chorion ", the commentators supplying " with skin sloughed from the body, chorionwise " and "as Devas, freed from the chorion". Comparison may be made with RV. X,

said so far,

be

106,

from the Atharva Veda, I, 12, i where the Sun is jarayu-ja: Satapatha Brahmana, VI, 6, i, 24, where Agni is due to be born from the chorion (jarayuno jdyamana) which is called " putrid ", like SiJrya's cast off garment in X, 85, 34, cf. AV. I, 11, 4; and especially Jaiminiya " Brahmana. II, 438, where Sarama, " splitting open the chorion of the Waters " to be invetersets them free to flow. The word jarayu itself derives from jr such expressions as RV. I, 140, 8 jardm pra muncan, and Pahcavimsa ated " Brahmana, XXV, 17, 3, jaram apahat, "put off eld", and such expressions as jarayu- ja cited above, equally imply a birth and rejuvenation. In other words, the young unwedded streams are newly born Indra's bride is one of them, or one " seven " Apsarases, in V, 42, like them, just as Urvasi in X, 95, 6 is one of the 9, " Urvasi of the streams". " Unrobbed " (amiuita) has reference to the powers " names " of those that proceed, of darkness that lie in wait to steal away the as in V, 44, 4, where Krivi namam vane pravane mMsayati. 25. For example, in VIII, 17, 5, prdaku-sdnu is an epithet of Indra; the
;

6 "Do ye (Asvins) {jarayv ajaram mardyu)

make my corrupted chorion to be X, 123, i, where the Sun is new

;

incorruptible"
risen

chorion, or in a chorion of light (jyotir-jarayu)

words appear to mean

"

serpent-shouldered "

(sanu, primarily

"

high plain

or "table-land", metaphorically the upper part of the back, as in

RV. I, 32, 9). There is an image answering to this description in the Mathura Museum (see Vogel, Ars Asiatica, XV, PI. XXXIX and p. 46). The female counterpart of this image {ib. PI. XL) has long been known as the "Serpent Queen". And Sarparajni, or "Serpent Queen" is a designation of Vac and of Earth in
Satapatha Brahmana, IV, 6, 9, 16-17. called those of Indra and Indrani.

The two images are then

rightly to be

The
because

Sarparajiii
its
I,

VII,

3,

hymn is also called the Manasa Stotra or "mental laud", verses are " recited mentally " {manasa stuyante, Taittirlya Samhita, hence the name of the well4, cf. Satapatha Brahmana, II, 2, i, 30)
;

known Bengali
Earth, and of
the earliest

snake-goddess,
the

whom

Manasa Devi, who is at once Indrani and the Mathura " Serpent Queen " may be regarded as one of

known

representations.

The Serpent Queen must also be recognized in Sasarpari " the daughter of Sun" and "Lunar Maiden" (paksya; paksa, according to Sayana, is here the Sun, the usual sense of " Moon ", as in Buddha Carita, II, 20, seems to be more acceptable, and would allude to Sasarpari's amrya origin), "who puts forth the New Life" (tmvyam ayur dadJiana), RV. Ill, 53, 15-16; where Ayus is primarily Agni (see Bloomfield in Journ. Amer. Oriental Soc, XX, p. 181),
the
I,

"the one and only Life" (ekayu^, 67,5; IV, 28,2; VI, 4, 2).

I,

31, 5),

and "Universal Life" {visvdyus,