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Viśvarūpa Tvāṣṭra, the son of Tvaṣṭar, is the name of a certain demon of whom we hear in the Rig-Veda and elsewhere. Indra, the demon-hunter par préférence, fought with him and killed him ; but his chief adversary no doubt was originally Trita ሀptya, an old Aryan water-god, whose deeds and fame have slowly been usurped by the all-overshadowing Indra. Reasons which cannot here be dwelt upon, as I have already explained them elsewhere,2 make it probable that Viśvarūpa was originally a serpent deity of the class which was later on generally styled nāgas. We shall here try to find out something more definite concerning his original surroundings and sphere of activity.
page 469 note 1 Cf. my thesis Trita Āptya, eine vedische Gottheit, i (Upsala, 1927), passim.
page 469 note 2 Cf. loc. cit., pp. 12 sq., 17 sq., 41, 75 sq.
page 469 note 3 He is called asurāṇāṃ svasrīyaḥ, TS. ii, 5, 1, 1 ; KS. xii, 10. Tvaṣṭar had thus married a female Asura.
page 470 note 1 Cf. R V. x, 49, 10, where Indra says : ahaṃ tad āsu dhārayaṃ. yad āsu na devaś cana tvaṣṭādharayad ruśat\ spārharp gavām ūdhassu vakṣaṇā ā madhor madhu śvātryaṃ somam āśiram ║. Cf. Hillebrandt, , Ved. Mythologie, i, 519.Google Scholar
page 470 note 2 Cf. RV. iv, 18, 12, where, however, according to Sieg Vyaṃsa is meant.
page 471 note 1 PW.no doubt correctly renders agriya by “ first-born ”, while Geldner translates it “ as the first one ”. Cf. also A V. xi, 6, 3 : tvaṣṭāram agriyam brūmas " we address Tvaṣṭar at the head ” (Whitney-Lanman).
page 471 note 2 In this connection I cannot enter further upon these and others of his characteristics and myths (on which ef. Hillebrandt, , Ved. Mythologie, i, 513Google Scholar sq.; Oldenberg, Rel. d. Veda,2 237 sq.; Maedonell, Vedic Mythology, 116 sq.).
page 472 note 1 Cf. RV., i, 20, 6 ; 110, 5, 6 ; 161, 1. 2. 9 ; iii, 60, 2 ; iv, 33, 5 ; 35, 2 ; 36 4 ; AV., vi, 47, 3 ; Geldner, , RV. Übersetzung, i, 129Google Scholar, who adopts the interpretation of Sāyaṇa according to which the Asura is Tvaṣṭar.
page 472 note 2 Sāyaṇa in his commentary on RV., iii, 48, 4c, also calls Tvastar an Asura.
page 472 note 3 Cf. verse 8a, where the god is Savitar.
page 472 note 4 Geldner translates ātiṣṭhantam by: “ als er (den Wagen) bestieg ”.
page 473 note 1 Sāyaṇa explains quite well: varuṇātmanāmṛtāni jalani. Geldner translates : “ Als Visvarūpa (allgestaltet) hat er unsterbliche (Kamen) angenommen,” and adds in a footnote: “ Die unsterblichen Namen sind die Kamen, d.h. Einzebvesen der Unsterblichen, die einzelnen Gotter, vgl. 1, 68, 4.”
page 473 note 2 On this being cf. RV., iii, 56, 3 ; iv, 3, 10 ; x, 5,7; 129,5; AV.,ix,i, 3; xi, 1, 34; Geldner, , RV. Übersetzung, i, 342Google Scholar, note.
page 473 note 3 Cf. iv, 56, 7, where even the sacrifice is the centre of their activity.
page 473 note 4 Cf. RV., x, 2, 7 ; 46, 9 ; and further, i, 95, 2 ; iii, 29, 11 (Agni as garbhāsura) and 14 (Agni born asurasya jaṭharāt).
page 473 note 5 Cf. vii, 101, 1 c–d. Geldner suggests that the bull is Parjanya.
page 473 note 6 I am unable here to follow Geldner, who finds in this verse “ eine Reminiseenz an die Geschichte vom Durchmarsch durch die Flūsse” (RV., iii, 33), cf. RV. Übersetzung i, 363Google Scholar, note.
page 474 note 1 Cf. purogava.
page 474 note 2 Geldner translates : “ Im entscheidenden Augenblick wurde ihr Pfadfinder erweekt.” The reference to iii, 33, 5 sq., and iii, 53, 9, affords us no considerable help.
page 474 note 3 Cf. Geldner, , RV. Übersetzung, i, 363.Google Scholar
page 474 note 4 Cf. Hillebrandt, , Ved. Mythologie, 1st ed., i, 330.Google Scholar
page 475 note 1 Cf. Weber, , Omina und Portenta, 391 sq.Google Scholar
page 475 note 2 The PW., to suit this passage and VS., xv, 65, has introduced a special meaning of pratimā, viz. “creator”. This is, no doubt, wholly unnecessary.
page 476 note 1 Cf. AV., v, 25, 5.
page 476 note 2 In verses 11–13 instead of this tvaṣṭaḥ, savitaḥ, and prajāpate.
page 476 note 3 For rūpa as signifying linga, cf. Meyer, J. J., Sexual life in Ancient India, 389, n.2.Google Scholar
page 476 note 4 Cf. TS., vi, 1, 8, 5 ; 3, 6, 2 (cf. ii, 1, 8, 3); ŚBr., xi, 4, 3, 17; xiii, 1, 8, 7; TBr., i, 4, 2, 1 ; PBr., ix, 10, 3.
page 477 note 1 Cf. p. 474.
page 477 note 2 Cf. RV., i, 142, 10; Hi, 4, 9; vii, 2, 9; VS., xxvii, 20; KS., 5, 4, 4.
page 477 note 3 The quotation from the Saṃhitā of the Taittirīya's is TS., i, 5, 9, 1.
page 478 note 1 Cf. ŚBr., i, 9, 2, 10: tvaṣṭā vai siktaṃ reto vikaroti; 4, 4, 2, 16; Kauś. Sū. 124, 133, 135.
page 478 note 2 TS. has vāmaṃ vasu.
page 478 note 3 We are reminded of the dragon Python as a possessor of cows, cf. Sir J. G. Frazer on Pausanias, x, 6, 6.
page 479 note 1 Sir Ibbetson, Denzil, Census Report for the Punjab, 1883, § 218Google Scholar; Rose, H. G., A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Panjab and North- West Frontier Province, i, 143sq.Google Scholar
page 479 note 2 Cf. Rose, loc. cit., i, 231 sq.
page 479 note 3 Cf. Rose, loc. cit., i, 233. It is scarcely possible to agree with the following words of his: “ I am inclined to agree with what seems to be the general belief of the people around us that the custom is practised for the profit only.” For, this problem cannot be solved with a simple reference to “ the trade practices in these hills”. We must not forget how deep in the soul of the people sits the belief in the power of the Nāg; and this makes it highly improbable that the tribes on the Rāvi should—even in our days—perform such rites for economic purposes only.
page 479 note 4 Oldham, , “ Native Faiths in the Himalayah ” (The Contemporary Review, 03, 1885), 407, 412.Google Scholar
