DDK HistoryF.p65 - CSIR

4.3] MYTH AND HISTORY 91
The second portions of the names agree, but Tritacan only be the
Iranian Thrita of the Sama family (cf. 9.7-11) , who killed no demons.
In the Rgveda, the nearest we get to Thraetona is Traitana, who was
himself a Dasa (enemy) and tried to behead the brahmin Dlrghatamas
(‘long darkness’) ; the weapon recoiled upon the user to split his own
breast and shoulders. It would appear that the myth is here told to
some extent from the other side, without being turned around
completely. This is only one of the many features of the Rgveda which
lead us to believe that there was assimilation both of extra-Indian
and of Indie pre-Aryan material, hence of people as well. A full
discussion of this one legend, which has to be reported here with
extreme compression, would require a complete volume by itself.
Indra, Varuna, the NSsatyas (Indian Dioscuri), and other Indb-
Aryan gods occur in the Boghaz-Koi 5 texts ; the Mitan-nians of the
upper Euphrates worshipped them about 1400 B. c. Aryan tribes of (or
similar to) the Medians were settled about lake Urmieh not later than
that period, though quite without the superiority they later acquired
by fighting. The chariot of the specially benign Nasatyas is drawn by
asses, which has a foreign pre-Aryan flavour. The Hittite king Azzawandas
does not seem to bear a vedic name, but the people Daniuna could be
the Sanskrit Danava.
4.3. Fascinating though the study and disentanglement of myth
may be, it takes us too far away from our historical objective. The
main reason why we must engage in it is that remote events in the
Rgveda — in any Sanskrit work — tend to be swallowed up by myth
and legend. Was Indra actually a human Aryan chief when his feats are
described on the battlefield, or did he participate only from on high ?
Certainly, the older enemies always seem to be represented as demons.
The Seven Mothers ‘of truth (rta) ‘ are Rgvedic, mentioned repeatedly
with the curious adjective yahvi (?’ never-resting ‘), seem almost
certainly to denote the seven rivers ; water was so important that the
fine Rgvedic concept of rta (truth, justice, what is right) appears
connected with it : Indra in RV. 5.12.2 is asked to set free ‘ the streams
of rta ‘. The word vanik occurs just once as ‘ merchant ‘. This was seen
to be derived from Pani, which is the name of a folk hostile to Indra