In a similar sense, it would seem, as váhnih ukthaíh, the Vedic poets frequently use the words váhnih âsâ´. This âsâ´ is the instrumental singular of âs, mouth, and it is used

in other phrases also of the mouth as the instrument of praise.

VI, 32, 1. vagríne sám-tamâni vákâmsi âsâ´ sthávirâya taksham.

I have shaped with my mouth blessed words to the wielder of the thunderbolt, the strong Indra.

X, 115, 3. âsâ´ váhnim ná sokíshâ vi-rapsínam.

He who sings with his flame as the poet with his mouth. See also I, 38, 14. mimîhí slókam âsyẽ, make a song in thy mouth.

Thus we find váhnih âsâ´ in the same place in the sixth and seventh Mandalas (VI, 16, 9; VII, 16, 9), in the phrase váhnih âsâ´ vidúh-tarah, applied to Agni in the sense of the priest wise with his mouth, or taking váhnih âsâ´ as it were one word, the wise poet.

I, 129, 5. váhnih âsâ´, váhnih nah ákkha.

Indra, as a priest by his lips, as a priest coming towards us.

From the parallelism of this passage it would seem that Professor Roth concluded the meaning of âsâ´ a to be near,

or coram. In the Nighantu, II, 16, the right reading is evidently âsât, not âsâ; see Nirukta, ed. Satyavrata Sâmasrami, vol. i, p. 264. Âsâ´, however, is an old variant, as may be seen from Rig-veda-bhâshya I, 127, 8; X, 115, 3.

I, 76, 4. pragâ´-vatâ vákasâ váhnih âsâ´ â´ ka huvé ní ka satsi ihá devaíh.

With words in which my people join, I, the poet, invoke, and thou (Agni) sittest down with the gods.

VI, 11, 2. pâvakáyâ guhvẫ váhnih âsâ´.

Thou, a poet with a bright tongue, O Agni!

Grassmann thinks that vahnir âsâ can always be translated by 'vor das Angesicht bringend,' but this does not appear to be the case in his translation.

The question now arises in what sense váhni is used when applied without further definition to certain deities. Most deities in the Veda are represented as driving or driven, and many as poets or priests. When the Asvins are called váhnî, VIII, 8, 12; VII, 73, 4, it may mean riders. But when the Visve Devâs are so called, I, 3, 9, or the Ribhus, the exact meaning is more doubtful. The Maruts are certainly riders, and whatever other scholars may say to the contrary, it can be proved that they were supposed to sit astride on horseback, and to have the bridle through the horse's nostrils (V, 61, 2). But if in our verse I, 6, 5, we translate váhni as an epithet, rider, and not only as an epithet, but as a name of the Maruts, we cannot support our translation by independent evidence, but must rely partly on the authority of Sâyana, partly on the general tenor of the text before us, where the Maruts are mentioned in the preceding verse, and, if I am right, in the verse following also. On the other hand, if váhni can thus be used as a name of

the Maruts, there is at least one other passage which would gain in clearness by the admission of that meaning, viz.