to din. Sâyana explains it by bending or shaking, and Benfey, too, translates it by Erschütterer. Roth gives the right meaning.

Verse 6.

Note 1. I translate sudâ´navah by bounteous, or good givers, for, if we have to choose between the two meanings of bounteous or endowed with liquid drops or dew, the former is the more appropriate in most passages. We might, of course, admit two words, one meaning, possessed of good water, the other, bounteous; the former derived from dâ´nu, neuter, water, or rain, the other from dânú, giving. It cannot be denied, for instance, that whenever the Maruts are called sudâ´navah, the meaning, possessed of good rain, would be applicable: I, 40, 1; 44, 14; 64, 6; 85, 10; II, 34, 8; III, 26, 5; V, 52, 5; 53, 6; 57, 5; VIII, 20, 18; X, 78, 5; I, 15, 2; 23, 9; 39, 10. Yet, even in these passages, while sudâ´navah in the sense of possessed of good rain is possible throughout, that of good giver would sometimes be preferable, for instance, I, 15, 2, as compared with I, 15, 3. Though sudâ´nu, in the sense of possessed of good water, sounds as strange as would suvrishti in the sense of possessed of good rain, or sumegha, possessed of good clouds, yet it is difficult to separate sudâ´navah and gîrádânavah, both epithets of the Maruts.

When the same word is applied to Indra, VII, 31, 2; X, 23, 6; to Vishnu, VIII, 25, 12; to the Asvins, I, 112, 11; to Mitra and Varuna, V, 62, 9; to Indra and Varuna, IV. 41, 8, the meaning of giver of good rain might still seem natural. But with Agni, VI, 2, 4; the Âdityas, V, 67, 4; VIII, 18, 12; 19, 34; 67, 16; the Vasus, I, 106, 1; X, 66, 12; the Visve, X, 65, 11, such an epithet would not be appropriate, while sudâ´navah, in the sense of bounteous givers, is applicable to all. The objection that dânu, giver, does not occur in the Veda, is of no force, for many words occur at the end of compounds only, and we shall see passages where sudâ´nu must be translated by good giver. Nor would the accent of dânú, giver, be an obstacle, considering that the author of the Unâdi-sûtras had no Vedic