Note 1. AV. XX, 13, 2. With your arms, i. e. according to Sâyana, with armfuls of gifts. Though this expression does not occur again so baldly, we read I, 166, 10, of the Maruts, that there are many gifts in their strong arms, bhûrîni bhadrâ´ náryeshu bâhúshu; nor does bâhú, as used in the plural, as far as I am able to judge, ever convey any meaning but that of arms. The idea that the Maruts are carried along by their arms as by wings, does not rest on Vedic authority, otherwise we might join raghupátvânah with bâhúbhih, come forth swiftly flying on your arms! As it is, and with the accent on the antepenultimate, we must refer raghupátvânah to sáptayah, horses.

Note 2. The sweet food is Soma.

Verse 7.

Note 1. The initial 'a' of avardhanta must be elided, or 'té a' be pronounced as two short syllables equal to one long.

Note 2. Taitt. S. IV, I, 11, 3. Vishnu, whose character in the hymns of the Veda is very different from that assumed by him in later periods of Hindu religion, must here be taken as the friend and companion of Indra. Like the Maruts, he assisted Indra in his battle against Vritra and the conquest of the clouds. When Indra was forsaken by all the gods, Vishnu came to his help.

IV, 18, 11. utá mâtâ´ mahishám ánu avenat amî´ (iti) tvâ gahati putra devâ´h,

átha abravît vritrám índrah hanishyán sákhe vishno (íti) vi-tarám ví kramasva.

The mother also called after the bull, these gods forsake thee, O son; then, when going to kill Vritra, Indra said, Friend, Vishnu, step forward!

This stepping of Vishnu is emblematic of the rising, the culminating, and setting of the sun; and in VIII, 12, 27,

[paragraph continues] Vishnu is said to perform it through the power of Indra. In VI, 20, 2, Indra is said to have killed Vritra, assisted by Vishnu (víshnunâ sakânáh). Vishnu is therefore invoked together with Indra, VI, 69, 8; VII, 99; with the Maruts, V, 87; VII, 36, 9. In VII, 93, 8, Indra, Vishnu, and the Maruts are called upon together. Nay, mâ´ruta, belonging ta the Maruts, becomes actually an epithet of Vishnu, V, 46, 2. mâ´ruta utá vishno (iti); and in I, 156, 4. mâ´rutasya vedhásah has been pointed out by Roth as an appellation of Vishnu. The mention of Vishnu in our hymn is therefore by no means exceptional, but the whole purport of this verse is nevertheless very doubtful, chiefly owing to the fact that several of the words occurring in it lend themselves to different interpretations.