Note 2. Ketú, derived from an old root ki, in Sanskrit ki, to perceive, from which also kitra, conspicuous, ken-speckled, beautiful, means originally that by which a thing is perceived or known, whether a sign, or a flag, or a herald. It is the Gothic haidu, species. It then takes the more general sense of light and splendour. In our passage, herald seems to me the most appropriate rendering, though B. and R. prefer the sense of banner. The Maruts come before Indra, they announce the arrival of Indra, they are the first of his army.

Note 3. The real difficulty of our verse lies in the two comparisons aidhâ´-iva and yudhâ´-iva. Neither of them occurs again in the Rig-veda. B. and R. explain aidhâ´ as an instrumental of aídh, flaming, or flame, and derive it from the root idh, to kindle, with the preposition â. Professor Bollensen in his excellent article Zur Herstellung des Veda (Orient and Occident, vol. iii, p. 473) says: 'The analysis of the text given in the Pada, viz. aidhâ´-iva and yudhâ´-iva, is contrary to all sense. The common predicate is tavishâ´ni kartana, exercise your power, you roarers, i. e. blow as if you meant to kindle the fire on the altar, show your power as if you went to battle. We ought therefore to read aidhé va and yudhé | va. Both are infinitives, aidh is nothing but the root idh + â, to kindle, to light.' Now this is certainly a very ingenious explanation, but it rests on a supposition which I cannot consider as proved, viz. that in the Veda, as in Pâli, the comparative particle iva may be changed, as shown in the preface to the first edition, to va. It must be admitted that the two short syllables of iva are occasionally counted in the Veda as one, but yudhé-iva, though it might become yudhá iva, would never in the Veda become yudhéva.

As yudhâ´ occurs frequently in the Veda, we may begin by admitting that the parallel form aidh must be explained in analogy to yudhâ´. Now yúdh is a verbal noun and means fighting. We have the accusative yúdham, I, 53, 7; the genitive yudháh, VIII, 27, 17; the dative yudhé, I, 61, 13; the locative yudhí, I, 8, 3; the instrumental yudhâ´, I, 53, 7, &c.; loc. plur. yut-sú, I, 91, 21. As long as yúdh

retains the general predicative meaning of fighting, some of these cases may be called infinitives. But yúdh soon assumes not only the meaning of battle, battle-ground, but also of instrument of fighting, weapon. In another passage, X, 103, 2, yúdhah may be taken as a vocative plural, meaning fighters. Passages in which yúdh means clearly weapon, are, for instance,

V, 52, 6. â´ rukmaíh â´ yudhâ´ nárah rishvâ´h rishtî´h asrikshata.

With their bright chains, with their weapon, the tall men have stretched forth the spears.

X, 55, 8. pîtvî´ sómasya diváh â´ vridhânáh sû´rah níh yudhâ´ adhamat dásyûn.

The hero, growing, after drinking the Soma, blew away from the sky the enemies with his weapon. See also X, 103, 4.