Giri may be the cloud, and nothing could be more appropriate than that the Maruts should come down upon the cloud or go over it, in order to make it give up the rain. But asvadâ means 'giving horses,' and though rain-clouds may be compared to horses, it does not follow that asva by itself could mean rain. Asvadâ is used of the dawn, I, 113, 18, possibly as giving horses, that is, wealth, but possibly also, as bringing the horses to the morning sun. These horses start with the dawn or the sun in the morning, and they rest in the evening. The legend that Agni hid himself in an Asvattha tree (Sâyana, RV. I, 65, 1) may owe its origin to asvattha, i. e. horse-stable, having been a name of the West (K. Z. I, 467); cf. tishthadgu, at sunset. In X, 8, 3, the Dawns are called ásvabudhnâh, which may mean that they had their resting-place among the horses. The Maruts, more particularly, are said to dwell in the Asvattha tree, when Indra called them to his help against Vritra; cf. Sat. Brâhm. IV, 3, 3, 6; Pâr. Grihy. II, 15, 4. Possibly therefore, though I say no more, possibly the Dawn or the East might have been called asvadâ, the West anasvadâ, and in that case it might be said that the Maruts are of unsullied splendour, when they

go down to the western mountain. M. Bergaigne explains, 'La montagne qui ne donne pas, qui retient le cheval, le cheval mythique, soleil ou éclair.' My own impression, however, is that anasvadâm is an old mistake, though I cannot accept Ludwig's conjecture a-nasva-dâm. Why not ánu svadhâ´m, or anasva-yâh, moving without horses? cf. V, 42, 10.

Verse 6.

Note 1. This is, no doubt, a bold simile, but a very true one. In one night caterpillars will eat off the whole foliage of a tree, and in the same way a violent storm in the autumn will strip every leaf. Arnasám as an adjective, with the accent on the last syllable, does not occur again, but it can hardly mean anything but waving. If it will stand for the sea, we might translate, 'When you clear the waving sea (or air), as the caterpillar a tree.'

Note 2. Arámati seems here to mean service or obedience, not a person who is willing to serve.

Verse 8.

Note 1. To translate aryamánah by friends is unsatisfactory. Bergaigne takes it for Aryaman, Mitra, and Varuna, the three Aryamans, as we say the two Mitras, and points out that these three gods do send rain, in I, 79, 3; VII, 40, 4.

Note 2. It ought to be kavandhínah as much as kávandha, V, 85, 3.

Note 3. Mádhvah ándhasâ; Grassmann, 'mit des Honigs Seim.'

Verse 10.

Note 1. Sabharas is evidently a recognised epithet of the Maruts, see VS. XVII, 81 and 84, but its meaning is doubtful. We have visvábharasam, IV, I, 19, as an epithet of Agni, which does not help us much. If bharas means burden, sabharas may mean those who work together, companions, friends.

Verse 11.