(110.) dasra "giving miraculous aid" is a frequent attribute of the
Asvins (e.g., RV VIII 86,1).
(27) What the Vedic text is telling us therefore is that the
Asvins went to the ends of the earth or to heaven, where their horses got wet in the waters of some mythical stream, (28) and as the result of this adventure Surya.
It is also a real stretch to equate Chinese Wusun, name of a mounted nomadic people, with Sanskrit
asvin which Beckwith gives as '"the horsemen', the name of twin equestrian gods" (p.
There is a comparable image in RV 10.40, in which Ghosa pleads with the
Asvins to win her a man who will marry her and give her children (cf.
IV.52.3 uta sakhasy asvinor / uta mata gavam asi / utoso vasva isise And thou art a friend of the
Asvins, and thou art mother of the cows; and thou art mistress of good, O dawn.
O Sura, let the lotus-garlanded
Asvins make you tasty.
We have seen that the female member of the early Vaisnava trio (Krsna's sister Subhadra, Rama's wife Sita) seems to continue the Goddess of Dawn (Surya / Savitri) in the trio that she forms with the two
Asvins. Not only Savitri but this entire earlier trio appears to have been worshipped in the Madra country, because Nakula (clever like Krsna) and Sahadeva (whose name is a synonym of Baladeva), the Pandavas sired by the
Asvins, had Madri as their mother.
(13.) Epithet of Indra 3x (1.61.1, 6.45.20, 8.70.1); epithet of Agni 3x (3.21.4, 5.10.1, 8.60.17); epithet of the
Asvins 2x (5.73.2, 8.22.11); epithet of the Maruts 1x (1.64.3); epithet of Soma 1x (9.98.5).
The answer is found at the opening of the hymn, where each pada begins with pratar in the invocation of Agni, Indra, Mitra-Varuna, the
Asvins, Bhaga, etc.
The gharma is the clay pot that is heated on a fire, filled with milk, and then poured out in offering (mixed cow's and goat's milk for the
Asvins, and then curds for Indra) during the Pravargya rite.
8, which corresponds to 1.164.27) after the offering to Indra and before the one to the
Asvins (episode D).
The
Asvins are addressed as kavi gambhiracetasa "poets of deep thought" in 8.8.2d.