The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c10.325.3

v1.c10.325.3

So Varuṇa placed Vaśiṣṭha in the ship, and by his mighty protection made the Ṛṣi a doer of good works.¹⁶⁹ The Kapiñjala bird is said "to foretell what will come to pass, by giving due direction to its voice, as a helmsman guides a boat". In the *Introduction* to the third volume of his translation of the *Ṛgveda*, Professor Wilson says, "The same familiarity with the sea that has been previously commented on occasionally occurs, with sufficient explicitness to leave no doubt of the meaning of the text :thus in one place the rivers are said, 'to rush to the ocean eager to mix with it' (p. 59); and again, 'the rivers disappear in the ocean' (p. 221), where also it is said that 'those desirous of profit are engaged in traversing the ocean', clearly indicating, maritime traffic : the Maruts, or personified winds, are said 'to toss the clouds like ship', or as the Scholiast amplifies a rather elliptical phrase, as the ocean tosses ships; in another place (p. 425), although the particular expressions may be equivocal, yet it is undeniable that the passage is intended to convey the idea of the crossing of the ocean by certain individuals under the guidance of Indra."¹⁷⁰ Manu lays down rules for the guidance of maritime commerce, and the *Rāmāyaṇa* alludes to merchants, who traffic beyond the sea and bring presents to the king (III. 237). In the *Mahābhārata* mention is made of a large boat provided with machinery, which could defy the hurricane;