Tribes in Ancient India c33.2

c33.2

The Vaśas or Vatsas were one of the peoples of Vedic Aryandom from the earliest period. A certain Vaśa Aśvya is mentioned in several hymns of the first and eighth maṇḍalas of the *Ṛgveda*, and also once in the tenth, as a protégé of the Aśvins.¹ He is also mentioned in the *Śāṅkhāyana Śrauta Sūtra*.² It would seem that this Vaśa Aśvya was a Brahmin Ṛṣi and not a Kṣatriya. He is said to have been the author of the Vaśa hymn in the *Brāhmaṇas* and the *Āraṇyakas*.³ It is possible to take Vaśa as a personal name, but it is equally likely that Vaśa here is a tribal designation and Aśvya the personal proper name.