The Orion, or Researches into the Antiquity of the Vedas c11.79

c11.79

occurrence of the word ambā, which means "mother," and this cannot be supposed to be used by Indra. But though we avoid one difficulty in this way, we are launched into another, for the verse speaks of Indrāṇī being pleasing "to me;" and if Vṛishākapi is the speaker "me," cannot refer to him, as Indrāṇī is his mother and, consequently, "me" has to be interpreted to mean "my father," and this Sāyaṇa has done. I prefer taking ambā as an affectionate and respectful mode of address, as in modern Sanskrit, and the verse presents no difficulty. We can then take both the 7th and the 8th verse together and give them a natural interpretation. I translate thus "O auspicious lady! what you say is true . . . . . . you are pleasing to me . . But oh! hero-wife, with beautiful arms, pretty figure, profuse hair, and broad hips, why should you be so angry with our Vṛishākapi? Indra is in the upper (part) of the universe."