The Orion, or Researches into the Antiquity of the Vedas c9.50

c9.50

told that Namuchi was killed by Indra in the distant (parâvati) region, which seems to mean the region of Yama. But as it does not satisfactorily determine the place where Namuchi was killed, I refer to Rig x. 73. 7, where Indra by killing Namuchi is said to have cleared up 'the paths leading (yâna in the original) to the (region of) Devas ;"* which plainly shows that Namuchi was killed at the gates of the Devayâna. In the Vâjasneyi Sanhitâ 10. 14 a sacrificial rite is described which gives the same place and time of Namuchi's death. The priest there throws away a piece of metal hidden under a tiger hide, exclaiming, "the head of Namuchi is thrown away," after he has taken his *Yajanâna* through all directions (East, South, West, North and upwards) and also through all the seasons (Vasanta, Grishma, Sharad, Varshâ and Hemanta-and-Shishira). This means, if it can mean anything, that Namuchi *alias* Vritra was killed, in the language of seasons, after Shishira, or in other words, at the gate of the Devayâna as described in the above quoted passage from the Rigveda, for the end of Shishira is the end of the Pitriyâna. Here then we have an explanation of how Orthros came to be at the gate of hell, or in a distant region under the setting sun. But the association of Orthros with Kerberos throws further light on the subject. If Vritra's head is the same as Mriga-shîrsha, as explained in the beginning of this chapter, then the three stars in the belt of Orion, which form the top of Mrigashiras, might have easily suggested the idea of a three-headed monster. In Rig. x. 99. 6