The Arctic Home in the Vedas c8.37.2

c8.37.2

This is not, however, the only objection to Yâska's explanation. Various similes are used by the Vedic poets to describe the appearance of the Dawns on the horizon, and an examination of these similes will convince any one that the plural number, used in reference to the Dawn, cannot be merely honorific. Thus in the second line of I, 92, 1, the Dawns are compared to a number of 'warriors' (dhṛiṣhṇavaḥ), and in the third verse of the same hymn they are likened to 'women (nârīḥ) active in their occupations.' They are said to appear on the horizon like 'waves of waters' (apâm na urmayaḥ) in VI, 64, 1; or like 'pillars planted at a sacrifice' (adhvareṣhu svaravaḥ) in IV, 51, 2. We are again told that they work like 'men arrayed' (visho na yuktâḥ), or advance like 'troops of cattle' (gavâm na sargâḥ), in VII, 79, 2, and IV, 51, 8, respectively. They are described as all 'alike' (sadṛishīḥ); and are said to be of 'one mind' (sañjânante), or 'acting harmoniously' in IV, 51, 6, and VII, 76, 5. In the last verse the poet again informs us that they 'do not strive against each other' (mithaḥ na yatante), though they live jointly in the 'same enclosure' (samâne urve). Finally in X, 88, 18, the poet distinctly asks the question, "How many fires, how many suns and how many dawns (uṣhâsaḥ) are there?" If the Dawn were addressed in plural simply t of respect for the deity, where was the necessity of informing us that they do not quarrel though collected in the same place?