History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c92.32.2

v7.c92.32.2

It cannot be said that in the Ṛgveda ‘Śacī’ is the wife of Indra (as it is said in later mythology), since the plural is more frequent than Śacī in the singular and since Aśvins also are called ‘Śacīpati’. once. Similarly, the word ‘Śacīvaḥ’ occurs eleven times, in nine of which it is addressed to Indra but it is once applied to Agni (Ṛg. III. 21. 4) and once to Soma (Ṛg. IX. 87. 9). The ideas associated with the words ‘Śakti’ and ‘Śacī’ are those of creation, protection, valour, and bounty. In Ṛg. I. 56. 4 Indra’s power is called ‘Devī taviṣī’ but the word Śacī does not occur in that verse. There is a sublime hymn (Ṛg. X. 125) of the power of Vāk (speech), wherein Vāk is said to associate with Rudras, Ādityas, Vasus, all gods and is declared to support Mitra and Varuṇa, Indra and Agni, the Aśvins, Soma, Tvaṣṭṛ, Pūṣan and Bhaga. Vāk is said to stretch the bow for Rudra in order that the destructive enemy of *brahma* (prayer or God Brahmā) may be killed, that Vāk stands occupying all worlds and that her body touches heaven, that it is beyond heaven and the earth, that Vāk stands so vast by its greatness'. Vāk becomes the principle of all energy. According to the Nighaṇṭu (I. 11), menā, gnāḥ and śacī are three of the 57 words meaning 'Vāk'. In Tai. S. V. 1. 7. 2 the metres are called 'gnās'. Ṛg. I. 164. 41 is an enigmatic description of Vāk explained in Nirukta XI. 40.