History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c93.185

v7.c93.185

About the Aśvins the Nirukta (XII. 1) states several views viz. they are Heaven and Earth, or Day and Night, or the Sun and the Moon and remarks that according to the Aitihāsikas they were kings who had accumulated great merit. Probably the Nairuktas were divided among themselves and explained that the Aśvins represented different natural phenomena. About Vṛtra (occurring in such verses as Ṛg I. 32. 11) the Nairuktas (Etymologists) said in Nirukta II. 16 that the word means 'cloud', while the Aitihāsikas say that he (Vṛtra) was an Asura, son of Tvaṣṭṛ. As to the hymn Ṛg. I. 105 of 19 verses (in the first 18 of which the refrain is 'vittam me asya rodasī') the Nirukta IV. 6 states that the hymn was seen by Trita who was thrown into a well. In Ṛg. VII. 33. 11 there is mention of Urvaśī and Vasiṣṭha (Maitrā-Varuṇa) as born of Urvaśī and Nirukta (V. 13-14) explains that verse and remarks that Urvaśī was an *apsaras* and Ṛg. X. 95 is a dialogue between Aila Purūravas and Urvaśī. But the interpretation of the Nairuktas and Aitihāsikas on this story are not expressly set out. Probably the Nairuktas would explain Urvaśī as lightning and Purūravas as the roaring wind. The hymn Ṛg. X. 108 is a dialogue between Saramā (Indra's bitch) and the Paṇis and the Nirukta XI. 25 explains the first verse and remarks that there is a story (Ākhyāna) therein viz. that there was a dialogue between Saramā sent by Indra and the Paṇis who were Asuras. In all such legends the Nairuktas would insist that they are to be taken allegorically as referring to natural phenomena, while the Aitihāsikas would insist that there is historical basis in all these. Though it is not stated by the Nirukta expressly that the Aitihāsikas do not hold the doctrine of the eternality of the Veda it implicitly follows from their explanations that they did not subscribe to that doctrine.