[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [Vedic Index of Names and Subjects](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912) › v1.c3.618 # Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.618 Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.618 - **Language:** English ### [v1.c3.618](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v1.c3.618) Arya.—This word is not common in the older literature, in places where the quantity of the first vowel is fixed as short, except in a mere adjectival sense. Geldner,¹ indeed, contends that no other sense is anywhere needed; but Roth² and Zimmer³ agree in thinking that in several passages of the Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā⁴ the word has the same sense as Ārya, and this appears probable. Whether it is necessary to ascribe this sense to the word in the compound \*arya-patnī\*⁵ applied to the waters set free by Indra, is more doubtful. The commentator, Mahīdhara,⁶ suggests that the word means a Vaiśya, not an Ārya generally. This view is supported by the explanation in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa⁷ of one of the passages of the Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā.⁸ But though the use of Arya to denote a Vaiśya became common later, it is not clear that it was original. - [Previous: v1.c3.617](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v1.c3.617) - [Next: v1.c3.619](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v1.c3.619) - [Up: v1.c3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v1.c3) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v1.c3.618](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v1.c3.618) · Pramāṇa