Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.666

v1.c3.666

Avata, a word occurring several times in the Rigveda,¹ denotes a well, artificially made (khan ‘to dig’) in contrast with a spring (utsa), though the latter expression is also applied to an artificial well. Such wells were covered by the makers,² and are described as unfailing (a-kṣita) and full of water.³ The water was raised by a wheel (cakra) of stone, to which was fastened a strap (varatrā), with a pail (kośa)⁴ attached to it. When raised it was poured (siñc) into buckets (āhāva) of wood.⁵ Sometimes those wells appear to have been used for irrigation purposes, the water being led off into broad channels (sūrmī suṣirā).⁶