Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.74

v1.c3.74

Akṣu.—The word occurs in two passages of the Atharvaveda¹ and one of the Rigveda.² Roth³ renders it by ‘net,’ while Böhtlingk⁴ suggests ‘axle of a car.’ Geldner⁵ sees in it a stake or pole used with a fishermen’s net (Jāla),⁶ the pole of a wagon,⁷ and the pole of a house, whether vertical or horizontal, he leaves uncertain (see Vamśa).⁸ Bloomfield⁹ takes it as a covering of wickerwork stretched across a beam and sloping down to both sides—like a thatched roof, and this best explains the epithet ‘thousand-eyed’ (i.e., with countless holes) ascribed to it. In the other Atharvaveda passage¹⁰ he accepts the sense ‘net,’ and doubts if the word in the Rigveda is not an adjective (a-kṣu) as it is taken by Sāyaṇa. See also Gṛha.