Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s18.358

v1.c3.s18.358

The threefold division of the universe is reflected in a threefold division of the three elements—earth, air, and sky. Thus a highest (uttama,⁴ uttara,⁵ pārya⁶), a middle, and a lowest heaven are specified.⁴ In the Atharvaveda⁷ the three heavens are distinguished as ‘rich in water’ (udanvatī), as pīlumatī (of uncertain meaning), and as the pradyaus, where the Fathers sit. Heaven is frequently called vyoman as well as rocana⁸ (properly the ‘luminous space’ of heaven), and the dividing firmament which separates the visible upper world from the highest heaven is called, besides nāka, ‘vault,’ sānu, ‘summit,’ viṣṭap, ‘surface,’ and pṛṣṭha, ‘ridge,’ and even ‘ridge of the vault,’⁹ or ‘summit of the vault.’¹⁰