Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s19.161

v1.c3.s19.161

Dhiṣaṇā, according to the St. Petersburg Dictionary, denotes¹ an implement used in preparing the Soma, ‘bowl’ or ‘vat,’ and by metonymy also the Soma draught itself.² The dual, by a metaphor,³ also expresses the ‘two worlds,’ heaven and earth.⁴ Hillebrandt,⁵ however, thinks that the word properly means earth,⁶ in the dual heaven and earth,⁷ in the plural the triad, earth, atmosphere, and heaven,⁸ while in some passages⁹ Dhiṣaṇā denotes the Vedi, the excavated ground used as an altar. This is not, however, certain, while it seems clear that the Vājasaneyi¹⁰ and Taittirīya¹¹ Saṃhitās understand the Dhiṣaṇās (dual) to be the planks over which the pressing of the Soma took place (adhiṣavaṇa-phalake).¹² Pischel¹³ sees in Dhiṣaṇā a goddess of wealth akin to Aditi and the earth.