Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s21.630

v1.c3.s21.630

Pavi denotes the ‘tire’ of the wheel of a chariot in the Rigveda¹ and later.² Reference is made³ to the necessity for fastening it on firmly, and the epithet su-pavi, ‘having a good tire,’ is found in the Atharvaveda⁴ with su-nābhi, ‘having a good nave,’ and su-cakra, ‘having a good wheel.’ The tires were, of course, of metal,⁵ and being sharp,⁶ could serve on occasion as weapons.⁷ The St. Petersburg Dictionary in one passage of the Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā⁸ takes Pavi to mean a metal rim on the stone for pounding Soma, but this seems improbable, because no such metal attachment is elsewhere alluded to. Hillebrandt⁹ seems clearly right in accepting the sense of ‘sharp edge’ in this passage, especially as the stones in the Rigveda¹⁰ are, in allusion to their rolling action, styled ‘rims without horses and without chariots’ (*anaśvāsaḥ pavayo ’rathāḥ*).