Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s21.641

v1.c3.s21.641

The Nirukta¹¹ ascribes to Pavi the sense of arrow (*śalya*), but this is very uncertain. The St. Petersburg Dictionary cites for this use two passages of the Rigveda,¹² but in one the secondary sense of sharp-edged weapon with reference to the bolt of Indra is quite likely, and in the other, where the expression *vāṇasya pavi* occurs, the sharp-edged pounding-stone of the ‘reed,’¹³ meaning the stalk of the Soma plant, may be meant. Hillebrandt¹⁴ thinks a reference to the shape of the Soma plant is intended. Pavī-nasa, the name of a demon mentioned in the Atharvaveda,¹⁵ seems to throw no light on this point, for while the St. Petersburg Dictionary takes it to mean ‘whose nose is like a spearhead,’ it is translated as ‘rim-nosed’ (presumably in allusion to the curved shape of the nose) by Whitney.¹⁶