[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [Vedic Index of Names and Subjects](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912) › v1.c3.s21.641 # Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s21.641 Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s21.641 - **Language:** English ### [v1.c3.s21.641](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.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 - [Previous: v1.c3.s21.640](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v1.c3.s21.640) - [Next: v1.c3.s21.642](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v1.c3.s21.642) - [Up: v1.c3.s21](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v1.c3.s21) ## Linked texts (1) - [Nirukta](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vedanga.nirukta.yaska.12.30) — Yāska, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v1.c3.s21.641](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v1.c3.s21.641) · Pramāṇa