Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s4.233

v2.c4.s4.233

1. Mandhātṛ occurs in several passages of the Rigveda,¹ in all of which Roth² takes the word as merely an adjective used substantively, ‘the pious man.’ In one passage³ the word, being applied to Agni, is thus used, but in another⁴ Mandhātṛvat being parallel with Aṅgirasvat, ‘like Aṅgiras,’ is naturally to be understood as a proper name, which is probably also the sense of the word in the preceding hymn.⁵ A different Mandhātṛ⁶ may be meant in the first Maṇḍala,⁶ where he is mentioned as a protégé of the Aśvins, and evidently as a king. To equate these persons, and make a Rājarṣi out of Mandhātṛ, as Ludwig⁷ and Griffith⁸ do, is unnecessary and improbable.