Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s9.1220

v2.c4.s9.1220

Svaja in the Atharvaveda¹ and later² denotes the ‘viper.’ The word is explained by the commentators as sva-ja, ‘selfborn,’ but Roth,³ Weber,⁴ and Zimmer⁵ prefer to derive it from the root svaj, ‘clasp,’ ‘encircle.’ In the Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā⁶ the Hariṇa is said to kill the viper.