The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c19.s7.18

v1.c19.s7.18

Another horse is Paidva, who was given by the Açvins to Pedu, is white, praiseworthy, and is compared to Indra and Bhaga, and called slayer of the dragon, conqueror invincible.³ All this will pass as a description of the sun horse. Even more certain is the sun nature of Etaça : in the plural the word denotes often the horses of the sun, and in the singular it denotes the sun horse who draws the sun : in a curious legend Indra is said to have aided Etaça in contest with the sun, perhaps by causing a wheel of the sun car to fall off : Etaça picks it up and gives it to the sun, but now is able to take the lead of the sun, who finally, moved by the nobility of Etaça, concedes to him the front place in his chariot.⁴ It would probably be idle to see in this more than a mythological fancy, but the nature of Etaça is quite certain.