The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c20.s2.1

v1.c20.s2.1

By far the most important of the agent gods is Tvaṣṭṛ, who is mentioned some sixty-five times in the Rigveda, most often in the late first and tenth books, but also in the family books, though rarely in the seventh of the Vasiṣṭha family, and in the eighth. Like the other gods of the Rigveda he goes to the heaven, and bestows blessings,⁴ but his characteristic feature is the iron axe, which he bears in his hand, and which marks him out as the skilled artificer. He forges the bolt of Indra, and the axe of Brahmaṇaspati, and especially the cup out of which the gods drink. He is, further, the power which shapes the germ in the womb for men and animals alike: he fashions husband and wife for each other from the womb, and presides over generation: so in the later Vedic texts¹ he is constantly mentioned in connexion with the making of forms, and the pairing of men and animals. These texts also ascribe to him the production of the horse.