Vedic Mythology c5.s5.t1.8

c5.s5.t1.8

A few other goddesses occasionally mentioned in the RV. have already been incidentally referred to. Pṛṣni, the mother of the Maruts (p. 78) presumably represents the mottled storm-cloud¹². The word is also used as an adjective in the sense of speckled (cp. 7, 103⁶. ¹⁰), in the singular as an attribute of both bull and cow, and in the plural, of the cows which milk Soma for Indra (1, 84¹⁰. ¹¹; 8, 6¹⁹. 7¹⁰. 58³). It thus came to mean ‘speckled cow’, and finally ‘speckled cloud’. Saraṇyū occurs once in the RV. (10, 17²) as the name of Tvaṣṭṛ’s daughter, wedded to Vivasvat. The most likely interpretation seems to be that which identifies her with the sun-maiden Sūryā or Uṣas, the Dawn¹³. The word also occurs four times as an adjective in the RV. meaning ‘swift’. It is an ordinary Sanskrit formation, derived with the suffix *-yu* from *saraṇa*, speed (*√sṛ*, to run), like *caraṇ-yu* and others.