Vedic Mythology c6.s8.2

c6.s8.2

The foe against whom Kutsa is associated with Indra is Śuṣṇa. Indra smote Śuṣṇa for Kutsa (1, 63³. 121⁹; 4, 16¹²; 6, 26³), aided Kutsa against Śuṣṇa (1, 51⁶), subjected Śuṣṇa to him (7, 19²), or, associated with Kutsa and the gods, vanquished Śuṣṇa (5, 29⁹). Indra is invoked to fight with Kutsa against Śuṣṇa (6, 31³) or to bring Kutsa as a slayer of Śuṣṇa (1, 175⁴). Indra fights for Kutsa even against the gods (4, 30²⁻⁵) or against Gandharva (8, 1¹¹). The conflict with Śuṣṇa results in the stealing of the wheel of the sun (1, 175⁴; 6, 31³). For Kutsa pressed by his foes Indra tore off the wheel of the sun (4, 30⁴) while the other he gave to Kutsa to drive on with (5, 29¹⁰). This miracle of stopping the sun (cp. 1, 121¹⁰; 10, 138³) seems to be a transference of the myth of Indra gaining the sun for human happiness, to the reminiscence of a semi-historical battle. In winning the sun Indra is said to have made wide space for his charioteer Kutsa (6, 20⁵). He is invoked to crush the fiends with Kutsa and to roll forward the wheel of the sun (4, 16¹²). In one passage Indra is said to have subjected other foes than Śuṣṇa to Kutsa, viz. Tugra, Smadibha, and the Vetasus (10, 49⁴).