Vedic Mythology c6.s8.3

c6.s8.3

Kutsa, whom Indra aided and loved (1, 33¹⁴), nevertheless sometimes appears as his enemy. Thus Indra struck down the heroes of Kutsa, Āyu, and Atithigva (2, 14⁷), harassed Āyu, Kutsa, and Atithigva (Vāl. 5²), delivered these three into the hand of the young king Tūrvayāṇa (1, 53¹⁰), or smote them to the earth for him (6, 18¹³). This seems to indicate the historical character of Kutsa. For a deity of light would naturally have been regarded by the Vedic poets as always a friend, and a demon of darkness always as a foe. Tradition also attributes a number of the hymns of the first and ninth book of the RV. to a seer Kutsa of the family of the Aṅgirases. Bergaigne, however, thinks that Kutsa is purely mythical, originally a form of Agni (or Soma), sometimes seeming to represent the sun. In the Naighaṇṭuka (2, 20) *kutsa* appears as one of the synonyms of thunderbolt (*vajra*).