Vedic Mythology c7.s4.3

c7.s4.3

The dog⁴ is found in the RV. mythologically in the form of the two brindled hounds of Yama, called Sārameya (p. 173). This name indicates that they were regarded as descendants⁵ of Saramā⁶ (p. 63), the messenger of Indra. There is nothing in the RV. directly showing that Saramā was there conceived as a bitch, though in the later Vedic literature she is regarded as such and by Yāska (Nir. 11, 25) is described as the ‘bitch of the gods’ (*devaśunī*).