The Classical Doctrine of Indian Medicine: Its Origins and its Greek Parallels c7.s2.165

c7.s2.165

Certain enumerations of the names and the epithets of Vayu are important inasmuch as they specify the representation that is made of him. In these enumerations many traits of details remind one of the Vedic Wind. He is essentially strong and fast (*aurva*, 46, 54, 57), now in the *Rgveda*, the speed of the gods or of the mythical horses is several times compared to that of the wind.¹ He has a chariot of gold just as the one possessed by Indra and Vāyu in the *Rgveda*, (IV, 46, 4). He is ‘blazing’ (*saocahi*, 47), ‘healer’ (*baesazya*, 56), states referred to with pleasure by the Vedic *ṛṣis* while noting on several occasions his action on the fire, while frequently presenting the fire itself as excited by the wind² and while desiring, with an oft-repeated word-play ‘that the wind may fan the remedy’ (*vāta ā vātu bheṣajám*).³ This last concordance of the Veda and the Avesta is quite significant in so far as it points to an original relationship of concepts, because the idea of making the wind a dispenser of remedy could not have been one of those which suggests itself naturally to anyone who observes his action.⁴