Ttatk ISTLk Trita Aptya Is a fairly ««11 knowi - but rathsr «yat«rlou« «> figura la tha Vadio Iltaratura. Ha la nut ealabratad In any a&tlra hyan oi tha ii^ but la only incldan- tally aantlonaa In forty paaaagaa oeourrln^ In twantynlna hynna of that Vada. Tba aplthat A|>tya aocampaniaa or altarmitaa with Trlta aaYan tlmaa In four hynna of tha ^Y.*^ ^* 1* oftan •antlonadi or aaaodatad with Indra, Agnl, Maruta, and Soma. Xha Maruta ara aald to hava aldad hla In hla victory ovar V^tra* This aohlavaaant maat hava baen ragardad as a apaclal faatura of tha mythology ralatlng to Trlta* for It la aaployad aa an Illustration.^ Tha aboda of Trlta la ranotaj and tha Adltyaa and Ufas ara jrayad to'drlva away 111 daada ana «vll draaas to that far*off placa.^ Aa 1^^^^ raaarka, tha original natura of eo obscura a god la not aaay to daelda. Moraovar, a collation of all varba uaad In connaetlon with Trlta laada, In i;;8ViK'* Judganant, to no algnlfleaat conclusion whatavar. tt^lllteifid& 1. I.109{ V.as VXII.47} X.e. 2. VIil.7.24. 3. 1.52.4-5. 4. VIIi.^7.13, ate. 5. ityvtt 134. 6. "Trlta iiotar", Jp^Z. 67, i'.eo, fn. 16(2). 7. Varufia m^ ^Itra. 94. Cf .yn 1*1.39t 343.f. - 1 - 171 111 holds that Trita i« tha god of bright sky ravarad in cha Iptya faaily. But thia eh«raet«riaation is obvioualy inada- quata. Equally inadsquat* la tha viaw of |gi]^' who ragarda Trita aa a aolar haro, aoa of ijyaua. tm^StoaBtt* optionally I holda th^t Irita is a daifiad aaeoator. Xhla viaw also ie by no aaana canvinoing. lililS&SiL** sugeiaation that Trita Aptya waa originally a human haalsr Mho was latar daifisd, also, e&n ba aaia to ba hardly 12 H convincing. ^•^•liUil 'Ay* * "iv figura in nany raapaeta aaalogoua to laiu ia that of Trita, who ia raprasentad as an aneiant primaval warrior, and whoaa connaction with tha eaorliica ia limited to tha iraasin^ of ^iama"* Xaaka, in ona pasaags of tha £14£. i^ txplains Trita Aptya as the nans of a Xfi, or aaer. AQGordiag to aoais arauta teaehara alao^' thara 8. aa also 4|^|^ ii2£*Sli«* ^35) has said. 9. quoted by giB8U» in Vsdie ISdiAi 64. 10. loc. cit. 11. (jQk, 1894> P«428. 12. aa alao |^|k||| (2£*SJk&'> ^35) suys. 13* Cosmology of ^SlM^t ^» ^'^^ ^* 1#. IV.b. 15. 1^ 287-88, - 2 - 172 was a aaar of the nana, Trlta. Likawiaa, |^8liB)24 ranarkat "It aaema jpXaualbla that Trlta Is una of th« inYading Aryan ehiafa, latar daifiad". Hoan ^rauta taacoara ' aay that Trlta la tha ftraat-grand-fathar. Aa haa baan polntad abova, hoMdYar, thaaa vla«a do not aaan to ba aocaptabXa, for, thay do not fully ax{)laln thepharactar of Trlta Aptya aa rapraaantad In the Vada. tti&ilSitliL ^^* triad to ahow that Xrita Aptya rapraaanta tha third form of Agnl. Ha la, aedording to (|i£j|8fi|i^ii ^ba divinity of lightning. iffidfiBi^JL ^^urthar adda that Trlta*a eonnaotlon with 5oaa, alao, auggaata tha oonclualon that tha fox«ar l8 a fom of flra, nanaly, tha lightning Ir which ^oua daaeanda to tha aarth. Thla would agraa, {|ififl[sB|j||^ bellavaa, with Trita*a natura aa watary, Xptya, and woiJ.d not contradict any of hla known faaturaa. M.fgji^gc^ adda to Hlg^SiS^'a atudy of Trlta tha obaarvatlon that, In one hymn of tne ^^, '" tha tolrd aapaot of Agnl appear a to have a form pro^^r in any rallglon to Sotar, and that that third peraon, on tha avldanca 16. "On tha origin of brahaln gotraa", Jhb^;£> iJJI, 64. 17. ^ 267-88 16. "Hythologleal atudlaa In tha nlgvada", ^HAS. IXV.419-96. 19. Qp.elt.. 59-60. 20. VIII.47. - 3 - 173 (7 3 of paralltls of Gre«k soure«8, may be pieced in « timilar role in Ih period. Siailarly, aome 5rattta teachers eay^^ that Trita la the llehtiiii%. Irita Rptya is identiiieu by bayaj^a aooietiaea with Agni atationed in three fire-receptadeat^ He, however, ae«it not to be sure about tn« exact nature of the divinity. Aa y§(K|Sk|£ reaarka, the peculiar relation­ ship between Indra and Trita cannot be adequately accounted for if tt|&i28BlU** yii-v^ 16 to be accepteo. Moreover, in the &1 V.54*2, Trita is clearly diatin|<;uiahed from lightning. iiMiilSmMi holde the view that Trita is a ahortfonu of Tritavana, *thriee atrong*, Ihraetaona eoxreepondinti, to TrltaTana, ^ and Xptya bein^ a popular etymolo&y for AVpya* This,however, is not plausible. In this connection, j^gyij^li; aays i **Althou£h, the Tritopatorea are probably wind-sprits and thus perhaps to be equated, through Trita, with the Maruta, the length of the vowel in the Greek word is still an insupe­ rable obstacle*' s an original long diptithonii would explain both Uie Creek font and Vedio Traitana} but it involves the 21. |gt 267-66. 22. KSL^«9.5. 23. "Vftraha Indra", ^Jitl 31, p.9, fn.2. 24. "Aksentstudien", ^, 1909» p.61. 25. AV once lEftjkiiB*. X.158.5. 26. Qy.cit.. to, fn.lfc. 27* "Literaturbericht fur das Jahr 1911"* &n&l8til8C> Gi2iSj|tV.310. 4 - 174 174- ••tting-up of soMdthing which looka Ilka an *original* paU*onyBie - a logical, i£ not a Ilnguiatie, abaurdity** • In th« ^j^ the Mord trita ia darived fron Vjef *to croaa*, tlrpataao wadh^va babhSva lit. *0Qe «iuo beat croaaad (i.tt* aurpaaaad) in wiadcn'. CoBBnantlnt^. on tnla, ^. ]|^§£i§ •aya that, phonoloi^cally, tha aquation j£^ » ^f ia not poaaiula, but avan, otherwiaa, tha origin ol the Mord ia obaoura. SKBlifCl triaa to connaet Itptya with apifi and intarprata it aa 'friand*. Thua ho sakaa Trita Aptya, tna *friandly* third of a divina trSad. Thia connaction, i.a., api^-aptya, howavar, ia not vary convincing* According to ^IBililtillXSS* Trita ia identical with Saitvataara or naw year. Ha connaeta Trita with Savitr on the baaia of hia ability to offer protection againat the prognoatication of evil drearaa. Further, throu^ti Savitf, he re late a Trita to bamvaftaara. w'bvioualy it ia difficult to accept auch a far-fetched expla­ nation. According to {|)t||ili|fcCX* Trita Apty« ia no other than the third iSjil^tSft aolipae at the cloae of a cycle of IVJJ daya* In thia aariea of three eolipaea, each falla back by 26. iV.6. 29. ML 134. 31. "Trita", PAIX VI. 54S. 32. "Vedic goda", fl.C.Law Com&uVol. 26l. - 5 - i 0 10 daya eoapftr«<i teith th« tan* in th« previous cyelv. Trita Aptya, howevar, do«o not sten to raprasent any aatrolo^loal phanoaienon. Trita Aptytt la a<»&times idantixi^d by Say^qui^ also with Xndra aa taa panradar or Uie thraa worlda. In this oonnaction, filBJki^V thinks that Trita, in tha ^ appaara as a Bdnor double of Indra. Also aocordin^ to ytSS^XX^^t Trita ia the prototypa, in aany raapacta, of Indra. j^sm^lii aaya } "Knowintj. vrbat wa now do of tha Aryan invasion, it saama plausibla that Trita is Indra*^. ' Xif oXosaly stuaiad, the passagaa partaining to Indra and Trita satim to show that Trita and Indra hava baan connaotad wi^i aach other artifi* oiaXly and rathar as the result of a purpouaful afterthought. ^ Sayaj^ aoaatiaea identifies Trita Aptya alao with Vayu.^^ The connection of Trita with Triton lad ggJib to the viaw that Trita waa a nfind and water god. He adds that the 33. i.e. ^i 1.187.1,etc. 34. M, 13«. 35. IM, ^t 43. 36. 9Pt9;^%. P*^4. 37. Alao J. g4ilfit|iJk»(^£^l[!ih^^H!^> ^7f 73i takaa for granted tiie aaaa identification. 36. Cf. l^MlltilfiCt ^P'Cit.. p.ll, fn.l. 39. i.e. ul 1.163.2-3. 4J. "Die ^age voo Feridun in indien und Iran".:t.JuKG ll,22i^. 176 divergence of quantity oen be expi&iiiiid by folk etymology. §8te8»iK» i» ^i» ^yfffP^y ftftUKlPBt •dvancea various mytho- logical equations, in vthich, Trita Aptya is identified with Athena Tritonis. Likewise, ^B£Q£j£ thinks that Irita Aptya may have really been a water delt>, a parallel to Ureeiii Triton and German Miaii. k. ||g|}Qgg^ suggestti that Uie original fora of Trita*8 naac was Xrlto-. That scholar has dealt, in great detail, wltn Trita*a scharacter aa a spirit of the waters, a lustratory genius, a drugonslaytir, and a brewer ana dispenser of 5oma. yftfi4Sik8H ^^^^ charactt^rises Trita as 'Water i)eity*, and adds that the name Aptya, w.ich say be derived fron ^ (water), refers to Trita*s connection with rain, water and i^oiaa* Siailurly, yfiile dealini^ with a Kir, passage,^ in which at>tva is traced tu Vif *to re<»ch* (aonoteh). 5. ^§Cii esya i *'The word, however, probably proceeds from aoft^ •waters'*;^ Isritlnt about Trita,yjiJ^jyi^^ remarks : "He la called Aptya, the Vtatery, tiiat is sprung from 41. ''The Iranian gods of healing" JRA& 3^, 294ff; Us Indo»Europeens, 199fI followed by 4l4fcS> oi^«cit. 135. 42. Trita ^iitya t Cine veaische Gotthelt. Uppaaal», 19^7. 43* a^ 133. 4^». iu.2j. 45. Op.cit. 86. 46. as £^ su4:,^e£t8. 47. ma !• 187.1. - 7 - 177 17 7 or dM«lXin^ in the eva o£ oloud and vapour*^, ^ioiilarly, iil»8lilfii ronders th« namt Aptya with, *s|;run4, irotn, or bolanglng to tha j^, or watars of ataoapherti*. Howevar, tua paeuliar ralationahip betwaon Indra and Trita cannot ba adaquataly aeoountad for even on t«he baaia of tnls view.