Page:History of India Vol 1.djvu/63

Rh who worship no gods; and thou hast bent the weapons of foes who worship no gods.

"O Asvins! destroy those who are yelling hideously like dogs and are coming to destroy us! Slay those who wish to fight with us! You know the way to destroy them.

"The far-famed god Indra has raised up the (Aryan) man. Strong, mighty, and triumphant, he has brought low the head of the malignant Dasa!

"Indra, who slew Vritra and stormed towns, has destroyed the troops of the black Dasas, and has made the earth and the water for the (Aryan) man, and fulfilled the wishes of the sacrificer."

It would seem from numerous passages in the Rig-Veda that Kutsa was a powerful warrior and a mighty destroyer of the black aborigines. Thus we are told that the god Indra, in order to bestow wealth on Kutsa, slew the "Dasyu, who is wily and impious"; that he helped Kutsa and came to his house with the object of slaying the Dasyu; and that he slew fifty thousand "black-complexioned enemies" in battle. We also learn that Indra made the Dasyus devoid of all virtues, and the object of hatred of all men; and that Indra destroyed five hundred and a thousand Dasas.

We have similar allusions to the subjugation and destruction of Dasyus or Dasas in other passages, while there is a curious reference to an unknown region inhabited by the Dasyus which deserves translation:—

"O ye gods! We have travelled and lost our way