Atharvaveda savāsín-

Abstract

The noun savāsín- occurs several times in the Atharvaveda (ŚS and PS) and in the Jaiminīya-Brāhmaṇa. It has been interpreted as meaning ‘together dwelling’, through a lax identification to Epic Sanskrit saṃvāsin-, whose savāsín- would be an older equivalent, although this does not yield a cogent account of any of the passages of the texts. This stance has been routinely repeated for the lack of anything better. Moreover, this makes difficulties pertaining to the derivation of savāsín-, in light of the formation of the compounds with first member sa°. Actually, savāsín- and saṃvāsin- are independent formations that belong to two separated textual layers. The paper reviews these issues and all the occurrences of the word savāsín-, leading to a new interpretation which complies both with semantics and morphology, through an alternative connection to the root vas- ‘to shine’.