Not during the day, not during night; not with a weapon wet or dry

[Guest guest]

There is a legend about Namuchi & Indra which can be traced back to

the Rig Veda. A version which appears in tAndya brAhmaNa goes

something like this --

 

Namuchi, the asura had a contract with Indra that he should not be

killed during the day or during the night and with a weapon that is

neither wet, nor dry.

So, Indra killed him during the sandhyAkAlam, twilight, which is

neither day nor night, with the foam of river, which is supposed to

be neither wet, nor dry. The motif of this legend seems to be a very

popular one and may have inspired other puranic stories with

different characters.

The foam of river is a source of lot of confusion. A suggestion was

made that it is the milky ways and the Namuchi legend is an

astronomical phenomenon. However, Kaushika sutra of atharva-veda

alludes to this namuchi legend and gives a practical application

with "foam of rivers".

 

Regards,

Kasturi Rangan .K