Vedic mythology contains a wealth of material about the worldview, lifestyle and social activity of the ancient Aryans. But this material is largely inaccessible to the perception of modern people because of the allegorical nature of the language of myths. That is why the images of Aryan gods are largely mysterious. The prototypes of some of them are still not clearly defined, which means that important information about real phenomena and events contained in certain mythical images has not been identified from a cognitive point of view. Among the unsolved images of Vedic myths are the twin gods Ashvina. In the literature on mythology, many interpretations of the prototypes of these gods are offered [Jog, 1964; Gonda, 1974; Toporov, 1998(1)], but they do not always help to understand the content of the plots associated with them. This article offers a new interpretation of the Ashwin prototype, which turns out to be an ordinary natural phenomenon - dew. This interpretation makes it possible to identify the special role of this phenomenon in the life of the Aryan pastoral tribes, the close connection of this life with certain natural conditions. The result is obtained by the method of step-by-step identification of elements of realistic content in the myth, their subsequent synthesis and identification.
The place and role of Ashwins in the life of Aryans. In the pantheon of the gods of the ancient Aryans, colorfully described in the collection of cult hymns of this people - the Rig Veda (RV), the twin gods Ashvins occupy an important place. 56 hymns are dedicated to them, that is, they are second only to the main gods of this pantheon - Indra, Agni and Soma. The Ashwins inhabit the sky, being one of its lords. The Vedic poet exclaims:
I praise the two outstanding lords of this sky, the Ashwins I call songs, awake, (Those) that immediately at the rising of the dawn, the borders of the earth, the distant expanses, tend to embrace (VI. 62. 1).
In their fast - moving cha ...
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