Lexicon

of Rig Veda

suṣaṇa, ever constant

su “well, wholly”, sanā – eternal, permanent, continuous. Sri Aurobindo wrote: “The group of words, sāḥ, sātiḥ, san, sanayaḥ, sanaḥ, saniḥ, sānasiḥ, are of great importance in the Veda. Sayana is not consistent in his interpretation of them. He applies to them his favourite ritualistic ideas of giving, favour, progeny, eating, etc. I attach to them invariably the sense of substance, permanence, safety, preservation, safeguarding. The basic sense of the roots of the sa family is substance, steadfastness, stability, solidity. sāḥ is the Greek sws, safe, sātiḥ the Greek sosis, safety, salvation, preservation san is the basis of the Latin sanus, sound, sane, in health which rests on the fundamental sense «well-preserved, safe from harm», and of the Sanskrit sanat, sanā, sanāt, sanātanaḥ, perpetual, eternal, and sanayaḥ, saniḥ, sanaḥ, sānasiḥ are its derivatives in this fundamental significance. We shall find that this interpretation will illuminate the sense of every passage in which the words occur, need never be varied and never lead to either straining of sense or awkwardness of construction.” (SABCL.– Vol. 10.– 1971.– pp. 499-500).