trita | त्रित | trita
trita/ | त्रित/ | m. ‘third’ (τρίτος), N. of a Vedic deity (associated with the Maruts, Vāyu, and Indra; fighting like the latter with Trita, Vṛtra, and other demons; called Āptya [q.v.], ‘water-deity’, and supposed to reside in the remotest regions of the world, whence [RV. viii, 47, 13-15; AV.] the idea of wishing to remove calamity to T˚, and the view of the Tritas being the keepers of nectar [RV. vi, 44, 23], similarly, L. [RV. ii, 34, 10; TS. i; TBr. i] the notion of Trita's bestowing long life; also conceived as an inferior deity conquering the demons by order and with the help of Indra [RV. ii; viii, 52, 1; x]; fallen into a well he begged aid from the gods [i, 105, 17; x, 8, 7]; as to this last myth, Sāy. on i, 105 relates that 3 Ṛṣis, Ekata, Dvita, and Trita, parched with thirst, looked about and found a well, and when T˚ began to draw water, the other two, desirous of his property, pushed him down and closed up the well with a wheel; shut up there, T˚ composed a hymn to the gods, and managed miraculously to prepare the sacrificial Soma, that he might drink it himself, or offer it to the deities and so be extricated: this is alluded to in RV. ix, 34, 4 [cf. 32, 2; 38, 2; 102, 2] and described in MBh. ix, 2095; also, Nir. iv, 6 makes him a Ṛṣi, and he is the supposed author of RV. i, 105; viii, 36; ix, 33 f. and 102; x, 1-7; in epic legends [MBh. ix, xii f.] Ekata, Dvita, and T˚ are described as 3 brothers, sons of Gautama or of Prajā-pati or Brahmā; elsewhere T˚ is one of the 12 sons of Manu Cākṣuṣa by Naḍvalā, BhP. iv, 13, 16; cf. trEtana/ | त्र्Eतन/ |; Zend Thrita; Τρίτων, τριτο-γενής, &c.)
trita/ | त्रित/ | n. triplet of young (three-twin), TS., Sch.
trita/ | त्रित/ | n. triplet of young (three-twin), TS., Sch.