Divya_ anga_ri irin.e nyupta_h sita_h santo hrdayam
nirdahanti/
RV 10.034.09 Now they abide below; now they palpitate on high
handless,they overpower him who has hands; cast upon the dice-board
like coals from the sky, even though cold they burn the heart.
http://www.hindunet.org/saraswati/rigveda/rvbook10.htm
i_rin.a = salt and barren soil; water-course, rivulet; a hollow or
hole, desert land; gaming board (Skt.lex.)
The use of the word irin.a in the r.ca can be taken to mean both a
gaming board and also a salty marsh (like the Rann of Kutch).
On another list, Prof. RN Iyengar notes that the line in RV 10.34.9
should be interpreted as: "heavenly charcoals having ploughed into
Irina, burn the heart, eventhough cold." He also notes that (1) this
word occurs in S'atapatha Brahmana (V.2.3.2), where it is
interpreted as a 'self produced hollow or cleft, the residence of
deity Nirrti' who presides over destruction and (2) that Periplus of
the Erithrean Sea, which is an ancient account of a voyage along the
coast of India, refers to the Gulf of Kutch as Eirinon, which can be
recognized as the Irina of Rgveda.
The identification of the region with the Rann is fascinating
indeed. It places the locale of R.gveda clearly in a maritime,
riverine civilization context and not far from the delta areas
formed by the mouths of Rivers Sindhu and Sarasvati as they traverse
into Sindhu Sa_gara (Arabian Sea).
Any cognates for irin.a or i_rin.a 'salty marsh' in IE?
Kalyanaraman