Ap (water)

Ap () is the Vedic Sanskrit term for "water", in Classical Sanskrit occurring only in the plural, (sometimes re-analysed as a thematic singular, ), whence Hindi . The term is from PIE hxap "water".
The Indo-Iranian word survives also, as the Persian word for water, Āb, e.g. in Punjab (from panj-āb "five waters"). In archaic ablauting contractions, the laryngeal of the PIE root remains visible in Vedic Sanskrit, e.g. "against the current", from *.
In the Rigveda, several hymns are dedicated to "the waters" (): 7.49, 10.9, 10.30, 10.47. In the oldest of these, 7.49, the waters are connected with the draught of Indra. Agni, the god of fire, has a close association with water and is often referred to as as Apām Napāt "offspring of the waters". The female deity Apah is the presiding deity of Purva Ashadha (The former invincible one) asterism in Vedic astrology
In Hindu philosophy, the term refers to water as an element, one of the Panchamahabhuta, or "five great elements". In Hinduism, it is also the name of the deva, a personification of water, one of the Vasus in most later Puranic lists.
== References ==
== See also ==
* āpō, the Avestan concept of "the waters"
* Doab, spit of land lying between two confluent rivers
* Old European hydronymy
* Rigvedic rivers
* Sea and river deity
* Punjab
Category:Classical elements
Category:Hindu deities
Category:Hindu philosophical concepts
Category:Rig Veda
Category:Sanskrit toponyms
Category:Sanskrit words and phrases
Category:Water and religion