Thread by @blog_supplement

A yavana sealing showing god Pan with a goat before the fire altar surrounded by the zodiacal belt. In the ashvamedha ritual a goat is led before the sacrificial horse. The goat is for puShan & the horse is for indra. In the Greek tradition Socrates in this theological exposition

associates Pan with "all" -> pan -- a wordplay. He says: "Then Pan, who declares and always moves (ἀεὶ πολῶν) all..." This is reflected in the sealing as the zodiac. In offering of the goat to puShan in the ashvamedha a similar reference is made to the all-ness of puShan.

yan nirNijA rekNasA prAvR^itasya
rAtiM gR^ibhItAm mukhato nayanti |
suprA~N ajo memyad vishvarUpa
indrApUShNoH priyam apy eti pAthaH ||
facing to the good east, bleating repeatedly, the goat, is "all forms" -> vishvarUpa. Thus, Socrates was channeling an ancient IE memory

The triple-fold yajurvedic incantation to puShan as in the shruti of the kaTha-s as the protector on the road; of the herds of cattle and as the overlord:
pUShA mA prapathe pAtu | pUShA mA pashupAH pAtu | pUShA mAdhipatiH pAtu ||

The maitrAyaNIya-s have:
pUShA mA pathipAH pAtu | pUShA mA pashupAH | pAtu | pUShA mAdhipAH pAtu ||
This is explained by the kaTha-s in their brAhmaNa statement:
iyaM vai pUShA prapathe .antarikShaM pashupA dyaur adhipatir ima evainaM lokAH pAnti ||
In this real puShan on the

roads; in the atmosphere the herd-protector; the heavens the lord. Thus, these verily protect these worlds. ^ should read realm above.
The brAhmaNa on the incantation of the maitrAyaNIya-s has:
pUShA mA pathipAH pAtv iti | iyam eva | pUShA mA pashupAH pAtv iti | antarikShameva |

pUShA mAdhipAH pAtv iti | asau eva | imAn eva lokAn upAsarat | ebhyo lokebhya AtmAnaM paridhatte | ahiMsAyai ||
the statement is similar to that of the kaTha, critically adding that he verily covers these (all 3) realms with the incantation. Finally the taittirIya-shruti has the

following incantation:
pUShAdhvanaH pAtu ||
It can be mundanely rendered as: "May puShan protect the paths"; but it can also be validly rendered as: "May puShan protect the realms.
The taittirIyaka-s specify a brAhmaNa relating to this which is uttered when a cow is exchanged for

soma: pUShAdhvanaH pAtv ity Aha | iyaM vai pUShA | imAm evAsyA adhipAm akar | samaShTyai |
He utters this incantation; puShan is this world; he thus equates the cow with the lady ruling this [world] for its aquisition. Thus, the incantation associates puShan with the covering/

protection through the 3 realms. He is the watcher or protector covering the three realms. The adhvan could also symbolize the celestial zodiacal path. Thus, the "all-ness" of Pan in the Socratic discourse has deep roots with a reflex in the vaidika ritual.