Thank you to Corinna Wessels-Mevissen and Nivedita Rout who replied off-list.

Harry Spier

On Fri, Oct 28, 2016 at 8:22 PM, Harry Spier <hspier.muktabodha@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear list members:

A gāyatrī mantra mantra to Vāyu is:

sarvaprāṇāya vidmahe
yaṣṭihastāya dhīmahi
tan no vāyuḥ pracodayāt

I've seen a translation of yaṣṭihastāya as "holding the mace" but are statues or pictoral representations of Vāyu, and if so  with a mace?

but Monier-Williams also  has a meaning of yaṣṭi as "sacrificing" which he says comes from a commentator on Panini 3-3-110 .

 By any chance could someone point out the commentator and point me to the passage MW refers to.

Also based on that definition of yaṣṭi does a translation of yaṣṭihastāya as "to the one who sacrifices with his hands" make sense. refering to the wind fanning the flames of the sacrifice.

Thanks,

Harry Spier