vRtrahA indra

VRTRAHA INDRA Vedic mythology, as we generally know it from the Rgreda (RV), is clearly dominated by the personality of Indra By far the largest number of suhtas - about 250 out of 1028 — are ex clusively devoted to the glorification of this god Apart from these suktas, there are several others, wherein Indra is praised in association with other gods or is referred to in some other connec tion Indra is thus obviously the most popular god of the Vedic pantheon He has always been regarded almost as the very sym bol of the official Vedic religion–the Indra mythology being very nearly identified with the Vedic rcligion as a whole It is true that Indra is celebrated in nearly one fourth of the RV, but this fact must not be taken to indicate, as is usually done, that the Vedic religion had all along been dominated by the Indra my thology Such an assumption could only be the result of study ing the Vedic mythology as if it were a static phenomenon and would make it difficult rationally to correlate several mytho logical concepts in the Veda with the facts derived from the study of comparative philology, comparative mythology, anthropo logy, and the cultural history of the Aryans A critical study of the Veda would show that the Vedic mythology is essentially an cvolutionary mythology, that, at different stages in the cvolution of the Vedic mythological thought it has been domi nated by different Vedic gods, and that the Indra-dominated mythology represents but a lic stage in the course of that cyolu tion There is another aspec the Vedic mythology It will be seen that the personality of a Vedic god normally presents a cry complex picture it often contains ciements which are mutually inconsistent or sometimes cien self-contradictory Tlus peculiar inythological plicnomc. non can be satisfactoriis explained only on the assumption that a cdic god possesses a growing’ personality with the dific reat vicissitudes in Vedic life and culture, different elements came 142 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS to be introduced into the personality of a Vedic god In other words, the dynamic character of the life of the Vedic people is faithfully reflected in the complex make up of their gods To emphasize only certain specific clements in a god’s personality and thus try to define his character, one way or another, would, therefore, be unsound What we have to do is to determine, 10 the light of the facts derived from the study of comparative philo logy, comparative mythology, anthropology, and the cultural history of the Aryans, the prionty of these varied elements, and thereby present, so to say, a complete history of the entire be coming’ of a Vedic god A study of the Vedic god, Indra, from the point of view of this two fold evolutionary character of the Vedic mythology, would lumine several obscure points concern ing the Vedic mythology in general and the personality of Indra in particular If we were to analyse the large number of the RV-passages referring to Indra and his activities, we would find that they present three main strands of the personality and character of that god Indra is presented as a cosmic power, as a warlıke leader of the Vedic Aryans, and as an ancient mythical dragon killing hero Most of the descriptions of Indra are centred round his war with and subsequent victory over Vr̥tra This is by far the most outstanding event in Indra’s career A proper under standing of this event would, therefore, serve as an adequate starting point for a critical study of Indra’s personality and character We may begin with an ancient traditional attempt at interpreting this contest between Indra and Vr̥tra Yaska, the author of the Niruksa, has posed the question ko yrtrah who was Vytra? He has mentioned two principal views regarding this question it appears that, more or less by way of a purva paksa, he refers to the opinion of the Aitihasikas who believed that Vr̥tra was a demon, a son of Tvastī Without, however, caring to discuss and refute this view, Yaska states the view of the school of the Nairuktas, who held that Vịtra represented a 1 Porukia 11 16 VRTRAHA INDRA 143 cloud This passage from the Nirukta would thus clearly show that, even since very early times, there have been two principal schools of interpretation of the Vedic mythology – the historical school and the naturalistic school The etymologists, among whom Yaska was the foremost adhered to the naturalistic inter pretation The influence of the naturalistic school on Vedic studies in general has, indeed, been very great, and many scholars belonging to the earlier generation of modern Vedists accepted, without demur and almost as the final solution of the problem, the theory that the Vedic gods represented various powers of nature and that the Vedic mythology consisted of symbolical descriptions of various phenomena of nature Incidentally, it may be pointed out that, among themselves, the naturalistic mytho logists are not unanimous as to which specific power of nature a particular Vedic god represents in pursuance of the naturalistic idcology, the Vedic gods are classified into three categories those belonging to the sky, those belonging to the mid region and those belonging to the earth, in accordance with the cosmic regions where the powers of nature represented by those gods normally become evident The most dominant view so far as the naturalistic inter pretation of the Indra mythology is concerned, is the one suggest ed by Yaska His lead has been followed by a majority of the carly Vedists of the modern times Indra is said to be the personification of thunderstorm He stands at the head of the gods of the antariksa and is verily the rain god of the Vedic pan. theon The heavenly waters are obstructed by the cloud demon, Vpira Indra, therefore, smites down this cloud demon by means of his vajra or thunderbolt, and releases the waters, which then flow down in the form of rain showers The various descriptions, in the RV, of the Indra-Vr̥tra battle are said to be cleariy jadi cative of the phenomena of thunderstorm, lightning, and rain Heaven and carth tremble with fear when Indra strikes Vr̥tra with 2 As a matter of fact uska mention the vicw of tic Anti a Las alter Te has mentioned his own In his commentary on c RI Siyana cons stently follows the airulta view ( , for instance, bis comm on II 12.3, 111 336 144 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS his bolt (I 80 11,11 11 9, 10, VI 17 9) Trees bow down before Indra and so does si adhui as if in fear (I 55 4, V 32 10) As a matter of fact, cvervthing trembles when this terrific war between Indra and Vr̥tra takes place (VI 31 2) The thundering god (X 92 8 ) raises the dust on high (VI 18 2) The demon, who obstructs the free flow of waters is variously referred to as Vstra, Ahi, Sambara, etc: He lay hidden among the waters (II 11 5), and Indra is said to have killed him while he was lying across the waters (I[ 11 9) Sometimes Indra is said to have torn asunder the mountains and released the waters or cows imprisoned in its caves (1 32 11, 57 6, III 36 6, IV 17 1, X 89 7) This theme is repeated in one form or another in most of the hymns which celebrate Indra’s glory (132, 80, II 12, 14) A Vedic poet, while proclaiming the heroic deeds of Indra, begios by pointing out that the first of such deeds was that the wielder of the vajra slew the dragon lying on the mountain, released the waters, and pierced the belly of the mountains (1 32 1,2) In support of their theory that Indra is the Vedic rain god, scho lars have emphasized the fact of his close association with the Maruts Thc Maruts according to them, are clearly the storm dividities who help Indra in bis great exploit (III 35 9, 47 3-4, VI 17 11, X 113 3) Indra’s connection with the Maruts is so close that the epithet, marufian, is more or less exclusively applied to Indra" It is in their company - and often with their 3 According to MCIR (OST V, 95), the demons of drought the hostile powers in the atmosphere who malevolently shut up the watery treasure i clouds - are called by a variety of names such as tra Ahi, Susna DARSLE STETER (Omard et Ahr man p 97) calls ftra ‘1’cnveloppant while LUDWIG (Der Rg eda TII, 337) says that tra keeps away the heavenly waters from the world PERRY (JAOS 11, pp 117 205 ) 15 of the opinion that the different names for ftra are but d fferent naipes for one and the same thing namely the cloud According to Macour (The Early Rel gton, 106 ), the Ahi represents originally coth.og more than the crest of the approaching thunderstorm looked upon as a gigantic make 4 HILLEER AWDT (VILI 312 fr ) however believes that Indra s spliere of activity is diamctrically opposed to that of the Maruts He further points out that some \cd c families do not invoke Indra and the Maruts together (It may be specially noted that for this paper the first cdition (consisting of thre parts Breslau, 1891-1902) of HILLEBRANDT Ved sche Agthologie (Var) bas been used ] VRTRAHA INDRA 145 jelp - that Indra accomplishes all his celestial exploits, parti. ‘ularly his cocrcion of the evil spirits of air, who arrested rain, ad the subsequent deliverance of the heavenly streams (I 6 5, 04, 100, 101, 165, III 47 3, 4, VIII 65 2, 3, 4, X 55) ledists like ROTH (PW), OLDENBERG (Rel d Veda, 29 51, 34 ff ), MACDONELL (VM, 54 ff ), PERRY (JAOS 11, 17-205), and BLOOMFIELD (JAOS 15, 143 ), have asserted hat the picture of the thunderstorm is throughout quite clear in Il these and numerous other descriptions of this kind (1 32 13, 26, 80 12, II 30 3, V 32 4) They, therefore, hold that ndra was essentially a rain-god in the Veda • In this connection, tis assumed that philologically the roots in the words, indra and G 1847, 72 gbe root, dhe alleries of Rom 5 OLDENDERG believes that Indra is a storm-god, who bears certain re Tadian features 6 Rotit ( Zellers Thrologusches Jahrbuch 1846 352 ) was originally of the pinion that Indra was the god of the bright clear vault of the heaven He erived the name Indra from the root, dh dh and took it to mean the radiant one’ (ZDVIG 1847, 72 A) LABBEN ( Ind Alter I, 893) adopted hus Tice of Rott though the etymology of the word suggested by him was Tercat from Rom. As a matter of fact Indras close connection with the ky was assumed by several other schoları like BENFEY (00 48 fr ), MAX JULLER (Ledures on Semce of Language II, 470), GRASINANY (RV) and YRIANTIEUS (Die Afons Xvi) Bexrey regarded Indra as the god of the ain-sky wbile Max MULLER held that the real representative of Jupiter, ‘in he Veda, was not Dyaus but Indra According to that scholar and MUR OST V, 77), Indra was to be identified with Jup ter Pluvius Later on, however, VLAX MULLER Calls Indra the chief solar deity of India (Ch ps II,

1. It has been pointed out by PERRY ( Opal) that Indra cannot be tgarded as a deity of the sky Hc u csscntially the deity of the mid region According to Yaska Surya 13 the god in the sky, Indra (or Vayu) in the bulantte and Agni upon thic carth PERRY further suggests that, among all ado-Earopcan mytholog a thus division of the universe into three regions is foulcat to be the mythology The v al Sanctions of Dyam, 5 ton queror of cloud demons were according to him transferred by the Indian to another god, namely, ladra who was a specifically Indian disinity This gave rise to lodra • supposed »dentifcation with the sky The theory about ndza being a shy god l as hoxtror, not found much favour with the later Veduta ditn though they accepted the altural suc interpretation of the cdic mythology There arc, indec I only two most popular yariations of dic naturaliste Interpretation of the Indra myti ology –namely, to new Indn either as a rain fod or as a sin god Only these two, therefore, hare been docused at sorrc length in thu paper 19146 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS indu, are related to each other, and that, as suggested by MAX MULLER,Indra may have thus been associated with drops of rain water & It has been further suggested by some of the scho lars mentioned above that there was a two fold development of this basic character of Indra On the one hand, from a mere god of thunderstorm, he was elevated to the position of an all. god- of the creator and director of the entire universe (I 52 14, II 30 1, IV 30 22, X 54 5), and on the other, the Vedic poets brought about the humanization of Indra’s divind and cosmic person and described him as a human hero and war lord (1 10 3, 130 8, IV 26 3, VI 18 3, VIII 14 5, 24, 27 6, X 49 2) Let us critically examine the theory that Indra is the raja god in the Veda It must be mentioned, at the very outset, that there undoubtedly are, in the personality of Indra as represented in the RV, a large number of elements of the character of a rain god But we may ask can these elements be said to be the basic elements in Indra’s character? And, secondly, con these ele ments alone be said to indicate the entire personality and character of that god? A minute and careful consideration of the descriptions in the RV of the Indra-Vr̥tra-contest brings out some significant facts in this connection It will be seen that, in all such descriptions, the words like thunder!, cloud’s * lightning’, ‘rain’, etc, seldom occur directly The waters, which Indra is credited with having released and let flow, are often terrestrial, rather than celestial, waters The terms, which are frequently used in these passages, are ’thunderbolt’, ‘moun tain", fortresses’, ‘cows’, ’light’, ‘waters’, etc One would, therefore, be justified in asking whether the main intention of the Vedic poets could have really been to suggest the phenomena of 7 Chips New Ed IV, 396 Also MIACDOVELL. VAI, 66 8 Some scholars suggest that indu may rather indicate the drops o Soma of which Indra is so fond BENFEY seems to connect the word, india, with the root Sand ROTH, giving up bis onginal suggestion, derives it from the root in np (= to press to urge) with the suffix ra for nomina agents and tac addition of euphonic d Indra thus means one who urges on or presse forward (the rain water) VRTRAHĀ INDRA 147 thunderstorm and rain through the symbolism of the Indra Vr̥tra war * The occurrence, in the RV, of poetic symbolism is, it may bc pointed out, guite understandable But at least once in a while we should have come across Vedic passages which are un cquivocably indicative of the phenomenon of rain Indeed, BERGAIGNE seems to be right when he suggeststo that there is in the RV, no clear mention of Indra’s being responsible for the rain fall" The symbolism of vajra, pariata, pur, gauh, etc, can bc interpreted and this, more or less satisfactorily – in several ways As a matter of fact, it is actually interpreted variously It is, verily, difficult to understand why the Vedic poets should have described the basic character and exploits of their principal god in such vague and undefinite terms The identification of Indra with the rain god is based on some other identifications, which seem to be taken for granted Indra’s vajra for instance, is understood to be the regular mytho logical name for lightning But do the Vedic passages referring to vajra support such an exclusive assumption? The ajra is generally described as ajasa or metallic (I 52 8, 57 2) It is said to be four aogled (IV 22 2), hundred angled (VI 17 10), hundred jointed (VIII 6 6), and thousand pointed (I 80 12) It is sharp (VII 18 18 ) and Indra whets it like a kaife (1 55 I, 130 4) Such descriptions are too specific to be regarded as symbolically indicative of lightning Moreover, though ajra is ludra’s special weapon, it is not the only weapon which he uses He is sometimes descobed as being armed with a bow and arrows

9. Indra Vila-core poes tes Fivers 9 Iven OLDENTERA holds (Rd, 140 ) ihat the mountains’ mentioned in the Indra rira-confct are not to be understood symbolcally as clouds but that, for the Vedic poet tics were real mountains. So too the nsen were not celestial waters but actual rivers on the carth particularly Vipsf aad Sutude! 10 LRI II, 18s 11 According to GRUTTE (as q loted by 10 7 10S 36 255), 11 wu actually open to question whether Indra to the Vedc pocts themselves was deity who gave rain IILLENRANDT has ponted out (IVUIT 165) that nura can be and to hate been mentioned clearly as the giver of rains only In 6 p ages in the Ri Thcsc passages form bul an insignificant minonly gain thok wh ch rpcat of the delrierarse of waters in geacral. 148 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS (VIII 77 11, X 103 2-3), or as carrying anhusa (X 449) These latter descriptions can hardly be said to fit in with the rain god theory 1? Another equation, on which the rain-god theory is based, is that Vr̥tra is the cloud demon Several objections can be raised against this equation To begin with, it may be pointed out that the word varathra occurs frequentlyi n the Avesta That that word is philologically the ancient Iranian cognate of the Vedic word yrtra is beyond any shade of doubt In a subsequent part of this paper, we shall have to consider the word vrtra in all its aspects In the present context, however, it may be pointed out that in the Avesta, the word varathra does not signify a cloud demon even remotely Further, in che Ayesia, we come across a god called Vrthragna, but he is in no way connected with the rains 13 Again, supposing that Indra was the rain.god in the Vedic mythology, no rational explanation can be given of the fact that Aodra, who is obviously the ancient Iranian counterpart of Iadra, is represented in the Aresta, as an obnoxious demon Why should a mere rain god of the Veda have been transformed into the third worst devil in the Iranian mythology? In the descriptions of the Indra-Vr̥tra contest the Vedic poets have frequently used certain words and idioms in a more or less technical sense, such as, for instance, api+dhā, gras, bādh, rudh, vr, stabh, pari+stha, etc HILLEBRANDT has made a critical and analytical study of all such words and has come to the conclusion that they do not fit in well with the phenomenon of rain". It will be thus seen that the descriptions, in the RV, of the Indra Vţtra-contest are such as do not warrant the assumption that they indicate, primarily and unequivocally, the phenomenon of rain Even if the symbolism in those descriptions is considered from the naturalistic point of view, it may be possible to interpret it in terms of some other natural phenomena as well It does not, 12 HILLIDRANDT has rightly pointed out (M III, 165) that the tota need not be necessarily regarded as the d sunctive characteristic of a storm god 13 According to SPIEGEL Ansche Periode 197), the regular rain god of the ancient Iranian mythology is Titar 14 TANII, 174-75 VRTRAHĀ INDRA 149 therefore, stand to reason to suggest, on the strength of such in. definite evidence, that Indra is basically a rain god There is another significant point to be noted in this connec tion In the Vedic mythology there are three dividities which are more or less closely connected with the phenomenon of rain Tria Aptya, Parjanya, and Indra from among these three, Indra seems to be later than the other two As a matter of fact, Indra secms to have been added to the Vedic pantheon later than many other gods The tradition preserved in the Taitti rija-Brahmona (II 2 3 3, II 2 7 2) pamely, that Prajapati created all gods but not ladra and that Indra was later gene rated among them as a new power is highly significant in this connection lodra is referred to in the Taimurija Samhita (II 34 2) as deanam anwjāsara Under these circumstances, a question may occur why did the Vedic poets feel the necessity of creating a new rain god when they already had two in their pantheon If, op the other hand, it is suggested, for the sake of argument, that the concept of Indra is earlier than that of either Parjanya or Trita Āptya, it may still be asked, and, perhaps, with greater validity, why the latter two apparently subsidiary rain. divinitics should have been thought of by the Vedic mythologist who already there existed, in the Vedic ponthcon, a very promie nent rain god, namely, Indra As regards Parjanya, it might be argued that between lodra and Parjanja there is no absolute similarity For, while Parjanya is the rain itself, Indra represents the rain giving god 18 No such distinction can be made between lodra and Trita Āptya The character of Parjanya, in the Veda, is quite transparent, but that of Trita Artya is rather vague and scurt There arc, in the RI, about forty passages which refer to Trita Apiya, and talon collectively, they seem to indicate, albeit vaguely, that god’s connexion with atmospheric waters for in. stance, it is said that when the mighty Maruts go forth, Trita 15 It may, however, i incidentally ronted out that the magic charms for the bring og orun art tredom manily Audressed to godt otro iban Indra 150 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS thunders, and waters roar wandering in their course (V, 54 2770 Such a connexion can be confirmed also by an etymological consideration of the name, Āptya 17 In the RV, Trita some times appears in the special capacity of a preparer of Soma (II 11. 20, IX 32 2, 34 4, 38 2, 102 2) This secondary trait accruing to him must have obviously been the extension of his primary character, namely, that of the bringer of rains 19 A critical examination of the RV-passages referring to Trita brings forth an illuminating set of facts so far as his relations with Indra are concerned Though, in some passages, he appears as almost identical with Indra so far as his activities in connection with the rain phenomenon are concerned (I 187 1, VIII 7 24), there is absolutely no doubt that Indra and Trita were distinct persona lities Again, it would become quite clear that, though Indra also is called Aptya (X 120 6), Trita must have been the original Aptya The earlier occurrence in the Avesta of the ancient Ira pian counterpart of the latter, namely, Thrita, than that of Jodra 15, indeed, a significant piece of evidence in this connection 16 MACDONELL (TRAS 1893, 419 ff has tried to show that Trita Aplya represents the third form of Agni He is, according to hun, the divinity of lightning Thc peculiar relationsbıp between Indra and Trica cannot, however, be adequately accounted for f MACDONELL’s view is accepted Moreover, V 54 2, Trita is clearly distinguished from lightning Also of M FOWLER, JAOS 67, 59 60 BLOOMFIELD (JAOS XVI, cxıx) regards Trita as a scape goat of the gods 17 Obviously, the word is philologically connected with ap (= watch GUNTEET, however, tries to connect it not very convincingly, with apela ape intcrprets it as ‘friend’ (Der arische Weeknig und Hailand, 33) K. RON (Tnta Apoya Eine vedische Colthet, Uppsala, 1927) holds that the origina form of Trita s name was Trito- He has dealt, in great detail, with a character as a spirit of the waters, lustratory genius, dragon slayer, and we brewer and dispenser of Soma 18 The ancient Aryan clans, who had specialised themselves in preparation of Soma (Haoma), may have, later on, been named the Apty (Athwyas) 19 The counterpart of Indra, namely, Andra, appears in the Aucsia". later stage, and that too as a demon In the Avesla, the personality of Aryan Trita us, so to say, split up into two As Thrita, he is connected wil the preparation of Haoma, while, as Thractaona, he alyas the fiendish angon Azi Dabaka) VRTRAHÁ INDRA 151 But a stul more significant piece of evidence as RV I 52 5, where ladra is described as having performed the feat of conquering the raio stealers in the manner of Tnta This passage clearly shows that the function of overcoming the cloud demons and releasing the celestial waters originally belonged to Trita, white, later on, lodra stepped into the shoes of that original Aryan rain god and imitated him in the explort of bringing rarns Trita’s victory over the rain stealers must have been regarded as so primary and characteristic as achievement of his as to be mentioned as an illustration (1 52 5, V 86 1 ) Three distinct stages may be marked in the development of the rain god mythology in the Veda The Vedic poets must have originally glorified the rain god of their Aryan ancestors namely, Trita Aptya This god thus found a place in the mytho logies of both the branches of the Aryans, namely, the ancient Iranians and the Vedic Indians Later on, as the result of some peculiar mythological development among the latter, a new god ame to be regarded as tbe rain god in the Vedic mythology That god was Indra But even after Indra s celebration as a rain god, in the RV, the original Aryan rain god was not altoge ther forgotten As shown above Indra was desoribed as imitat ing Trita in his fent of conqucting the rain stealers (1 52 5) There arc, however, unmistakablc indications in the RV that Indra was gradually superseding the original rain god bepeyer Trita appcars with Indra the former is clearly represented as the subordinate of the latter (II 11 19 20, VIII 12 16, X 878, 99 6)* Moreover, a large number of Vedic passages sofersing to Trita arc such as would suggest that that god had been slowly bun Surely siaking into obuvibn Hc is never presented in cicat cod Jife hic form but is mentioned in cursory allusions Trita is 20 II closely stud ed such pasiges xem to show that Trita aod ladn have bem connected wh ach other art fally ani fader as the result of purporful altert ought Kont mys (Oran of Brahmin Cong. JBBRIS 26 GH) Koowing what we now do of be Aryan innauon it A s plaus ble that Tata u Indra or one of the inna lung Aryan chefs Later Colccundy dcific under the tlc of ladra 132 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS said to be dwelling 10 the farthest distance (1 105 9, VIII 47 13 17) because, as ROTH rightiy points out 21 he had gradually become more and more obliterated from memory 22 The fact that Trita is not at all mentioned in certain mandalas, such as, the second, the fourth, and the seventh particularly, the seventh — 15 also highly significant in this context 23 This sub Ordination of Trita by Indra represents the second stage in the evolution of the Vedic rain god mythology In the last stage, Trita, who was the original Aryan god of storm and rain, indeed older than Indra, was completely shelved into the background as the result of the growing popularity of lodra as the rain god It is suggested’ that dim reminiscence of Trita’s vanished glory and an allusion to his final subordination may be lurking in II 34 10 Trita is there said to have been given over to the derision of the worshipper All this discussion will have now made it amply clear that Indra was not the original rain god of the Veda, and that, as the result of some peculiar mythological development, the character of rain god was superimposed on his primarily different personality It may be incidentally pointed out, in this connec. tion, that the line of contact between the Indo European store gods on the one hand and the Vedic Indra on the other is nowhere distinct or even provable It should be further remembered that Indra is a god, who originated and grew specifically among the Vedic Aryans If it were to be supposed that he had been a rain god from the very beginning, it would be difficult satisfactorily to explain why the Vedic poets should have created a Dew rain god of a specifically Indian ongın Moreover the facts that Indra was elevated to the position of the national god of the Vedic Indians and that he came to be regarded as the truc symbol of their official religion 21 Die Sage von Feridun , ZDAG II, 221 22 The few Alhartaveda passages referring to Trita also suggest the idea of a remote god 23 Its not unlikely that there were originally quite a large number of Vedic mantras celebrating Trita but they were not all preserved owing to the definitely deter orating poulion of that goal 24 LD PERRY, “Jadra in the Rig Veda ,JAOS 11, 117 f VRTRAHA INDRA 153 nnot be adequately accounted for on the assumption that Odra’s basic character was that of a rain god Why should a in god have been raised to that position in India, but not else here? There is one more point, which definitely goes against nc assumption of Indra’s basic character as a rain god As a atter of fact, that point can be raised, with equal relevance, alost all paturalistic interpretations of the Indra mythology more or less detailed reference will have to be made, in a sub quent part of this paper, to the human character of Indra as resented in certain passages of the Veda A careful study of ich passages would at once convince one that they cannot have -en the result of the humanization of an originally naturalistic vinity Some details of the human aspect of Indra’s personality, uch as the mysterious manner of his birth, his assuming various orms, his peculiar interest in the welfare of unmarried girls, his eat fondness for the intoxicating beverage, Soma which is metimes made fun of by the Vedic poets, and several others hich will be mentioned later, are so realistic and intimate that would be difficult to believe that they are artificially super iposed on Indra’s original character as a rain god by the fancy the Vedic poets We have, therefore, to conclude that, though acrc arc, in the personality of Indra as presented in the RV, Itain clements normally belonging to the rain god mythology, Gesc elements cannot be said to represent either the primary or nc exclusive traits of his basic character HILLEBRANDT has interpreted the lodra Vr̥tra war in quite different light – though, again, mainly from the naturalistic sint of view 25 He had originally adopted the popular VICW 11t Indra was the rain god of the Vedic pantheon Later on, owever, on a closer examination of the litcrature (both Vedic ad post Vedic) and ritual relating to Indra he found it neces ary to revise his vicws more or less radically As indicated Isewhere, he starts by critically studying the words and idioms, Ich as api+dha, badh, erdh, ir, etc, which are frequently used 25 IV III, pp 153-344 154 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS in the descriptions of the evil deeds of Vśtra, from which Ind is said to have brought about deliverance These words a idioms, according to him, cannot be understood to refer, er remotely, to the phenomenon of rain Again, the pariatas adrı, asman), which also are often referred to in that conte do not signify the clouds 26 As a matter of fact, clouds 1 distinguished from the pari atas, for, it has been said that 1 wings of the pariatas were cut off and that those wings beca clouds And, why should clouds have been regarded as demoi In Indian literature, generally a cloud is hailed as the bringer rains and not condemned as the obstructor of celestial watt HILLEBRANDT has, therefore, suggested that the waters obstr. ed by Vr̥tra are not the celestial rain waters, but that they : actually the streams of earthly rivers According to bim development of the Vedic mythology is not necessarly restric to the geographical limits of India He further points that, so far as the Indra Vstra legend is concerned, there sufficient ground to assume that, in its original form, ! legend was not indigenous to India but that it was carried the Vedic people from outside India to their new home. ? season, in which Vr̥tra is described as lying on the mounta cannot be the summer in that season, the waters are not loc up, on the other hand, the rivers are in spate as the result of melting of the glaciers in the North Western mountains In the opinion of HILLEBRANDT, Vr̥tra is the winter dem who locks up the flow of the river-streams At the advent of spring, Indra, that is to say, the sun god, overpowers Vstra, winter demon, and releases the waters It is the winter not cloud – which is universally regarded as the obstructor waters 27 In the winter, the streams in the North-Western res dwindle away But, as the mountain snows melt on the api ach of the Indian summer followed by the rainy season, 26 HILLEBRANDT also points to the significant absence, in thosc dc LIOLS, of such uncqunlocal terms as ashra, megha etc 27 HILLEBRANDT has supported this statement by means of * quotations from ancient and modern literature VRTRAHA INDRA 155 waters rise and overflow the surrounding country 29 In support of his theory that lodra was primarily the sun god, who con quered the winter-demon, Vetra, and thereby released the locked. up waters, HILLEBRANDT has tried to adduce much evidence In the frequent allusions to Vr̥tra, as śayāna (sleeping), he finds a suggestion of the winter representing the “sleep of nature’ In the Atharvaseda ( HIT 10 12), Ekastala that is, the new year’s night, is said to be the mother of lodra, thus implying that Indra is the symbol of the advent of the new year, that is, of the spring One of the demons, bulled by Indra, is called Rauhoa This may be but one of the many names by which Vįtra is referred to in the Veda HILLEBRANDT interprets Rauhina as the moon and confirms the identification of Vr̥tra with the winter by pointing out that the moon is the lord of the winter Coming to the Vedic ritual, HILLEBRANDT emphasizes the facts that the mid day oblation ( madhjahna savana) is normally offered to Indra (be cause he is the sun god )29 and that Indra is associated with grisma 30 A careful examination of the cvidence adduced by the spon sors of the rain god theory and the sun-god theory 10 support of their respective theories, would seem to show that these theories cancel each other Broadly speaking, most of the objections raised againt the first naturalistic interpretation of the Indra mythology, which has been discussed above, can, with cqual vall. dity, be raised against this second naturalistic interpretation as well It may be pointed out, for instance, that Vara’s counter part in the Alesta does not signify the water demon even remo. tcly Wlat, again, is the vajra of the sun god ?% ff lodra was 28 Cf IIUWTER, Atlas of India p 7, as quoted by HILLENRANDT IIILLEPRANDT also quotes from Arrian, Anab V 94 BALFOOR, Cyd Ind I y Indus THORNTOV, Afamour 07 maps illustrating the ancuni grography of Kasm’s, P 99, etc. 29 C Salamatha Dr II 4 4 12 90 A1$ 11 7 20, TS II 1 2 5, SPD XIII 5 4,28 31 As po nted out by Horrins (ZAOS 36, 242 ), uc usc of stone And total u yaonymous wuh Indra s mwild bar oul uc Juggation that hu Doraal weapon tight be the burning sun beams156 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS originally a sun-god belonging, as HILLEBRANDT suggests, parti cularly to the pre Iadian Vedic mythology, no satisfactory explana tion could be given as to why he should have been condemned to the position of a demon in the ancient Iranian mythology Further, there was already, in the Vedic pantheon, one sun god, namely, Surya What could have been the specific reasons for introducing a new sun god? As a matter of fact, Indra and the sun are often mentioned side by side thus indicating their distinct personalities (1 32 4, 51.4, II 12 7. III 31 15, VI 17 3, 21 3, VIII 12 30, X 171 4 Again, the elevation of a solar divinity to the supreme position in the Vedic pantheon cannot be adequately accounted for The descriptions, in the RV, of the Indra-Vr̥tra battle are such as produce the impression that that battle had been parti cularly violent and fearful (1 80 11, II 11 9-10, VI 17 9) In overpowering Vr̥tra, bus vanquisher, Indra, had to perform enormously terrific feats (I 32 5,57 6, 80 14) Such descrip tions would appear quite incongruous when related to the springe time sud At the advent of the spring, the sun appears as a particularly life giving ard energising power rather than as a fear ful giant Further, it is to be seriously doubted whether the phenomenon of the dwindling away of rivers in the winter, even in the regions mentioned by HILLEBRANDT, was actually so very common and significant in the life of the Vedic people as to be made the central iheme of the mythology relatiog to their greatest god The idea of glaciers, etc, which are supposed to be lock ing up the waters of the rivers, is nowhere unequivocally present cd in the RV HILLEBRANDTS suggestions that Rauhina, as the moon, is the lord of the winter and thus represents the winter demon killed by Indra, and that the references to sayāna Vr̥tra may poetically signifv the sleed of nature (that is, the winter) VRTRAHA INDRA 157 were to be accepted, Indra should have been connected with the sasanta rather than the grisma Other features of the Indra mythology, particularly Indra’s close association with the Maruts and his proverbial fondness for the intoxicating beverage, would not fit in well with the sun god theory The human elements in Indra’s character are, as indicated above, too vital and realistic to be regarded merely as the result of anthropomorphic tenden cies It is, therefore, difficult to accept HILLEBRANDT’s theory that Indra originally represented the sun god 97 As a matter of fact, that scholar himself could not altogether overlook the fact that the elements relating to the phenomenon of rain are suffi clently prominent in Indra’s personality He, therefore, conclu symbolical descript” sthology 1, pp 141-42) the Science of Language 3? Several other variations of the solar theory have been proposed by scholars Mas MOLLER, for instance, sees in the Indra Vstra myth the symbolical description of the daily triumph of light over darkness (Contri bution to the Same of Afythology I, pp 141-42) It may be recalled that he has identified Indra also with Jupiter Pluvus ( Lectures on the Sacter of Language 11, 470) Hc bclicvcs that ytra primarily the demon of darkness and that the vascularing of poctic imagery between dark night and dark cloud would be quite in keeping with the Vedic myth making BG TILAK (Arche Home, 233 ff ), who propounded the theory that the Vedic mythology, 23 a whole, can be best understood only by relating it to the natural phenomena observable in the Arctic region saw in Indra the sun-god who overpowered the demon of darkness who dominated that region continuously for some months, VA GADCIL suggests (ABORI XXIII, pp 134 ff that Indra and Varuṇa represent the two aspects of the central Vedic concept of pla Varuṇa, according to hin the representative of the passivc moral Principle while Indra is the representative of the highest physical aspect of nature GADCU. further zuggests that the concept underlying the Indra Vpra myth the eternal conflict between leas and tamas It may be pointed out that GADCIL a interpretation, besides not being supported by Vedic evidence is far too abstract It is indecd, doubtful whether Vedic poets ever made a clear cut istinction between the physical and the non physical aspects of nature More or less the same thing can he said about the theory of FATEH SINGH (JBHU 5), who sees in Indra the deity of universal light and energy He interprets the myth of Indra s birth through the side of bus mother as representing the first light of dawa wh ch is visible in a circular way R Sram SASTRI (DC Law Vol 1, 227-281) conoccts the Vedic mythology with astronomical bodies and phenomena According to him, Indra 15 the sun fighting with the eclipse demon Sambara he explains Thomas Comm l’ol, 257-61), is an eclipse-demon of the type of Rahu and (Continued on the next page 1 158 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS ded that Indra was originally the sun, but, in the RV, is no longer the sun god, while not yet a rain god 53 For, as he points out, the six passages in the RV, which unequivocally refer to Indra as the giver of rains, occur in the fourth, the eighth, and the tenth mandalas, which fact would indicate, according to him, that the character of Indra as a rain god was still not established in the Rgvedic times HILLEBRANDT, however, does not seem to have taken into account the fact that several descriptions of the Indra Vr̥tra fight in the RV, 31 though not necessarily indicative of Indra’s essential character as rain god, do indirectly imply the phenomenon of storm and rain Those descriptions may not and, as shown above, do not prove that Indra was primarily a rain god But they do certainly indicate that, among the naturalistic elements superimposed on Indra’s original character, those normally connected with a rain god are more prominent The foregoing discussion of the two principal naturalistic interpretations of the Indra mythology will have made it amply clear that the naturalistic or cosmic elements could not have been either the basic or the primary elements in Indra’s character They clearly produce the impression of having been superimposed Rus means the cl yield rain til PRESS Op til she theme of (Continued from the last page) ladra s battle with him represents a slow clearancc of the eclipse A reference may in passing be made also to the theory put forth by PC SENGUPTA (“When Indra became moghtan’ JASBL IV, 445 F that Indra was the god of the summer soluce Indra became maghatan when the sun at the summer solstice reaches the magh) constellation According to SENGUPTA, thus happened an 4170 BC He further identifies asi-sd with ahi and sugge that ahi means the clouds which were seen in the sky from the fi$ogo alles which did not yield rain tul the rising or magha. 33 VIII 195–96 CE, HOPKE 3 Opel 34 OLDENPERO has shown (AG 115 ) that the theme of the ladra Vera fight is treated an all the man alas of the RI 35 The very significant remarks made in this connection by HOPKINS (Religions of Ind a p 91 ) may be quoted here with advantage. Hope tays 4 Indra has been identif cd with storm, with the sky’, with the year, also with the sun and with ‘fire in general But if he be taken as he as found in the hymny it will be not ced at once that he is too stormy to be t’le yun too luminous to be the storm, too near to the phenomena of the monsoon to be the year or the sky, toorainy" to be furt, too alien from esery one thing to be any one thing . mitys also with the sun it will be note the storm, 100 to be fire, VRTRAHA INDRA 159 on the original personality of that god Our aim will, therefore, be, firstly, to find out what the original character of Indra must have been, and, secondly, to describe and rationally account for the circumstances under which the cosmic elements must have been superimposed on his personality 3* One thing which would strike even a casual student of the Todra-mythology is the fact that in no other god of the Vedic pantheon are the features of human appearance (akrt) and la edic, and Vedic tout scholar has adduced c. PP 242 ff) 36 Some other theorics regarding the basic character and personality of Indra baic also been put forth by scholars HOPKNS, for instance, believes that Indra was originally a god of fertility (JAOS 36, pp 242 ff) In support of his theory, that scholar has adduced evidence from the cpic, post-Vedic, and Vedic sources In the epics, Indra i called pakafasona (= crop controller ?), and the festival of Indra u always associated with harvest and fortuity rather than with victory Io the PfraskaraGS (II 17 9), Indra’s wife is said to be Sit, that is personificd furrow Indra figures as the foremost among the gods worshipped at the ceremony of first starting the ploughs (Cf Gobhilas IV 4 28 ) In AV IV 4 4, Iodra 1 said to be responsible for putting vinlity in the o adhus Indra is described in the RP 25 utvarHart, he wins the tilth, is lord of tilth, as he 11 lord of cattle (11 21 6, VI 601, VII 21 3) Such references, according to HIOPKINS, indicate that Indra was first celebrated as a demon of fertility He was then accepted as the chief war god among two or three clans (HOPKNS bas clscwhere - JAOS 37, 83 ff - tried to show that the combination of gods of war and fertility 1not uncommon) From war god he was later on elevated to be the greatest god of the large group of clans Without cxamining, in detai, the vicws of HQFAINS, we may only point out that several of thic objections raised against the rain god thcory or the sun god theory can be raised, with cqual appositeness, against the fertility-god theory as well The references to thu aspect of Indra’s character arc clearly secondary and incidental. It is not unlikely that tlac hinu regarding the power of fertility possessed by Indra are duc to the combination of the elements of the rain-god and the sun god, which were superimposed on his personality Its well known that the sun and the rain together on use fertility One great drawback of the naturalistic and simular other interpretations Is that their sponsors stm to view Vedic mythology as if it were a static phcaatacnon They forget that, in consonance with the various 17c1iSitudes In the Vedic way of life and thought, there must have been revitably elected ngalfcant modifications in the Vedic mythology as well Therefort, lo emphauzt only one aspect of the personality of a cdc god without taking into account the other aspects and thereby try to determine the basic character of thrt god u bound to prove a faulry procedure It would lead but to a partnl picture of the personality of that god 160 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS character (prakrti) so conspicuously prominent as in Indra A closer examination of the descriptions of Indra’s person and character would further convince one that so plastic a figure as his and so essentially human a behaviour as is attributed to him cannot be considered to have been the result of more anthropo morphism It may be pointed out that, as against the vague and indefinite naturalistic elements, the human features in Indra’s personality are so realistic and life like that one feels iaclined unhesitatingly to accept the latter as more basic and essential Indra’s body, bead, arms, and hands are very often referred to (11 162, VIII 963) He is said to be golden in colour (1 72, VIII 66 3) His body is gigantic, his neck mighty, and his back brawny His arms are sleek, and his hands thick and firm — both right and left being particularly well shaped (I 1026, IV 219, VI 193, VIII 81 1) He has hardsome cheeks (or lips ), and is, therefore often called susipra (II 126, 335), Siprin 29 2, III 36 10), or sipraian ( VI 17 2) He is tawny haired (X 96 5,8) and tawny bearded (X 234) These and several other similar descriptions of Indra s person unmistakably produce before our minds eye a very life lıke picture of a tall, strong, well formed, handsome, blonde Aryan Far more life lıke, how eyer, are the descriptions of some peculiar physical mannerisms of that god He agitates his jaws (VIII 76 10 ), or puffs out his beautiful lips (III 321) ip a characteristic fashion, in an cipation of or after the Soma draught Once he is described very realistically, indeed – as shaking off the drops of Soma from his moustaches (11 11 17) There are references to another peculiar movement of the upper lip, and to the shaking of the beard (X 231, 26 7) Such characteristic physical traits and mapnerisms must necessarily be distinguished from the very general human traits attributed to a god as the result of the normal anthropomorphic tendencies Indra’s appearance and mannerisms are so very distinctively individual that they seem to have been derived from a specific human person Another peculiarity which clearly distinguishes Indra from the other major gods of the Veda, is the fact that he is frequently VRTRAHA INDRA 161 referred to as having been born Two entire hymns, namely, III 48 and IV 18, deal with the subject of his birth In one of these hymns. Indra is said to have been born in an unnatural way, that is, through the side of his mother (IV 18 1-2) A special reference to such an unusual phenomenon would become meaning Jess unless there had been in vogue, among the people, some such traditional belief relating to the birth of an actual human hero As is scll known, such miraculous birth is always associated, 10 the popular mind, with a great and unique person 37 It is further not unlikely that the reference to Indra’s having killed his father in order to snatch away Soma from him and having thus made his own mother a widow (III 48 4, IV 18 12) is the result of popular myth making based on an ordinary historical fact such as that Indra’s father dicd suddenly soon after his birth 38 Indra’s miraculous power is said to have become evident as soon as he was born (111 518, Y 30 5, VIII 45 4, 771, X 113 4) In X 1531, there is a reference to the infant god surrounded by atten dant women Apother interesting reference is to be found in VIII 69 15, where the immature boy, Indra, of head strong temperament, is spoken of as having mounted a new wagon, and roasted, for his parents, a fierce bull All these descrip 37 Attention may be drawn to the myth regard og Alexander alleged miraculous birth Such myths do not affect the historicity of the hero about whom they are warrated The naturalistic interpretations of thu myth, such as that it may have been derised from the souon of lightning breaking from the side of the storm-cloud ( MACDONELL, VN, 56 ), or that it refers to the first light of dawn, which is visible in a circular way (FATEH SOCH. JBHU 5), are clearly unconvincing According to W Norman BROWN (Siddheshirar l’arpa Com Vol, 1950 pp 131-36), there 1 no necessity of assuming In lra s unnatural birth from his mothers side He interprets the phrase, Afd. surganini, in the sense of accompanying’ Scc also Drow, 740S 62, PP 93-95 33 rSoo (“Indra und der Somaraub nach dem RP , Jacob: Comh Sol, 298 239 ) tries to correlate dc apparently varying accounts regarding Indra 1 nativity given in RV III 48 and IV 18 According to him Vyarha (IV 18 9) wems to have been the father of Indra Thu Vyarını was a Din ind Indra killed him Tvastron the other hand, mentioned in I11 40.4 and IV 10 3 was Indra, great father {111 40 2 ), that 18, India’s traitztal Tandlate Sizo accordingly says that Indra Lelonged to the Disas, on uc Tather 1 alde, and to the gouls (Aryans), on the mothers ude 162 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS tions point unmistakably to the basic human character of Indra’s personality A reference has already been made elsewhere to the tradı tional belief that Indra is a later addition to the Vedic pantheon This very significant tradition cannot be adequately explained except on the assumption of Indra’s primarily human personality It implies that Indra was not originally a god, but that he was a human hero who attained godhead by virtue of his miraculous exploits Not only that, but he soon superseded the older gods (VII 21 7) and came to be regarded as the foremost among them (II 121) This fact is mythologically represented in a variety of ways in the later Vedic literature ( TS II 342, MSI 94, TB II 233, 277, AB VIII 4 12) But by far the most convincing proof of the essentially human character of Indra is the fact that the Vedic poets have often referred to what may be called the weaknesses’ of that god One such oft-mentioned weakness is Indra’s proverbial fondness for Soma Hıs immoderate indulgence in the intoxicating beverage is a favourite theme of the Vedic poets Indra is spoken of as having gone to the extent of stealing Soma to quench his thirst (III 48 4, VIII 44) He was somapa par excellence But his was not merely an addict’s passion for drink For Soma always exhilarated him to carry out his warlıke deeds (II 151, 192, VI 47 1-2, VII 222, VIII 926) For, instance, in order to prepare himself for a decisive war with Vr̥tra, Indra is described of course, hyperbolically to have drunk three tankfuls of Soma (V 29 7) But the most significant sukta, which must needs be mentioned in the present context, is X 119 39 In this sūkla, Indra is represented as being under the influence of an excessive draught of Soma and consequently boasting of his greatness and capricious power As PERRY has rightly pointed out, Indra’s condition after a drink of Soma parodied in this suhta is too realistic not to be considered human It is a fine example of 39 40 This sukla u traditionally known as Leba sukla TERRY, Op ett VRTRAHA INDRA 163 caricature and would remind one of modern newspaper caricatures - either in the form of humorous articles or of cartoons in which innocent fun is made of some foible in tlic character of a great personage No disrespect is, however, thereby intended On the other hand, by light-heartedly poking at such a foible, that high personality is brought neater to the hearts of the people, for, it, indeed, emphasizes his essential humapness As a matter of fact, it is believed that such harmless foibles enhance, rather than detract from, the genuine greatness of that person Ipdra, the human hero, must have been in the habit of indulging in a more or less sumptuous draught of Soma in order to invigorate himself before entering battle This well known habit of his seems to have been made the subject of a delightful parody in the Laba suhta Similarly Indra is represented as an expert in female lore (VIII 33 17) He seems to have taken a peculiar interest in the welfare of the children of uomarried girls (IL IS 7) As a domestic aider and as particularly interested in girls not yet married, he appers in the form of the little man’ iqvoked by Apālā (VIII 91 ), who chews Soma plant and prepares grain for him that he may make her friutful” In AV (VIII 6 13), Indra is said to come to the help of a pregnant woman Though Indra’s amorous adventures are nowhere clearly mentioned in the RI, there are, in it, a few faint jedications of that trait of his character These latter must have, indeed, been the basis of Indra’s representation, in later mythology, as a romantic figure a ‘gay Lothario’"? In the Athari aleda, Indra is once said to have been enticed away by an Asura female ( VII 38 2) In another Vedic passage, we are told that Indra, being enamoured of a danari, named Valistenga, went to live among the Asuras, assuming the form of a female among females and of a male among males A mention must also be made, in this context, 41 Cr Ilarins, Opat 42 C Ilorkes, Op at 13 Kashaka III 17 9 Itu not uplkely that th> paisage and the passage from the Al mentioned above (namely, A VII 38 2) refer to ont and the be incucor 164 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS of the famous Vrsākapı hymn (X86) In that hymn, Indra 18 spoken of as having been exhausted when a bold, lascivious monkey administered to him some medicine, through which Indra regained his manly power As shown in another paper," this Vrsākapı is to be identified with the fertility-god Viṣṇu The whole episode may thus refer to Indra’s efforts to preserve his virility intact 45 Such descriptions of a more or less intimate’ character must be understood to refer to the actual life of a human hero before he became the supreme god It may be pointed out, in this connection, that the Vedic poets have never unnecessarily overidealised the character of Indra, which they would have done had he been primarily thought of as a god Indra was essentially a man of this world, and, as such, he did not disdain deceiving his enemy or cleverly circumscribing the conditions of an agreement whenever circumstances so de manded 46 Another very significant reference, so far as Indra’s original character is concerned, is to be found in 1 32 14, where the mighty Indra is said to bave been overcome with fear when, after killing Vr̥tra, he thought that some avenger of the enemy was following him Such a reference would be hardly understandable in relation to a god, who had been conceived as a god from the very beginning The Maruts are described as the constant associates of Indra in his mighty deeds Indra is accordingly called marutal and the Maruts are referred to as andrajyestha 17 But the proverbially 44 “Vunu in the Vedas published elsewhere in this Volume 45 According to MACDONELL (VM, 64 ), this hymn describes a dispus between Indra and his wife, Indrani, about the monkey, Vrpakapi, who is lac favourite of the former and has damaged the property of the latter Vilakap 15 soundly thrashed and escapes but afterwards returns, when a reconciliation takes place PERRY (JAOS 11 sees in this hymn a satirical description of Indra’s domestic life BRADKE (ZDMG 46, 465 ) also considers the story to be a satire, in which, under the names of Indra and Indrapi, a certain princ and his wife are intended A critical study of the hymn would, however, show that none of these interpretations is satisfactory 46 Cf Indra Namucı cpisode V 307, VIII 14 13 47 For a more detailed d scussion about the relation between Indra anu the Maruts, to the concluding part of this paper VRTRAHĀ INDRA 165 harmonious relations between the heroic leader and his loyal followers seem to have been disturbed on certain occasions (I. 170 2, 171 6, VIII 7 31 ) It must have been either cowardice or treachery on the part of the Maruts, which had estranged them from Indra Indra is represented as telling them, in derision, that they were not eager to accompany him when he went to the battle field, but that, when he was zovited to a sacrifice, they did not want to leave him alone (I 165 ) This realistic legend relating to the temporary estrangement between Indra and the Maruts must have been based on an actual episode, and would thus prove the historicity of Indra as much as bis essentially human character The facts that Indra is described as wandering in various forms (IIC 48 4, 53 8, VI 47 18 ), 48 and that his ene mies did not first realise the greatness of his prowess or altogether refused to believe in his very existence (II 12 5) further confirm the primariness of the human traits in Indra’s personality as well as his historicity More prominently and frequently, however, than the mere human traits have the heroic traits in Indra’s personality been celebrated in the RV fodra’s name itself verily comprises all notions relating to virile power 9 He is often very significantly called, or compared with, a bull, who was regarded as the symbol of such power (1 165 11, II 16 4, V 31 5, VIII 1 1) Indra is superhumanly mighty (I 80 15, VI 21 10, VII 21 7, VIII 50 2), he is dreadful (1 84 2,7, II 21 2), he is, indeed, 10. vincible (IV 17 19,30 3,5) No one born, past or present, can rival him (I 165 9) Several epithets expressive of excessive power, such as Sakra, sacivat, Satakratu, manasıān, etc, are 48 Indra is said to have asumed at different times, the forms of a woman (Men-f HILLEBRANDT, IA III, 172 ), horses hair (cf GELDNEX Ved Stud II, 183), an ant (I 51 9), a dancer (I 130 7 II 22 4), etc Also set VIII 2 40 BGLIGER bas connected the ten forms of the Avestan Vrtbryna with Indras transformations ( SALV 31 in 1916, 69 F) GUYTERT Telets to the latter in connection with Vigus various incarnations (Dar arische I deking, 308 ) 19 For a detailed philological stu ly of the name ‘Indra’, sc the sequel of this paper166 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS frequently attributed to Indra Indra’s susma and nrmna (IT 12 1) are often referred to and his eternal youth and vigour (II 16 1, III 32 7, VI 24 7, X 86 11 ) have become almost the ballmark of his personality But there is also another side to Indra’s heroic character He is exceedingly generous (I 84 19, IV 31 7, VIII 14 4,24 21, 81 3) He freely bestows goods and wealth on the pious man (II 194, 22 3. VII 27 3), and this he can easily do, for, he possesses all treasures (I 30 10, VI 43 8 As a matter of fact, Indra’s liberality had become so yery characteristic of him that he almost entirely monopolised the proud epithet maghavan 50 Indra’s wisdom and prudence also are frequently celebrated in the RV (1 62 12, II 16 2, VIII 96 3) It will be thus seen that Indra’s personality presents a curious combination of human and superhuman’ or heroic’ ele ments As a matter of fact it is this combination of the “human and the superhuman’, which makes Indra’s personality so • living’ and so attractive The incongruity between the human aspect of Indra s personality characterised by sansuousness and similar other normal weaknesses, on the one hand, and tric superhuman aspect characterised by miraculous powers, genero sity, and similar other traits of beroic perfection on the other, is not due to the more intense anthropomorphism of Indra’s nature 51 It is rather the result of the sincere efforts on the part of the Vedic poets to present a realistic picture of a historical human hero, who while accomplishing almost superhuman deeds, suli exbibited the essential humanness of his character in the light of what has been said above, it would be very interesting to see how the Vedic poets approach their favourite national god Jodra, in varying attitudes — sometimes in a ‘crouching, pusil lazımous spirit and fear of his violence’, at other times, on remarkably intimate and friendly terms, but always exhibitios great devotion and fidelity towards him, a firm belief in his mita culous powers and a ’touching reliance upon his goodness! 50 51 cr rudh o’ra and dina dira of classical Sanskrit C MACDOVELL, 1 M1,65 52 Cf PERRY, Op file VRTRAHA INDRA 167 On the strength of tlie evidence adduced so far, we may dow be justified in concluding that Indra must have been primarily a human bero - indeed, essentially a historical personality – that, in course of time, he must have been elevated to the position first of the national war god and then of the supreme god and that, later on, naturalistic or cosmic elements must have been superim posed on his personality 53 How can we account for this growth of Indra’s personality? In order to be able to answer this question satisfactorily, we shall have to go back to the cultural history of the ancestors of the Vedic Indians As indicated in another paper, we may assume on the strength of linguistic, archaeological, anthropological, and culture historical evidence, that the proto Indo Europeans had their Ofiginal home in the Ural - Altaic region Some tribes from among this proto IE stock migrated from their primary Urheimar towards the South Eastern direction and ultimately reached the Iegion around Balkh There they lived for a considerable length of time before further migrations started from among theo? As a matter of fact, these tribes remained in the region round about Balkh so long that they almost forgot their connections with their primary Urheimat For our present purpose it is neither neces sary nor relevant to go into the details of this whole problem of the original home of the Indo Europeans and their early migra trons It may only be pointed out that these people, who lived in the region of Balkh were the proto Aryans in the initial stages of the proto Aryan period, there took place some stray and desultory migrations mainly towards the South Western Asiatic region But even after these small scale migrations, the 53 It may be pointed out in this connection, that, from the anthropologi cal point of view also naturalisin , as propounded first by Yaska and then by Roti, MAX MULLER OLDENBERG MACDONCLL, and others often represents but a later stage in the developmcot of mythological cology 5+ DANDEKAR, The antecedents and the carly beginnings of the Vedic period, PIHC Bombay, 1947, pp 24–55 (Also sce DANDEKAR ‘Some aspects of the Indo Mediterranean contacts, ABORI 50, 57 74 ] 55 [I have al ghtly modified this view ( Some aspects of the Indo Mediterrancan contacts, mentioned info 54 ) and have suggested that the gration towards Anatolia must have been of some tribes from arpong the ancestors of ibc Vedic Aryazs after they had separated from the Irawan Aryans 168 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS main stock of the proto-Aryans, which was made up of the common ancestors of the Vedic Indians and the ancient (Avestad) Iranians – who are popularly, and, from several points of view. appropriately, known as the Aryans – continued to live in the Balkh region for a pretty long time It was, indeed, in this region that the ‘Aryan’ language and religion attained characterisation’ In other words, the common primary form of the languages and the religions of the RV and of the Avesta must have evolved wbile the common ancestors of the Vedic Indians and the ancient Iranians lived together in their common home in the Balkh region The most characteristic fea. ture of the religion of these people, which we may call the *Aryan’ religion, seems to have been the concept of Asura Varuṇa 56 In the course of the evolution of their religious thought, the Aryans had realised that this universe, vast as it was, was not ‘chaos’ Every single phenomenon – big and small - in cosmic as well as human life was governed by some definite law The universe was, as it were, magically bound’ down and thus strictly regulated It was, in other words, cosmos’ The concepts of the cosmic law, rta, and of the administrator of that law, the cosmic magician Varuṇa, represent the most outstanding contribution of the Aryans to religious thought in general that age, the life of the Aryans had been so closely bound with nature, from several points of view, that it was but inevitable that they should have evolved the religious concept of the cosmic magic bondage No doubt, there must have grown, among the Aryans, several other religious concepts and practices, such as lof instance, those connected with Soma Haoma and fire, but the Asura Ria-concept seems to have completely dominated the Aryab religious ideology As has been already indicated, the Aryans did not live in the region around Balkh permanently Further migrations started from that region As compared with the major primary migru. 56 DANDEKAR, “ Asura Varuṇa, publusbed elsewhere in this Volume, also scc. The antecedents ctc’, PIHC, 1947 VRTRAHĀ INDRA 169 tions of the Indo-Europeans from their Urheimat in the Ural Altaic region, the migrations of the Aryans from the Balkh region may be called the secondary migrations in the history of the Todo European pcoplcs Some tribes from among the Aryans who were of a peace loving temperament moved towards the South West Gradually, and without having to encounter any serious hindrance, they migrated to the north of Iran and subsequently settled in that country These were the ancient Iranians As may be expected, they had brought with them, to their new home, the Aryan language and religion in their basic forms Naturally enough, in course of time, the ancient Iranians must have deve loped the basic Aryan language and religion in their own peculiar manner The other Aryan tribes, however, were more ambitious and warlıke From their home in the Balkh region these adven turers set out on a mission of conquest and colonization towards the South-East Tbis, however, was not an easy task On their odward march these people, who were really the ancestors of the Vedıç Indians, had to encounter serious opposition from several antagonistic tribes Their gradual progress towards Saptasındhu, where they ultimately settled down, makes a long tale of a series of wars But through all these wars, the early Vedic people were finally led to victory by a heroic compatriot of theirs, whom they very appropriately called Indra It may be presumed that the tribes who tried to arrest the onslaught of the Vedic Indians came from various stocks From the descriptions in the Ry, it would appear that they were racially and culturally quite different from the Vedic Aryan adventurers They are generally said to have been black skinned (I 130 8, II 20 7 ) and snub posed (V 29 10) Their speech was barbarous (T 174 2, V 29 10, 32 8), they did not perform any sacrifices as the Aryans did (I 33 4, VII 6 3, VII 70 11), they did not worship the Aryan gods (II 31 19, VIII 70 11), and, above all, they did not recognise the national hero of the Vedic Indians, namely, Indra (IV 23 7, VI 18 16, also cf II 12 5) These antagonistic tribes, who are variously described as having stolen away the cattle of the Aryans (II 12 3, III 30 10, VI. 42 170 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS 39 2), or pent up the streams of the rivers (I 32 12, II 12 12, III. 36 6, IV 17 1), or attached the Aryans, from their secret recesses in the mountains ( II 12 11 ), or fought with them from their fortified settlements (II 14 6, 196, VIII 17. 14), are sometimes individually named, 57 while, at other times, only the names of their leaders are mentioned, s8 but, more often, they are all collectively referred to as the Dasas (II 12 10, X 38 3, 86 19 ) 59 Indra, the young, blond, bearded, handsome, well shaped, mighty heroic leader of the Aryans, invigorated by a drink of Soma, is variously described as having protected the Aryans from the attack of the Dasyus ( VIII 24 27), made the Dasyus subject to the Aryans (VI 18 3), put doxo the dasa 57 Such as, for instance, Dasyu (I 100 12 II 23 8. 1997), Papi (VI 20 4,39 2), perhaps Pythu and Parsu (VII 83 ) 58 Such as for instance, Arbuda (1 51 6, II 11 20 ), Asna (11 14 5, 20 5), Ilibisa (I 33 12 ). Urana ( 11 14 4) Krivi (II 17 6, 22 2), Cumuri ( 11 26 6), Dębhika ( 11 14 3), Namuci ( II 14 5, V 30 7-8, V1, 20 G), Pipru (1 101 2, II 14 5, IV 16 13 Rudhilrā (II 14 5). Rauhina (1 103 2, II 12 12), Varcia (II 14 6), Vyarhsa (1 101 2, 103.2). Sambara ( 11 12 11, VI 47 21, VII 18 20 ), Surna (V 39 4, X. 22 7,11). or course, it is oftca dificult to distinguish between the names of the tribes and thosc of their Icaden 59 It is very likely, as HILLEBRANDT has pointed our (VAT III, 268 Blo that D sa itself was originally the name of some inimical tribc, such as the Dahae, whom thc Aryans must have cocountered in the course of their carly wanderings Later on, however that word came to be applied to any tribos hostile to tho Anans These unfriendly tribes were referred to as the die targa (II 12 +), implying thereby that they were racially distinct from the Aryans, or as the desih ricas (II 11 4, IV 28 4 VI 25 2) In later mytho logy, Dusas came to dcnote demons in general The word, dasa u used in the Ri, in tic sense of slave only three times lacidentally it may bc point out that, though the words, disa and dasyu are often used in the same sense originally thc word, dasyti, may cot have had the same meaning as the word, dasa HILLEBRANDT suggests that the antagonism between the Aryas and Digas was of a political character while that between the Aryas and the Dasyuts was more of a rel gtous nature TASADIA however, affirms (BU 1910 ) that Dasyu also was originally the name of a people or country 104 that the bad connotation came to be attached to that word at a later stage According to Lasten RuYKOW (“Vedic Knit". A0 VVI. 161-80 ) the Disas mentioned in the cds were the man worshipping native tribes llc suriber points out that th s serpent.cult predominated in the regions on the Himalayan Hopa. VRTRAHA INDRA 171 warna (II 12 4, III 34 9), overpowered the black skinned foes (I 130 8), dispersed 50,000 of them (IV 16 13 ) and rent their citadels (1 51 5, IY 16 13), surpassed the Pads in Digbt (VI 20 4,39 2 ), and recovered the cows (X 108) Many were the hostile leaders conquered by Indra & Many again were the Aryan chiefs and tribes to whom Indra is said to have rendered timely succour in several ways 61 The Aryan warriors soon learnt to depend on Indra’s help and so constantly invoked him (11 12 8. IV 24 3) For, they looked upon him as their one compassionate helper (184 19, VUI 66 13, 801), as their deliverer and advocate (VIII 96 20 ), as their very stroogth - & veritable wall of defence (VIII 69 7) Never rodeed did he fail them (X. 152 1) With his special thousand pronged weapon, vajra (1. 80 12), he smote down the barbarous enemies (I 101 5, VI 23 2), and gave land to the Aryans (IV 26 2, VII, 33 5) He thus ensured for them a smooth career of conquest and coloni. zation It is, therefore, no wonder that such a leader should have soon become a national hero and then a national god of the Vedic Indians 62 A warring people would naturally glorify to the utmost a warlike god 63 This heroic god of battle, though a later addition to the Vedic pantheon, soon surpassed all earlier gods ( 11 12 1, 111 46 3), who yielded to him in might and strength (VIII 62 7) Even, the important older gods subordt. 1 60 Sec foot note 58 It should be noted, in this connection, that the descriptions in the AI, of many of Indras warlikc cxpolits arc such as clearly produce the impress on of actually being the accounts given by cyc. Witnesses 61 The Rt relers to Indra a benesactions to hutsa (V 29 10), Turvasa and ladu ( 11 15 5, V 31 8, VI 45 I, VIII 10 5) Sudás (VII 19 3, 20.2, 32 X 333}, fuugaia nu luogai nilivi, kampivar (i 51 15). crc 62 Such a hustonca) sitcrprctation of the cvolution of the ladra myth alone would explain why, in no other Indo-European mythology – not even in ulic Avatın mythology - do we find an eract counterpart of the edıc Indra 63 I LOMMEL (Der or sche Kriegsgolf emphasizes the basic character of Indraw the Aryan war-god L von SCUROLDER (Tlapakks und Indra Wien, 1914 rugscati that the many common traits in the character of Codra and Heraklas would ind catcthcr common or 3.0 TIGGOTT (Prekulor Inda p 260 ) nightly points out that lodra represents the apothcon of the Arya batuk leader alone would explain why do we find an etact couphasizes the ba 192 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS nated their power to Indra’s divine glory and kingly dignity (VII 21 7) This elevation of a national hero to the supreme godhead must be assumed to have belonged to a period subsequent to the bifurcation of the Iranian Aryans and the Indian Aryans Such an assumption alone would rationally explain why Indra is traditionally regarded as derānam ānujävara, and why this supreme god of the Vedic Indians does not find place in the Avestan pantheon Such then is briefly the story of the genesis of Indra’s godhead One thing, however, must be necessarily emphasized in this connection It will be casily realised that all the warlike exploits, which, in the RV, are attributed to Indra, could not have been accomplished by one single individual The credit for many of them must certainly be given to the historical hero But when history becomes mythology, an individual also tends to be more or less tumed into an institution Such is normally the course of mythological development particularly in the Veda When, therefore the historical Indra was transformed into a national war god, all mighty deeds of prowess —real or imaginary - came to be regarded as his handiwork It may also be pointed out, in this context, that the warriors of the Vedic age soyoked Indra for help not only in their battles with the Dāsas and other inimical tribes There was a period in the history of the Vedic people when different Vedic tribes fought among them. selves In such civil wars, both sides invoked Indra for help (11 12 8) Indra is, therefore, often described, in the RV, as the valiant vanquisher of the Dasa foes as well as of the Arya foes (VI 22 10, 33 3,60 6, VII, 83 1, X 69 6) This fact would again confirm Indra’s essential character as a war-god This elevation of a historical hero to the position of the national war.god of the Vedic Indians was accompanied by the superimposition on the original character of Indra of certain features which were derived from a significant mythological concept belonging to the common Aryan period it has already been pointed out that the most predominant religious concept, which was evolved during the Aryan period, was that of Asura 174 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS concepts 9 The elevation of Indra to the position of the national war-god — which mythological phenomenon was restricted only to the Vedic Indians - conferred a new meaning on the vrtra - yrtrahan concepts Those abstract’ concepts were, so to say, given some ‘concrete’ basis in the course of the development of Vedic mythology The historical hero, Indra, overcame a number of human foes who had ‘resisted’ the onward march of the Vedic Indians These human foes, thus, naturally came to be looked upon as the Vstras “o And correspondingly the more or less colourless and abstract divinity, which overcame resistance, damely, Vr̥trahan, came to be merged into the bistori. cal hero, who actually overcame the human Vr̥tras ? A Vedic unts out at there by be mentrera Mython Russt ensurae ntally the Todta Semipretive Saptarea 69 As pointed out by BAILEY (BSOS VII, 975), the interpretation of the expansion of the Vythragna worship gains much from the consideration, in the monograph by BENVENISTE and RFNOU (pp 63 ff), of Hellenistic Artagnis, Armenian Vahagn, Chorasmian Arthaga, and Sogdian Vasagat
10. BUDDHA PRAKASH suggests (ABORI XXX, 163 ff) that the Vetras defeated by thc Vedic Aryans actually represented a specific pre Volic Indian people He is inclined to identify them with the Verctatat or the Oraturae mentioned by MEGASTHENES in Indika BUDDHA PRAKASH further points out that the Vrtas possessed the elements of the Dasyus and the Asuras, that their habitat was the Himalayan range of the North - Yes (Incidentally it may be mentioned that, while discussing the question o “The Cradle of the Indra Vr̥tra Myth”, K CHATTOPADHYAYA (Pror AIOC, 529-33 ) suggests that Semucchiosk in Russian Turkestan, which, accord ing to him, is identical with the Vedic Saptasındhu, must have been the region where that myth came to be cvolved), and that their religion was characı rised by serpent-symbology (cf in this connection RÖNNOW S Views mentioncu in foot note 59) Considering, however, the facts that the word, ulap, occurs in neuter plural that the Vr̥tras both among the Aryas and me Disas are mentioned in the RV, and that, in the Avesta, the word, iara, occurs without any historical siga ficance. It is difficult to accept the idenus fication of the VF ras with any specific people Vytan indicates foes in general. 71 That the concept of Vithragua is specifically Aryan, and, therclore, carlier than that of Indra, which is specifically Indian, is confirmed by the fact that the word arthragna, occurs in the earlier strata of the Acesta, such as the Strozah the Yasts, and the Afrigans, while the word, andra, represent. ing the demonisation of the Vedic god, Indra occurs only in the later strata, as also by the fact that, in the Avesta, the concept of Vithragna receives a more or less detailed treatment, while that of Andra occurs only in a casual manner As a matter of fact, the name Andra occurs, in the Adesta, only twice (Vid X. 9, VIX 43) VRTRAHA INDRA 175 Indian historical current and an ancient Aryan mythological current thus combined to form the later Vedic mythological concept of Vr̥trahā Jodra As against this, among the peaceable Ancient Iranians, there was no scope for such historical concretisa tion of the concepts of Vr̥tra - Vr̥trahan Those concepts have, thereforc, conserved their original abstract sease in the Avesta 72 It must be pointed out, in this connection, that, even in the RV, the frequent occurrence of the neuter plural, vitrānı (VI 22 10, 60 6, VII 83 1 ), betrays the original impersonal and abstract connotation of the word The history of the concept of Vţtra is closely linked up with the course of the evolution of the lodra mythology as a whole Originally the word, vrira, significantly used in neuter gender, expressed the general idea of resistance. It was in no way connected with the concept of Indra, which, as a matter of fact, had not then even arisen This was the state of thupgs 10 the common Aryan period When the histor cal hero, Indra, came to be glorified among the Vedic Indians, they personified the impersonal concept of Vr̥tra, which they had inherited from their Aryan ancestors Vftras then came to denote the human foes, whom Indra, the national hero of the Vedic Indians, valantly put down Soon Indra, the national hero, was defied by the Vedic poets Corresponding to this deification of the human Indra, there took place the demonisation of the human Vr̥tra At this later stage of the Rgvedic mythology, the hustorical human Vytras were collectively transformed into the one ‘demon’, who prominently opposed Indra, the great god And still later, when Daturalistic elements came to be superimposed upon Indra’s ongina personality as the result of which Indra came to be 72 It would not be logical to suppose that the Vedic Vetrahy Indm was the original concept and that it was reparated into two independent concepts in the Avestan mythology Tor, as Kemit ponts out (ICI 41 if ). 11 15 more natural for India to unite ideas than for Iran to separate them Vorc oitt, it would not by adequately understandable why, if the Iranians had actually sparate into two the concept of straha Indra iheep the namely, trahl should have been regarded as divide, while the substanuve, namely, Thura, should have been regarded as demoniac 176 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS regarded as the rain god, there was a corresponding naturalistic transformation of Vr̥tra’s personality so that he came to be looked upon as the cloud demon 73 It will now become perfectly clear why, in the Avestan mythology, there is a divin ty, Vrthragna but no demon, Vrthra, why the Avestan Vrthragna and Andra are in no way connected with each other, why, in the RV, Vrtahan lost his character as an independent divinity and that word became merely an epithet of Indra, and, finally, why in the RV, the word Vr̥tra, 18 employed, 10 neturer plural, to denote the human foes, and, in masculine singular, to denote a demon It has been already pointed out that the origin of the religious practices connected with Soma Haoma must be traced back to the common Aryan period The ancestors of the Vedic Indians and the ancient Iranians, who lived together in the Balkh region, must have soon discovered the remarkable properties of the Soma plant, which grew in abundance on the slopes of the Müjavat mountain situated close to their common habitat The intoxi cating juice extracted from this plant must have been originally used in connection with some primitive magic ritual Anthropo logical investigations would amply testify to the practice of the primitive priests taking some such intoxicating decoction with view to producing in themselves a peculiar magic orgiastic ecs tacy 74 With the rise, among the Vedic Indups, of the valiant hero, Indra, Soma drinking came to be naturally associated w him It may be said that, in a sense, the intoxicating drink began to be used for a purpose which cannot be said to have been strictly ritualistic A draught of Soma, before entering battle, would banish all fear from the hearts of the warriors and put new vigour in them This must have, indeed, been a most common experience 75 It is quite understandable that Iadra, the tvartior 73 It would tl us be clear that Vr̥tra orig nally represented fieither cloud as suggested by the Nairulta aor the cmon son or Tvastr as suggeste by the Aut his kas 74 See for instance O PERTOLD • The Iturr cal use of Mahuya liquor by Enlls, Arch Of III pp 400 FT 75 Not only the botanical properts of the Soma plant but also the that the ju ce of the plant possessed ntualistic mag c character must have work un producing collectVRTRAHA INDRA 177 leader, should have been described as indulging in the Soma drinking more freely than others As a matter of fact, in course of time, immoderate indulgence in the Soma-drinking came to be regarded as a distinctive trait of Indra’s character - at once the strength and the weakness of the national hero And, as shown elsewhere, the Vedic poets have actually treated it as such in their glorification of Indra Indra became somapā par excellence (II 12 13 ) He is often described, in the RV, as getting exhilarated by a drink of Soma for carrying out his warlıke deeds (II 15 1; 19 2, VI 47 1, 2, VII 222, VIII 92 6) Whatever Indra accomplished he owed to the magic power of Soma Sometimes however, the Herculean head of the hero must have become befogged by an overdose, and it is such a condition which has been beautifully caricatured by a Rgvedic poet an X 119 The Vedic poets rcfcr to Indra as a thirsty stag’ (VII 4 10), or a ’thirsty bull’ (1 130 2), or a thirsty buffalo’ (I 16 5) Indra is so eager for a drink that he cannot wait until Soma is drawn for hım (X 116 4), but ‘guips down cask and lancet and all *** The concert relating to Soma is thus the second Aryan religi ous concept - the first being the Vr̥tra-Vr̥trahan concept - which has been combined with the Vedic Indian historical concept of the national hero The more or less secular significance with which the concept of Soma came to be endowed on account of its connection with the historical warrior, Indra, must, however, be considered to have been but a temporary phase With the clcyalion of Indra to godhead and the gradual development of the regular Vedic ritual, Soma again attained, in the fullest possible measurc, its original migico-ritualistic significance (which, as indicated above, it must have never lost altogether). and Soma worship became a cry prominent feature of the Vedic religion 3 76 Perry, Opal 77 in the Iranian rel gion, on the other hand, the Aryan religious practi. Costelating to Sona Loma arm to have gradually dwindled in importance. The Iloma u not referred to in the Cards of the Arsh Thu lance 15 probably grifiant In ho religious reform, Zomagtet kems to have rejected Somla worship Rurront ( cdic Ariel’, 40 11, 161-100) belves that (Coriand on the next roze) 178 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS In view of the continued warlike activities of the Vedic Indians, it was but natural that they should have elevated their national war god, Indra, to the supreme godhead in their pan theon This action on their part gave rise to quite a serious mythological upheaval It will be remembered that Asura Varuṇa was the supreme god of the common religion which the ancestors of the Vedic Indians and the ancient Iranians had evolved This Asura dominated religion was inherited both by the Indian Aryans and the Iranian Aryans The Iranian Aryans seem to have faithfully stuck to that religion As a matter of fact, 10 the normal life of those people, there does not seem to have occurred any very significant event, which could have influ enced their religious ideology to any appreciable extent of course, in course of time, they developed the Asura-religion of their Aryan ancestors in their own peculiar manner, so that it eventually took the form of the religion presided over by Ahura Mazdah The case of the Vedic Indians, on the other hand, was essentially different As has been already pointed out the Vedic Indians were ambitious adventurers They, therefore, set out on a career of warlıke activities, valiantly fighting their way towards the Saptasındhu country in this their new career, they must have found that the cosmic magic Asura religion, which had come down to them from their Aryan ancestors was not at all adequate Awarring people, as suggested above necessarily wants a war god - rather than a god presiding over cosmic law - as their supreme god ‘The Vedic Indians, therefore, transe formed their national hero, Indra into such a war god, and 14 consonance with their new way of life and thought, worshipped him as their greatest god Thus, in the religion of the Vedic Indiaos, Indra ultimately superseded Asura Varuṇa In other words, the new Vedic religion prevailed over the ancient Aryan religion (Contined from the last page) Soma once belonged to the gas and was sacrifced for them An analys 30 the Soma sacrifice accord ng to him would clearly bring out tracca of ancent Indian serpent cuit Incidentally it may be adled that RONNOW regards Soma as the dyine siisfying essence of Water (Tnta Apiya Uppsala, 1972) VRTRAHA INDRA 179 A critical study of the RV would show that, in that Veda, three distinct pbases of the relation between the ancient Yaruna religion and the new Indra religion can be clearly marked Some passages in the RV (I 24 6,25 10, IT 27 10, VII 87 5,6, VIII 41 7, X 132 4) are still found to glorify Varuṇa as the world soyercigo They thus seem to preserve the memories of the religious ideology of the pre Indra Aryan period This represents one phase The major portion of the RV, however, clearly indi cates that Varuṇa religion was being pushed into the background and the Indra religion was aggressively coming to the forefront The RV-hymn, IV 42, is a highly significant document in this connectic Varuṇa is shown in that hymn to assert his right to supremacy and to adduce valid reasons in support of his claim (st 1-4) Indra is made to say that Varuṇa’s arguments did not concern him in the least and that, in virtue of his being the strongest god, he - Indra – must necessarily be regarded as the supreme god (st 5-6) Eventually the poet recognises unreser vedly the supremacy of Indra (st 7) This hymn thus represents, in an unmistakable manner, the supersession of Varuṇa by Indra 8 According to PERRY,79 another hymn, pamely, RVX 124, exhibits the transference of supremacy from Varuṇa to ladra in a very peculiar light Agdi is there represented as abandoning father Varuṇa and going over to Indra The fact that hardly a dozen hymns in the RV celebrate Varuṇa exclusively wbile Indra is glorified in nearly 250 hymns is again clearly indicative of Indra’s ascendancy over Varunia 80 As will be shown later, this mytho 78 According to HILLERANDT, RV IV 42 contain: only a sharp defini tion of the provinces of the two divinities There is no suggestion of transfer of power from Varuṇa to Indsa Jt may, however, be asked if it was merely a sharp definition of the provinces of the two divinities, why should Varuṇa try so much to assert his claim? On the other hand, in view of the warlıke Character of the Vedic Indians the supersession of a comic god hy a war god would be quite logical O funahsepa 80 In the Sunahsopa legend in the Au Br (VII 13-17), lodra is repre fented as approaching Rohita in the disguse of a purusa, and dissuading him from going back to hu father Hariscandra who wanted to sacrifice him to (Continued on the next page) 180 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS logical supersession of the Asura by Indra, which represents another phase of the Indra-Varuṇa relationship, gained a peculiar significance from two points of view – first, from the point of viety of the relations between the Vedic religion and the Iranian religion, and, secondly, from the point of view of the political history of the Vedic Indians Still another phase of the relationship between these two mythological currents 15 marked by a spirit of compromise. It must be remembered that, even among the Vedic Indians, there were some groups who continued to adhere to the Varuṇa-religion They must have, however, seen the signs of the changing times Instead of either giving up the Varuṇa religion altogether or dogmatically sticking to it in the face of the generally prevailing Indra-religion, they, very wisely, tried to bring about an honourable compromise between the two religions They argued that, after victory is won by the war-god, Indra, Varuṇa is needed to establish law and order Indra conquers and Varuṇa rules this was their slogu (VII 83 9) Such attempts at a religious compromise seem to have been made particularly by the Vāsiṣṭhas (VII 82 2,»,, 84 2, 4, 85 3) $1 For our present purpose we are concerned more particularly with the supersession of the Asura-religion by the Indra-religion ** This supersession must have had inevitable repurcussions on the relations between the Vedic religion on the one hand and (Continued from the last page ) Varuda Indra’s interference in this connection is entirely fortuous and only be reminiscent of the ancient rivalry between him and Varuṇa pars perbaps did not want that a sacrifice should be performed in honour of rival, Varuṇa It is also possible that Indra, as the guardian of impehu.” wanted to prevent the immolation of a promising young representative Iratra 81 See on this subject “Asura Varuda”. Also DANDEKAR.’ Vasli! as religious conciliator", XRCOI, G7 Vol , 237-248 82 Io the RI, the epithet asud 13 sometimes attributed also to la But it was so attributed only when that cp thet lost its original sigauben (cf " Asura Varuṇa ) and came to be used in a more or less convento sense, namely, ’the powerful one It thus became almost a courtesy conferred on all mighty gods, VRTRAHA INDRA 181 Could not. As wedded Tranjan religion on the other The separation between the two branches of the Aryan stock, namely, the Vedic Indians and the ancient Iranians, was, as shown above, the result of normal historical migrations These latter, however, it must be remem bered were governed by temperamental differences among those people The cultural contacts between these two branches, it may be presumed, continued even after their separation The Ahura Mazdah religion of the Iranian Aryans was closely akin to the Asura Varuṇa religion of the Vedic Aryaps, for, both of them had been developed out of a common religious ideology of their Aryan ancestors The rivalry between the Asura Varuṇa religion and the Indra religion, which is an outstanding event in the reli gious history of the Vedic Indians, could not, therefore, have failed to ofluence the ancient Iranian religion as well As was to be expected, among the war like Vedic Indians, Indra superseded Asura Yaruna The ancicat Iranians, on the other hand, were essentially peaceable and ethically inclined people Nothing seems to have happened in their history to loosen the strong hold which the cosmic law giver, Asura, had on their minds The Ahura religion, therefore, continued to prevail unchallenged among them As against this they regarded the Vedic Indian Indra religion as more or less upstartish The Soma drinking war. god of the Veda did not suit their way of life and thought Not only this, the Vedic Indra, with all bis virtues and weaknesses, must have become definitely reprehensible in the cyes of the die hards among them The most natural result of this attitude of theirs was that they came to regard Indra as not only undivide but positively demoniac Thie fact tbat such an unworthy figure should have elsewhere eclipsed the noble Asura must have lent greater poignancy to the attitude of some Iranian mythologists In a late phase of their mythology, therefore, they represented Indra as Andra, the third worst devıl 83 83 ‘The representation of Indra as a demon in ancient Iranian literature has proved a knotly problem in comparative mythology This curious mytho logical phenomenon has been accounted for in several ways Martın HAUG, Jor zastance suggested that it was the result of a coni ct between the Asura (Continued on the next page) 182 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS The religious conflict between Indra and Asura Varuṇa may have gained a peculiar significance from the political point of view as well Under the victorious leadership of their war god, Indra, the Vedic Indians conquered several antagonistic tribes who resisted their onward march As indicated above, these foes of the Vedic Indians are referred to, in the RV, under the general name, Dasas 81 It is, however, possible to derive from the RV, more specific historical details at least in some respects One of the epithets exclusively attributed to Indra, 10 the RV, is puran dara By way of explaining the significance of this epithet, I had put forth the following hypothesis 85 In the course of their onward march into India, the Vedic Aryans must have come graza do C, 11-24) ladra sedem tibus connect (Continued from the last page) religion and the Deva religion, which arose among the Tado Iranians Som other scholars attributed Indra’s demonhood to his immoderate indulgence in the intoxicating beverage, Soma, which trait of his character must have been found to be revolting against the essentially moral tone of Zoroaster’s rcbgious reform Sull other scholars see in the demon Andra of the Vandidad the reflection not of the Vedic Indra but of the less reputable Indra of tbc Puranas GRAY (Iran Rel), who regarded Indra as primarily a rain-gou, belicves that, in India, Indra brought the beneficent rains of the mos soons, while, in Iran, he is associated with the malaria bringing heavy rains of winter This would explain, according to him, why, in the Iranian mythology, Indra is looked upon as a malciolent power Still another WCW 13 that Indra’s original nature as a seruity god must have gone against grain of the sophisticated Ahura religion CHATTOPADHYAYA considers (mos IV AIOC, 11-24 ) Indra s demonhood to have been the result of an individual poets Cancy He refers in this connection to the fact that Milcon Hillce Satan’s camp with the gods of the people neighbouring the land of Isract According to M A SLUSTERY (Proc III IOC, 109-112 ), Indra 138 Rustam for his counterpart in Persia There are several points of umilarly between the two The fact that the Avesta is sulcnt about Rustam is explaince by SII STERY by presuming that Rustam was the hero of the ancient Iranla mythol gy but was not accepted as such by the new religion of Zoroaster H GUENTERT (Der arische Weltknnig 57 ff) has pointed out that Mithra ini later Anesta has inherted certain popular traits in Indra’s character GEIGER, for instance, notes (SAIV II en 1916, 176, 7, 74 ) the similanty bet ween Indra, vara and Mithra’s vazia A EGCERS (Der arische Gott 117, 40 ft). On the other hand thinks -curiously enough that it was Indra wa inherited the warlıke features in Mithra s character 8: The word tyfra normally denotes an encmy in general - whether be Arya or Dasa 85 DANDEMAR, " Asura Varuṇa". poets fancy - Headras demonhood on CHATTOPADHYAY VRTRAHA INDRA 183 across a people who lived in fortified settlements (purah) The civilisation of this people, which was characterised by pur ( = for tified settlement), must have become conspicuous in the eyes of the Vedic Indians on account of its sharp contrast with their nomadic tribal life These purah, it may be presumed, represented the last phase of the great Indus Valley civilisation, particularly that aspect of 11, which had developed in the region of Harappa These Harappa people seem to have stubbornly resisted the pro gress of the Vedic Indians Their fortified settlements must have certainly stood them in good stead - at least to a certain extent, But, after all, their opposition was but the last gasp of a people with a more or less exhausted civilisation Indra, the national hero of the Vedic Indians, seems to have shattered their many purah (1 51 5, II 14 6, 19 6, VIII 17 14) and ultimately van quished them the connection belkeen the Indus Valley civilisa. tion and the Vedic civilisation can thus be historically explained To purandara Indra belongs the credit for having finally brought to an end the ancient Indus civilisation, which was already on its last legs, and for having established, in its place, the Vedic civilisa tion, which was infused with new life and vigour * As is well known, the Indus civilisation exhibits several affinities with the Assyrian civilisation It may be presumed that the Aryans had already become familiar, directly or indirectly, with the civilisation of the Assyrians When, therefore, the descendants of those 86 DANDEKAR, The Antecedents and the Carly Beginnings of the Vedic Period" PIHC , 1947, 24-55 Thı laypothes > gcts confirmation from the archaeological excavations recently carried out at Harappa CF R E A WJITELER “Ilarappa 1916 The Defences and Cemetery R 37’, Ancient Ind a 3, pp $8-130 Toc identification of the Dasyus and the D.18as - of dark sken and Lat pole and possessing cities - with the inhabitants of Harappi and Mobenodaro, who had, among them a large proportion of proto-Australords, is, According to Procort (Prehistorie Indta, 261), almost certain According to DADI (“Ortgn of Arabmın Gotras’, JBBRIS 2G, P 19}, abc myth of ladra kulluns a dcmon to fret the pent up waters us to be understood in the Xox of ladras having shattered the user-dams constructed by the ladus people Tremendous tirchistoric dam of this sort still exat a lattic to the West of Mohenjoadero Dat releasing of water by Indra was a source of joy la the people Thu paint does not seem to fit in well with LOLWHVIS useos. 184 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS Aryans, namely, the Vedic Indians, encountered a civilisation which showed affinities with the civilisation of the Assyrians, namely, the Indus civilisation, they must bave straightway connec ted the latter with the civilisation of the Assyrians or the Asura people They must have thus found the counterpart of the religious conflict between lodra and Asura Varuṇa also in the political sphere, namely, in the form of the conflict between the Indra-people and the Asura people, that is to say, between the Vedic Indiaas on the one hand and the Indus people, who were culturally akip to the Assyrians or the Asura people, on the other 87 The philological consideration of the name Iadra would fully confirm the basic heroic character of the god Indra It should be remembered that Indra is a specifically Indian name, and that, 10 no other lado European languages, except the ancient Iranian and the Mitandian, is its cognate form evidenced A reference has already been made to some of the attempts made by scholars to give the derivation of the word, indra 80 It has also been point opposed to a ‘demon: 43) -0 87 It is interesting to note, in this connection that in thc Avesta thc wOFT duera (daa) (Vid X. 9, XIX. 43) - opposed to abura denoting the mighty god - came to mean a demon’ As against this, in later Sanskrit, the word asura - 13 opposed to deoa (Indra) - came to be used in the sense of a ‘demon. It must be pointed out that asard us the original word, while the word, SATO Lused in later Sanskrit, in the sense of ‘god’, 13 artificially formed, the an asura being regarded as a negatre termipation 88 Cr andra (Hd X. 9, YIX. 43) How this Indian god came to be introduced 29 the Atos a has already been explained above 89 CE 17 lay and in da ra Or trores on the Boghazko tablet For mac explanation of the mention of the Indian god in connection with the realy bevisen the hang of the Flutes and the king of Matanni, cir. 1400 D. *C DANDEXAR, PINC L., 1947, pp 24-55 90 From the rool rdh iad! (ROTI, ZDVG 1847, 72 IF BERGAIGYE, LRT II, IG6, GRASSMANN and BOLLEXSEY, ZDVG XLI, 505) From the root a (Ronit, WEBER, Ray 9 fm 3 ) from e root sand (DEHTEY), indsd-1425 (Lax MULLE VACDONELL, LAT GG) See also V V APTE, The Name Indra -an Letymolog cal Insat gation’. J Bom u XIX NS) 2,13-18 Apre derives the word from tndh or vid (= to be glorious or bright, to undle, to blazc) According to him, thu derivation was present even to the minds of the Vedic procis Incidentally it may be added that Are scerns to regard Indra u be sun in the Arctic region The Name kindle, collecties word from indian satson, JBomu XUATE, VRTRAHA INDRA 185 ed out that none of these attempts appears to be convincing 91 From among the other attempts, in this congection, a mention may be made of that of JACOBI JACOBI connects the word mdra, philologically with *anro (Sanskrit nar) and thus emphasizes the essentially manly, virile character of Indra 92 According to BEZ ZENBERGER, 83 the words, Vedic indra, av andra, peh andar, ags. ent, are philologically cognate words and must have originally denoted something like a giant: This view of BEZZEN BERGER’s seems to have been found acceptable by HILLE BRANDT 94 KRETSCHMER and BENVENISTE suggest that the Hittite word, innar, denoting might’, is at the basis of the word, indra Accepting this suggestion, Batakrishna GHOSH says that the name of the Vedic god, Indra, is but a thematized form of the Hittite word, innar There is no doubt that the words, indra and innar, are closely related to each other from the philological point of view But to assume on that account, as KRETSCHMER has done, that the concept of the Vedic god, Indra, is of Hittite origin is demonstrably wrong 96 It should, however, be noted that the 91 Yaska guves (No X 8) as many as Thirteen different derivations of the same Indra
11. IZ XXXI, 316 ff 93 DB I, 312 91 ALU II, 3 9 5 IG XV, 146-158 96 CEP KRETSCIMER, “Zum Ursprung des Gottcs Indra, Anz W’. Ak LXIV, 39, “Indra und der lethitische Gott Inaras’, KI F I, 297 CILARPENTIER, " Indra !, M10 25 DANDEKAR, PITIC X, pp 24-55 One of the four gods invoked as witnesses to the treaty between thc hing of the Hitrites and thic hug of Mitanni, documented on the Bogliazkoi tablet, is Inara, Wbat can be the relation between this god and the Vedic Indra? It has been sugges led by scholars like JACODI { On the antiquity of Vedic Culture’, FRA$ 1909, 721-26 ) and I INTERVITZ (Hist of Ind Lf 1,306) that, in vicw of the close resemblance of the four gods mentioned on the Boghazkor tablet with the Vedic Bodi Mara, Varuṇa Indra, and Nastyau, tlc Mitannians may be jusufiably regarded as an offihoot from among the Vedic Indians migrating to South. West Aua According to these scholars, therefore, Inaras is just the Mitan nian form of the Vedic Indra (As pointed out a f n 55, I have modified may view on Uhis gubject which I had cxpressed in my paper, “Antecedents, ctc” (mentioned in En 54 ) I am now incl ned to think that a small band of Adventurers from among the ancestors of the Vedic Indians marched back to Anatolia (South West Asia) after the latter had mparated from the common Hock of the I roto Anans and aftcr thc Concept of rtraha Indra had evolved Among the Vedic Arans. Inar… can, therefore, as well te regarded as the Anatolian counterpart of Vedic lodra ] 24 VRTRAHA INDRA 187 tvhich we have traced so far 100 But the growth’ or the becoming’ of the Vedic Indra did not stop here There were some other currents which were, in course of time, merged into the mythology relating to that god One of the most natural consequences of the elevation of a human hero to the position of a god - particularly to the position of the supreme god of the pantheon, as in the case of Indra – was to make him responsible for some mighty cosmic deeds As a matter of fact, it is the association with such cosmic deeds that truly establishes the god head of a god This is, indeed, one of the ways in which history 100 In his book, The Hero ( A Study in Tradition, Myth, and Drama), London, 1949, Lord RAGLAN ha: made some thought provolang observations on the subject of Hero in mythology and history, Without aflempung a detailed examination of RAGLANS observations it may be pointed out that thost observations, though very suggestive, appear to be clearly oncsded According to RAOLAN, there » Do justification for believing that mytho logical heTuca were originally historical persons or that any of the stories of their exploits had any historical foundation He says that tlıe world of Lradition is quite a different one from that of h.story He further points out that the storics of heroes in scvcral mythologics in thc world follow a specific paitern, which is characterised by 72 points pp 178-79), and that this pattern strongly suggests a ritual pattern rather than a historically authentic account Out of these 22 points at the most four points can be found in the story of the Vedic Indra Therefore, even accepting RAOLAN S analysis of tho ‘Hero’ (which is by no means either complete or entircly Convicing ), the Vedic Indra cannot be regarded merely as a traditional hero without any historical character It may be pointed out, in this connec. tion, that it 13 ocrtainly not claimed that the entire Indra mythology is authentic history, all that is claimed that there uniistakably exist, ID that mythology, some historical elements Lven RAGLAN scems to admit (pp 148, 151 ) that mythology does tend to rellcct, to a certain extent, political and economic conditions Speaking of the basis of history, RACLAN cnumcrates five classes of historical materials Among these he includes contemporary records is suggested cisewhere in this paper, it may be claimed that the Veda 13, in sense, a record of contemporary historical events. To the question posed by RAOLAN, with a view to ascertaining the historicity of a hero namely do we have any contemporary record of the Acro’s cxistence, the answer, so far as Indra i concerned, 13 OR the afirmative further, it is a common experience, particularly 19 India, that dhetorically authentic hero has in course of time, several mythical Clements superimposed upon his character, even when that hero las nothiog to do with ritual Seycrat instances can bo quotcd, which would falsify that (Continued on the next page)VRTRAHA INDRA 187 which we have traced so far 100 But the ‘growth’ or the • becoming’ of the Vedic Indra did not stop here. There were some other currents which were, in course of time, merged into the mythology relating to that god One of the most natural consequences of the elevation of a human hero to the position of a god - particularly to the position of the supreme god of the pantheon, as in the case of Indra – was to make him responsible for some mighty cosmic deeds As a matter of fact, it is the association with such cosmic deeds that truly establishes the god head of a god This is, indeed, one of the ways in which history con of Raconythology and thought provoking and Drama ), 100 In hư book, The Hero (A Study in Tradition, Myth and Drama ), London, 1919, Lord RAGLAN has made some thought proroking observations on the subject of Hero in mythology and history’ Without attempting a delalled cxamdauon of RAGLANS observations it may be pointed out that those observations, though very suggestive, appear to be clearly oncsided According to RAOLAN, there is no justification for believiog that mytho logical heroes were originally historical persons or that any of the stories of their cxploits had any bustoncal foundation He says that the world of tradition is quite a different one from that of h.story He further points out that the stories of heroes in scveral mythologics in the world follow a specific pattern, wbich is characterised by 22 points (Pp 178-79), and that thu pattcn strongly suggests ritual pattern rather than a hustoncally Authenuc account Out of these 22 points at the most four points can be found in the story of the Vedic Indra Therefore, even accepting RAGLANS analyous of tho ‘Hero’ (which is by no means either complete or entirely convincing ), thic Vedic Indra cannot be regarded merely as a traditional JCto without any hustorical character It may be pointed out, in this counc lion, that it is certainly not claimed that the entire Indra mythology is Authenue bustory, all that is claimed that there unmistakably exist, D that mythology, some historical elements L«cn RAGLAN scemos to admit (PP 148, 151 ) that mythology docs tend to rellcct, to a certain extent, political and economic conditions Snealuing of the basis of history, RAOLAN mumeratos five classes of historical materials Among these he mcludes contemporary records As suggested ciscwliere in this paper, it may be claimed that the Veda is, in a scnsc record of contemporary historical Events. To the question posed by RACLAN, with a view to ascertaining the Historicity of a hero namely do we have any contemporary record of the hero* exutrnce, the answer, so far as Jodra is concerned, in the Hlmmaline Further, it is a common pcrience, particularly in India, that historically authentic hero has in course of time, several mythical Clements superimposed upon his character, even when that hero las nothwg to do with ntual Several mtances can be quotcu, which would salary that (Continued on the next page) 188 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS is transformed into mythology The further evolution of Indra’s personality also us, as will be seen, the result of this process of mythological development Indra, who was primarily and esseo tially ibe national war-god of the Vedic Indians, accordingly came to be connected with some cosmic phenomena In this matter, the Vedic poets seem to have proceeded more or less on strictly logical lines Avanquisher of human foes could as well be regarded as a vanquisher of cosmic foes The Vedic poets had, therefore, to think of some cosmic wars, which would correspond with the fierce battles which the heroic Indra had actually fougat for his Vedic Aryan followers And the phenomenon of nature, which exhibited many features of actual warfare, such as, the fierceness and horror, the wrath aod tumult, the ruthless uproot ing of the one and the animated elation of the other, was certainly that of thunderstorm, lightniog, and rain The Vedic poets, therefore, made Indra the central figure - the hero - of this cosmic drama 101 It is, however, not unlikely that the Vedic poets themselves were conscious of the various discrepancies - mytho form of tribalcones RAGLAN 1, obser (Continued from the last page) author’s statement that po progressive monarch bay been delicd (PZV1! It u also unwarranted to say that all myths arc narratives connected wit ritual (p 144) To prove that no figure in mythology can have a buto character, RAGLAN suggests ( 6) that the manage has no interest in past and that, even if he had, there was no means of havink that ID ** gtaufcd But ancient literature containg untoistakable indications that is Ancient pcoplc did have an absorbing interest in tribal history and they manufcuted it in the form of tribal jongs RACLAN, observations 10. • Hero’ cannot, therefore, bc nid to allcct thc or goal hustoncity of J personality All that one can my is that there did cxist what may be alk a universal bero-myth, which was connected wib & ritual, and thal. will be shown Later, somnc clements of this universal hero myth carac 10 superimposed upon the Indra mythology in the course of its evolution 101 Apart from the fact that the phenomenon of thunderstorm reprt ** the clout comic counterpart of an actual battle, there may have some ollur racons as well, which prevailed upon the Vedic poets * transforming the warlie Indra into a rain-soul. Victory 10 battles, the hands of Truira chien opened up, fur the Vedic Induans, now avut of a richer and fuler If I’erhnja te most common blessing, which Vedic Indun 1 nged for in this new phone of their cultural luc - WAR lacdcntally, must have Lecome less warlic and more stile in character Continued on the met pont) VRTRAHĀ INDRA 189 logical and poetical - which would result from such more or less artificial development of Indra’s personality 102 But such discre pancies, they must have argued, were inevitable in thc normal process of mythological development 103 In the process of trans forming the heroic Indra into a rain god, the Vedic poets must have experienced one great difficulty The Vedic pantheon already had one rain-god, pampely, Trita Āptya, whom the Vedic Indians had inherited from their Aryan ancestors The questioni must have, therefore, arisen as to how to accommodate these two mythical concepts - the one of the ancient rain-god, Trita Aplya, and the other of the new rain-god, Indra The answer to this question, however, was quite simple Indra, who had already become the foremost among the gods of the Vedic lodians, must, when transformed into a rain god, naturally supersede the original Aryan rain-god As indicated in the earlier part of this paper, the Vedic poets seem to have made purposeful efforts in this direction Though a stray passage in the RV suggests that Indra took over the role of the rain.god from Trita (1 52 5), it becomes clear that the Vedic poets have consciously attempted to obliterate the latter from memory It is only by assuming the Superimposition on Indra - at a later stage in the evolution of his (Continued from the last page) was properly timed and plentiful rain Such rain, again, was rhaps the only concrete bounty, which the Vedic poets could think of as resulting from the cosmic battles. The evolulion of a war god particularly into a rain god would become farly understandable u looked at from this point of VICW Moreover, the most concrete cosmic form or urtra or resistance, which yirah & Indra outrcane, was thc cloud, for, it was the cloud, which resisted the free flow of the much longed for rains It is also likely that, in the new conditions of 1 fu of the Vedic people, the philological connection between (AC Words, indra and indu was perhaps given a significance different from the orginal one, and Indra then came to be 15sociated with rain drops. Anoilier sactor, which must have made the Vedic poets think of the pheno menon of waters while superimposing a comic character on Indra’s persona - Ity. was the merger into the Indra mythology, at this stage, or yet another mythical current namely, the one connected with the universal mytli of the hero and the dragon 102 Attention has already been drawn to some of these discrepancies ule entically examining the rain god theory about the Indra mythology 3 In the present care, it is indeed, they discrepancies which have ne as the starting point for a critical analysis of the Indra mytholosy 190 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACIS personality, and for the reasons detailed above- of the character of a rain god that the relations between Trita Aptya and Indra, as presented in the RV directly or indirectly, can become adequately understandable 10$ Side by side with this superimposition on Indra’s personality of the character of a rain god, which represents the last phase in the process of the becoming’ of lodra,10there occurred the merger of another mythological currrent into the Indra-mythology. A comparative study of the ancient mythologies of the world would show that most of them have one myth in common, namely, the myth relating to the contest between the hero and the dra. 104 As pointed out by OLDENBERG (Rdl d Veda, 143 ). Indra 1 the rain god also in Palı literature Thug is quite understandable The super imposition of the character of a rain god on Indra’s origipal personally represents the last phase in the growth of Indra It is therefore, natural that is last phase should have been mainly adopted in later literature It may, bow ever, be motioned in this connection that in Pall the word, syira, seems to have disappeared altogether (HILLEBRAXDT. VAI IIY, 195 ) For, he is not men tioned as the rival of Sałka, who has been transforacd into depdamu As regards Sakka, Professor and Ms Rhys DAVIDS hold the view that Sakka and Indra are quite different correptions Charles GODAGE ? Uno Re III) however, believes that the Buddhist conception of Sakk a historical growth out of the epithet, Sakra, which is exclusively attribuica to the Vedic Indra Buddhist Sakka is a development of the Vedicar with the pronounced emphasis on the moral side of hu nature Accordios to GoDACE we can understand how the savage pluriated Vr̥tra slayer. Veda came to be the exponent of ethics of mildness and non violence, and master in the art of self command 105 The naturalistic elements la Ipdra’s personality are, as indica cu above derived manly from the phenomenon of thunder storm and rain 140 growth of a war god into a rain god must, indeed, be considered to have biti the result of the specific attempts made by the Vedic pocts to superimpose cosmic character on the heroic Indra Apart from this, however, in Dormal de clopment of Vedic mythology as a whole, there was a stage which was characterised by what may be called the solarisation of seven Vedic gods (C DANDEKAR, " Vou in the Veda”. “Pasan, the Pastora God of the Veda”, published clsewhere in this Volume) Certain natara. Uc clemonls a Indra’s personality, which are vaguely reminiscent of sun god (not, of course in the sense in which IIILLEBRANDT widerstands namely, the sun gorl who vanquishes the winter-demon, but rather in sense in which Wax MICELLEX understands it. Darnely, the sun god, wat daily overcomes the demon of darkness) must have been due to this solar ng tendency Master in the staturalistic elem heDOMICDOO VRTRAHA INDRA 191 gon 106 The significance of this universal myth is quite obvious It should, however, be remembered in this connection that only the general basic skeleton of this myth is adopted by the various ancient mythologies, the details put into it being different in duffe Tent cases in other words, we find the concepts of Hero’ and Dragon’ in almost all ancient mythologies, but these concepts do not necessarily have the same contents everywhere 107 The ancient Aryans also adapted of course in their own peculiar manner this myth of the hero and the dragon in the general scheme of their mythological thought Iadeed, the Vedic Aryans must bave found the adaptation of this myth particularly easy In their new mythology, they had already deilied tlic historical hero, Indra The most natural thing for them to do, therefore, was to identify the hero of the ancient dragon myth with that historical hero Indra’s principal enemies, both human and cosmic, accordingly came to be known by the name, Abi (dragon), and several new elements, derived from the apcient dragon myth, came to be introduced into the Indra mythology 10% So far as thc RV Is concerned, with the identification of Indra with the hero of the ancient dragon myth, the growth of the persopality of the Rgvedic Indra may be said to have come to an end 106 The various forms which this universal hero dragon myth has taken in different ancient mythologies are Zeus and Typlion, Hercules and the Hydra, Apollo and Python ‘Thor and the Serpent Marduk and Tiamat, Gilgames and Humbuda Innara and the Dragon Thraetappa and Azı Dahata. Sec also RACLAN The Hero London 1949 pp 177-189 107 Even when this myth *interpreted from the naturalistic point of view, thc pbenomenon of nature which it is made to represent is not always the same However as was q11e natural, the dragon was pormally associated wh waters. 108 E SJECKE (Indras Drachenkampf 1905) traces the Indra Ahi contest back to lunar ongins Hus theory however appears to be qu te farleched According to RS OJHA (BORS 28 55-64), thu myth which is found in Iadia, Babylonia, Greece, Egypt Persia, cic, reflects the historical confi ct between the serpept worshipping people who had spread from the medi terranean coasts to the Indian plains And thc non serpent worshipping people 1 kc the Aryans APLARMARKAR (MIA 5 184 189) Echieves that the Mohenjodaro scals indicate the prevalence of the Naga-cult in those hoary tones and that the Indra Vr̥tra fight is symbolical of the Ara. Corkinued on the next page) 192 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS Before closing the history of the evolution of the personality and character of the Vedic Indra, a reference may usefully be made to his associations with some other gods It has already been pointed out that Indra is very closely associated with the indeed, so much so that Indra is called marunān and the Maruts are referred to as indrazi estrah How did this asso ciation come about and what exactly is its significance? In order to be able to answer this question, it would be necessary to trace albeit briefly - the evolution of the Marut mythology In the Rgvedic mythology, the Maruts arc associated mainly with two gods, namely, Rudra and Indra Just as the Maruts are designa ted as indrapresthah, the followers of Indra, they are also called rudrijāh, the children of Rudra How can these two concepts be correlated with each other 7 It is neither possible nor neces sary in the present context to go into the details of this enthe problem The following hypothesis may, however, be put tonia as the only one which would satisfactorily explain the various aspects of the mythology relating to the Maruts At one stage in the evolution of the Rudra-mythology, Rudra came to be repre. sented in the RV’ as the god of death 100 and the Maruts belonged (Continued from the last page) Naga fight Discussing thic “Vedic fro”, I RONNOW (AD AV: says that the religous history of the RV conlains, among other this one which refers to the tension between tho Deva and Asura-cult’s inmigrant Aryans and the Naga cults of the native peoples according to that scholar i represented throurt thc conflict between 190 and Vr̥tra Ab He further suggests that. later on, many Aryan or ** Aryan tribus joined the serpent cult, but the tribes worshipping Inuta compromised (unde also his foot notes 58. 69, and 76). These and similar views are not improbable, but they would require more confirmatory evideo In any casc it seems certain tbat the elements of the ancient myth Team to the hero and the dragon were first superimposed on the Indra mycolo and the resulting mythical Indra Abi conflict may then have beco consolida through its historical counterpart in the foren of the Arya Naga conn (In this context, reference may also be made to A BANERJI “The Nagus’, AHOR/ B 338-50 IK GUPTA. “The Nagas and the Na Cult in Ancient Indian H story’, PIHC III E. von ECKSTEDT “Arief u Nagas’, Hy Comm Vol 1936, M GHOSI, “Serpent Worshup in ADLI India “, PAIOC VII) 169 Sce PANDEKAR, Rudra in the Veda” and “ama in the Veda 1 published elsewhere in this Volume VRTRAHA INDRA 193 originally to the paraphernalia of that god. Etymologically the word, marut, may be derived from the root mar (= to die ). It would seem likely that primarily the Maruts were the personifica tions of the souls of the deadlio and secondarily the messengers of the god of death. As the messengers of death, the Maruts seem to have formed a uniform, well-disciplined, homogeneous group. It has been pointed out, in another context,111 that, in the course of the development of the Vedic mythology, Rudra’s character as god of death came to be gradually obliterated and that, soon, he came to be superseded in that role by Yama, who, incidentally, was not originally the god of death This must have inevitably resulted in the breaking up of the original connection between Rudra and the Maruts - even the few references to that connection, which have been preserved in the RV, becoming gradually less under standable. The Vedic poets then gave to the mythological concept of the Maruts quite a new significance. In doing so, they emphasized a specific feature of their original character, namely, that they formed a uniform and well-disciplined group. The Maruts are like brothers, among whom none is the eldest or the youngest ( V. 59. 6; 60. 5). They are equal in age (1. 165. 1) and are of one mind ( VIII. 20. 1, 21). They also look alike with their golden mantles (V. 55. 6), golden helmets (V. 54. 11), and armlets (II. 34.2). They always move about in fixed forma tions - thrice sixty (VIII. 85,8), or thrice seven (1. 133.0). These peculiarities of the Maruts must have presented to the mind of the Vedic poet the picture of the formations of well-disciplined soldiers in their uniforms. When, therefore, the memories of the original character of the Maruts were being gradually dimmed, the Vedic pocis must have naturally thought of associating them newly with their war-god, Indra. That the connection betneen the Maruls and Rudra represents a prior phase of the Marut-mythology is clearly indicated by the fewer and more or less vague references
12. As nuggested by Kurt and DEXTEY (00, on RP 1. 6+), with whom SZYŁ (W Uyilm I, 218 ) and SCIROEDER (11 Zkar 9, 248-9) agrec.
13. Scuc papers referred to an [.n. 109. 25 194 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS in the RV to that connection 112 On the other hand, the referen ces to the association between Indra and the Maruts are many and quite distinct Moreover, the transference of the Maruts Rudra to Indra would appear more logical That the Maruts could have been transferred from a prominent god of the . official Vedic pantheon, like Indra, to Rudra, who was admitted into the Vedic pantheon almost under duress, 118 1s, indeed, inconceivable 114 As mentioned elsewhere, the Maruts are repre sented as increasing the strength and prowess of Iodra (III 35 9, VI 17 11) Tbey generally assist him in the battles (IJI 47 3-4, VIII 65 2-3, X 113 3 ) 115 Attention has already been drawn to a couple of passages in the RV, which seem to show that some features of the mythological connection between Indra and the Maruts may have been the reflections of the actual historical connections between a war-lord and his lieutenants In 112 Attention may be drawn, in this context, to the very significant obsce vations made by L D BARNETT (“The Genius A Study in Indo-European Psychology”, JRAS 1929, 731-748) According to that scholar, the strikus fact that just the Maruts have some serpent attributes (which do not belony to any other gods in the RV), such as ahibhanu (I 172 1), ahimanyu (I 618,9), ahtfufma (V 33 5), would indicate that, in the Vedic rcligious tradation, there was some old connection between the Maruts and the serpents.” would also seem to confirm the original connection between the Maruts and Rudra (The later connection between Rudra Sıva and the serpents 13 weus known) BARNETT further points out that the Maruts of the RI art origin a host of geni, whoss primary duty is the guardianship of the Anya and his family The ord.nary man, the ranker in the Aryan armies, saw. the Maruts the celestial counterpart of humsci (BARNETT emphasizes the parallelism between the Maruts and the Fravaxis of the Apesta ) Ini Der arusche Mannerbund (Lund 1938, Sug WIKANDER has expressed some interesung vicws on this subject WIXANDER tries to prove that the ve word, marya, signified not merely a lusty young man but a member of particular society vowed to a particular cult The maryas wert, indeed, carthly counterparts of the Maruts in heaven According to tbat vhow! the two word, mary and marut, arc etymologically connected with a other 113 Scc “Rudra in the Veda” 114 That the Maruts could have been associated with Rudra and Indra simultancously 19 equally inconceivable 115 The Maruts are sometimes described also as the singers of battle songs (I 194) VRTRAHĀ INDRA 195 I 165 6 and VIII 7 31, the Maruts are described as having left their leader, Indra, in the lurch Elsewhere (I 170 2, 171 6) there is a clear reference to the serious differences between Indra and the Maruts It should, however, be remembered that such Incidents must have been but rare, and that they perhaps only help to confirm the historicity of Indra’s original personality When in the course of the development of the Vedic mytho logy, a cosmic character camc to be superimposed upon the personality of the national war god, Indra, and when Indra was consequently transformed into a raid god, a corresponding trans formation occurred in the character of the Maruts also The trusted lieutenants of the war lord now became the allies of the rain god In other words, the Maruts came to be regarded as the divinities connected with storm This is the final phase in the evolution of the character of the Maruts as presented in the RV, and that is why, in later mythology, the Maruts are usually re presented as storm gods 116 Another god, with whom lodra is associated in the RV, is Brhaspati-Brāhmaṇaspati (II 23 18, 24 12, IV 49 1-6, VIII 96 15) A critical study of the Rgvedic hymns, which celebrate Brāhmaṇaspati, would clearly show that that god is obviously a conscious priestly creation Without going into the details of this question, it may be pointed out that, through this god, the priestly community must have originally thought of glorifying the magic power of prayer The word, brahman (in Brāhmaṇaspati), must be understood in the sense of the magic power of prayer As indicated above, on account of their warlıke way of life and thought, the Vedic Aryans transformed Indra therr Victorious 116 It is interest ng to note that the Vedic god, Vayu is rarely connected with the Maruts. He is only once referred to as having created the Maruts from the wornbs of the heaven (I 134 4 ) Had be naturalistic character of the Alarut been primary, there would have occurred more frequent references to the association between Vayu Vâta and the Maruts See, in this connec tion St & WIXANDER, Toyu Uppsala 1941 WIKANDER says ibat in the Tilcs, myths and speculations relat ng to Vāyu Vata we have clear traces of an old relig on which must have played an important role in the common Todo-Iran an period According to him, Viyu 1 at3 was not perely a god of Wind but also of breathing the soul of the universe 196 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS warrior leader, into the supreme god of the Vedic pantheon At that time, it must have been the anxiety of some Vedic poets and priests – an anxiety which is, indeed, quite understandable - gene rally to impress upon the people that it was not merely the valour of the warriors, blessed by the national war-god Indra, which helped them towards victory In order to be truly effective that valour has to be necessarily aided by the magic power of prayer This anxiety, on the part of those Vedic poets and priests, may be said to have been mythologically expressed through the creation of Brāhmaṇaspati In this context, attention may be drawn to the very significant fact that Brāhmaṇaspatı, like Indra, is a god of specifically Indian origin The Vedic poets have consciously set this god by the side of Indra and have represented him as having been responsible - together with Indra - for the victorious battles against the enemies (II 23 18, IV.49 1-6) Sometimes this concern to place the magic power of prayer on par with warlıke yalour seems to have got the better of the Vedic poets As the result of this, in some passages, Brāhmaṇaspat alone is credited, by the Vedic poets, with having accomplished the heroic deeds which are normally - and, of course, more naturally - attributed to Indra (1 40 8, II 23 11, 24 2, VI 13 1-2, X 67 5, 103 4) Some of Indra’s exclusive epithets also have been applied to Brāhmaṇaspati - such as, for instance, magharen (II 24 12) and sajrin (I. 40 8 117 The obvious incogruity between the basic character of Brāhmaṇaspati, as clearly indicate by his name, and the generally warlike traits, which are sometimes attributed to him, can thus be rationally accounted for 18 117 It is likely that a peculiar reaction of this tendency is to be in the passages where Indra is referred to rather incongruously-as Aplaun (VI 20 3) brahman (VI 457) and brahmarahas (VI 45 4 ) 118 As was to be expected, in course of time, Indra, the national god of the Vedic pantheon, came to be regarded as the prototype and guardian of kingship in ancient India (A XIX. 24 2, MIS II 14 AB 23 I, SPB III 9 1 16 18 ) The Shami is said to bave chosen Indra * lord (AVXII ! 37) In AV (III 46) the king is significantly reless as human Indra Corresponding to this development of the Indra-com. Brāhmaṇaspati must have come to be regarded as the symbol of saccrue (TDI 7 7 4 )VRTRAHÃ INDRA 197 The history of the evolution of Indra’s personality, which has been set forth above, would now make it amply clear why the Vedic mythology, as a whole, is so very greatly dominated by that god As indicated elsewhere, in course of time, Indra came to be regarded as the very symbol of the official Vedic religion This fact is fully confirmed by a peculiar mythological device which is sometimes employed in the RV Side by side with what may be called the official or hierarchical Vedic religion there had existed, in the Vedic age, several other currents of mythical and religious thought These latter seem to have been in vogue either among the masses of the Vedic people (as against the hierarchical classes) or among the non Vedic people It may be presumed that the religious and mythological ideology of these people was, for several reasons, found to be more or less unacceptable by the guardians of the official Vedic religion, which gradually tended to become sophisticated and hierarchical Their gods, therefore, must have originally received but scant recognition at the hands of the Vedic poets and priests In course of time, however, the religious cults of the masses - both Vedic and non-Vedic - must have effectively asserted themselves Consequently their gods must have inevitably forced their way into the Vedic pantheon With a view to properly consolidating this new position acquired by the popular’ gods, the Vedic poets, who sponsored them, brought them into close association with Indra - more often artifi cially than otherwise Such association with Indra, the symbol of the official Vedic religion, served the purpose of settiag the seal, as it were, of official recognition for those gods 118 The association of Indra with Viṣṇu and with Pusan, which is demon strably artificial and the result of an afterthought, belongs to this category 120 The popular gods, Viṣṇu and Pusan, were, so to say, granted official recognition by being brought into association with Indra Except on this assumption, the relations between Viṣṇu 119 Another device of a smlar character intended for officially introdud ing a god into the Vedic ritual scems to bave been to associate that god with Soma 120 Scc DANDEKAR « Virnu in the Veda and’ Pujan the Pastoral God of the Veda , published elsewberc in thus Volunc 198 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS and Pusan, on the one hand, and Indra, on the other, would remain wholly ununderstandable 121 Indra seems to have held the position of the official represep tative of the Vedic religion even in later times 122 The govardhana mountain episode in the career of Kispa 123 is only a mythological reflection of the historical contest between the Vedic religion, on the one hand, and the newly developed popular Bhāgavata reli gion, on the other 124 [ First published ABORI 31, 1951, 1-55 ] 121 It may be pointed out, in this connection, that when the couryo these popular gods into the Vedic pantheon becamc inevitable, the com pocts, who represented the official Vedic religion. saw to it that, belon thosc popular gods became Vedic gods, such elements in their character ** did not fit in well with the official religious ideology. Werc moc * obliterated, and that almost a new character was superimposed on (tude DANDERAR On Vunu and Puṣan ) 122 According to SHENDE ( XIII AIOC, Summary, 1946), Rg cdic Indt us transformed in the Alhorooueda into a deity of popular appcal to co private and public grievances Sec, in this connection, also RENOU, …) dans I Atharvavcda , MA VIII, 123-129 GAJENDRACADXAR ? Summar), 1946) points to the strikiog difference between the Indra of Veda and the Indra of the cpics While the Vedic Indra, in spite of * " entirely moral conduct, ever remains pre eminent, the cpic ladra 11 ha by the shadow of defeat and dethronement 123 Ilaritatta, adhy syas 15-18 124 The episode of thc wrcating of the parydala trec by Krmna oue, Indra’s possession (T u l’ur V 30-31 ) may also be mentioned in context The sequel of these episodes seems to hint at the victory of the pop. religion over the Vedic religion It is jaceresting to note, in this connect that, in a latc Adnya by a South Indian poct (17th cent AD), Krfra actually given the title of the queller of the pride of Indra (de GANCOLY, “Indra Cult serrus Krira Cult”, 10RI VII, 1-27) ultimately hroa came to be regarded as the chief god of the H pantheon, some cpithers of Indra, such as porinda and her insadans, fccmo bave beco transferred to him.