- General character and classification. Indefiniteness of out line and lack of individuality characterize the Vedic conception of the gods. This is mainly due to the fact that they are nearer to the physical pheno mena which they represent, than the gods of any other Indo-European people. Thus the ancient Vedic interpreter Yaska 1 (Nir. 7, 4) speaking of the nature of the gods, remarks that what is seen of them is not anthropomorphic at all, as in the case of the Sun, the Earth, and others. The natural bases of the Vedic gods have, to begin with, but few specific characteristics, while they share some of the attributes of other phenomena belonging to the same domain. Thus Dawn, Sun, Fire have the common features of being luminous, dispelling darkness, appearing in the morning. The absence of distinctiveness must be still greater when several deities have sprung from different aspects of one and the same phenomenon. Hence the character of each Vedic god is made up of only a few essential traits combined with a number of other features common to all the gods, such as brilliance, power, beneficence, and wisdom. Certain great cosmical functions are predicated of nearly every leading deity individually. The action of supporting or establishing heaven and earth is so generally attributed to them, that in the AV. (19, 32) it is even ascribed to a magical bunch of darbha grass. Nearly a dozen gods are described as having created the two worlds, and rather more are said to have produced the sun, to have placed it in the sky, or to have prepared a path for it. Four or five are also spoken of as having spread out the earth, the sky, or the two worlds. Several (Surya, Savitr, Pusan, Indra, Pra janva, and the Adityas) are lords of all that moves and is stationary.
LJSuch common features tend to obscure what is essential, because in hymns of prayer and praise they naturally assume special prominence. Againr gods belonging to different departments, but having prominent functions in common, are apt to be approximated. [JThus Agni, primarily the god of terrestrial fire, dispels the demons of darkness with his lightwhile Indra, the aerial god of the thunderstorm, slays them with his lightning] Into the con ception of the fire-god further enters his aspect as lightning in the atmosphere. The assimilation is increased by such gods often being invoked in pairs.
1 6 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
These combinations result in attributes peculiar to the one god attaching themselves to the other, even when the latter appears alone. Thus Agni comesto be called Soma- drinker, Vrtra-slayer, winner of cows and waters, sun anddawns, attributes all primarily belonging to Indra. The indefiniteness of outline caused by the possession of so many common attributes, coupled with the tendency to wipe out the few distinctiveones by assigning nearly every power to every god, renders identification ofone god with another easy. Such identifications are as a matter of factfrequent in the RV. 1 Thus a poet addressing the fire-god exclaims: Thouat thy birth, O Agni, art Varuna; when kindled thou becomest Mitra, in thee,O son of strength, all gods are centred; thou art Indra to the worshipper(5, 3x). Reflexions in particular on the nature of Agni, so important a godin the eyes of a priesthood devoted to a fire cult, on his many manifestations as individual fires on earth, and on his other aspects as atmosphericfire in lightning and as celestial fire in the sun, aspects which the Vedicpoets are fond of alluding to in riddles, would suggest the idea that variousdeities are but different forms of a single divine being. This idea is foundin more than one passage of the RV. The one being priests speak of inmany ways; they call it Agni, Yama, Matarisvan (i, i64 4; cp. AV. 10, 828. 13, 4I5J. Priests and poets with words make into many the bird (= the sun)that is but one (10, ii4 5). Thus it appears that by the end of the Rigvedicperiod a kind of polytheistic monotheism had been arrived at. We find thereeven the incipient pantheistic conception of a deity representing not only allthe gods but nature as well. For the goddess Aditi is identified not onlywith all the gods, but with men, all that has been and shall be born, air,and heaven (i, 8910); and Prajapati is not only the one god above all gods,but embraces all things (10, i2i 8 - 10). This pantheistic view becomes fully developed in the AV. (10, 7*4. *5j and is explicitly accepted in the later Vedicliterature 2.
In the older parts of the RV. individual gods are often invoked as thehighest, but this notion is not carried out to its logical conclusion. The factthat the Vedic poets frequently seem to be engrossed in the praise of theparticular deity they happen to be invoking, that they exaggerate his attributesto the point of inconsistency, has given rise to the much discussed theorywhich MAX MULLER originated and to which he has given the name of Heno theism or Kathenotheism 3. According to this theory, the belief in individualgods alternately regarded as the highest , [the Vedic poets attribute to thegod they happen to be addressing all the nighest traits of divinity, treatinghim for the moment as if he were an absolutely independent and supremedeity, alone present to the mindj Against this theory it has been urged4that Vedic deities are not represented as independent of all the rest , since noreligion brings its gods into more frequent and varied juxtaposition and combination, and that even the mightiest gods of the Veda are made dependenton others. Thus Varuna and Surya are subordinate to Indra (i, ioi 3), Varuna and the Asvins submit to the power of Visnu (i, I56 4), and Indra,Mitra-Varuna, Aryaman, Rudra cannot resist the ordinances ofSavitr (2, 389). It has been further pointed out that in the frequent hymns addressed to theviivedevahi or All-gods, all the deities, even the lesser ones, are praised insuccession, and that as the great mass of the Vedic hymns was composedfor the ritual of the Soma offering, which included the worship of almostthe entire pantheon, the technical priest could not but know the exact relative position of each god in that ritual. Even when a god is spoken of asunique or chief (eka), as is natural enough in laudations, such statements
THE VEDIC GODS, i o. GENERAL CHARACTER AND CLASSIFICATION. 1 7
rose their temporarily monotheistic force through the modifications or cor lections supplied by the context or even by the same verse. Thus a poet says that Agni alone, like Varuna, is lord of wealth . It should also be remembered that gods are constantly invoked in pairs, triads, and larger groups, even the exalted Varuna being mostly addressed in conjunction with one other god (as in 6, 67) or with several other gods (as in 2, 28). Heno theism is therefore an appearance rather than a reality, an appearance pro duced by the indefiniteness due to undeveloped anthropomorphism, by the lack of any Vedic god occupying the position of a Zeus as the constant head of the pantheon, by the natural tendency of the priest or singer in extolling a particular god to exaggerate his greatness and to ignore other gods, and by the growing belief in the unity of the gods (cf. the refrain of 3 ? 55) each of whom might be regarded as a type of the divine. Heno theism might, however, be justified as a term to express the tendency of the RV. towards a kind of monotheism.
^The Vedic gods, as has been shown, had a beginning in the view of the Vedic poets, since they are described as the offspring of heaven and earth or some|jrn AC ^f ^th^r Ac This in itself implies different generations of"~golls7but earlier (purve) gods are also expressly referred to in several passages (7, 21 7 c.). An earlier or first age of the gods is also spoken of- (io; 722- 3). The AV. (n, 810) speaks of ten gods as having existed before the rest. The gods, too,, were originally mortal 5. This is expressly stated
in the AV. (n, 5^; 4, n 6). The Brahmanas state this both of all the gods (SB. 10, 4, 3 3) and of the individual gods Indra (AB. 8, i44), Agni (AB. 3, 4), and Prajapati (SB. 10, i, 31 ) 6. That they were originally not immortal is implied in the RV. For jmmortality was bestowed on them by Savitr (4, 542 = VS. 33, 54) or by AgnT (6, 74; AV. 4, 23). They are also said to have obtained it by drinking Soma. (Q, io6 8 cp. io9 2 - 3), which is called the prin ciple of immortality (SB. 9, 5^ i 8). In another passage of the RV. (10, 53 ), they are said to have acquired immortality, but by what means is not clear. According to a later conception Indra is stated to have conquered heaven by tapas or austerity (10, I671 ). The gods are said to have attained divine rank by the same means (TB. 3, 12, 3*), or to have overcome death by con tinence and austerity (AV. 11,5 I9) and to have acquired immortality through Rohita (AV. 13, 1 7). Elsewhere the gods are stated to have overcome death by the performance of a certain ceremony (TS. 7, 4, 2J ). Indra and several other gods are said to be unaging (3, 46x &c.), but whether the immortality of the gods was regarded by the Vedic poets as absolute, there is no evi dence to show. According to the post-Vedic view their immortality was only relative, being limited to a cosmic age. The physical appearance of the gods is anthropomorphic, though only in a shadowy manner; for it often represents only aspects of their natural bases figuratively described to illustrate their activities 7. Thus head,, face, mouth, cheeks,, eyes, hair, shoulders,, breast, belly, arms, hands, fingers, feet are attributed to various individual gods. Head, breast, arms, and hands are chiefly mentioned in connexion with the warlike equipment of Indra and the Maruts. The arms of the sun are simply his rays, and his eye is intended to represent his physical aspect. The tongue and limbs of Agni merely denote his flames. The fingers of Trita are referred to only in order to illustrate his character as a preparer of Soma, and the belly of Indra only to emphasize his powers of drinking Soma 8. Two or three gods are spoken of as having or assuming all forms (visvarupd}. It is easy to understand that in the case of deities whose outward shape was so vaguely conceived Indo-arische Philologie. III. 1 A.
20 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
in the RV. where they are spoken of as great and small, young and old(i, 27 13). .It is probable that this statement represents the settled viewofthe Vedic poets as to gradation of rank among the gods (cp. pp. 14. 17).It is only a seeming contradiction when in one passage (8, 30 )it is saidwith reference to the gods, none of you is small or young; you are allgreat ; for a poet addressing the zods directly on this point could hardlyhave expressed himself differently, pt is certain that two gods tower abovethe rest as leading deities about equal in power, Indra as the mighty warriorand Varuna as the supreme moral rulerTJ The older form of Varuna became,owing to the predominance of his ethical qualities, the supreme godofZoroastrianism as Ahura Mazda, while in India Indra developed into thewarrior god of the conquering Aryans. Varuna appears as preeminent onlywhen the supreme Taws"ot thepKysTcal and moral world are contemplated,and cannot be called a popular god. It has been held by various scholarsthat Varuna and the Adityas were the highest gods of an older period, butwere later displaced by Indra (p. 28). There is at any rate no evidencetoshow that Indra even in the oldest Rigvedic period occupied a subordinateposition. It is true that Ahura Mazda is the highest god and Indra onlya demon in the Avesta. But even if Indra originally possessed coordinatepower with Varuna in the Indo-Iranian period, he was necessarily relegatedto the background when the reform of the Avestan religion made AhuraMazda supreme20 (cp. p. 28).^Next to Indra and Varuna come the two greatritual deities Agni and SomaJJ These two along with Indra are, judgedbythe frequency of the hymns addressed to them, the three most popular deitiesof the RV. For, roughly speaking, three-fifths of its hymns are dedicatedtotheir praise. The fact that the hymns to Agni and Indra always comefirstin the family books, while the great majority of the hymns to Soma haveawhole book, the ninth, to themselves, confirms this conclusion 21. Followingthe number of the hymns dedicated to each of the remaining deities, combined with the frequency with which their names are mentioned in the RV.,five classes of gods may be distinguished: i) Indra, Agni, Soma; 2) Asvins,Maruts, Varuna; 3) Usas, Savitr, Brhaspati, Surya, Pusan; 4) Vayu, Dyava
prthivl, Visnu, Rudra; 5) Yama, Parjanya22. The statistical standard canof course be only a partial guide. For Varuna is celebrated (mostly togetherwith Mitra) in only about thirty hymns, his name being mentioned altogetherabout 250 times, while the Asvins can claim over 50 hymns and are namedover 400 times. Yet they cannot be said to approach Varuna in greatness.Their relative prominence is doubtless owing to their closer connexion withthe sacrifice as deities of morning light. Again, the importance of the Marutsis due to their association with Indra. Similar considerations would havetoenter into an estimate of the relative greatness of other deities in the list.Such an estimate involves considerable difficulties and doubts. A classificationaccording to gradations of rank would therefore not afford a satisfactory basisfor an account of the Vedic gods.
Another but still less satisfactory classification, might take as its basisthe relative age of the mythological conception, according as it dates fromthe period of separate national Indian existence, from the Indo-Iranian,orthe Indo-European epoch. Thus Brhaspati, Rudra, Visnu may be consideredthe creations of purely Indian mythology; at least there is no adequateevidence to show that they go back to an earlier age. It has already beenindicated ( 5) that a number of mythological figures date from the Indo Iranian period. But as to whether any of the Vedic gods besides Dyausmaybe traced back to the Indo-European period, considerable doubt is justified.CELESTIAL GODS. 1 1 . DYAUS. 2 1
A classification according to the age of the mythological creation would there fore rest on too uncertain a foundation.
The stage of personification which the various deities represent, might furnish a possible basis of classification. But the task of drawing a clear line of demarcation would involve too many difficulties. On the whole, the classification of the Vedic deities least open to ob jection, is that founded on the natural bases which they represent. For though in some cases there may be a doubt as to what the physical substrate really is, and a risk is therefore involved of describing a particular deity in the wrong place, this method offers the advantage of bringing together deities of cognate character and thus facilitating comparison. It has therefore been adopted in the following pages. The various phenomena have been grouped according to the triple division suggested by the RV. itself and adhered to by its oldest commentator.
i OST. 5, 219; BRI. 26; EDA. 1214; ORV. 100. 2 HRI. 13840. 3 MM., ASL. 526. 532. 546; Chips i, 28; OCR. 266. 285. 298 f. 312 ff.; Science of Religion 52; PhR. iSoff.; OST. 5. 6 f. 12 f. 125; 00.3,449; BUHLER, OO. 1,227; LRV. 3, XXVII f.; KRV. 33; note 113; ZIMMER, ZDA. 19(7), 175; HILLEBRANDT, Varuna und Mitra, 105; BRI. 26. 4 WHITNEY, PAOS., Oct. 1881 ; ORV. 101; HOPKINS, Henotheism in the Rigveda, in Classical studies in honour of H. Drisler (New York 1894), 7583; HRI. 139 &c. 5 SVL. 134; cp. ZDMG. 32, 300. 6 Mum, JRAS. 20,415; OST. 4, 548; 5, 14-17; cp. AV. 3, 223; 4) I4 i. SB. i, 7, 31; AB. 6, 208; TS. i, 7, 1 3; 6, 5, 31; HRI. 187. 7 NIRUKTA 7, 6. 7. 8 WC. 9. 9 ORV. 347- 353- 355- 357-8. I0 ORV. 93- 1X OST. 5, 18. ^ QRV. 238.
13 BRV. 3, 2034. H BRV. 3, 199. 15 ORV. 282. 16 OST. 5, 1820; ORV. 97 101 ; 281 7.293301. 17 KATYAYANA, SarvanukramanT, Introd. 2, 8;
Sayana on RV. i, 139". – ^ Indra and Vayu are closely allied (TS. 6, 6, 83). Cp. HRI. 89. J 9 Agni, Vayu, Surya are sons of Prajapati (MS. 4, 212).20 ORV. 94 8. 2I HRI. 90. 22 These classes and the statistics fournished below in the account given of the single gods, are based on data derived from LRV., GW., GRV. (2,4213), and AUFRECHT S RV. II 2, 66871.
A. THE CELESTIAL GODS.
ii. Dyaus. By far the most frequent use of the word dyaus is as a designation of the concrete sky , in which sense it occurs at least 500 times in the RV. It also means day1 about 50 times. When personified as the god of heaven, Dyaus is generally coupled with Earth in the dual compound dyavaprthiin, the universal parents. No single hymn of the RV. is addressed to Dyaus alone. When he is mentioned separately the per sonification is limited almost entirely to the idea of paternity. The name then nearly always appears in the nominative or genitive case. The latter case, occurring about 50 times, is more frequent than all the other cases together. The genitive is regularly connected with the name of some other deity who is called the son or daughter of Dyaus. In about three-fourths of these instances Usas is his daughter, while in the remainder the Asvins are his offspring (napata], Agni is his son (sunu) or child (stsu), Parjanya, Surya,, the Adityas, the Maruts, and the Aiigirases are his sons (putra). Out of its thirty occurrences in the nominative the name appears only eight times alone, being otherwise generally associated with Prthivl or mentioned with various deities mostly including PrthivT. In these eight passages he is three times styled a father (i, 907. 16433; 4, 1 10) ; once the father of Indra (4, 72 3), once he is spoken of as rich in seed (suretdtt) and as having generated Agni (4, 174); in the remaining three he is a bull (5, 365) or a red bull that bellows downwards (5, 586), and is said to have approved when Vrtra was slain (6, 723). in the dative the name is found eight times. In these passages
20 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
in the RY. where they are spoken of as great and small, young and old(i, 27 13). It is probable that this statement represents the settled view ofthe Vedic poets as to gradation of rank among the gods (cp. pp. 14. 17).It is only a seeming contradiction when in one passage (8, 30l )it is saidwith reference to the gods, none of you is small or young; you are allgreat ; for a poet addressing the sjods directly on this point could hardlyhave expressed himself differently, pit is certain that two gods tower abovethe rest as leading deities about equal in power, Indra as the mighty warriorand Varuna as the supreme moral rulerTJ The older form of Varuna became,owing to the predominance of his ethical qualities, the supreme god ofZoroastrianism as Ahura Mazda, while ( in India Indra developed into the\yarrior god of the conquering Aryans. Varuna appears as preeminent onlywhen the supreme laws "ot the "pEysTcal and moral world are contemplated,and cannot be called a popular god. It has been held by various scholarsthat Varuna and the Adityas were the highest gods of an older period, butwere later displaced by Indra (p. 28). There is at any rate no evidence toshow that Indra even in the oldest Rigvedic period occupied a subordinateposition. It is true that Ahura Mazda is the highest god and Indra onlya demon in the Avesta. But even if Indra originally possessed coordinatepower with Varuna in the Indo-Iranian period, he was necessarily relegatedto the background when the reform of the Avestan religion made AhuraMazda supreme20 (cp. p. 28).f/Next to Indra and Varuna come the two greatritual deities Agni and SornaTJ These two along with Indra are, judged bythe frequency of the hymns addressed to them, the three most popular deitiesof the RV. For, roughly speaking, three-fifths of its hymns are dedicated totheir praise. The fact that the hymns to Agni and Indra always come firstin the family books, while the great majority of the hymns to Soma haveawhole book, the ninth, to themselves, confirms this conclusion 21. Followingthe number of the hymns dedicated to each of the remaining deities, combined with the frequency with which their names are mentioned in the RV.,five classes of gods may be distinguished: i) Indra, Agni, Soma; 2) Asvins,Maruts, Varuna; 3) Usas, Savitr, Brhaspati, Surya, Piisan; 4) Vayu, Dyava prthivl, Visnu, Rudra; 5) Yama, Parjanya22. The statistical standard canof course be only a partial guide. For Varuna is celebrated (mostly togetherwith Mitra) in only about thirty hymns, his name being mentioned altogetherabout 250 times, while the Asvins can claim over 50 hymns and are namedover 400 times. Yet they cannot be said to approach Varuna in greatness.Their relative prominence is doubtless owing to their closer connexion withthe sacrifice as deities of morning light. Again, the importance of the Marutsis due to their association with Indra. Similar considerations would havetoenter into an estimate of the relative greatness of other deities in the list.Such an estimate involves considerable difficulties and doubts. A classificationaccording to gradations of rank would therefore not afford a satisfactory basisfor an account of the Vedic gods.
Another but still less satisfactory classification, might take as its basisthe relative age of the mythological conception, according as it dates fromthe period of separate national Indian existence, from the Indo-Iranian, orthe Indo-European epoch. Thus Brhaspati, Rudra, Visnu may be consideredthe creations of purely Indian mythology; at least there is no adequateevidence to show that they go back to an earlier age. It has already beenindicated ( 5) that a number of mythological figures date from the Indo Iranian period. But as to whether any of the Vedic gods besides Dyaus maybe traced back to the Indo-European period, considerable doubt is justified.
CELESTIAL GODS. 1 1 . DYAUS. 2 1
A classification according to the age of the mythological creation would there fore rest on too uncertain a foundation.
The stage of personification which the various deities represent,, might furnish a possible basis of classification. But the task of drawing a clear line of demarcation would involve too many difficulties. On the whole, the classification of the Vedic deities least open to ob jection, is that founded on the natural bases which they represent. For though in some cases there may be a doubt as to what the physical substrate really is, and a risk is therefore involved of describing a particular deity in the wrong place, this method offers the advantage of bringing together deities of cognate character and thus facilitating comparison. It has therefore been adopted in the following pages. The various phenomena have been grouped according to the triple division suggested by the RV. itself and adhered to by its oldest commentator.
i OST. 5, 219; BRI. 26; BDA. 1214; ORV. 100. 2 HRI. 13840. 3 MM., ASL. 526. 532. 546; Chips i, 28; OCR. 266. 285. 298 f. 312 ff.; Science of Religion 52; PhR. iSoff.; OST. 5. 6 f. 12 f. 125; 00.3,449; BUHLER, OO. 1,227; LRV. 3, XXVII f.; KRV. 33; note 113; ZIMMER, ZDA. 19(7), 175; HILLEBRANDT, Varuna und Mitra, 105; BRI. 26. 4 WHITNEY, PADS., Oct. 1881; ORV. 101; HOPKINS, Henotheism in the Rigveda, in Classical studies in honour of H. Drisler (New York 1894), 7583; HRI. 139 &c. 5 SVL. 134; cp. ZDMG. 32, 300. 6 MUIR, JRAS. 20,415; OST. 4, 548; 5, 14-17; cp. AV. 3, 223; 4) 14 i. SB. i, 7, 31; AB. 6, 208; TS. i, 7, i3; 6, 5, 31; HRI. 187. 7 NIRUKTA 7, 6. 7. 8 WC. 9. 9 ORV. 347. 353. 355. 3578. 10 ORV. 93. OST. 5, 18. " ORV. 238.
13 BRV. 3, 2034. H BRV. 3, 199. is ORV. 282. 16 OST. 5, 1820; ORV. 97 101 ; 281 7.293301. 17 KATYAYANA, SarvanukramanT, Introd. 2, 8; Sayana on RV. i, 139". l6 Indra and Vayu are closely allied (TS. 6, 6, 83). Cp. HRI. 89. i9 Agni, Vayu, Surya are sons of Prajapati (MS. 4, 212).20 QRV. 948. 21 HRI. 90. 22 These classes and the statistics fournished below in the account given of the single gods, are based on data derived from LRV., GW., GRV. (2,4213), and AUFRECHT S RV. II 2, 66871.
A. THE CELESTIAL GODS.
ii. Dyaus. By far the most frequent use of the word dyaus is as a designation of the concrete sky , in which sense it occurs at least 500 times in the RV. It also means day1 about 50 times. When personified as the god of heaven, Dyaus is generally coupled with Earth in the dual compound dydvdprthivi^ the universal parents. No single hymn of the RV. is addressed to Dyaus alone. When he is mentioned separately the per sonification is limited almost entirely to the idea of paternity. The name then nearly always appears in the nominative or genitive case. The latter case, occurring about 50 times, is more frequent than all the other cases together. The genitive is regularly connected with the name of some other deity who is called the son or daughter of Dyaus. In about three-fourths of these instances Usas is his daughter, while in the remainder the Asvins are his offspring (napata), Agni is his son (sunu) or child (sisu), Parjanya, Surya, the Adityas, the Maruts, and the Aiigirases are his sons (putra). Out of its thirty occurrences in the nominative the name appears only eight times alone, being otherwise generally associated with Prthivl or mentioned with various deities mostly including PrthivT. In these eight passages he is three times styled a father (i, 907. 16433; 4) i ), once the father of Indra (4, 72 3), once he is spoken of as rich in seed (suretah) and as having generated Agni (4, 174)- i n the remaining three he is a bull (5, 365) or a red bull that bellows downwards (5, 586), and is said to have approved when Vrtra was slain (6, 723). In the dative the name is found eight times. In these passages
22 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
he is mentioned only three times quite alone, once being called the father (1,715)^ once lofty (i, 54 3), an(* once the lofty abode 1^477 )-TrT~tWoof the~~four occurrences in the accusative Dyaus is mentioned withPrthivT, once alone and without any distinctive statement (i, i;4 3), and once(i, 31 4) Agni is said to have made him roar for man. Thus it appearsthat Dyaus is seldom mentioned independently and in only one-sixth of overninety passages is his paternity not expressly stated or implied by associationwith Prthivl. The only essential feature of the personification in the RV.is in fact his paternity. In a few passages Dyaus is called a bull (i, 160^-5,36 5) that bellows (5,586). Here we have a touch of theriomorphism inasmuch as he is conceived as a roaring animal that fertilizes the earth. Dyausis once compared with a black steed decked with pearls (10, 68"), anobvious allusion to the nocturnal sky. The statement that Dyaus is furnishedwith a bolt (asanimat) looks like a touch of anthropomorphism. He is alsospoken of as smiling through the clouds (2, 46), the allusion being doubtlessto the lightening sky2. Such passages are, however, quite isolated, the conception of Dyaus being practically free from theriomorphism and anthropomorphism, excepting the notion of paternity. As a father he is most usuallythought of in combination with Earth as a mother 3. This is indicated bythe fact that his name forms a dual compound with that of Prthivl oftenerthan it is used alone in the singular ( 44), that in a large proportionofits occurrences in the singular it is accompanied by the name of Prthivl,and that when regarded separately he is not sufficiently individualized to havea hymn dedicated to his praise, though in conjunction with Prthivl heiscelebrated in six. Like nearly all the greater gods 4 Dyaus is sometimescalled asura^ (i, 122 x. 131x; 8, 20* ) and he is once (6, 51$) invokedinthe vocative as Father Heaven (dyaus pitar) along with Mother Earth(prthivi mdtar}. In about 20 passages the word dyaus is feminine, sometimes even when personified6. Dyaus, as has been pointed out ( 6) goesback to the Indo-European period. There is no reason to assume that thepersonification in that period was of a more advanced type and that the RV.has in this case relapsed to a more primitive stage. On the contrary thereis every ground for supposing the reverse to be the case. Whatever highergods may have existed in that remote age must have been of a considerablymore rudimentary type and can hardly in any instance have been conceivedapart from deified natural objects 7 . As the Universal Father who with MotherEarth embraced all other deified objects and phenomena, he would havebeen the greatest among the deities of a chaotic polytheism. But to speakof him as the supreme god of the Indo-European age is misleading, becausethis suggests a ruler of the type of Zeus and an incipient monotheism for anextremely remote period, though neither of these conceptions had beenarrived at in the earlier Rigvedic times. The word is derived from the root div, to shine, thus meaning thebright one and being allied to deva, god 8.
i v. SCHRODER. \VZKM. 8, 1267. 2 PVS. i, ill; SEE. 46, 205. 3 HRL171. 4 BDA. 11923. 5 BDA. 86. 6 BDA. 114; cf. GW. s. v. div\ OSTHOFF,IF. 5, 286, n. 7 BDA. 111. 8 Cp. KZ. 27, 187; BB. 15, 17; IF. 3, 301.
OST.5,2i 3;OGR.2o9;LRV.3,3i2 3;BRV. 1,4 5;Sp.AP.i6o;JAOS. i6,cxLV.S 12. Varun a. Varuna, as has been shown (p. 20), is by the side ofIndra, the greatest of the gods of the RV. The number of hymns dedicatedto his praise is not a sufficient criterion of his exalted character. Hardlyadozen hymns celebrate him exclusively. Judged by the statistical standardhe would rank only as a third class deity; and even if the two dozen hymns
CELESTIAL GODS. 12. VARUNA. 23
in which he is invoked along with his double Mitra are taken into account, he would only come fifth in order of priority, ranking considerably below the Asvins and about on an equality with the Maruts (cp. p. 20). The anthropomorphism of Varuna s personality is more fully developed on the moral than the physical side. The descriptions of his person and his equipment are scanty, more stress being laid on his activity. He has a
face, an eye, arms, hands, and feet. He moves his arms, walks, drives, sits, eats and drinks. The poet regards the face (ariikaui) of Varuna as that of Agni (7, 88 2 cp. 876). The eye of Mitra and Varuna is the sun (i, 115x; 6, 51x; 7, 6i x. 63x; 10, 37x ). The fact that this is always mentioned in the first verse of a hymn, suggests that it is one of the first ideas that occur when Mitra and Varuna are thought of. The eye with which Varuna is said in a hymn to Surya (i, 5o6) to observe mankind, is undoubtedly the sun. Together with Aryaman, Mitra and Varuna are called sun-eyed (7, 66 10), a term applied to other gods also. Varuna is far-sighted (i, 25 5 - 16; 8, 902) and thousand-eyed (7, 34 ). Mitra and Varuna stretch out their arms (5, 642; 7, 62 5) and they drive with the rays of the sun as with arms (8, 902 ). Like Savitr and Tvastr they are beautiful-handed (supani). Mitra and Va runa hasten up with their feet (5, 64 7), and Varuna treads down wiles with shining foot (8, 418). He sits on the strewn grass at the sacrifice (i, 26 4; 5, 722), and like other gods he and Mitra drink Soma (4, 41 3 &c.). Varuna wears a golden mantle (drdpi) and puts on a shining robe (i, 251 -3). But the shining robe of ghee with which he and Mitra are clothed (5, 62 4; 7, 64 ) is only a figurative allusion to the sacrificial offering of melted butter. The glistening garments which they wear (i, I521) probably mean the same thing. In the SB. (13, 3, 65) Varuna is represented as a fair, bald, yellow-eyed old man 1. The only part of Varuna s equipment which is at all prominent is his car. It is described as shining like the sun (i, I22 15), as having thongs for a pole (ibid.), a car-seat and a whip (5, 62?), and as drawn by well-yoked steeds (5, 62 4). Mitra and Varuna mount their car in the highest heaven (5; 63x). The poet prays that he may see Varuna s car on the earth (i, 25l3).
Mitra and Varuna s abode is golden and situated in heaven (5, 672; i, i362) and Varuna sits in his mansions (j>astydsU) looking on all deeds (i, 2510- 11). His and Mitra s seat (sadas) is great, very lofty, firm with a thousand columns (5, 68 5; 2, 415) and their house has a thousand doors (7, 88 5). The all-seeing sun rising from his abode, goes to the dwellings of
Mitra and Variina to report the deeds of men (7, 60 I>3 ), and enters their dear dwelling (i, 1524). It is in the highest heaven that the Fathers behold Varuna (10, i4 8). According to the SB. (n, 6, i) Varuna, conceived as the lord of the Universe, is seated in the midst of heaven, from which he surveys the places of punishment situated all around him 1. The spies (spasaJi) of Varuna are sometimes mentioned. They sit down around him (i, 24 13). They behold the two worlds; acquainted with sacrifice they stimulate prayer (7, 87 3). Mitra s and Varuna s spies whom they send separately into houses (7, 6i 3 ), are undeceived and wise (6, 67 5). In the AV. (4, i6 4)it is said that Varuna s messengers descending from heaven, traverse the world; thousand-eyed they look across the whole world. The natural basis of these spies is usually assumed to be the stars; but the RV. yields no evidence in support of this view. The stars are there never said to watch, nor are the spies connected with night. The conception may very well have been suggested by the spies with whom a strict ruler on earth is surrounded 2. Nor are spies peculiar to Varuna and Mitra, for they are also attributed to Agni (4, 43), to Soma (9, 73 4 7. here perhaps suggested by the
24 HI. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
previous mention of Varuna), to demons combated by Indra (i, 338), andto the gods in general (io, io 8). In one passage the Adityas are said tolook down like spies from a height (8, 47IX). That these spies were primarilyconnected with Mitra and Varuna is to be inferred from the fact that theIranian Mithra also has spies, who are, moreover, called by the same name(spas) as in the Veda 3. The golden-winged messenger (dutd) of Varunaonce mentioned in the RV. (io, I236), is doubtless the sun.
Varuna alone, or conjointly with Mitra, is often called a king (rdjd),like the other leading deities and Yama (i, 247-8 &c.) 4 . He is king of all,both gods and men do, I32 4; 2, 2710), of the whole world (5, 85^), andofall that exists (7, 876). Varuna is also a self-dependent ruler (2, 28 J), a termgenerally applied to Indra. Much more frequently Varuna, alone or mostlyin association with Mitra, is called a universal monarch (samrdj). This termis also applied to Agni a few times and oftener to Indra. Counting thepassages in which Varuna and Mitra together are so called, it is connectedwith Varuna nearly twice as often as with Indra. Considering that for everyeight or ten hymns celebrating Indra only one is dedicated to Varuna in theRV., the epithet may be considered peculiarly appropriate to Varuna. The attribute of sovereignty (ksatra] is in a predominant manner appropriated to Varuna, generally with Mitra and twice with Aryaman also. Otherwise it is applied only once respectively to Agni, Brhaspati, and the Asvins.Similarly the term ruler (ksatriyd) in four of its five occurrences refers toVaruna or the Adityas and once only to the gods in general. The epithetasura ( 67) is connected with Varuna, alone or accompanied by Mitra,oftener than with Indra and Agni; and, taking account of the proportionofhymns, it may be said to be specially applicable to Varuna 5. Mitra andVaruna are also called the mysterious and noble lords (asurd arya) amongthe gods (7, 652). The divine dominion of Varuna and Mitra is often referred to with theword mdyd6. This term signifies occult power, applicable in a good senseto gods or in a bad sense to demons. It has an almost exact parallel inthe English word craft*, which in its old signification meant occult power,magic , then skilfulness, art on the one hand and deceitful skill, wile onthe other. The good sense of mdyd, like that of asura (which might berendered by mysterious being ) is mainly connected with Varuna and Mitra,while its bad sense is reserved for demons. By occult power Varuna standingin the air measures out the earth with the sun as with a measure (5, 855 ),Varuna and Mitra send the dawns (3, 6i 7), make the sun to cross the skyand obscure it with cloud and rain, while the honied drops fall (5, 634);or (ibid. 3 - 7 ) they cause heaven to rain and they uphold the ordinances by
the occult power of the Asura (here = Dyaus or Parjanya)?. And so theepithet mdyin, crafty , is chiefly applied to Varuna among the gods (6, 48I4; 7, 284; io, 99I0. i 47 5).
In marked contrast with Indra, Varuna has no myths related of him,while much is said about him (and Mitra) as upholder of physical and moralorder. Varuna is a great lord of the laws of nature. He established heavenand earth and dwells in all the worlds (8, 42 ). The three heavens andthethree earths are deposited within him (7, 87 5). He and Mitra rule over thewhole world (5, 63 7) or encompass the two worlds (7, 6i 4). They are the
guardians of the whole world (2, 27 4 &c.) . By the law of Varuna heavenand earth are held apart (6, 70 ; 7, 86 *; 8, 4110). With Mitra he supportsearth and heaven (5, 62 3), or heaven, earth, and air (5, 69T - 4). He madethe golden swing (the sun) to shine in heaven (7, 875). He placed fire in
CELESTIAL GODS. 12. VARUNA. 25
the waters, the sun in the sky, Soma on the rock (5, 852 ). He has made a wide path for the sun (i, 24s; 7, 87*). Varuna, Mitra, and Aryaman open paths for the sun (7, 6o4 ). The order (rta) of Mitra and Varuna is established where the steeds of the sun are loosed (5, 62 1 ). The wind which resounds through the air is Varuna s breath (7, 8j2 ).
By Varuna s ordinances (vratani) the moon shining brightly moves at night, and the stars placed up on high are seen at night but disappear by day (i, 2410). In another passage (8, 4i 3)it is said that Varuna has embraced (pan sasvaje) the nights, and by his occult power has established the mornings or days (usrah). This can hardly indicate a closer connexion with night than that he regulates or divides night and day (cp. 7, 66 IT). In fact it is the sun that is usually mentioned with him, and not the moon or night. Thus in the oldest Veda Varuna is the lord of light both by day and by night, while Mitra, as far as can be judged, appears as the god of the celestial light of day only.
In the later Vedic period of the Brahmanas Varuna comes to be specially connected with the nocturnal heaven 8. Thus Mitra is said to have produced the day and Varuna the night (TS. 6, 4, 8 3 ); and the day is said to belong to Mitra and the night to Varuna (TS. 2, i, 74) 9 . This view may have arisen from a desire to contrast Mitra, who was still felt to be related to the sun, with Varuna whose natural basis was more / obscure. The antithesis between the two is differently expressed by the SB. (12, 9, 2T2) ; which asserts that this world is Mitra, that (the celestial) world is Varuna.
Varuna is sometimes referred to as regulating the seasons. He knows the twelve months (i, 258)10; and the kings Mitra, Varuna, and Aryaman are said to have disposed the autumn, the month, day and night (7, 66 !I ). Even in the RV. Varuna is often spoken of as a regulator of the waters. He caused the rivers to flow; they stream unceasingly according to his ord inance (2, 28 4). By his occult power the rivers swiftly pouring into the ocean do not fill it with water (5,856J. Varuna and Mitra are lords of rivers (7,642 ). Varuna is already found connected with the sea in the RV., but very rarely, perhaps owing to its unimportance in that collection. Varuna going in the oceanic waters is contrasted with the Maruts in the sky, Agni on earth, and Vata in air (i, i6i T4)". The statement that the seven rivers flow into the jaws of Varuna as into a surging abyss (8, 5812), may refer to the ocean 12. Varuna is said to descend into the sea (sindhum) like Dyaus (7, 87&) 13 . It is rather the aerial waters that he is ordinarily connected with. Varuna ascends to heaven as a hidden ocean (8, 4i8). Beholding the truth and falsehood of men, he moves in the midst of the waters which drop sweetness and are clear (7, 493 ). Varuna clothes himself in the waters (9, 9o2 cp. 8, 69" I2). He and Mitra are among the gods most frequently thought of and prayed to as bestowers of rain. Varuna makes the in verted cask (of the cloud) to pour its waters on heaven, earth, and air, and to moisten the ground, the mountains then being enveloped in cloud (5 8 53 4)- Mitra and Varuna have kine yielding refreshment and streams flowing with honey (5, 6g2 ). They have rainy skies and streaming waters (5, 685). They bedew the pasturage with ghee (= rain) and the spaces with honey (3, 62 l6). They send rain and refreshment from the sky (7, 642). Rain abounding in heavenly water comes from them (8, 256). Indeed, one entire hymn (5, 63) dwells on their powers of bestowing rain. It is probably owing to his connexion with the waters and rain, that in the fifth chapter of the Naighantuka Varuna is enumerated among the deities of the atmospheric as well as those of the celestial world. In the Brahmanas Mitra- and Varuna are also gods of rain 14 . In the AV. Varuna appears divested of his powers
26 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. YEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
as a universal ruler, retaining only the control of the department of waters.He is connected with the waters as Soma with the mountains (AV. 3, 33). As a divine father he sheds rain-waters (AV. 4, i5I2J. His golden house is in the waters (AV. 7, 83 ). He is the overlord of waters, he and Mitra arelords of rain (AV. 5, 24^- sj. jn the YV. he is spoken of as the child (sisu)of waters, making his abode within the most motherly waters (VS. 10, 7).The waters are wives of Varuna (TS. 5, 5, 41). Mitra and Varuna are theleaders of waters (TS. 6, 4, 32 j.
Varuna s ordinances are constantly said to be fixed, the epithet dhrta-vrata being preeminently applicable to him, sometimes conjointly with Mitra.The gods themselves follow Varuna s ordinances (8, 4i 7) or those of Varuna,Mitra, and Savitr (10, 36 13). Even the immortal gods cannot obstruct thefixed ordinances of Mitra and Varuna (5, 69* cp. 5, 63"). Mitra and Varunaare lords of order (rta) and light, who by means of order are the upholdersof order (1,235). The latter epithet is mostly applied either to them and sometimes the Adityas or to the gods in general. They are cherishers of orderor right (i, 2s). Varuna or the Adityas are sometimes called guardians oforder (rtasya gopa], but this term is also applied to Agni and Soma. Theepithet observer of order (rtdvari, predominantly used of Agni, is alsoseveral times connected with Varuna and Mitra.
Varuna s power is so great that neither the birds as they fly nor therivers as they flow, can reach the limit of his dominion, his might, and hiswrath (i, 24). Neither the skies nor the rivers have reached (the limit of)the godhead of Mitra and Varuna (i, i5i 9). He embraces the All and theabodes of all beings (8, 4i I<7 j. The three heavens and the three earths aredeposited in him (7, 87 5 ). Varuna is omniscient. He knows the flight ofbirds in the sky, the path of ships in the ocean, the course of the far-travelling wind, and beholds all the secret things that have been or shall bedone (i, 257-9- "j. He witnesses men s truth and falsehood (7, 49 ). Nocreature can even wink without him (2, 286). The winkings of men s eyesare all numbered by Varuna, and whatever man does, thinks, or devises,Varuna knows (AV. 4, i6 2 - 5). He perceives all that exists within heaven andearth, and all that is beyond: a man could not escape from Varuna byfleeing far beyond the sky (AV. 4, i64 5). That Varuna s omniscience is typical is indicated by the fact that Agni is compared with him in this respect(10, ii x j. As a moral governor Varuna stands far above any other deity. Hiswrath is roused by sin, the infringement of his ordinances, which he severelypunishes (7, 863> 4). The fetters (pasah) with which he binds sinners, areoften mentioned (i, 24 15. 25"; 6, 744; 10, 85 24). They are cast sevenfoldand threefold, ensnaring the man who tells lies, passing by him who speakstruth (AV.4, i6 6j. Mitra and Varuna are barriers, furnished with many fetters,against falsehood (7, 65 3). Once Varuna, coupled with Indra, is said to tie with bonds not formed of rope (7, 842 ). The term pdsa is only once usedin connexion with another god, Agni, who is implored to loosen the fettersof his worshippers (5, 27). It is therefore distinctive of Varuna. Accordingto BERGAIGNE the conception of Varuna s fetters is based on the tying up ofthe waters, according to HILLEBRANDT on the fetters of night15. But is seemsto be sufficiently accounted for by the figurative application of the fetters ofcriminals to moral guilt. Together with Mitra, Varuna is said to be a dis peller, hater, and punisher of falsehood (i, 152 ; 7, 60?. 66 13). They afflict with disease 16 those who neglect their worship (i, 1229). On the other hand,Varuna is gracious to the penitent. He unties like a rope and removes sin
CELESTIAL GODS. 12. VARUNA. 27
(2, 28 5; 5, 85 7- 8). He releases not only from the sins which men themselves commit, but from those committed by their fathers (7, 86 5). He spares the suppliant who daily transgresses his laws (i, 25 ) and is gracious to those who have broken his laws by thoughtlessness (7,, Sp 5). There is in fact no
hymn to Varuna (and the Adityas) in which the prayer for forgiveness of guilt does not occur, as in the hymns to other deities the prayer for worldly goods.Varuna has a hundred, a thousand remedies, and drives away death as well as releases from sin (1,249). He can take away or prolong life (1,24".
2512; 7, 884. 891). He is a wise guardian of immortality (8, 422), and the righteous hope to see in the next world Varuna and Yama, the two kings who reign in bliss (10, 147).
Varuna is on a footing of friendship with his worshipper (7, 884 ~6), who communes with him in his celestial abode and sometimes sees him with the mental eye (i, 25**; 7, 88 2 ). What conclusions as to the natural basis of Varuna can be drawn from the Vedic evidence which has been adduced? It is clear from this evidence, in combination with what is said below about Mitra ( 13), that Varuna and Mitra are closely connected with the sun, but that the former is the much more important deity. Mitra has in fact been so closely assimilated to the greater god that he has hardly an independent trait left. Mitra must have lost his individuality through the predominant characteristics of the god with whom he is almost invariably associated. Now, chiefly on the evidence of the Avesta, Mitra has been almost unanimously acknowledged to be a solar deity ( 13). Varuna must therefore have originally represented a different phenomenon. This according to the generally received opinion, is the en compassing sky. The vault of heaven presents a phenomenon far more vast to the eye of the observer than the sun, which occupies but an extremely small portion of that expanse during its daily course. The sky would there fore appear to the imagination as the greater deity. The sun might very naturally become associated with the sky as the space which it traverses every day and apart from which it is never seen. The conception of the sun as the eye of heaven is sufficiently obvious. It could not very appropriately be termed the eye of Mitra till the original character of the latter had become obscured and absorbed in that of Varuna. Yet even the eye of Surya is several times spoken of in the RV. (p. 30). The attribute of far-seeing , appropriate to the sun, is also appropriate to the sky, which might naturally be conceived as seeing not only by day but even at night by means of the moon and stars. No real difficulty is presented by the notion of Varuna, who has become -quite separate from his physical basis X 7, mounting a car in the height of heaven with Mitra. For such a conception is easily explicable from his asso ciation with a solar deity; besides every leading deity in the RV. drives in a car. On the other hand, the palace of Varuna in the highest heavens and his connexion with rain are particularly appropriate to a deity originally re presenting the vault of heaven. Finally, no natural phenomenon would be so likely to develope into a sovereign ruler, as the sky. For the personification of its vast expanse, which encompasses and rises far above the earth and on which the most striking phenomena of regular recurrence, the movements of the luminaries, are enacted, would naturally be conceived as watching by night and day all the deeds of men and as being the guardian of unswerving law. This development has indeed actually taken place in the case of the Zeus (= Dyaus) of Hellenic mythology. What was at first only an appellative of the sky has here become the supreme ruler of the gods dwelling in the serene
28 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
heights of heaven, who gathers the clouds, who wields the thunderbolt, andwhose will is law.
The phenomena with which the two greatest gods of the RV. wereoriginally connected, largely accounts for the difference in their personality.Varuna as concerned with the regularly recurring phenomena of celestial light,is the supreme upholder of law in the moral as well as the physical world. Hischaracter as such afforded no scope for the development of myths. Indraas the god fighting in the strife of the elements, was conceived by the militantVedic Indian as a sovereign of the warrior type. Owing to his close connexion with the meteorological phenomena of the thunderstorm, which are soirregular in time and diversified in feature, the character of Indra on the onehand shows traits of capriciousness, while on the other he becomes the centreof more myths than any other deity of the RV. The theory of ROTH as tothe supersession of Varuna by Indra in the Rigvedic period, is dealt withbelow ( 22).
With the growth of the conception of Prajapati ( 39) as a supreme deity,the characteristics of Varuna as a sovereign god naturally faded away, andthe dominion of the waters, only a part of his original sphere, alone remainedto him. Thus he ultimately became in post-Vedic mythology an IndianNeptune, god of the Sea. The hypothesis recently advanced by OLDENBERG IS that Varuna primarilyrepresented the moon, cannot be passed over here. Starting from the assertionthat the characteristic number of the Adityas was seven and that their identitywith the Amesaspentas of the Avesta is an assured fact, he believes thatVaruna and Mitra were the moon and sun, the lesser Adityas representingthe five planets, and that they were not Indo-European deities, but wereborrowed during the Indo-Iranian period from a Semitic people more skilledin astronomy than the Aryans. The character of Varuna when borrowedmust further have lost much of its original significance and have alreadypossessed a highly ethical aspect. For otherwise a distinctly lunar deity couldhardly have thrown Mitra, who was clearly understood to be the sun, intothe shade in the Indo-Iranian period, or have developed so highly abstracta character as to account for the supreme position, as a moral ruler, of AhuraMazda in the Avesta and of Varuna in the Veda. This hypothesis does notseem to account at all well for the actual characteristics of Varuna in the RV.It also requires the absolute rejection of any connection between Varuna and
It has already been mentioned that Varuna goes back to the Indo-Iranianperiod ( 5), for the Ahura Mazda of the Avesta agrees with him in character20though not in name. The name of Varuna may even be Indo-European.At least, the long accepted identification of the word with the Greek oopavoc,though presenting phonetic difficulties, has not been rejected by some recentauthorities on comparative philology21. But whether the word is Indo-European or the formation of a later
period22, it is probably derived from the root var, to cover 23, thus meaningthe encompasser . Sayana (on RV. i, 89^) connects it with this root in thesense of enveloping or confining the wicked with his bonds 24, or commenting on TS. i, 8, i6 x, in that of enveloping like darkness (cp. TS. 2, i, 7*).If the word is Indo-European, it may have been an attribute of dyaus, theordinary name of sky , later becoming the regular appellative of sky in Greece,but an exalted god of the sky in India 2^. 1 WEBER, ZDMG. 9, 242; 18, 268. 2 QRV. 286, n. 2, 3 Cp. ROTH,ZDMG. 6, 72; EGGERS, Mitra 547; OLDENBERG, ZDMG. 50,48. – 4 OST. 5,60,CELESTIAL GODS. 13. MITRA. 29
5 BDA. 1201; ORV. 163. 6 BRV. -3, 81 ; v. BRADKE, ZDMG. 48, 499 501 ; )RV. 163. 294. 7 Cf. BDA. 55. 60. OST. 5, 70; ROTH, PW. s. v. Varuna; BRV. 3, ii6ff.; v. SCHROEDER, WZKM. 9, 119. 9 Cf. TB. I, 7, id; Sayana on RV. i, 893; 2, 388; 7, 871; TS. i, 8, i6t. . - 10 Cp. WVB. 1894, p. 38.- ii BOLLENSEN, OO. 2, 467. - I2 ROTII, Nirukta, Erl. 701. - *3 Cp. ROTH,
ZDMG. 6, 73. I 4 HILLEBRANDT, Varuna und Mitra 67, note. T 5 Cp. HRI. 68. ID Varuna s later connexion -with dropsy is traced by HILLEBRANDT, p. 63 f. and ORV- 203 even in the RV., a view opposed by BRV. 3, 155. J 7 Cp. OLDENBERG, ZDMG. 50, 61. l8 ORV. 28598. J 9 Cp. v. SCHROEDER, WZKM. 9, 116 28;
MACDONELL, JRAS. 27, 9479- - - 20 ROTH, ZDMG. 6, 69 ff. (cp. OST. 5, 72); WHITNEY, JAOS. 3, 327; but WINDISCHMANN (Zoroastrische Studien p. 122) held Ahura Mazda to be purely Iranian, and SPIEGEL, Av. Transl. 3, introd. iii., sees no similarity between Ahura Mazda and Varuna; cp. Sp.AP. 18 1. 2I BRUGMANN, Grundriss 2, 154; PRELLWITZ, Etym. Worterbuch d. gr. Spr.22 Cp. v. SCHROE DER, WZKM. 9, 127. – 2 3 HILLEBRANDT 914; v. SCHROEDER, WZKM. 9, 118, n. i; HRI. 66, note; 70; cp. also SONNE, KZ. 12,3646; ZDMG. 32, 7i6f.; BOLLENSEN, ZDMG. 41, 504 f.; GELDNER, BB. 11, 329; MM., Chips 42, xxiii f. - *\ Cp. GVS. 2, 22, note; OLDENBERG, ZDMG. 50, 60. 2 5 MACDONELL, JRAS. 26, 628.
ROTH, ZDMG. 6, 704; 7, 607; JAOS. 3, 3412. WEBER, IS. 17, 212 f.; OST. 5, 58 75; LRV. 3, 3146; GRV. i, 34; HILLEBRANDT, Varuna und Mitra, Breslau 1877; BRV. 3, 11049; -MM-> I ndia 197200; BRL 169; GPVS. I, 142. 188; WC. 98 103; KERBAKER, Varuna e gli Aditya, Napoli 1889; BOHNENBERGER, Der altindische Gott Varuna, Tubingen 1893; ORV. 18995- 2023. 2938. 336,11. i; ZDMG. 50, 4368; HRI. 6172; JAOS. 16, cxLviiiff.; 17, 81, note; FOY, Die konigliche Gewalt, Leipzig 1895, P- 80 6 (Die Spaher Varuna s).
- Mitra. The association of Mitra with Varuna is so predominant that only one single hymn of the RV. (3, 59) is addressed to him alone. The praise of the god is there rather indefinite, but the first verse at least contains something distinctive about him. Uttering his voice (bruvanah) he brings men together (yatayati) and watches the tillers with unwinking eye (animisd, said also of Mitra-Varuna in 7, 6o6).
In another passage (7, 362) almost the same words are applied to Mitra who brings men together, uttering his voice , in contrast with Varuna who is here called a mighty, infallible guide . This seems a tolerably clear reference to Mitra s solar character, if we compare with it another verse (5, 82 9) where it is said that the sun-god Savitr causes all creatures to hear him and impels them . _ In the fifth verse of the hymn to Mitra the god is spoken of as the great Aditya bringing men together . This epithet (yatayaj-jana) is found in only three other passages of the RV. In one of these it is applied to Mitra-Varuna in the dual (5,722 ), in another to Mitra, Varuna, and Aryaman (i, i36 3), and in the third (8, 9i12) to Agni, who brings men together like Mitra . The attribute therefore seems to have properly belonged to Mitra. The hymn to Mitra further adds that he supports heaven and earth, that the five tribes of men obey him, and that he sustains all the gods. Savitr is once (5,8i 4) identified with Mitra because of his laws, and elsewhere (Val. 43) Visnu is said to take his three steps by the laws of Mitra. These two passages appear to indicate that Mitra regulates the course of the sun. Agni who goes at the head of the dawns produces Mitra for himself (10, 8 4); Agni when kindled is Mitra (3, 5 4); Agni when born is Varuna, when kindled is Mitra 1 (5, 31). In the AV. (i3,3 13) Mitra at sunrise is contrasted with Varuna in the evening, and (AV. 9, 3l8) Mitra is asked to uncover in the morning what has been covered up by Varuna 2. These passages point to the beginning of the view prevailing in the Brahmanas, that Mitra is connected with day and Varuna with night. That view must have arisen from Mitra having been predominantly conceived as allied to the sun, Varuna by antithesis becoming god of night 3. The same contrast between Mitra as god of day and Varuna as god of night is implied in the ritual literature, when it is prescribed that Mitra should
30 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. IA. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
receive a white and Varuna a dark victim at the sacrificial post (TS. 2, i, 7*.91; MS. 2, 57.) 4 . The somewhat scanty evidence of the Veda showing thatMitra is a solar deity, is corroborated by the Avesta and Persian religion ingeneral. Here Mithra is undoubtedly a sun-god or a god of light speciallyconnected with the sun 5.
The etymology of the name is uncertain 6. However, as the word alsooften means friend in the RV. and the kindly nature of the god is oftenreferred to in the Veda, Mitra even appearing as a god of peace (TS. 2, i, 84)7, while in the Avesta Mithra is on the ethical side of his characterthe guardian of faithfulness 8, it must have originally signified ally or friendand have been applied to the sun-god in his aspect of a beneficent powerof
nature.
i EGGERS 16 19. 2 HILLEBRANDT 67. 3 OLDENBERG thinks that thespecial connexion of Varuna with night is old: ZDA1G. 50, 64 5. 4 HILLEBRANDT 67. 90; ORV. 192, note. 5 Sp.AP. 183; ORV. 48. 190; EGGERS 613.u HILLEBRANDT 1134; EGGERS 70. 7 EGGERS 42 3. 8 EGGERS 53 6. KHF. 13; ROTH, ZDMG. 6, 70 ff.; PW.; OST. 5, 6971; WINDISCHMANN,Mithra, Leipzig 1859; GW. s. v. Mitra; HILLEBRANDT, Varuna und Mitra 11136;BRV. 3, no 29; BOLLENSEN, ZDMG. 41, 5034; WEBER, IS. 17, 212; BRI. 17;ORV. 190 2; BOHNENBERGER 85; A. EGGERS, Der arische Gott Mitra, Dorpat 1894(Dissertation); v. SCHROEDER, WZKM. 9,118; HRI. 71 ; OLDENBERG, SEE. 46, 241. 287.
- Surya. - Ten entire hymns of the RV. may be said to be devoted to the celebration of Surya specifically. It is impossible to say howoften the name of the god occurs, it being in many cases doubtful whetheronly the natural phenomenon is meant or its personification. Since his namedesignates the orb of the sun as well, Surya is the most concrete of the solardeities, his connexion with the luminary never being lost sight of. Theadorable light of Surya in the sky is as the face (amka) of great Agnido, 7 3). The eye of Surya is mentioned several times (5, 4o8 &c.), but heis himself equally often called the eye of Mitra and Varuna (p. 23) or ofAgni as well (i, us1 ); and once (7, 77 3) Dawn is said to bring the eye ofthe gods. The affinity of the eye and the sun is indicated in a passagewhere the eye of the dead man is conceived as going to Surya (10, i63 cp.9o 3. I58 3- 4). In the AV. he is called the lord of eyes (AV. 5, 249) andis said to be the one eye of created beings and to see beyond the sky, theearth, and the waters (AV. 13, i* 5). He is far-seeing (7, 358; 10, 37*), all-seeing (i, 5o2), is the spy (spas) of the whole world (4, i3 3), beholds allbeings and the good and bad deeds of mortals (i, 50?; 6, 5i2; 7, 6o 2. 6ix. 63 I>4 ). Aroused by Surya men pursue their objects and perform their work(7, 63 4 ). Common to all men, he rises as their rouser (7, 63*- 3). He is thesoul or the guardian of all that moves or is stationary (i, 115*; 7, 6o 2). Hehas a car which is drawn by one steed, called etasa (7, 632), or by an indefinite number of steeds (i,ii5 3; 10,373. 497) or mares (5,298) or by sevenhorses (5, 45 9) or mares called haritah (i, 5o8 - 9; 7, 6o3 ) or by seven swiftmares (4, 133).
Surya s path is prepared for him by Varuna (i, 248; 7, 871 ) or by theAdityas Mitra, Varuna, Aryaman (7, 60^). Pusan is his messenger (6, 583 ). The Dawn or Dawns reveal or produce Surya as well as Agni and the sacrifice (7, 8o2. 783). He shines forth from the lap of the dawns (7, 633). Butfrom another point of view Dawn is_ Surya s wife (7, 75 5).
_He also bears the metronymic Aditya, son of Aditi (i,5o12. i9i 9; 8,90") or Aditeya (10, 88"), but he is elsewhere distinguished from the Adityas
( 8> 35 13 -15)- His father is Dyaus (10, 371). He is god-born (ibid.). The godsraised him who had been hidden in the ocean (10, 72 7). As a form of Agni
CELESTIAL GODS. 14. SURYA. 31
he was placed by the gods in heaven (10, 88 11). According to another order of ideas he is said to have arisen from the eye of the world-giant Purusa (io, 90^). In the AV. (4, io 5) the sun (divakara} is even described as having sprung from Vrtra.
Various individual gods are said to have produced the sun. Indra generated him (2, i2 4 &c.), caused him to shine or raised him to heaven (3, 442; 8, 78 7 ). Indra-Visnu generated him (7, 99 4). Indra-Soma brought up Surya with light (6, 722); Indra-Varuna raised him to heaven (7, 82 3 ). Mitra
Varuna raised or placed him in heaven (4, i32; 5, 63*- 7). Soma placed light in the Sun (6, 442j; 9, 97 41), generated Surya (9, 96 5 . no5), caused him to shine (9, 637), or raised him in heaven (9, 1077). Agni establishes the brightness of the sun on high (io, 32) and caused him to ascend to heaven
(io, i56 4). Dhatr, the creator, fashioned the sun as well as the moon (io, 1903). The Angirases by their rites caused him to ascend the sky (io, 623). In all these passages referring to the generation of Surya the notion of the simple luminary doubtless predominates.
In various passages Surya is conceived as a bird traversing space. He is a bird (io, 177*-2 ), or a ruddy bird (5, 47 J), is represented as flying (i, igi 9), is compared with a flying eagle (7, 635) and seems to be directly called an eagle (5, 45 9)1. He is in one passage called a bull as well as a bird (5, 47 3) and in another a mottled bull 2 (io, I891 cp. 5, 47 3). He is once alluded to as a white and brilliant steed 3 brought by Usas (7, 77 3). Surya s horses represent his rays (which are seven in number: 8, 6i l6), for the latter (ketavati), it is said, bring (vahanti) him. His seven mares are called the daughters of his car (i, 50$).
Elsewhere Surya is occasionally spoken of as an inanimate object He is a gem of the sky (7, 634 cp. 6, 51 ) and is, alluded to as the variegated stone placed in the midst of heaven (5, 473 cp. SB. 6, i, 23). He is a brilliant weapon (ayudha) which Mitra-Varuna conceal with cloud and rain (5, 631), he is the felly (pavi) of Mitra-Varuna (5, 62*), or a brilliant car placed in heaven by Mitra-Varuna (5, 637). The sun is also called a wheel (i, i75 4; 4, 3o4) or the wheel of the sun is spoken of (4, 28 2; 5, 2910).
Surya shines for all the world (7, 631 ), for men and gods (i, 50$). He dispels the darkness with his light (io, 37+). He rolls up the darkness as a skin (7, 631 ). His rays throw off the darkness as a skin into the waters (4, i3 4). He triumphs over beings of darkness and witches (i, I9i 8< 9 cp. 4). There are only two or three allusions to the sun s burning heat
2
7, ic>4
(7? 34 I9j 9) I0 720); for in the RV. the sun is not a maleficent power4, and for this aspect of the luminary only passages from the AV. and the literature of the Brahmanas can be quoted 5.
Surya measures the days (i, 5o7) and prolongs the days of life (8,487). He drives away sickness, disease, and every evil dream (io, 37 4). To live is to see the Sun rise (4,25*; 6,52 s). All creatures depend on Surya (i,i64 14). and the sky is upheld by him (io, 851). The epithet all-creating (visva karmari) is also applied to him (io, 170^; cp. 39). By his greatness he is the divine priest (asuryah purohitatj) of the gods (8, 9o12). At his rising he is prayed to declare men sinless to Mitra-Varuna and other gods (7, 6o T. 62 2). He is said, when rising, to go to the Vrtra-slayer Indra and is even styled a Vrtra-slayer himself when invoked with Indra (8, 82*- 2- 4). The only myth told about Surya is that Indra vanquished him (io, 43 5) and stole his wheel (i, i75 4; 4, 30*). This may allude to the obscuration of the sun by a thunderstorm.
In the Avesta, the sun, hvare (= Vedic svar, of which surya6is a de-
32 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. YEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
rivative and to which Gk. TjsXios? is allied) has swift horses, like Surya, andis called the eye of Ahura Mazda 8.
i Cp. ZDMG. 7, 4756. 2 Otherwise HVM. I, 345, note 3. 3 Cp. ZDMG.2, 223; 7, 82. 4 BRV. I, 6; 2, 2. 5 EHM, Yama 134. & KZ. 12, 358;J. SCHMIDT, KZ. 26, 9. 7 BRUGMANN, Grundriss i, 218. 8 Sp.AP. i, 190 i; cp. OLDENBERG, ZDMG. 50, 49. Nirukta 12, 1416; OST. 5, 15161; GKR. 556; BRI. 20; KRV. 545.145; BRV. I, 7; HVM. I, 45; HVBP. 2930; ORV. 2401; HRI. 406.
- Savitr. Savitr is celebrated in eleven whole hymns of the RV.and in parts of others, his name being mentioned about 170 times. Eight ornine of these are in the family books, while all but three of those to Suryaare in the first and tenth. Savitr is preeminently a golden deity, nearly all his members and his equipment being described by that epithet. He is golden eyed (i, 358), golden-handed (i, 35 910)> golden-tongued (6,71^ all theseepithets being peculiar to him. He has golden arms (6, 71*- 5; 7, 452 ), andis broad-handed (2, 38*) or beautiful-handed (3, 336j. He is also pleasant tongued (6, 7i 4) or beautiful-tongued (3, 5411), and is once called iron-jawed(6, 7i 4). He is yellow-haired (10, I391 ), an attribute of Agni and Indra also.He puts on a tawny garment (4, 532 ). He has a golden car with a goldenpole (i, 352 - 5), which is omniform (i, 3 5 3), just as he himself assumes all forms (5, Si 2). His car is drawn by two radiant steeds or by two or morebrown, white-footed horses (i, 352< 5; 7 451)-
Mighty splendour (amati) is preeminently attributed to Savitr, and mightygolden splendour to him only (3, 388; 7, 381 ). This splendour he stretchesout or diffuses. He illumines the air, heaven and earth, the world, the spacesof the earth, the vault of heaven (i, 35 7 8; 4, i42. 53 4; 5, 8i 2). He raises
aloft his strong golden arms, with which he blesses and arouses all beingsand which extend to the ends of the earth (2,382; 4, 53 3 4; 6, ji*-5; 7,452 ). Theraising of his arms is characteristic, for the action of other gods is comparedwith it. Agni is said to raise his arms like Savitr (i, 95 ); the dawns extendlight as Savitr his arms (7, 792), and Brhaspati is implored to raise hymns of
praise as Savitr his arms (i, i9<D 3). He moves in his golden car, seeing all creatures, on a downward and an upward path (i, 352 - 3). He impels thecar of the Asvins before dawn (i, 3410). He shines after the path of thedawn (5, 8 12). He has measured out the earthly spaces, he goes to the threebright realms of heaven and is united with the rays of the sun (5, 8i 3> 4). The only time the epithet surya-rasmi is used in the RV. it is applied toSavitr: Shining with the rays of the sun, yello w-haired, Savitr raises up hislight continually from the east (10, I391)- He thrice surrounds the air, thethree spaces, the three bright realms of heaven (4, 53 5: cp. Visnu, 17).His ancient paths in the air are dustless and easy to traverse, on them heis besought to protect his worshippers (i, 3511). He is prayed to convey thedeparted spirit to where the righteous dwell (10, i7 4). He bestows immortality on the gods as well as length of life on man (4, 542j. He also bestowedimmortality on the Rbhus, who by the greatness of their deeds went to hishouse (i, no2 - 3). Like Surya, he is implored to remove evil dreams (5, 82 4) and to make men sinless (4, 543). He drives away evil spirits and sorcerers(i, 35 ; 7, 38 7).
Like many other gods Savitr is called asura (4, 53*). He observes fixedlaws (4, 53 4; 10, 348. I39 3). The waters and the wind are subject to his ordinance (2, 38*). He leads the waters and by his propulsion they flow broadly(3) 336 cp. Nir. 2, 26). The other gods follow his lead (5, 8i 3). No being, noteven Indra, Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman, Rudra, can resist his will and independent
CELESTIAL GODS. 15. SAVITR. 33
dominion (2, 38 7. 9; 5, 82 2). His praises are celebrated by the Vasus, Aditi, Varuna, Mitra and Aryaman (7, 38^-4). Like Pusan and Surya, he is lord of that which moves and is stationary (4, 536). He is lord of all desirable things, and sends blessings from heaven, air, earth (i f 243; 2, 38"). He is twice (i, i23 3; 6, 714) even spoken of as domestic (damunas), an epithet other wise almost entirely limited to Agni. Like other gods, he is a supporter
of the sky (4, 53*; 10, I494). He supports the whole world (4, 544). He fixed the earth with bonds and made firm the sky in the rafterless space (10, I491 ).
Savitr is at least once (i, 226) called child of Waters (apdm napdt], an epithet otherwise exclusively belonging to Agni. It is probably also applied to him in 10, i^g2 2. Yaska (Nir. 10, 32) commenting on this verse regards Savitr here as belonging to the middle region (or atmosphere) because he
causes rain, adding that the sun (Aditya, who is in heaven) is also called Savitr 3. It is probably owing to this epithet and because Savitr s paths are once (i, 35") said to be in the atmosphere, that this deity occurs among the gods of the middle region as well as among those of heaven in the Nai
ghantuka. Savitr is once called the prajapati of the world (4, 532). In the SB. (12, 3, 51 ) people are said to identify Savitr with Prajapati j and in the TB. (i, 6, 41 )it is stated that Prajapati becoming Savitr created living beings 4 . Savitr is alone lord of vivifying power and by his movements (yamabhih] becomes Pusan (5, 825). in his vivifying power Pusan marches, beholding all beings as a guardian (10, I391 ). In two consecutive verses (3,629-I0) Pusan and Savitr are thought of as connected. In the first the favour of Pusan who sees all beings is invoked, and in the second, Savitr is besought to stimultae (cp. Pusan, p. 36) the thoughts of worshippers who desire to think of the excellent brilliance of god Savitr. The latter verse is the celebrated Savitrl, with which Savitr was in later times invoked at the beginning of Vedic study 5. Savitr is also said to become Mitra by reason of his laws (5, 8i 4). Savitr seems sometimes (5, 82 - 3; 7, 38*-6) to be identified with Bhaga also, unless the latter word is here only an epithet of Savitr. The name of Bhaga (the good god bestowing benefits) is indeed often added to that of Savitr so as to form the single expression Savitd Bhagah or Bhagah Savitd 6. In other texts, however, Savitr is distinguished from Mitra, Pusan, and Bhaga. In several passages Savitr and Surya appear to be spoken of indiscriminately to denote the same deity. Thus a poet says: God Savitr has raised aloft his brilliance, making light for the whole world; Surya shining brightly has filled heaven and earth and air with his rays (4, 14*). In another hymn (7> 63) Surya is (in verses i. 2. 4) spoken of in terms (e. g. prasavitr, vivi fier) usually applied to Savitr, and in the third verse Savitr is apparently mentioned as the same god. In other hymns also (10, I581" 4; i, 351" 11. I241)it is hardly possible to keep the two deities apart. In passages such as the following, Savitr is, however, distinguished from Surya. Savitr moves between both heaven and earth, drives away disease, impels (veti) the sun C 1 * 35 9)- Savitr declares men sinless to the sun (i, 123^). He combines with the rays of the sun (5,81*) or shines with the rays of the sun (10,139* cp. i8i3; i, 157^ 7, 358-I0). With Mitra, Aryaman, Bhaga, Savitr is besought to vivify the worshipper when the sun has risen (7, 66 4 ).
According to Yaska (Nir. 12, 12), the time of Savitr s appearance is when darkness has been removed. Sayana (on RV. 5, 81*) remarks that be fore his rising the sun is called Savitr, but from his rising to his setting, Surya. But Savitr is also sometimes spoken of as sending to sleep (4,536 ;7,45I ), and must therefore be connected with evening as well as morning. He is, indeed, Indo-arische Philologie. III. 1 A. 3
34 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
extolled as the setting sun in one hymn (2, 38); and there are indicationsthat most of the hymns addressed to him are meant for either a morningoran evening sacrifice 7. He brings all two-footed and four-footed beingstorest and awakens them (6, ;i2 cp. 4, 53 3; 7, 451 ). He unyokes his steeds,brings the wanderer to rest; at his command night comes; the weaverrollsup her web and the skilful man lays down his unfinished work (2, 38^4).Later the west was wont to be assigned to him (SB. 3, 2, 3l8), as the easttoAgni and the south to Soma.
The name Savitr has all the appearance of being a word of purelyIndian formation. This is borne out by the fact that the root sfi, from whichit is derived, is continually used along with it in a manner which is uniquein the RV. Some other verb would nearly always be used to expressthesame action in connexion with any other god. In the case of Savitrnotonly is the root itself used, but also several derivatives (such as prasavitrand prasavd) constituting a perpetual play on the name 8. These frequentcombinations show clearly that the root has the sense of stimulating, arousing,vivifying. A few examples may here be given in illustration of this peculiarusage. God Savitr has aroused (prasavlt) each moving thing (i, I571).Thou alone art the lord of stimulation (prasavasya: 5, 8i 5). Savitr bestowed(dsuvai) that immortality on you (i,uo3). God Savitr has arisen to arouse(savaya) us (2, 381 ). Thrice a day Savitr sends down (sosaviti) boonsfromthe sky (3, $66). Do thou, o Savitr, constitute (suvatdf] us sinless (4, 54^).May we being sinless towards Aditi through the influence (save) of Savitrpossess all boons (5, 82 6). Send away (para sava) evil dream, send awayall calamities, bestow (asuvd) what is good (ib.4 * 5). May Savitr remove(apa savisat) sickness (10, ioo8). With this verb Savitr is specially oftenbesought to bestow wealth (2, 566 &c.). This use of su is almost peculiartoSavitr; but it is two or three times applied to Surya (7, 6$2 - 4; 10, 37*).Italso occurs with lisas (7; 77I ) ) with Varuna (2,289), with the Adityas (8, i8T),and with Mitra, Aryaman coupled with Savitr (7, 664). This employmentbeing so frequent, Yaska (Nir. 10, 31) defines Savitr as sarvasya prasavita,the stimulator of everything . The fact that in nearly half its occurrences the name is accompaniedbydeva, god, seems to show that is has not yet lost the nature of an epithet,meaning the stimulator god . At any rate, the word appears to be an epithetof Tvastr in two passages (3, 55 19; 10, io 5), where the juxtaposition ofthewords devas tiastd savitd vih arupa and the collocation with deva indicatethat Savitr is here identical with Tvastr. We may therefore conclude that Savitr was originally an epithet of Indianorigin applied to the sun as the great stimulator of life and motioninthe world, representing the most important movement which dominatesallothers in the universe, but that as differentiated from Surya he is a moreabstract deity. He is in the eyes of the Vedic poets the divine powerofthe sun personified, while Surya is the more concrete deity, in the conceptionof whom the outward form of the sun-body is never absent owing totheidentity of his name with that of the orb (cp. i,35 9. I241). OLDENBERG 9, reversing the order of development generally recognized,thinks that Savitr represents an abstraction of the idea of stimulationandthat the notion of the sun, or of the sun in a particular direction, is onlysecondary in his character 10.
1 HRI. 44. - a cp. v. BRADKE, ZDMG. 40. 355; HRL 48. – 3 Cp. ROTH,Nirukta Erl. 143; OST. 4, 96. in. 4 WEBER, Omina und Portenta 386. 392.5 WHITNEY in COLEBROOKE S essays, rev. ed. 2, in. 6 BRV. 3, 39. 7 HRI.
CELESTIAL GODS. 16. PUSAN. 35
- 8 ROTH, op. cit. 76. 9 ORV. 645. 10 MACDONELL, JRAS. 27, 9512; V. SCHROEDER, WZKM. 9, 125.
WHITNEY, JAOS. 3, 324; OST. 5, 16270; ROTH, PW.; ZDMG. 24, 3068; GRV. I, 49; GW. s.v.; KRV. 56; BRV. 3, 3864; HVBP. 33.
1 6. Pus an. The name of Pusan is mentioned about 120 times in the RV. and he is celebrated in eight hymns (five of them occurring in the sixth, two in the first, and one in the tenth book). He is also lauded as a dual divinity in one hymn (6, 57) with Indra and in another with Soma (2, 40). Thus statistically he occupies a somewhat higher position than Visnu (g 17). In the later Vedic and the post-Vedic periods his name is mentioned with increasing rareness. His individuality is indistinct and his anthropomorphic traits are scanty. His foot is referred to when he is asked to trample on the brand of the wicked. His right hand is also mentioned (6, 5410). He has (like Rudra) braided hair (6, 552) and a beard (10, 26 7). He wields a golden spear (i, 426) and carries an awl (6, 53 5- 6 - 8) or a goad (539. $82 ). The wheel, the felly, and the seat of his car (6, 543) are spoken of and he is called the best charioteer (6, 562- 3). His car is drawn by goats1 (ajasvd) instead of horses (i, 384; 6, 55 3 4). He eats, for his food is gruel (6, 56r cp. 3, 527). It is probably for this reason that he is said to be toothless in the SB. (i, 7, 47).
Pusan sees all creatures clearly and at once (3, 6 2 9), these identical words being applied to Agni also (10, i87 4). He is the lord of all things moving and stationary almost the same words with which Surya is described (i, 1 15 ; 7, 6o 2). He is the wooer of his mother (6, 55s) or the lover of his sister (ib.4 - s), similar expressions being used of Surya (i, ii52) and of Agni (10, 33). The gods are said to have given him, subdued by love, to the sun- maiden Surya in marriage (6, 58 4). Probably as the husband of Surya, Pusan is connected with the marriage ceremonial in the wedding hymn (10, 85), being besought to take the bride s hand and lead her away and to bless her in her conjugal relation 2 (v. 37). In another passage (9, 6710) he is besought to give his worshippers their share of maidens. With his golden ships which move in the aerial ocean, subdued by love he acts as the messenger3 of Surya (6, 58 3). He moves onward beholding the universe (2, 4o 5; 6, 582 ) and makes his abode in heaven (2, 4o4). He is a guardian, who goes at the in stigation of Savitr, knowing and beholding all creatures. In a hymn devoted to his praise, Pusan is said as best of charioteers to have driven downwards the golden wheel of the sun (6, 56 3), but the connexion is obscure (cp. Nir. 2, 6). A frequent and exclusive epithet of Pusan is glowing (aghrni). He is once termed agohya, not to be concealed , an attribute almost peculiar to Savitr.
Pusan is born on the far path of paths, on the far path of heaven and of earth; he goes to and returns from both the beloved abodes, knowing them (6, 1 76). Owing to this familiarity he conducts the dead on the far path to the Fathers, as Agni and Savitr take them to where the righteous have gone and where they and the gods abide, and leads his worshippers thither in
safety, showing them the way (10, i7 3~5). The AV. also speaks of Pusan as conducting to the world of the righteous, the beautiful world of the gods (AV. 1 6, 92; 1 8, 2 53). So Pusan s goat conducts the sacrificial horse (i,i622- 3). Perhaps to Pusan s familiarity with the (steep) paths is due the notion that his car is drawn by the sure-footed goat.
As knower of paths, Pusan is conceived as a guardian of roads. He is besought to remove dangers, the wolf, the waylayer, from the path (1,42X ~3J. In this connexion he is called vimuco napdt, son of deliverance 4. The same 3*
36 111. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
epithet is applied to him in another passage (6,55T ) and he is twice (8, 415>l6 )called vimocana, deliverer . As vimuco napdt he is invoked to deliver fromsin (AV. 6, ii2 3). Pusan is prayed to disperse foes and make the pathslead to booty (6,53 4), to remove foes, to make the paths good, and to leadto good pasture (i, 427-8). He is invoked to protect from harm on his path(6, 549) and to grant an auspicious path (10, 59 7J. He is the guardianofevery path (6, 49*) and lord of the road (6, 531 ). He is a guide (prapathya]on roads (VS. 22, 20). So in the Sutras, whoever is starting on a journeymakes an offering to Pusan, the road-maker, while reciting RV. 6, 53; andwhoever loses his way, turns to Pusan (AGS. 3, 78- 9; SSS. 3, 49). Moreover,in the morning and evening offerings to all gods and beings, Pusan the road maker receives his on the threshold of the house (SGS. 2, 149).
As knower of ways he can make hidden goods manifest and easyto nnd (6, 48*5). He is in one passage (i, 23^-J 5 Cp. TS. 3, 3, 91 ) saidtohave found the king who was lost and hidden in secret (probably Soma),andasked to bring him like a lost beast. So in the Sutras, Pusan is sacrificedto when anything lost is sought (AGS. 3, 79). Similarly, it is characteristicofPusan that he follows and protects cattle (6, 545-6 - I0. 58" cp. 10, 263). Hepreserves them from injury by falling into a pit, brings them home unhurt,and drives back the lost (6, 547-10). His goad directs cattle straight (6,539).Perhaps connected with the idea of guiding straight is the notion thathedirects the furrow (4, 577). Pusan also protects horses (6, 545) and weavesand smooths the clothing of sheep (10, 266). Hence beasts are said tobesacred to Pusan (i, 51 2 ), and he is called the producer of cattle (MS. 4, 37;TB. i, 7, 2 4). In the Sutras verses to Pusan are prescribed to be recitedwhen cows are driven to pasture or stray (SGS. 3, 9).
Pusan has various attributes in common with other gods. He is calledasura (5, 51"). He is strong (5, 439)> vigorous (8, 415), nimble (6, 548),powerful (i, I381), resistless (6, 48*5). He transcends mortals and is equalto the gods in glory (6, 48 19). He is a ruler of heroes (i, io64), an unconquerable protector and defender (i, 89 5), and assists in battle (6, 48 19). Heis a protector of the world (10, 173 cp. 2, 40 ). He is a seer, a protectingfriend of the priest, the unshaken friend born of old, of every suppliant (10,
265- 8). He is wise (i, 425) and liberal 5 (2, 31^). His bounty is particularlyoften mentioned. He possesses all wealth (i, 896), abounds in wealth (8,415),gives increase of wealth (i, 89 5), is beneficent (i, I382), bountiful (6, 584;8, 4l8), and bestows all blessings (i, 42 6). He is the strong friendofabundance, the strong lord and increaser of nourishment (10, 26 7 - 8). Theterm dasra, wonder-working , distinctive of the Asvins, is a few times (1,42*;6, 56^) applied to him, as well as dasma, wondrous (i, 4210. I384) anddasma-varcaS) of wondrous splendour (6, 584), usually said of Agni and Indra.He is also twice (i, io64; 10, 64 3) called Narasamsa praised of men, anepithet otherwise exclusively limited to Agni. He is once spoken of as all-
pervading (2, 4o6). He is termed devotion-stimulating (9, 883), is invokedto quicken devotion (2, 4o6), and his awl is spoken of as prayer-instigating(6, 538; cp. Savitr, p. 33).
The epithets exclusively connected with Pusan are dghrni, ajdsva, vimo cana, vimuco napdt, and once <tw3\pustimbhara, bringing prosperity , anasta-pasu, losing no cattle , anastavedas, losing no goods , karambhdd, eatinggruel . The latter attribute seems to have been a cause for despising Pusanby some (cp. 6, 56*; i, i384) 6. Karambha, mentioned three times in the RV.,is Pusan s distinctive food, being contrasted with Soma as Indra s (6, 572).Indra, however, shares it (3,527), and in the only two passages in whichthe
CELESTIAL GODS. 17. VISNU. 37
adjective karambhin mixed with gruel occurs, it applies to the libation of Indra (3, 52 ; 8, So 2). Piisan is the only god who receives the epithet pasupa, protector of cattle (6, 582) directly (and not in comparisons).
The only deities with whom Pusan is invoked conjointly in the dual are Soma (2, 40) and Indra (6, 57), whose brother he is once called (6, 558). Next to these two, Pusan is most frequently addressed with Bhaga (i, Qo4; 4, 3 o2 4; 5, 41*. 462; 10, 125"; cp. SB. u, 4, 3^; KSS. 5, 13 ) and Visnu (1,90^; 5, 46^; 6, 2i9; 7, 441; i o, 66 s ), his name in all these passages of the RV. being in juxtaposition with theirs. He is occasionally addressed with various other deities also.
The evidence adduced does not show clearly that Pusan represents a phenomenon of nature. But a large number of passages quoted at the beginning point to his being closely connected with the sun. Yaska, too, (Nir. 7, 9) explains Pusan to be the sun (Aditya), the preserver of all beings , and in post-Vedic literature Pusan occasionally occurs as a name of the sun. The path of the sun which leads from earth to heaven, the abode of the gods and the pious dead, might account for a solar deity being both a con ductor of departed souls (like Savitr) and a guardian of paths in general. The latter aspect of his character would explain his special bucolic features as a guide and protector of cattle, which form a part of his general nature as a promoter of prosperity. Mithra, the solar deity of the Avesta, has the bucolic traits of increasing cattle and bringing back beasts that have strayed 7.
Etymologically the word means prospered as derived from the root/z/f, to cause to thrive . This side of his character is conspicuous both in his epithets visvavedas, anastavedas, puruvasu, pustimbhara, and in the frequent invocations to him to bestow wealth and protection (6, 48 15 &c.). He is lord of great wealth, a stream of wealth, a heap of riches (6, 55- 3). But the prosperitiy he confers is not, as in the case of Indra, Parjanya, and the Maruts, connected with rain, but with light, which is emphasized by his ex clusive epithet glowing . The welfare which he bestows results from the protection he extends to men and cattle on earth, and from his guidance of men to the abodes of bliss in the next world. Thus the conception which seems to underlie the character of Pusan, is the beneficent power of the sun manifested chiefly as a pastoral deity.
i KRV. note 120. 2 is. 5, 186. 190. 3 GGA. 1889, p. 8. - - 4 OST. 5, 175; GW. ; LRV. 4, 444; HVBP. 34, and BRV. (who explains the original meaning differently); Sohn der Einkehr ( = unyoking): ROTH, FW. und ORV. 232; Son of the cloud : Sayana and GRIFFITH on RV. I, 42 1. – 5 Puramdhi according to HILLEBRANDT, \VZKM. 3, 1923, means active, zealous . o I-1RI. 51. 7 Sp.AP. 184.
WHITNEY, JAOS. 3, 325; OST. 5, 17180; GVBERNATIS, Letture 82; BRY. 2, 42030; KRV. 55; PVS. i, ii ; HVM. i, 456; HVBP. 34; ORV. 2303 (cp. WZKM. 9, 252); PERRY, Drisler Memorial 241 3; HRI. 503.
- Visnu. Visnu, though a deity of capital importance in the mytho logy of the Brahmanas, occupies but a subordinate position in the RV. His personality is at the same time more important there than would appear from the statistical standard alone. According to that he would be a deity only of the fourth rank, for he is celebrated in not more than five whole hymns
and in part of another, while his name occurs only about 100 times alto gether in the RV. The only anthropomorphic traits of Visnu are the fre quently mentioned strides which he takes, and his being a youth vast in body, who is no longer a child (i, I556). The essential feature of his character is that he takes (generally expressed by Ti-krani) three strides, which are referred to about a dozen times. His epithets uritgaya, wide-going and urukrama,
38 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
wide-striding , which also occur about a dozen times, allude to the sameaction. With these three steps Visnu is described as traversing the earth orthe terrestrial spaces. Two of these steps or spaces are visible to men, butthe third or highest step is beyond the flight of birds or mortal ken (i,i555; 7, 992). The same notion seems to be mystically expressed (i, I55 3) whenhe is said to bear his third name in the bright realm of heaven. The highestplace of Visnu is regarded as identical with the highest place of Agni, forVisnu guards the highest, the third place of Agni (10, i3) and Agni with the
loftiest station of Visnu guards the mysterious cows (probably =clouds:5, 33). The highest step of Visnu is seen by the liberal like an eye fixed inheaven (i, 22 20). It is his dear abode, where pious men rejoice and wherethere is a well of honey (i, I545), and where the gods rejoice (8, 297;.This highest stepx shines down brightly and is the dwelling of Indra and Visnu,
where are the many-horned swiftly moving cows 2 (probably = clouds), andwhich the singer desires to attain (i, i546). Within these three footsteps allbeings dwell (x, I542), and they are full of honey (i, i544), probably becausethe third and most important is full of it 3. Visnu guards the highest abode(pdthas)^, which implies his favourite dwelling-place (3, 5510) and is elsewhere expressly stated to be so (i, 15 4s). In another passage (7, ioo5)Visnu is less definitely said to dwell far from this space. He is once spokenof (i,i56 5) as having three abodes, trisadhastha, an epithet primarily appropriate to Agni ($ 35).
The opinion that Visnu s three steps refer to the course of the sun isalmost unanimous. But what did they originally represent? The purelynaturalistic interpretation favoured by most European scholars 5 and by Yaskaspredecessor Aurnavabha (Nir. 12, 19) takes the three steps to mean the rising,culminating, and setting of the sun. The alternative view, which prevailsthroughout the younger Vedas, the Brahmanas, as well as post-Vedic literature, and was supported by Yaska s predecessor Sakapuni and is favoured byBERGAIGNE and the present writer 8, interprets the three steps as the course ofthe solar deity through the three divisions of the universe. With the formerinterpretation is at variance the fact that the third step of Visnu shows no traceof being connected with sunset, but on the contrary is identical with thehighest step. The alternative view does not conflict with what evidence theRV. itself supplies, and is supported by the practically unvarying traditionin India beginning with the later Vedas.
That the idea of motion is characteristic of Visnu is shown by otherexpressions besides the three steps. The epithets wide-going and Svide striding are almost entirely limited to Visnu, as well as the verb vi-kram.The latter is also employed in allusion to the sun, spoken of as the variegated stone placed in the midst of heaven, which took strides (5, 47 3). Visnuis also swift esa (otherwise said only once of Brhaspati) or swift-going* evaya,evayavan (otherwise connected only with the Maruts). Coupled with the constant idea of swift and far-extending motion is that of regularity. In takinghis three strides Visnu observes laws (i, 22 l8). Like other deities typical ofregular recurrence (Agni, Soma, Surya, Usas), Visnu is the ancient germoforder , and an ordainer, who (like Agni, Surya, Usas) is both ancient andrecent (i, i$62~). In the same words as the sun-god Savitr (5, 8i 3), heissaid (i, I541 ; 6, 49 13) to have measured out the earthly spaces. With thismay also be compared the statement that Varuna measured out the spaceswith the sun (p. n). Visnu is in one passage (i, I556 cp. i, 164- 4b) described as setting in motion like a revolving wheel his 90 steeds (= days)with their four names (= seasons). This can hardly refer to anything butCELESTIAL GODS. 17. VISNU. 39
the solar year of 360 days. In the AV. (5, 26?) Visnu is besought to bestow heat on the sacrifice. In the Brahmanas Visnu s head when cut off becomes the sun. In post-Vedic literature one of Visnu s weapons is a rolling wheel 8 which is represented like the sun (cp. RV. 5, 63*), and his vehicle is Garuda, chief of birds, who is of brilliant lustre like Agni, and is also called garutmat and suparna, two terms already applied to the sun-bird in the RV. Finally the post-Vedic kaustubha or breast-jewel of Visnu has been explained as the sun by KUHN?. Thus though Visnu is no longer clearly connected with a natural phenomenon, the evidence appears to justify the inference that he was originally conceived as the sun, not in his general character, but as the personified swiftly moving luminary, which with vast strides traverses the whole universe. This explanation would be borne out by the derivation from the root z /V 10, which is used tolerably often in the RV. and primarily means to be active (PW.). According to this, Visnu would be the active one as re presenting solar motion. OLDENBERG, however, thinks that every definite trace of solar character is lacking in Visnu, that he was from the beginning con ceived only as a traverser of wide space, and that no concrete natural con ception corresponded to the three steps. The number of the steps he attri butes simply to the fondness for triads in mythology.
Visnu s highest step, as has been indicated, is conceived as his distinctive abode. The sun would naturally be thought of as stationary in the meridian rather than anywhere else. So we find the name of the zenith in Yaska to be vimupada, the step or place of Visnu. Probably connected with the same range of ideas are the epithets mountain-dwelling (giriksit) and mountain abiding (giristha) applied to Visnu in the same hymn (i, i542 3); for in the next hymn (i, 155 ) Visnu and Indra are conjointly called the two undeceivable ones, who have stood on the summit (sanuni) of the mountains, as it were with an unerring steed . This would allude to the sun looking down from the height of the cloud mountains 12 (cp. 5, S; 4). It is probably owing to such expressions in the RV. that Visnu is later called lord of mountains (TS. 3, 4, 5 )-The reason why Visnu took his three steps is a secondary trait. He thrice traversed the earthly spaces for man in distress (6, 49 13); he traversed the earth to bestow it on man for a dwelling (7, ioo4); he traversed the earthly spaces for wide-stepping existence (i, i55 4); with Indra he took vast strides and stretched out the worlds for our existence (6, 69$-6). To this feature in the RV. may ultimately be traced the myth of Visnu s dwarf in carnation which appears in, the Epic and the Puranas. The intermediate stage is found in the Brahmanas (SB. i, 2, $$; TS. 2, i, 31; TB. i, 6, i), where Visnu already assumes the form of a dwarf, in order by artifice to recover the earth for the gods from the Asuras by taking his three strides I3 . The most prominent secondary characteristic of Visnu is his friendship for Indra, with whom he is frequently allied in the fight with Vrtra. This is indicated by the fact that one whole hymn (6, 69) is dedicated to the two deities conjointly, and that Indra s name is coupled with that of Visnu in the dual as often as with that of Soma, though the name of the latter occurs vastly oftener in the RV. The closeness of their alliance is also indicated by the fact that in hymns extolling Visnu alone, Indra is the only other deity incidentally associated with him either explicitly (7, 995> 6; i, i552) or im plicitly (7, 99*; i, i546. i55T; cp. i, 6i?) 14 . Visnu strode his three steps by tha energy (ojasd) of Indra (8, i2 27), who in the preceding verse is described as slaying Vrtra, or for Indra (Val. 43). Indra about to slay Vrtra says, friend Visnu, stride out vastly (4, i8 11 ). In company with Visnu, Indra slew Vrtra
40 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
(6, 2o 2). Visnu and Indra together triumphed over the Dasa, destroyed Sam bara s 99 castles and conquered the hosts of Varcin (7, 994> 5). VisnuisIndra s intimate friend (i, 2 2J 9). Visnu accompanied by his friend opens thecows stall (i, 1564). In the SB. (5, 5, 51) Indra is described as shootingthe thunderbolt at Vrtra, while Visnu follows him (cp. TS. 6, 5, i1 ). Visnuisalso invoked with Indra in various single verses (4, 24. 55 4; 8, io2; 10, 664).When associated with Indra as a dual divinity, Visnu shares Indra s powersof drinking Soma (6,69) as well as his victories (7, 99 4 ~6), Indra converselyparticipating in Visnu s power of striding (6, 69$; 7, 996). To both conjointlyis attributed the action of creating the wide air and of spreading out thespaces (6, 695) and of producing Surya, lisas, and Agni (7, 994). Owingto this friendship Indra drinks Soma beside Visnu (8, 3*. i2 l6) and therebyincreases his strength (8, 38; io, H32 ). Indra drank the Soma pressed byVisnu in three cups (2, 22 l cp. 6, 17"), which recall Visnu s three footstepsfilled with honey (i ; i544). Visnu also cooks for Indra 100 buffaloes (6, 17") or 100 buffaloes and a brew of milk (8, 66 TO cp. i, 6i 7). Along with Mitra,AT aruna, and the Maruts, Visnu celebrates Indra with songs (8, i59).
Indra s constant attendants in the Vrtra-fight, the Maruts, are also drawninto association with Visnu. When Visnu favoured the exhilerating Soma, theMaruts like birds sat down on their beloved altar (i,85 7) 15 . The Maruts areinvoked at the offering of the swift Visnu (2, 34" cp. 7, 405). They are thebountiful ones of the swift Visnu (8,2o 3). The Maruts supported Indra, whilePusan Visnu cooked 100 buffaloe? for him (6, I711)- Visnu is the ordainerassociated with the Maruts (mart/fa), whose will Varuna and the Asvins follow(i, i564 ). Throughout one hymn (5, 87, especially verses 4 - 5) he is associatedwith the Maruts, with whom, when he starts, he speeds along16.
Among stray references to Visnu in the RV. may be mentioned one(7, ioo6) in which different forms of Visnu are spoken of: Do not concealfrom us this form, since thou didst assume another form in battle . Heisfurther said to be a protector of embryos (7,36$) and is invoked along withother deities to promote conception (io, 184 ). In the third verse of theKhila after io, i84 17, Visnu is, according to one reading, called upontoplace in the womb a male child with a most beautiful form, or, accordingto another, a male child with Visnu s most beautiful form is prayed for 18.
Other traits of Visnu are applicable to the gods in general. He is beneficent (i, 1565), is innocuous and bountiful (8, 2512), liberal (7, 40$), aguardian (3, 5510), who is undeceivable (i, 22 l8), and an innoxious and generousdeliverer (i,i55 4). He alone sustains the threefold (world), heaven and earth,and all beings (i, i544). He fastened the world all about with pegs (7,993 ).He is an ordainer (i, I564).
In the Brahmanas Visnu is conceived as taking his three steps in earth,air, and heaven (SB. i, 9, 3?-, TB. 3, i, 27). These three strides are imitatedby the sacrificer, who takes three Visnu strides beginning with earth andending with heaven 19, for that is the goal, the safe refuge, which is the sun(SB. i, 9, 310 - I5). The three steps of the Amsaspands taken from earth tothe sphere of the sun, are similarly imitated in the ritual of the Avesta20. A special feature of the Brahrnanas is the constant identification of Visnuwith the sacrifice.
Two myths connected with Visnu, the source of which can be tracedto the RV., are further developed in the Brahmanas. Visnu in alliance withIndra is in the RV. described as vanquishing demons. In the Brahmanasthe gods and demons commonly appear as two hostile hosts, the former not,
as in the RV., uniformly victorious, but often worsted. They therefore have
CELESTIAL GODS. 17. VISKU. 41
recourse to artifice, in order to recover the supremacy. In the AB. (6, 15} it is related that Indra and Visnu, engaged in conflict with the Asuras, agreed with the latter that as much as Visnu could stride over in three steps should belong to the two deities. Visnu accordingly strode over these worlds, the Vedas, and speech. The SB. (i, 2, 5) tells how the Asuras having overcome
the gods began dividing the earth. The gods placing Visnu, the sacrifice, at their head, came and asked for a share in the earth. The Asuras agreed to give up as much as Visnu, who was a dwarf, could lie on. Then the gods by sacrificing with Visnu, who was equal in size to sacrifice, gained the whole earth. The three steps are not mentioned here, but in another passage (SB. > 9? 3)? Visnu is said to have acquired for the gods the all-pervading power
1
which they now possess, by striding through the three worlds. It is further stated in TS. 2, i, 3T, that Visnu, by assuming the form of a dwarf whom he had seen, conquered the three worlds (cp. TB. i, 6, i5). The introduction of the dwarf as a disguise of Visnu is naturally to be accounted for as a stratagem to avert the suspicion of the Asuras 21. This Brahmana story forms the transition to the myth of Visnu s Dwarf Incarnation in post-Vedic literature 22.
Another myth of the Brahmanas has its origin in two passages of the RV. (i, 6 17; 8, 66 10). Their purport is that Visnu having drunk Soma and being urged by Indra, carried off 100 buffaloes and a brew of milk belonging to the boar (= Vrtra), while Indra shooting across the (cloud) mountain, slew the fierce (emusam) boar. This myth is in the TS. (6, 2, 42 - 3) developed as follows. A boar, the plunderer of wealth, kept the goods of the Asuras on the other side of seven hills. Indra plucking up a bunch of kusa grass and piercing through these hills, slew the boar. Visnu, the sacrifice, carried
the boar off as a sacrifice for the gods. So the gods obtained the goods of the Asuras. In the corresponding passage of the Kiithaka (IS. XL p. 161) the boar is called Emusa. The same story with slight variations is told in the Caraka Brahmana (quoted by Sayana on RV. 8,6610). This boar appears in a cosmogonic character in the SB. (14, i, 211) where under the name of Emusa he is stated to have raised up the earth from the waters. In the TS. (? T 5 51 ) this cosmogonic boar, which raised the earth from the primeval
waters, is described as a form of Prajapati. This modification of the myth is further expanded in the TB. (i,i,3 5). In the post-Vedic mythology of the Ramayana and the Puranas, the boar which raises the earth, has become one of the Avatars of Visnu.
The germs of two other Avatars of Visnu are to be found in the Brah manas, but not as yet connected with Visnu. The fish which in the SB. (i, 8, i1 ) .^delivers Mann from the flood, Jipjsears in the Mahabharata as a form of Prajapati, becoming in the Puranas an incarnation of Visnu. In the SB. (7, 5, i5, cp. 11A. i, 233) JPrajapati about to create offspring becomes a tortoise moving in the primeval waters. In the Puranas this tortoise is an Avatar of Visnu, who assumes this form to recover various objects lost in the deluge 23 . The SB. (14, i, i) tells a myth of how Visnu, the sacrifice, by first
comprehending the issue of the sacrifice, became the most eminent among the gods, and how his head, by his bow starting asunder, was cut off and became the sun (adityd). To this story the TA. (5, i, i 7) adds the trait that the Asvins as physicians replaced the head of the sacrifice and that the gods now able to offer it in its complete form conquered heaven (cp. PB. 7, 56)-
In the AB. (i, i) Visnu as the locally highest of the gods is contrasted
42 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
with Agni the lowest, all the other deities being placed between them. Thesame BiTihmana (i, 30) in quoting RV. i, 1561, where Visnu accompaniedby his friend opens the stall , states that Visnu is the doorkeeper of the gods.
i The moon according to HVBP. 33.2 Stars according to PW., HVBP. andothers. 3 Cp. BRV. 2, 416. 4 Otherwise SIEG in FaW. (Leipzig 1896), 97 100.- 5 WHITNEY, MAX MULLER, HAUG, KAEGI, DEUSSEN, and others. 6 BRV.2,4145. 7 MACDONELL, JRAS. 27, 1705. 8 KHF. 222. 9 Entwicklungsstufen,
! !6. _ 10 Other derivations in ORV. 229, HRI. 580, BB. 21,205. " ORV- 22830.J2 Cp. ORV. 230, note 2; MACDONELL, JRAS. 27, p. 174, note 2. 13 JRAS. 27, 1889.u Ibid. 184. 15 BERGAIGNE, JA. 1884, p. 472. l6 MM., SEE. 32, p. 127. 1337.i? AUFRECHT, RV. II 2, 687. *8 WiNTERNlTZ, JRAS. 27, 150!. 19 HlLLEBRANDT,Xeu- und Vollmondsopfer, 171 f. - - 20 DAKMESTETER, French Tr. of the AvestaI, 401; ORV. 227. 2r Otherwise A. KUHN, Entwicklungsstufen der Mythenbildung,12g. 22 JRAS. 27, 168 177.2 3 Ibid. 1668.
WHITNEY, JAOS. 3,325; 087.4,63-98. 1219. 298; WEBER, IStr. 2, 226f.; Omina und Portenta 338; BRV. 2, 414 8; ORV. 227 30; HOPKINS, PAOS. 1894,cXLViif.; HRI. 56 f.
1 8. Vivas vat. Vivasvat is not celebrated in any single hymn of theRV., but his name occurs there about thirty times, generally as Vivasvat, fivetimes also as Vivasvat. He is the father of the Asvins (10, i72) and of Yama(10, 1 4s . 17T ). As in post-Vedic literature he is already also in the Vedasthe father of Manu ( 50), the ancestor of the human race, who is once(Val. 41 ) called Vivasvat (= Vaivasvata, p. 12) and receives the patronymicVaivasvata in the AV._and the SB. Men are also directly stated to be theprogeny of Vivasvan Adityah (TS. 6, 5, 62; SB. 3, i, 34J. The gods are alsoonce spoken of as the offspring (janima) of Vivasvat (10, 63 ). Vivasvatswife is Saranyu, daughter of Tvastr (10, ij1 - 2).
It was to Vivasvat as well as Matarisvan that Agni was first manifested(i, 31). Vivasvat s messenger is once (6, S 4) stated to be Matarisvan, butis otherwise Agni (i, 58x; 4, 7^; 8, 39 3; 10, 2i5). Agni is once said to beproduced from his parents (the fire-sticks) as the sage of Vivasvat (5, ii3). The seat (sadana) of Vivasvat is mentioned five times. The gods (10, 127)and Indra delight in it (3, 5i 3 ) and there singers extol the greatness oflndra(*> 53l> 3> 34 7) or of the waters (10, 75l ). Perhaps the same notionisreferred to when a new hymn is said (i, I391 ) to be placed in Vivasvatasa centre (iiabha).
Indra is connected with Vivasvat in several passages oftheRV. He rejoicesin the prayer of Vivasvat (8, 6 39) and placed his treasure beside Vivasvat (2,I 36)- With the ten 1 (fingers) of Vivasvat Indra pours out the pail from heaven(8, 6i 8, cp. 5, 536). Indra being so closely associated with the abode of Vivasvat, Soina is likely to be there. And indeed Soma is in the ninth bookbrought into intimate relation to Vivasvat. Soma dwells with Vivasvat (9, 264 )and is cleansed by the daughters (= fingers) of Vivasvat (9, 14 5). The prayersof Vivasvat urge the tawny Soma to flow (9, 992 ). The seven sisters (= waters)urge the wise Soma on the course of Vivasvat (9, 66 8). The streams ofSoma flow through the sieve having obtained (the blessing) of Vivasvat andproducing the blessing (bhagani) of dawn (9, ioS).
The Asvins who dwell with Vivasvat are besought to come to the offering(i, 46 13j. At the yoking of the Asvins car the daughter of the sky is bornand
r the two bright days (probably day and night) of Vivasvat (10, 3912; cp. SB. 10, 5, 2 4).
Vivasvat is also mentioned along with Varuna and the gods as an objectof worship (10, 656). In one passage Vivasvat shows a hostile trait, whenthe worshippers of the Adityas pray that the missile, the well-wrought arrow
CELESTIAL GODS. 18. VIVASVAT. 19. ADITYAS. 43
of Vivasvat, may not slay them before old age2 (8, 5620, cp. AV. 19, 97). On the other hand, Vivasvat preserves from Yama (AV. 18, 362). The word vivasvat occurs a few times as an adjective meaning brilliant in connexion with Agni and Usas. Agni is said to have produced the children of men and by brilliant sheen heaven and the waters (i, 962). Agni is the wise, boundless, brilliant sage who shines at the beginning of dawn (7, 93). Agni is besought to bring the brilliant gift of dawn (1,44*), and men desire to see the shining face of brilliant dawn (3, 30 13). The etymological meaning shining forth (vi + ]/" vas) is peculiarly appropriate in relation to Usas, whose name is derived from the same root and in connexion with whom the words mus and viusti, shining forth,, dawning are nearly always used. The derivation is given in the SB. where it is said that Aditya Vivasvat illumines (vi-vaste) night and day (SB. 10, 5, 24).
In the YV. (VS. 8, 5; MS. i, 6I2) and the Brahmanas Vivasvat is called Aditya and in the post-Vedic literature is a common name of the sun. He goes back to the IndoTranian period, being identical with Vivanhvant (the father of Yima), who is described as the first man that prepared Haoma, Athwya being the second, and Thrita the third (Yasna, 9, 10). The first and third of these are found connected in the RV. also (Val. 41), where India is said to have drunk Soma beside Manu Vivasvat and Trita.
As a mythological figure Vivasvat seems to have faded by the time of the RV. like TiitaS. Considering the etymology, the connexion with the Asvins, Agni, and Soma, the fact that his seat is the place of sacrifice 4, the most probable interpretation of Vivasvat seems to be that he originally represented the rising sun 5. Most scholars 6 explain him simply as the sun. Some take him to be the god of the bright sky 7 or the heaven of the sun 8. BERGAIGNE (1,88) thinks that Agni alone, of whom the sun is a form, can be responsible for the character of a sacrificer which is prominent in Vivasvat. OLDENBERG? comparing the Avestan Vivanhvant, the first mortal that prepared Haoma, believes that the reasons for considering Vivasvat a god of light, are insufficient and that he represents simply the first sacrificer, the ancestor of the human race.
i Cp. LRV. 4, 386. 2 SVL. 148. 3 ROTH, ZDMG. 4, 424. 4 PW., BRV. i, 87, ORV. 275; PVS. I, 242 ( chapel of V. ); FOY, KZ. 34, 228. 5 The later view of ROTH, PW. ( Morgensonne ); cp. ZDMG. 4, 425 ( das Licht der Himmelshohe ). 6 A. KUHN, Sp.AP. 248 ff., HVM. i, 488, HRI. 128. 130, and others. 7 LRV. 3, 333; 5, 392; EHNI, Yama, 19. 24. 8 BRI. 910. 9 ORV. 122, ZDMG. 49, 173, SEE. 46, 392. Cp. also ROTH, ZDMG. 4, 432; BRV. i, 86-8; HVM. i, 474-88; BLOOM FIELD, JAOS. 15, 1767.
- Adityas. The group of gods called Adityas is celebrated in six whole hymns and in parts of two others in the RV. It is rather indefinite both as to the names of the gods it includes and as to their number. Not more than six are anywhere enumerated and that only once: Mitra, Aryaman, Bhaga, Varuna, Daksa, Amsa (2, 271 ). In the last books of the RV. the number is once (9, ii4 3) stated to be seven and once (10, 728) eight, Aditi at first presenting only seven to the gods and bringing the eighth, Martanda 1, afterwards (ibid. 9). The names of the Adityas are not specified in either of these passages. The AV. states that Aditi had eight sons (8, 92I), and the TB. (i, i, 91 ) mentions these eight by name as Mitra, Varuna,, Aryaman, Amsa, Bhaga, Dhatr, Indra, Vivasvat (the first five occur in RV. 2, 27*), and the same list is quoted by Sayana (on RV. 2,2,7T ) as found in another passage of the Taittirlya branch of the Veda. The SB. in one passage speaks of the Adityas as having become eight by the addition of Martanda, while in two others (6; i, 28; n, 6, 3*) they are said to be twelve in number and
44 HI. .RELIGION,, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
are identified with the twelve months. In post-Vedic literature they areregularly twelve sun-gods, evidently connected with the twelve months, Vismibeing one of them and the greatest2. In addition to the six Adityas mentioned in RV. 2, 27*, Surya is a few times termed an Aditya (p. 30), whichis a common name for the sun in the Brahmanas and later. Under thename of Aditya, identified with Agni, Surya is said to have been placed bythe gods in the sky_(io, 88 11). Savitr is also once mentioned in an enumeration with the four Adityas Bhaga, Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman (8, iS 3). If therefore the number of the Adityas was regarded by the poets of the RV. tohave been definitely seven, the sun must have been the seventh, the eighthMartanda whom Aditi throws away and brings back (10, 728- 9) probablybeing the setting sun. Injthe AV. (13, 2 9 -37) the sun is called the son ofAditi, the sun and moon Adityas (8, 2I5), and_Visnu is invoked in an enumeration containing gods who in the RV. are Adityas: Varuna, Mitra, Visnu,Bhaga, Amsa besides Vivasvat (n, 62 ). The mother of the Adityas is hereonce (9, i4) said to be not Aditi but the golden-hued Madhukasa, daughterof the Vasus.
Indra is, however, in the_RV. once coupled in the dual as an Adityawith Varuna the chief of the Adityas (7, 85 4), and in Val. 47 he is directlyinvoked as the fourth Aditya. In MS. 2, i I2 Indra is a son of Aditi, but inthe SB. (n, 6, 35) he is distinguished from the 12 Adityas. When one godalone is mentioned as an Aditya, it is generally Varuna, their chief; but inthe hymn in which Mitra is celebrated alone (3, 59), that deity is called anAditya, as well as Surya. When two are mentioned, they are Varuna andMitra, once Varuna and Indra; when three, Varuna, Mitra, and Aryaman:: when five, which is only once the case, the same three together with Savitrand Bhaga. Daksa occurs only in the enumeration of six mentioned above.The Adityas are often invoked as a group, the names of Mitra and Varunabeing generally mentioned at the same time. They also appear frequentlyalong with other groups ( 45) Vasus, Rudras, Maruts, Angirases, Rbhus.Visvedevas. The term Adityas seems not infrequently to be used in a widersense, as an equivalent for the gods generally 4. Their nature as a class in. fact resembles that of the gods in general, not being specifically characterizedlike that of their two chiefs, Mitra and Varuna. In the aggregate sense theyare the gods of celestial light, without representing any particular manifestationof that light, such as sun, moon, and stars, or dawn. The hypothesis ofOLDENBERG that the Adityas originally represented sun, moon, and the fiveplanets, is based on their abstract nature and names (such as Bhaga. Amsa,Daksa) and the supposition that their characteristic number is seven 5, whichis also the number of the Iranian Amesaspentas6. It is here to be noted thatthe two groups have not a single name in common, even Mithra not beingan Amesaspenta; that the belief in the Adityas being seven in number_is notdistinctly characteristic and old 7; and that though the identity of the Adityasand Amesaspentas has been generally accepted since ROTH S essay8, it is- rejected by some distinguished Avestan scholars 9.
In some of the hymns of the RV. in which the Adityas are celebrated(especially in 2, 27), only the three most frequently mentioned together, Mitra,Varuna, and Aryaman, seem to be meant. What is distant is near to them:they support all that moves and is stationary, as gods who protect the universe (2,273-4). They see what is good and evil in men s hearts and
distinguish the honest man from the deceitful (2, 27^; 8, i8 15). Theyare haters of falsehood and punish sin (2, 27 4; 7, 522. 6o5. 66 13). Theyare besought to forgive sin (2, 27 14 . 29 5), to avert its consequences or to
CELESTIAL GODS. 19. ADITYAS. 45
transfer them to Trita Aptya (5, 522; 8, 478). They spread fetters for their enemies (2, 27l6), but protect their worshippers as birds spread their wings over their young (8, 472). Their servants are protected as with armour, so that no shaft can strike them (ib.? 8). They ward off sickness and distress
(8, i8 10), and bestow various boons such as light, long life, offspring; guidance (>, 27; 8, i8 22. 5 65- 20). The epithets which describe them are : bright (suci), golden (Jiiranyayd), many-eyed (bhuryaksa), unwinking (animisd), sleepless (asvapnaj), far-observing (dirghadht). They are kings, mighty (ksatriyd), vast (uru\ deep (gabhira), inviolable (arista), having fixed ordinances (dhrtavrata), blameless (anavadya), sinless (avrjina\ pure (dhdraputa), holy (rtdvan).
The name is clearly a metronymic formation from that of their mother Aditi, with whom they are naturally often invoked. This is also one of the three derivations given by Yaska (Nir. 2, 13, cp. TA. i, I4 1). The greater gods belonging to the group have already been dealt with separately, but the lesser Adityas having hardly any individuality may best be described here in succession.
Aryaman 10 though mentioned about 100 times in the RV. is so destitute of individual characteristics, that in the Naighantuka he is passed over in the list of gods. Except in two passages, he is always mentioned with other deities, in the great majority of cases with Mitra and Varuna. In less than a dozen passages the word has only the appellative senses of comrade and
groomsman , which are occasionally also connected with the god. Thus Agni is once addressed with the words: Thou art Aryaman when (the wooer) of maidens (5, 32 ). The derivative adjective aryamya, relating to a comrade , once occurs as a parallel to mitrya, relating to a friend (5, 85 7). Thus the conception of Aryaman seems to have differed but little from that of the greater Aditya Mitra, the Friend . The name goes back to the Indo-Iranian period, as it occurs in the Avesta. One hymn of the RV. (7, 41) is devoted chiefly to the praise of Bhaga 11, though some other deities are invoked in it as well; and the name of the god occurs over sixty times. The word means dispenser, giver and appears to be used in this sense more than a score of times attributively, in several cases with the name of Savitr 12. The god is also regularly conceived in the Vedic hymns as a distributor of wealth, comparisons with Bhaga being generally
intended to express glorification of India s and Agni s bounty. The word bhaga also occurs about twenty times in the RV. with the sense of bounty, wealth, fortune , and the ambiguity is sometimes played upon. Thus in one passage (7, 412) where Bhaga is called the distributor (vidharta), it is stated that men say of the god, May I share in Bhaga (bhagam bhakst). In another verse (5, 46 6) in which he is termed the dispenser (vibhaktd, derived from
the same root bhaj), he is invoked to be full of bounty (bhagavdn) to his worshippers.
Dawn is Bhaga s sister (i, 1235). Bhaga s eye is adorned with rays (i, is6 2), and hymns rise up to Visnu as on Bhaga s path (3, 54 14). Yaska describes Bhaga as presiding over the forenoon (Nir. 12, 13). The Iranian form of the name is bagha, god , which occurs as an epithet of Ahura Mazda. The word is even Indo-European 13, since it occurs in Old Church Slavonic as bogu in the sense of god . There is no reason to suppose that it designated any individual god in the Indo-European period, for it cannot have attained a more specialized sense than bountiful god , if indeed it meant more than merely bountiful giver . The word Amsa, which occurs less than a dozen times in the RV., is
46 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
almost synonymous with bhaga, expressing both the concrete sense of share,portion* and that of apportioned. It is found but three times as the nameof a god 14, only one of these passages stating anything about him besideshis name. Agni is here said to be Amsa,, a bountiful (bhdjayii) god at the
feast (2, 1 4). Daksa 15 is mentioned hardly more than half a dozen times in theRV. as the name of a god. The word occurs more frequently as an adjectivemeaning dexterous, strong, clever, intelligent , applied to Agni (3, 147) andSoma (9, 6i l8 &c.), or as a substantive in the sense of dexterity, strength,cleverness, understanding . The name of the personification therefore appearsto mean the dexterous or clever god. Excepting the verse (2, 27*) whichenumerates the six Adityas, he is mentioned only in the first and tenth books.In one passage (i, 89 3) he is referred to with other Adityas, and in another
(10, 64 5) with Mitra, Varuna, and Aryaman, Aditi also being spoken of inconnexion with his birth. In a cosmogonic hymn (10, 72^5) Daksa is saidto have sprung from Aditi, when it is immediately added that Aditi sprangfrom him and is his daughter, the gods being born afterwards. In anotherverse (10, 5?) it is stated that the existent and non-existent were in the wombof Aditi, in the birthplace of Daksa. Thus the last two passages seemtoregard Aditi and Daksa as universal parents. The paradox of children producing their own parents has been shown (p. 12) to be not unfamiliar tothe poets of the RV. The manner in which it came to be applied in thisparticular case seems to be as follows. The Adityas are spoken of as godswho have intelligence for their father (6, 5o2), the epithet (daksapitard) beingalso applied to Mitra-Varuna, who in the same verse (7, 66 2) are called veryintelligent (sudaksa). The expression is made clearer by another passage(8, 255), where Mitra-Varuna are termed sons of intelligence (sunu daksasya)as well as children of great might (napata savaso mahaJi). The juxtapositionof the latter epithets shows that daksa is here not a personification but theabstract word used as in Agni s epithets father of skill (daksasya pitr: 3, 2 7 9)or son of strength ( 8, 35). This conclusion is confirmed by the fact thatordinary human sacrificers are called daksdpitarah, having skill for their father" (8, 5210). Such expressions probably brought about the personification ofDaksa as the father of the Adityas and his association with Aditi. In theTS. the gods in general are called daksapitarah, and in the SB. (2, 4, 42)Daksa is identified with the creator Prajapati.
i BLOOMFIELD, JAOS. 15, 176 note; vSPH. 31.2 OST. 4, 117 21. 3 BOL LENSEN, ZDMG. 41, 503. 4 Cp. GW., s. v. Aditya. - - 5 Cp. v. SCHROEDER,WZKM. 9, 122. & On the Amesaspentas see DARMESTETER, Haurvatat et Ameretat(Paris 1875), i f. ; BARTHOLOMAE, AF. 3, 26. 7 Cp. MACDONELL, JRAS. 27, 948. * ZDMG. 6, 69 f. 9 Sp.AP. 199; HARLEZ, JA. 1878(1 1), 129 ff. "ROTH, ZDMG. 6, 74;BOLLENSEN, ibid. 41, 503; HVBP. 556. " ROTH, 1. c.; WC. 11 12; BAYNES,The Biography of Bhaga. Transactions of the 8th Oriental Congress, II, I, 85 9;HRI. 536. - - 12 Cp. GW. s. v. bhaga. 13 v. SCHROEDER, WZKM. 9, 127. M ROTH, ZDMG. 6, 75; BRI. 19.J 5 OST. 5, 512; BRV. 3, 93. 99; W7 C. 45. WHITNEY, JAOS. 3, 3236; OST. 5, 547; MM., SBE. 32, 252 4; ORV. 1859.286 7; ZDMG. 49, 1778; 50, 50 4; SBE. 48, 1 90; HOPKINS, JAOS. 17, 28; IF. 6, n6.S 20. Us as. Usas, goddess of Dawn, is celebrated in about 20 hymns
of the RV. and mentioned more than 300 times. Owing to the identity ofname, the personification is but slight, the physical phenomenon of dawnnever being absent from the poet s mind, when the goddess is addressed.Usas is the most graceful creation of Vedic poetry and there is no morecharming figure in the descriptive religious lyrics of any other literature. Thebrightness of her form has not been obscured by priestly speculation norhas the imagery as a rule been marred by references to the sacrifice. Arraying
CELESTIAL GODS. 20. USAS. 47
herself in gay attire, like a dancer, she displays her bosom (i, 92 4, cp. 6, 64 2 ). Like a maiden decked by her mother she shows her form (i, I2311 ). Clothed in light the maiden appears in the east, and unveils her charms (i, I24 3 - 4). Effulgent in peerless beauty she withholds her light from neither small nor great (ib.6). Rising resplendent as from a bath, showing her charms she comes with light, driving away the darkness (5, 80 s- 6). She is young, being born again and again, though ancient; shining with an uniform hue, she wastes away the life of mortals (i, 92I0). As she has shone in former days, so she shines now and will shine in future, never aging, immortal (i, ii3 13 - 15). The maiden coming again awakes before all the world (i, i232 ). Ever shortening the ages of men, she shines forth, the last of the dawns that have always gone, the first of those to come 1 (i, I24 2). Like a wheel she revolves ever anew (3, 6i 3). She awakens creatures that have feet and makes the birds to fly up: she is the breath and life of everything (i, 48 s I0- 49 3). She awakens every living being to motion (i, 929; 7, y;1). The Dawns waken the sleeping and urge the living, the two-footed and the four-footed, to motion (4, 515). When lisas shines forth, the birds fly up from their nests, and men seek nourishment (i, I2412). She reveals the paths of men, waken ing the five tribes (7, 79 )- She manifests all beings and bestows new life (7, So 1 - 2). She drives away evil dreams to Trita Aptya (8, 4710). She removes the black robe of night (i, ii3 14). She dispels the darkness (6, 64 3 . 652). She wards off evil spirits and the hated darkness (7, 75T ). She dis closes the treasures concealed by darkness and distributes them bountifully (i, i23 4 6). She illumines the ends of the sky when she awakes (i, 92"). She opens the gates of heaven (i, 48 15. H3 4). She opens the doors of darkness as the cows their stall (i, 92 4). Her radiant beams appear like
herds of cattle (4, 522~4). She is visible afar, spreading out cattle (j>asuri) as it were (i, 9212). The ruddy beams fly up, the ruddy cows yoke them selves, the ruddy dawns weave their web (of light) as of old (ib.2 ). Thus Usas comes to be called mother of kine 2 (4, 522< 3; 7, 772).
Day by day appearing at the appointed place, she never infringes the ordinance of order and of the gods (i, 92I2. I23 9. i24 2; 7, 76 5); she goes straight along the path of order, knowing the way she never loses her direc tion (5, 80 4). She renders good service to the gods by causing all wor shippers to awake and the sacrificial fires to be kindled (i, ii3 9). She is besought to arouse only the devout and liberal worshipper, leaving the un godly niggard to sleep on (i, I24 10; 4, 51 3). Worshippers are however sometimes spoken of as wakening her instead of being awakened by her (4, 52 4 &c.), and the Vasisthas claim to have first wakened her with their hymns (7, So 1 ). She is once asked not to delay, that the sun may not scorch her as a thief or an enemy (5, 79 9). She is besought to bring the gods to drink Soma (i, 48T2). Hence probably, the gods are often described as waking with Usas (i, i4 9 &c.).
Usas is borne on a car which is shining (7,78*), brilliant (1,237), bright (3, 6 12), well-adorned (i, 492), all-adorning (7, 75), massive (i, 48 10 &c.), and spontaneously-yoked (7, 78 4). She is also said to arrive on a hundred chariots (i, 48 7). She is drawn by steeds which are ruddy (7, 756&c.)> easily guided (3, 6i 2), regularly-yoked (4, 5i 5), or is said to be resplendent
with steeds (5, 791 ~ I ). She is also described as being drawn by ruddy kine or bulls (go: i, 922. 124"; 5, So 3). Both the horses and the cows probably represent the ruddy rays of morning light 3; but the cows are generally
explained as the red morning clouds. The distance the dawns traverse in a day is 30 yojanas (i, I238).
48 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
As is to be expected, Usas is closely associated with the sun. She hasopened paths for Surya to travel (i, H3 l6). She brings the eye of the godsand leads on the beautiful white horse (7, 77 3). She shines with the lightof the sun (i, ii$ 9), with the light of her lover (i ; 92"). Savitr shines afterthe path of Usas (5, 8i 2). Surya follows her as a young man a maiden(i, i is2). She meets the god who desires her (i, i2310). She is the wifeof Surya (7, 755); the Dawns are the wives of the Sun (4, 5X 3). Thusasfollowed in space by the sun, she is conceived as his wife or mistress. Butas preceding the sun in time she is occasionally thought of as his mother(cp. p. 35). She has generated Surya, sacrifice, Agni (7, 7 8 3). She has beenproduced (prasutd) for the production (savdya) of Savitr, and arrives withabright child (i, H3 I>2 ). Usas is the sister of the Aditya Bhaga (i, i235;cp. p. 45) and the kinswoman (jdmi) of Varuna (i, I23 5). She is also thesister (i, ii32 - 3; 10, 127 3) or the elder sister (i, I24 8) of Night; andthenames of Dawn and Night are often conjoined as a dual compound (usdsd naktd or naktosasa}. Usas is born in the sky (7, 75*); and the placeofher birth suggests the relationship most frequently mentioned in the RV. : sheis constantly called the daughter of heaven (i, 3022 &c.) 4 . She is once alsospoken of as the beloved (priya) of heaven (i, 46T). The sacrificial fire being regularly kindled at dawn, Agni is naturallyoften associated with Usas in this connexion, sometimes not without a side-glance at the sun, the manifestation of Agni which appears simultaneously withthe kindling of the sacrificial fire (i, 124 - IX &c.) 5. Agni appears withorbefore the Dawn. Usas causes Agni to be kindled (1,1139). He is thuslike the sun sometimes called her lover (i, 69x; 7, lo 1, cp. 10, 3 3). Hegoesto meet the shining Usas as she comes, asking her for fair riches (3, 6i6).Usas is naturally also often connected with the twin gods of the early morning,the Asvins (i, 44 2 &c.). They accompany her (i, i832) and she is theirfriend (4, 522 -3j. She is invoked to arouse them (8, 917 j, and her hymnissaid to have awakened them (3, 581). When the Asvins car is yoked, thedaughter of the sky is born (10, 3912). Usas is once associated with themoon, which being born ever anew goes before the dawns as harbingerofday (10, 8 5 9).
Various gods are described as having produced or discovered the dawns.Indra who is characteristically a winner of light, is said to have generatedor lighted up Usas (2, 12 7 &c.). But he is sometimes also hostile to her,being described as shattering her wain ( 22). Soma made the dawns brightat their birth (6, 39 3 ) and constituted them the wives of a good husband(6, 44 23), as Agni does (7, 65). Brhaspati discovered the Dawn, the sky(svar), and Agni, repelling the darkness with light (10, 68 9). The ancientFathers, companions of the gods, by efficacious hymns discovered the hiddenlight and generated Usas (7, 76 4). The goddess is often implored to dawn on the worshipper or bringtohim wealth and children, to bestow protection and long life (i, 30". 48 x &c.),to confer renown and glory on all the liberal benefactors of the poet (5, 79,cp. i, 48 4 ). Her adorers ask from her riches and desire to be to herassons to a mother (7, Si 4). The soul of the dead man goes to the sun andto Usas (10, 58s), and by the ruddy ones in whose lap the Fathers are saidto be seated, the Dawns are doubtless meant (10, 15?).
Besides the sixteen enumerated in the Naighantuka (i, 8) Usas hasmany other epithets. She is resplendent, shining, bright, white, ruddy, golden hued, of brilliant bounty, born in law, most Indra-like, divine, immortal6. She is characteristically bountiful (inaghonr. ZDMG. 50, 440).CELESTIAL GODS. 21. ASVINS. 49
The name of Usas is derived from the root vas to shine and is radically cognate to Aurora and Hu>? (p. 8) 7.
- GVS. i, 2656. 2 Cp. KUHN, Entwicklungsstufen, 131. 3 See the passages quoted above, where the rays of dawn are compared with cattle or cows. 4 OST. 5, 190; cp. above p. 21. 5 Ibid. 191. 6 Ibid. 193 4. 7 SONNE, KZ. 10,416.
WHITNEY, JAOS. 3, 3212; OST. 5, 18198; MM., LSL. 2, 5834; GKR. 356; KRV. 524; BRV. i, 24150; BRANDES, Usas (Copenhagen 1879, pp. 123).
- Asvins. Next to Indra, Agni, and Soma, the twin deities named the Asvins are the most prominent in the RV. judged by the frequency with which they are invoked. They are celebrated in more than fifty entire hymns and in parts of several others, while their name occurs more than 400 times. Though they hold a distinct position among the deities of light and their appellation is Indian, their connexion with any definite phenomenon of light is so obscure, that their original nature has been a puzzle to Vedic interpreters from the earliest times. This obscurity makes it probable that the origin of these gods is to be sought in a pre-Vedic period. They are twins (3, 39 3; 10, i;2) and inseparable. The sole purpose of one hymn (2, 39) is to compare them with different twin objects such as eyes,, hands, feet, wings, or with animals and birds going in pairs, such as dogs and goats or swans and eagles (cp. 5, 78* 3; 8, 35 7 9- I0, io6 2 I0). There are, however, a few passages which may perhaps point to their originally having been separate. Thus they are spoken of as born separately (ndnd: 5, 73 4) and as born here and there (ihehd), one being called a victorious prince, and the other the son of heaven (i, i8i 4). Yaska also quotes a passage stating that one is called the son of night, the other the son of dawn (Nir. 12, 2). The RV., moreover, in another passage (4, 36) mentions alone the encompassing Nasatya , a frequent epithet otherwise only designating both Asvins in the dual.
The Asvins are young (7, 67I0), the TS. (7, 2, 72) even describing them as the youngest of the gods. They are at the same time ancient (7, 62 5). They are bright (7, 68 x), lords of lustre (8, 22 14; 10, 936), of golden brilliancy (8, 82j, and honey-hued (8, 26 6). They possess many forms (i, ii7 9). They are beautiful (6, 62 5. 63x) and wear lotus-garlands (10, i84 2; AV. 3, 22*; SB. 4, i, 516). They are agile (6, 63 5J, fleet as thought (8, 22 l6), or as an eagle (5, 78 4). They are strong (10, 24 4), very mighty (6, 62 5), and are several times called red l (rudrd, 5, 75 3 &c.). They possess profound wis dom (8, 82 ) and occult power (6, 63 s; 10, 937). The two most distinctive and frequent epithets of the Asvins are dasra, wondrous ., which is almost entirely limited to them, and nasatya, which is generally explained to mean not untrue (na-asatyd), but other etymologies2, such as the savers have been proposed. The latter word occurs as the name of a demon in the Avesta , which, however, sheds no further light on it. These two epithets in later times became the separate proper names of the Asvins 4 . The attri bute rudravartani having a red path 5 is peculiar to them, and they are the only gods called golden-pathed (hiranyavartani), an epithet otherwise only used (twice) of rivers. 6 Of all the gods 7 the Asvins are most closely connected with honey (madhti), with which they are mentioned in many passages. They have a skin filled with honey, and the birds which draw them abound in it (4, 45 3 4). They poured out 100 jars of honey (i, n7 6). Their honey-goad (x, 122 3. i57 4) with which they bestrew the sacrifice and the worshipper8, is peculiar to them. Only the car of the Asvins is described as honey-hued (madhu varnd) or honey-bearing (madhu-vdhana). They only are said to be fond Indo-arische Philologie. III. IA. 4
50 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
of honey (inadhuyu, mddhvi) or drinkers of it (tnadhupa). The priest to\vhom they are invited to come is called honey-handed (10, 41 3). They givehoney to the bee (i, 112 2I cp. 10, 4o6) and are compared with bees (10, io6 10).They are, however, like other gods, fond of Soma (3, 58 7< 9c.) and are
invited to drink it with Usas and Surya (8, 35 ). HILLEBRANDT (VM. 1,241),however, finds traces showing that the Asvins were at first excluded from thecircle of the Soma-worshipped gods.
The car of the Asvins is sun-like (8, 82 ) or golden (4, 44 4> 5), and allits parts, such as wheels, axle, fellies, reins are golden (i, 180 ; 8, 529. 22s).It has a thousand rays (i, 119 ) or ornaments (8, 8"- I4). It is peculiar inconstruction, being threefold, having three wheels, three fellies, and someother parts triple (i, nS 1 - 2 &c.). It moves lightly (8, Q8), is swifter thanthought (i ; ii72 &c.) or than the twinkling of an eye (8, 62 2 ). It wasfashioned by the Rbhus (10, 39I2). The Asvins car is the only one whichis three-wheeled. One of its wheels is said to have been lost when theAsvins came to the wedding of Surya (10, 85 15; cp. 37).
The Asvins name implies only the possession of horses, there being noevidence to show that they are so called because they ride on horses10. Their car is drawn by horses (i, ii72 &c.), more commonly by birds (pi,6, 636 &c. or patatrin, 10, i43 5), swans (4, 45 4), eagles (i, n8 4), bird steeds(6, 63 7 ) or eagle steeds (8, 5 ). It is sometimes described as drawn byabuffalo (kakuha) or buffaloes (5, 73 7; i, i84 3 &c.) or by a single ass (rdsa bha: i, 34. n6 2; 8, 74 7). In the AB. (4, 7 9) the Asvins are said at themarriage of Soma and Surya to have won a race in a car drawn by asses11(cp. RV. i, n6 7 and Sayana s comm.). Their car touches the ends of heavenand extends over the five countries (7, 63 2<3). It moves round heaven(i, i8o 10). It traverses heaven and earth in a single day (3, 588), as thecar of the sun (i, us 3) and that of Usas (4, 5i 5 ) are also said to do. Itgoes round the sun in the distance (i, ii2 I3j. Frequent mention is alsomade of their course (vartis], a word which with one exception is applicableto them only. The word parijman, going round is several times connectedwith the Asvins or their car, as it is also with Vata, Agni, and Surya.
The locality of the Asvins is variously described. They come from afar(8, 53 ), from heaven (8, 8 7), heaven and earth (i, 44 5), from heaven andair (8, 8 4 . 92), from air (8, 8 3 ), earth, heaven, and ocean (8, lo 1 ), from theair, from far and near (5, 73J). They abide in the sea of heaven (8, 2617),
in the floods of heaven, plants, houses, the mountain top (7, 7o 3). Theycome from behind, before, below, above (7, 72 5). Sometimes their localityis inquired about as if unknown 72 (5, 742 3; 6, 63T ; 8, 62 4). They are once(8, 8 23) said to have three places (j>adant), possibly because invoked threetimes a day.
The time of their appearance is often said to be the early dawn 13, whendarkness still stands among the ruddy cows (10, 6i 4) and they yoke theircar to descend to earth and receive the offerings of worshippers (i, 22 2 &c.).
Usas awakes them (8, 917). They follow after Usas in their car (8, 52 ). Atthe yoking of their car Usas is born (10, 39T2). Thus their relative timeseems to have been between dawn and sunrise. But Savitr is once said toset their car in motion before the dawn (i, 3410). Occasionally the appearanceof the Asvins 14, the kindling of the sacrificial fire, the break of dawn, andsunrise seem to be spoken of as simultaneous (i, 157*; 7, 72 4 ). The Asvinsare invoked to come to the offering not only at their natural time, but alsoin the evening (8, 22 14) or at morning, noon, and sunset (5, 76 3). Theappearance of the Asvins at the three daily sacrifices may have been the
CELESTIAL GODS. 2 1 . ASVINS. 51
starting-point of the continual play on the word three in the whole of a hymn devoted to their praise (i, 34). As deities of the morning, the Asvins dispel darkness (3, 39 3) and are sometimes said to chase away evil spirits (7> 73 4; 8, 35l6). In the AB. (2, 15), the Asvins as well as Usas and Agni are stated to be gods of dawn; and in the Vedic ritual they are connected with sunrise s. In the SB. (5, 5, 41 ) the Asvins are described as red-white in colour and therefore a red-white goat is offered to them 16. The Asvins are children of Heaven (i, 182 T. 184*; 10, 6i 4), one of them alone being once said to be a son of Heaven (i, i84 4). They are once (i, 462) said to have the ocean as their mother (sindhumdtara). Other wise they are in one passage (10, iy2) said to be the twin sons of Vivasvat
and Tvastr s daughter Saranyu (p. 42), who appear to represent the rising sun and dawn. On the other hand the solar deity Pusan claims them as his fathers (10, 85 14)17. By their sister (i, iSo 2) Dawn seems to be meant (cp. p. 48). They are, as male deities of morning light, often associated with the sun conceived as a female called either Surya or more commonly the daughter of Surya . They are Surya s two husbands (4, 436 cp. i, ii9 5), whom she chose (7, 69 4). Surya (5, 735) or the maiden (8, 810) ascended their car. The daughter of the sun mounts their car (i, 34 5 . n6 I 7. n8 5; 6, 63 5) or chose it (i, ii7 13; 4, 432). They possess Surya as their own (7, 68 3), and the fact that Surya accompanies them on their car is character istic (8, 298). She must be meant by the goddess called Asvini and men tioned with others in 5, 46 8. In a late hymn (10, 8 5 9) it is said that when Savitr gave Surya to her husband (fatye) Soma was wooer (vadhuyu) while the Asvins were groomsmen (vara). In another passage (6, 58 4) the gods are said to have given Pusan to Surya. Owing to their connexion with Surya the Asvins are invoked to conduct the bride home on their chariot (10, 8526). They are also besought along with several other deities to bestow fertility on the bride (10, i84 2). They give the wife of the eunuch a child and make the barren cow yield milk (i, 112 3). They give a husband to the old maid (10, 393) and bestowed a wife on one of their favourites (i, 116* &c.). In the AV. (2, 302 &c.) they are said to bring lovers together18. The Asvins may originally have been conceived as finding and restoring or rescuing the vanished light of the sunT 9. In the RV. they have come to be typically succouring divinities. They are the speediest helpers and deliverers from distress in general (i, ii2 2. n8 3). They are constantly praised for such deeds. In particular, they rescue from the ocean in a ship or ships. They are also invoked to bring treasures from the ocean or from heaven (i, 47 6) and their car approaches from the ocean (4, 43 s); here, however, the celestial ocean appears to be intended. Their rescue from all kinds of distress is a peaceful manifestation of divine grace, not a deliverance from foes in battle, as is generally the case with Indra (with whom, however, they are once associated in fight, even receiving the epithet of Vrtra-slayers)20. They are thus also characteristically divine physicians (8, 1 88 c.), who heal diseases with their remedies (8, 22 10 &c.), restoring sight (i, n6 l6), curing the blind, sick, and maimed (10, 39 3). They are the physicians of the gods and guardians of immortality, who ward off death from the worshipper (AY. 7, 53T ; TB. 3, i, 2"). Apart from their character as helpers, healers, and wonder-workers, their general beneficence is often praised. They bring their worshipper to old age with seeing eye and reward him with riches and abundance of children (i, n6 25; 8, 81 -3 &c.).
Quite a number of legends illustrating the succouring power of the Asvins are referred to in the RV. The sage Cyavana, grown old and deserted, 4*
52 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
they released from his decrepit body; they prolonged his life, restored himto youth, rendered him desirable to his wife and made him the husbandofmaidens (i, n610c. : OST. 5, 143). A detailed story of how Cyavana wasrestored to youth by the Asvins is given in the SB. (4, i, 5)21. They alsorenewed the youth of the aged Kali (10, 398) and befriended him whenhehad taken a wife (i, ii2 15). They brought on a car to the youthful Vimadawives (i, ii2 19) or a wife (i, n6T ) named Kamadyu (10, 6512), who seemsto have been the beautiful spouse of Purumitra (i. n; 20; 10, 39 7). Theyrestored Visnapu, like a lost animal, to the sight of their worshipper Visvaka,son of Krsna (i, n623. ii7 7; 10, 6512), who according to the commentatorwas his father. The story most often referred to is that of the rescue ofBhujyu, son of Tugra, who was abandoned in the midst of the ocean (sam udre] or in the water-cloud (udameghe) and who tossed about in darknessinvoked the aid of the youthful heroes. In the ocean which is withoutsupport they took him home in a hundred-oared ship. They rescued himwitli animated, water-tight ships, which traversed the air, with four ships,with an animated winged boat, with three flying cars having a hundredfeet and six horses, with their headlong flying steeds, with their well-yoked chariot swift as thought. In one passage Bhujyu is described asclinging to a log (vrksd] for support in the midst of the waves 22. The sageRebha, stabbed, bound, hidden by the malignant, overwhelmed in the watersfor ten nights and nine days, abandoned as dead, was by the Asvins revived anddrawn out as Soma is raised with a ladle 2^. They delivered Vandana fromcalamity and restored him to the light of the sun (i, ii2 5. 116". ny5 . n86),raising him up from a pit in which he lay hidden away as one dead (io,398)or restoring him from decrepitude (i, ii96- 7) 24 . They succoured the sageAtri Saptavadhri who along with his companions was plunged in a burningpit by the wiles of a demon. They brought him a cooling and refreshingdraught, protected him from the flames, and finally released him in youthfulstrength. They are also said to have delivered him from darkness. WhenAgni is spoken of as having rescued Atri from heat (10, 30^)^ the meaningprobably is that Agni spared him through the intervention of the Asvins 2s. TheAsvins even rescued from the jaws of a wolf a quail which invoked their aid26. To Rijrasva who had been blinded by his father for killing one hundredand one sheep and giving them to a she-wolf to devour, they restored hiseyesight at the prayer of the she-wolf (i, u6l6. ny1 ?- l8); and cured Paravrjof blindness and lameness (i, ii2 8). When Vispala s leg had been cut off inbattle like the wing of a bird, the Asvins gave her an iron one instead27. They befriended Ghosa when she was growing old in her father s house bygiving her a husband (i, n;7; 10, 39 > 6. 40$). To the wife of a eunuchthey gave a son called Hiranyahasta (i, n6T 3. n; 24; 6 5/ 62 7; 10, 39 7 ); whois, however, once called Syava (10, 6512). The cow of Sayu, which hadleftoff bearing they caused to give milk (i, n622 &c.). They gave to Peduaswift, strong, white, incomparable, dragon-slaying steed impelled by Indra,which won him unbounded spoils (i, 116 &.). To Kaksivat of the familyof Pajra they granted blessings in abundance,, causing a hundred jars of wine(surd) or of honey to flow from a strong horse s hoof, as from a sieve(i,n67. ii76) 28. Another miraculous deed of theirs is connected with honeyor mead. They placed a horse s head on Dadhyanc, son of Atharvan, whothen told them where was the mead (madhti) of Tvastr ( 53)2Q. Besidesthe persons referred to above, many others are mentioned as having been succoured or befriended by the Asvins in RV. i, 112 and 116 19. These maybe largely the names of actual persons who were saved or cured in a
CELESTIAL GODS. 21. ASVINS. 53
remarkable manner. Their rescue or cure would easily have been attributed to the Asvins, who having acquired the character of divine deliverers and healers, naturally attracted to themselves all stories connected with such mira culous powers. The opinion of BERGAIGNE and others that the various miracles attributed to the Asvins are anthropomorphized forms of solar phenomena (the healing of the blind man thus meaning the release of the sun from darkness), seems to lack probability -5. At the same time the legend of Atri (cp. 56) may be a reminiscence of a myth explaining the restoration of the vanished sun.
As to the physical basis of the Asvins, the language of the Rsis is so vague that they themselves do not seem to have understood what phenomenon these deities represented. The other gods of the morning, the night-dispelling Agni, the man-waking Usas, and the rising Surya are much more vividly ad dressed. They may be called possessors of horses, because the latter are symbolical of rays of light, especially the sun s. But what they actually re presented puzzled even the oldest commentators mentioned by Yaska. That scholar remarks (Nir. 12, i) that some regarded them as Heaven and Earth (as does also the SB. 4, i, 5l6), others, as Day and Night, others, as sun and moon, while the legendary writers took them to be two kings, performers of holy acts . Yaska s own opinion is obscure. ROTH thinks he means Indra and the sun, GoLDSTtiCKER, that he means the transition from darkness to light, which represents an inseparable duality corresponding to their twin nature, and agrees with this view. This is also the opinion of MYRIANTHEUS as well as of HOPKINS, who considers it probable that the inseparable twins represent the twin-lights or twilight before dawn, half dark, half light, so that one of them could be spoken of alone as the son of Dyaus, the bright sky. Other scholars* 1 favour the identification of the Asvins with sun and moon. OLDENBERG following MANNHARDT^ 2 and BOLLENSEN (ZDMG. 41, 496) believes the natural basis of the Asvins must be the morning star, that being the only morning light beside fire, dawn, and sun. The time, the luminous nature, and the course of the Asvins round the heavens suit, but not their duality.
The morning star would indeed naturally be thought of in connexion with the evening star, but they are eternally separate, while the Asvins are joined. The latter are, however, in one or two passages of the RV. spoken of separately; and though the morning in Vedic worship is so important, while sunset plays no part (5, yy2), the Asvins are nevertheless sometimes (8, 224; 10, 391. 404) invoked morning and evening^. The Asvins, sons of Dyaus, who drive across the sky with their steeds and possess a sister, have a parallel in the two famous horsemen of Greek mythology, sons of Zeus (Aid? xoupoi)34 j brothers of Helena, and in the two Lettic God s sons who come riding on their steeds to woo the daughter of the sun, either for them selves or the moon. In the Lettic myth the morning star is said to have come to look at the daughter of the sun 35. As the two Asvins wed the one Surya, so the two Lettic god-sons wed the one daughter of the sun; they too are (like the Aiooxoupoi) rescuers from the ocean, delivering the daughter of the sun or the sun himself6. If this theory is correct, the character of the Asvins as rescuers may have been derived from the idea of the morning star being a harbinger of deliverance from the distress of darkness. WEBER is also of opinion that the Asvins represent two stars, the twin constellation of the Gemini 37. Finally GELDNER thinks that the Asvins do not represent any natural phenomenon, but are simply succouring saints (Notheilige) of purely Indian origin 38 .
54 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
The twilight and the morning star theory seem the most probable. Inany case, it appears not unlikely that the Asvins date from the Indo-Europeanperiod in character though not in name.
i According to PVS. I, 568; variously interpreted by others; cp. BRV. 3, 38note. 2 BRUNNHOFER, ( savers from 1/~nas in Gothic nasyan), Vom Aral bis zurGanga, p. 99; BRV. 2, 434; HRI. 83. 3 Sp.AP. 207; COLIXET, BOR. 3, 193. 4 KRV. note 172. 5 PVS. I, 55.6 PVS. 567, gives a list of the epithetsof the Asvins. 7 HVM. I, 237. 8 According to OLDENBERG, this refers tomorning dew; cp. BRV. 2, 433. 9 HAUG, GGA. 1875, p. 93. IQ BOLLENSEN,ZDMG. 41, 496; HRI. 80. ii On the car and steeds of the Asvins cp. HOPKINS,JAOS. 15, 26971. 12 pvS. 2, 105. *3 OST. 5, 2389; HRI. 82. H BRV.2, 432. 15 ORV. 208. 16 HRI. 83. *7 Cp. IS. 5, 183. 187; EHNI, ZDMG.33, 16870. 18 WEBER, IS. 5.218. 227. 234. 19 v. SCHRSDER, WZKM. 9, 131;HRI. 83. 20 OST. 5, 2489. 21 OST. 5, 2503; SEE. XXVI, 273 ff; BENFEY,OO. 3, 1 60; MYRIANTHEUS p. 93 (= sun which has set restored in the morning);HVBP. H2. 22 References in OST. 5, 2445; SOXNE, KZ. 10,3356; BENFEY,OO. 3, 159; MYRIANTHEUS 158; HVBP. 112. – 23 OST. 5, 246; BENFEY, OO.3,162. 164; MYRIANTHEUS 174; BAUNACK, ZDMG. 50, 2646. 2 4 BAUNACK, .ibid.2634. - - 25 Ibid. 268; SONNE, KZ. 10, 331 (Atri = sun); OST, 5, 247; cp.v. BRADKE, ZDMG. 45, 482 4. 26 MM, LSL. 2,5256; OST. 5, 248; MYRIANTHEUS 78 81. 27 OST. 5, 245; MYRIANTHEUS 10012; PVS. i, 171 3 (Vispala,name of a racing mare). Vispala is variously interpreted. 2S MYRIANTHEUS 149 f. ; KRV. note 185. 29 BENFEY, OO. 2, 245; MYRIANTHEUS 1423; HVBP. 113. 3 OST. 5, 248; HVBP. H2. 31 LRV. 3, 334; HVM. i, 535 (against ZLMMER,Archiv f. slav. Philol. 2, 669 ff.); HVBP. 479- 32 Zft. f. Ethnologic 7, 312 f. -33 BRV. 2, 500. - 34 HRI. 78. 80; JRAS. 27, 9534. 35 ORV. 212 n. 3. -36 v. SCHRODER, WZKM. 9, 1331. - - 37 WEBER, IS. 5, 234; Rajasflya 100. -38 GVS. 2, 31 cp. i. xxvii.
ROTH, ZDMG, 4, 425; WHITNEY, JAOS. 3,322; MAX MULLER, LSL, 2, 6079:BENFEY, OO. 2, 245; OST. 5, 23454: GOLDSTUCKER, ibid. 2557; GRV. i, 150;MYRIANTHEUS, Die Asvins oder Arischen Dioskuren, Miinchen 1876; BRV. 2, 431510; KRV. 4952, notes 171. 179. 180; HVBP. 47 49. 11113; ORV. 209 15;HRI. 80-6.
B. THE ATMOSPHERIC GODS.
- Indra. Indra is the favourite national god of the Vedic Indians.His importance is indicated by the fact that about ^250 hymns celebrate hisgreatness, more than those devoted to any other god and very nearly one fourth of the total number of hymns in the RV. If the hymns in parts ofwhich he is praised or in which he is associated with other gods, are taken
"into account, the aggregate is brought up to at least 300. As the name,-which dates from the Indo-Iranian period and is of uncertain meaning, does.not designate any phenomenon of nature, the figure of Indra has becomevery anthropomorphic and much surrounded by mythological imagery, more
so indeed than that of any other god in the Veda. The significance of his-character is, however, sufficiently clear. He is primarily the thunder-god, the- conquest of the demons of drought or darkness and the consequent liberation
Of the waters or the winning of light forming his mythological essence. Secondarily |Tndra is the god of battle, who aids the victorious Aryan in theconquest of the aboriginal inhabitants of India. ]
He is the dominant deity of the middle region. He pervades the air(i, 512). He occurs among the gods of the air alone in the Naighantuka(5, 4), and is the representative of the air in the triad Agni, Indra (or Vayu),Surya.
Many of Indra s physical features are mentioned. He has a body,ahead, arms, and hands (2, i6 2; 8, 85 3). His belly is often spoken of inconnexion with his powers of drinking Soma (2, i6 2 &c.). It is compared
ATMOSPHERIC GODS. 22. INDRA. 55
when full of Soma to a lake (3, 36s). His lips (the probable meaning of sipra) are often referred to, the frequent attributes susipra or siprin, fair- lipped , being almost peculiar to him. He agitates his jaws after drinking Soma (8j 65 ). His beard is violently agitated when he is exhilerated or puts
himself in motion (2, n 17; 10, 231). He is tawny-haired (10, 96 s - 8) and tawny-bearded (10, 23*). His whole appearance is tawny, the changes being rung on that word (Jiari) in every verse of an entire hymn (10, 96) with
reference to Indra. He is a few times described as golden (i, y2; 8, 5 5 3), an attribute distinctive of Savitr (p. 32), as golden-armed (7, 34*), and as iron-like (i, 56 3; 10, 96*-8). His arms as wielding the thunderbolt are men tioned particularly often. They are long, far-extended, great (6, 19^; 8. 3210. 701), strong and well-shaped (SV. 2, 1219). Indra assumes the most beautiful forms and the ruddy brightness of the sun (10, ii2 3) and takes many different forms at will (3, 48*. 538; 6, 47l8). The thunderbolt (vajra)I is the weapon exclusively appropriate to Indra. It is the regular mythological name of the lightning stroke (cp. p. 59). It is generally described as fashioned for him by Tvastr (i, 32" &c.), but Kavya Usana is also said to have made it and given it to him (i, i2i 12; 5, 342). In the AB. (4, i) it is the gods who are said to have provided Indra with his bolt. It lies in the ocean enveloped in water (8,899). Its place is below that of the sun (10, 2721). It is generally described as dyasa or metallic (i, 52* &c.), but sometimes as golden (i, 72 &c.), tawny (3, 44*; 10, 96 3) or bright (3,44 s). It is four-angled (4,222), hundred-angled (4, i710), hundred jointed (8,66 &c.); and thousand-pointed (i,8o12 &c.). It is sharp (7, i8 l8 &c.). Indra whets it like a knife or as a bull his horns 2 (i, 130*. 55 ). It is spoken of as a stone (asman) or rock (parvata-. 7, io419). The bolt in Indra s hand is compared with the sun in the sky (8, 592). Epithets derived from or com- pounded with vajra, some of which are very frequent, are almost entirely limited to Indra. Vajrabhrt, bearing the bolt , vajrivat, armed with the bolt , and vajradaksina^ holding the bolt in his right hand are applied to him exclusively, while vajrabdhu or -hasta, holding the bolt in his arm or hand , and the commonest derivative vajrin, armed with the bolt , otherwise occur as attributes of Rudra, the Maruts, and Manyu only once each respectively. Indra is sometimes said to be armed with a bow and arrows (8, 45 4 . 666< "; 10, io3 2> 3). The latter are golden, hundred-pointed, and winged with a thousand feathers (8, 66 7 - "). He also carries a hook (ankusa) with which he bestows wealth (8, i710; AV. 6, 82 3) or which he uses as a weapon (10, 449). A net with which he overwhelms all his foes is also attributed to him (AV. 8, 85~8).
Indra is borne on a car which is golden (6, 292 &c.) and is swifter than thought (10, ii2 2 ). The epithet car-fighter (rathestha) is exclusively appro priated to Indra. His car is drawn by two tawny steeds (/ian)*, a term very frequently used and in the great majority of instances referring to Indra s
horses. In a few passages a greater number than two, up to a hundred and even a thousand or eleven hundred are mentioned (2, 18*-?; 4. 4 63 ; 6,47**; 8, i9- 2 4). These steeds are sun-eyed (i,i6T - 2). They snort and neigh (i,3ol6). They have flowing manes (i, io 3 &c.) or golden manes (8,3229. 82 24). Their hair is like peacocks feathers or tails (3, 45 ; 8, i25). They swiftly traverse vast distances and Indra is transported by them as an eagle is borne by its wings (2, i6 3; 8, 349). They are yoked by prayer (2, i8 3 &c.), which doubt less means that invocations bring Indra to the sacrifice. Indra is a few times said to be drawn by the horses of Surya (10, 497) or by those of Vata (10, 22*~6), and Vayu has Indra for his % charioteer (4, 462. 482) or his car-corn-
56 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY. panion (7, 9i6). India s car and his steeds were fashioned by the Rbhus (i,in 1; 5? 3l4)- Indra is once said to be provided with a golden goad (kasd:
8, 33")-
Though the gods in general are fond of Soma (8, 2lS. 58"), Indra is preeminently addicted to it (i,io49 c.). He even stole it in order to drinkit (3, 484; 8, 44). He is the one Soma-drinker among gods and men (8, 24), only Vayu, his companion, coming near him in this respect4. It is his favouritenutriment (8, 4"). The frequent epithet Soma-drinker (soma-pa, -pavari) is characteristic of him, being otherwise only applied a few times to Agni andBrhaspati when associated with Indra, and once besides to Vayu alone. Soma is sometimes said to stimulate Indra to perform great cosmicactions such as supporting earth and sky or spreading out the earth (2, i52 ). But it characteristically exhilarates him to carry out his warlike deeds, theslaughter of the dragon or Vrtra (2, I51. ig2; 6, 472) or the conquest offoes (6, 27; 7, 22 2; 8, 8i 6). So essential is Soma to Indra that his mothergave it to him or he drank it on the very day of his birth (3, 48 2>3> 32 9 - 10; 6, 4o2; 7, 98 3). For the slaughter of Vrtra he drank three lakes 5 of Soma(5, 2Q 7 cp. 6, i7") and ne i s even said to have drunk at a single draughtthirty lakes of the beverage (8, 66*). One entire hymn (10, 119) consists ofa monologue in which Indra describes his sensations after a draught of Soma.But just as too much Soma is said to produce disease in men, so Indra himself is described as suffering from excessive indulgence in it and having to becured by the gods with the Sautramani ceremony6. Indra also drinks milkmixed with honey 7 (8, 48 ). He at the same time eats the flesh of bulls (10, 28 3), of one (10, 272), of twenty (10, 86 14), or of a hundred buffaloes (6, 17"; 8, 66 10), or 300buffaloes roasted by Agni (5, 29 7 ). At the sacrifice he also eats an offeringof cake (3, 527-8), as well as of grain (3, 35^. 43 4; i, i6 2), and the latter hissteeds are supposed to eat as well (3, 35 7. 52?).
Indra is often spoken of as having been born. Two whole hymns (3, 48;4, 1 8) deal with the subject of his birth. Once (4, iS 1 - 2 ) he is representedas wishing to be born in an unnatural way through the side of his mother8. This trait may possibly be derived from the notion of lightning breaking fromthe side of the storm-cloud. On being born he illuminates the sky (3, 444 ). Scarcely bom he set the wheel of the sun in motion (i, 130). He wasawarrior as soon as born (3, 5i8; 5, 3o5; 8, 45 4 . 66 1; 10, ii34 ) and was irre sistible from birth (i, io2 8; 10, I332). Through fear of him when he is born,the firm mountains, heaven and earth are agitated (i ; 6i 14). At his birthheaven and earth trembled through fear of his wrath (4, 1 72) and all thegods feared him (5, 305) 9. His mother is often mentioned (3, 48 - 3 c.)10. She is once (4, i8 10) spoken of as a cow (grsti), he being her calf; and he
is spoken (10, n i 2) of as a bull, the offspring of a cow (gdrsteyd). Heisonce (10, 101^) called the son of NistigrI, whom Sayana regards as synonymous with Aditi (cp. 41). According to the AV. (3, io 12 - -) Indra s (andAgni s) mother is Ekastaka, daughter of Prajapati. Indra has the same fatheras Agni (6, 592), who is the son of Dyaus and Prthivi ( 35). Accordingtoone interpretation of a verse in a hymn (4, i7 4) in which his father is twicementioned, the latter is Dyaus. A similar inference may be drawn fromaverse in an Indra hymn (io, 120 ) where it is said that among the worldsthat was the highest from which this fierce (god) was born , and from a few
other passages (cp. 6, 30$; 8, 364 with io, 543, and io, I386 with i, 164"). His father is said to have made his thunderbolt (2, i76), which is elsewheregenerally described as fashioned by Tvastr ( 38). Indra drank Somain
ATMOSPHERIC GODS. 22. INDRA. 57
the house of his father, where it was given to him by his mother (3, 482). He drank Soma in the house of Tvastr (4, i83 ), Indra having at his birth overcome Tvastr and having stolen the Soma, drank it in the -cups (3, 48*). Indra seizing his father by the foot crushed him, and he is asked in the same verse who made his mother a widow (4, i8 12). From these passages
it is clearly to be inferred that Indra s father whom he slays in order to obtain the Soma, is Tvastr 11 (cp. i, So 1 *). The hostility of the gods, who in one passage (4, 30^) are said to have fought against him, is perhaps con nected with the notion of his trying to obtain Soma forcibly.12. A few different accounts are given of the origin of Indra. He is said to have been generated by the gods as a destroyer of fiends (3, 49T ), but the verb fan is here no doubt only used in the figurative sense of to con stitute (cp. 2, i3 5; 3, 518). Soma is once spoken of as the generator of Indra and some other gods (9, 965). In the Purusa hymn Indra and Agni are said to have sprung from the mouth of the world-giant (10, 9o 13). According to the SB. (u, i, 614) Indra, as well as Agni, Soma, and Paramesthin, is said to have been created from Prajapati. The TB. (2, 2, io : ) states that Prajapati created Indra last of the gods.
Agni is Indra s twin brother (6,592) and Pusan is also his brother (6. 555). The sons of Indra s brother -are once mentioned (io,551 ), but who are meant by them is uncertain.
Indra s wife is several times referred to (i, 82$- 6; 3, 53 4 - 6; 10, 869 - 10). Her name is Indrani in a hymn in which she is represented as conversing with Indra (10, 86"- I2) and occurs in a few other passages which contain enumerations of goddesses (i, 22 12; 2, 328; 5, 46 8). The SB. expressly states Indrani to be Indra s wife (14, 2, i8). The AB. (3, 22 7 ), however, mentions Prasaha and Sena as Indra s wives *3. These two are identified with Indrani
(TB. 2, 4, 27- 8; MS. 3, 8>; 4, 12 )4 - PISCHEL (VS. 2, 52) thinks that Saci is the Proper name of Indra s wife in the RV. as well as in post-Vedic litera ture 15. The AV. (7, 382) refers to an Asura female who drew Indra down from among the gods; and the Kathaka (IS. 3, 479) states that Indra en amoured of a Danavl named Vilistenga, went to live among the Asuras, assuming the form of a female among females and of a male among males.
Indra is associated with various other gods. His chief friends and allies are the Maruts, who in innumerable passages are described as assisting him in his warlike exploits ( 29). His connexion with these deities is so close that the epithet marutvat, accompanied by the Maruts , though sometimes applied to other gods, is characteristic of Indra, this epithet, as well as marudgana
attended by the Marut host , being sufficient to designate him (5,426; 9,6510). With Agni Indra is more frequently coupled as a dual divinity than with any other god ( 44)l6. This is natural, as lightning is a form of fire. Indra is also said to have produced Agni between two stones (2, 12^) or to have found Agni hidden in the waters (10, 32fc ). Indra is further often coupled with Varuna and Vayu, less frequently with Soma, Brhaspati, Pusan, and Visnu ( 44). The latter is a faithful friend of Indra and sometimes attends him in his conflict with the demons ( 17. 44) I7 .
Indra is in three or four passages more or less distinctly identified with Surya18. Speaking in the first person (4, 26 ) Indra asserts that he was once Manu and Surya. He is once directly called Surya (10, 89*); and Surya and Indra are both invoked in another verse (8, 82 4 ) as if they were the same person. In one passage Indra receives the epithet Savitr (2, 30*). The SB. (i, 6, 4l8), too, once identifies Indra with the sun, Vrtra being the moon. The gigantic size of Indra is dwelt upon in many passages. When Indra
58 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
grasped the two boundless worlds, they were but a handful to him (3, 3o5).He surpasses in greatness heaven, earth, and air (3, 46^). The two worldsare but equal to the half of him (6, 30T ; 10, 119 )- Heaven and earth donot suffice for his girdle (i, I736). If the earth were ten times as large,Indra would be equal to it (i, 52"). If Indra had a hundred heavens anda hundred earths, a thousand suns would not equal him nor both worlds(8, 59 s).
His greatness and power are lauded in the most unstinted terms. Hehasno parallel among those born or to be born (4, i8 4). No one, celestial orterrestrial, has been bora or shall be born, like to him (7, 32 2J). Noone,god or man, either surpasses or equals him (6, 3o4). Neither former, later,nor recent beings have attained to his valour (5, 426). Neither gods nor mennor waters have attained to the limit of his might (i, loo 1 ). No one likehim is known among the gods; no one born, past or present, can rival him(i, 1 65 9). He surpasses the gods (3, 46$). All the gods yield to himinmight and strength (8, 5i 7). Even the former gods subordinated their powersto his divine glory and kingly dignity (7, 2i 7). All the gods are unabletofrustrate his deeds and counsels (2, 32 4). Even Varuna and Surya are subject to his command (i, ioi3 cp. 2, 389 p. 16). He is besought to destroythe foes of Mitra, Aryaman, and Varuna (10, 89- 9) and is said to haveacquired by battle ample space for the gods (7, 98 3). Indra alone is kingofthe whole world (3, 462). He is the lord of all that moves and breathes(i, ioi5). He is the king of things moving and of men (5, 3o 5); he is theeye of all that moves and sees (10, io2 12). He is the leader of humanraces and divine (3, 342 ). He is several times called a universal monarch(4, i92 &c.) and still oftener a self-dependent sovereign (3,461 &c.; cp.p. 24).He is also said to rule alone (ekd) by his might as an ancient seer (8, 641).A few times he receives the epithet asura (i, 174^8, 796). Indra bearsseveral characteristic attributes expressive of power. Sakra mighty appliesto Indra about 40 times and only about five times to other gods. Sacwat,possessed of might describes Indra some fifteen times and other deities onlytwice. The epithet sacipati lord of might , occurring eleven times in the RV.belongs to Indra with only one exception (7,67 s), when the Asvins as lordsof might are besought to strengthen their worshippers with might (sacibhih).In one of these passages (10, 242) Indra is pleonastically invoked as mightylord of might (sadpate saclnam). This epithet survives in post-Vedic literatureas a designation of Indra in the sense of husband of Sac! (a sense claimedfor it by PISCHEL even in the RV.). The very frequent attribute satafyratu,having a hundred powers , occurring some 60 times in the RV. is with twoexceptions entirely limited to Indra. In the great majority of instances satpati,strong lord is appropriated to Indra. Indra s strength and valour are alsodescribed with various other epithets. He is strong (tavas), nimble (nrtu),victorious (turd), heroic (sura), of unbounded force (i,n 4 . iQ2 6), of irresistiblemight (i, 842). He is clothed in might like the elephant and bears weaponslike the terrible lion (4, i6 14). He is also young (i, n 4 &c.) and unaging(ajard), as well as ancient (purvyct).
Having dealt with Indra s personal traits and his character, we now cometo the great myth which is the basis of his nature. Exhilerated by Somaandgenerally escorted by the Maruts he enters upon the fray with the chiefdemon of drought, most frequently called by the name of Vrtra, the Obstructor(S 68) and also very often styled ahi the Serpent or Dragon ( 64). Theconflict is terrible. Heaven and earth tremble with fear when Indra strikesVrtra with his bolt (i, 80"; 2, nq - I0; 6, 17$); even Tvastr who forged theATMOSPHERIC GODS. 22. INDRA. 59
bolt trembles at Indra s anger (i, So 1 ^). Indra shatters Vrtra with his bolt (i, 325. 6i 10; 10, 89 7). He strikes Vrtra with his bolt on his back (i, 327. 8oS), strikes his face with his pointed weapon (i, 52 $), and finds his vulnerable parts (3, 32*; 5, 322). He smote Vrtra who encompassed the waters (6, 2o 2 &c.) or the dragon that lay around (partsayanam} the waters (4, i92); he overcame the dragon lying on the waters (5, 3o6). He slew the dragon hidden in the waters and obstructing the waters and the sky (2, ii 5), and smote Vrtra, who enclosed the waters, like a tree with the bolt (2, i42). Thus conquering in the waters (apsujif] is his exclusive attribute. Indra being frequently described as slaying Vrtra in the present or being in voked to do so, is regarded as constantly renewing the combat, which mythically represents the constant renewal of the natural phenomena. For many dawns and autumns Indra has let loose the streams after slaying Vrtra (4, i98 ) or he is invoked to do so in the future (8, 78*). He cleaves the mountain, making the streams flow or taking the cows (i, 57; io,89 7), even with the sound of his bolt (6, 27*). When he laid open the great mountain,
he let loose the torrents and slew the Danava, he set free the pent up springs, the udder of the mountain (5, 321 - 2 ). He slew the Danava, shattered the great mountain, broke open the well, set free the pent up waters (i,576; 5, 331). He releases the streams which are like imprisoned cows (i, 6i 10) or which, like lowing cows, flow to the ocean (i,322). He won the cows and Soma and made the seven rivers to flow (1,32"; 2,i212). He releases the imprisoned waters (i, 576. io32j, released the streams pent up by the dragon (2, n 2), dug out channels for the streams with his bolt (2, 153), let the flood of waters flow in the sea (2,193), caused the waters pent up by Vrtra to flow (3,266; 4, I71). Having slain Vrtra, he opened the orifice of the waters which had been closed (i, 32"). His bolts are dispersed over ninety rivers (i, So8). References to this conflict with Vrtra and the release of the waters are ex tremely frequent in the RV> The changes on the myth are rung throughout the whole of one hymn (i, 80). Another deals with the details of the Vrtra fight (i, 3 2).^ That this exploit is Indra s chief characteristic, is shown by the manner in whicE^frTe^po^tr epiluiuizeb the my eh in the two nrst verses ot trie latter hymn: i will proclaim the heroic deeds of Indra, which the "wieTde Fbf the bolt first performed: he slew the dragon lying on the mountain, released the waters, pierced the belly of the mountains . The physical elements are nearly always indicated by the stereotyped figurative terms bolt , mountain , waters or rivers , while lightning, thunder, cloud, rain (yrsti, varsa, or the verb urs) are seldom directly named (i, 52$-6 - x * &c.) 19. The rivers caused to flow are of course often terrestrial (BRV. 2, 184), but it cannot be doubted that waters and rivers are in the RV. very often conceived as aerial or celestial (i, io8; 2, 2o s. 22 cp. BRV. 2, 187). Apart from a desire to ex press the Vrtra myth in phraseology differing from that applied to other gods, the large stores of water (cp. arnas, flood) released by Indra would encourage the use of words like streams rather than rain . The cows released by Indra may in many cases refer to the waters, for we have seen that the latter are occasionally compared with lowing cows. % Thus Indra is said to have found the cows for man when he slew the dragon (5, 293 cp. i, 528). The context seems to shew that the waters are meant when Indra is described as having, with his bolt for an ally, extracted the cows with light from darkness (* 33IO)-*But the cows may also in other cases be conceived as connected with Indra s winning of light, for the ruddy beams of dawn issuing from the blackness of night are compared with cattle coming out of their dark stalls (p. 47). Again, though clouds play no great part in the RV. 20 under their
60 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
literal name (abhra &c.) it can hardly be denied that; as containing the waters,they figure mythologically to a considerable extent under the name of cow(go: 61), as well as udder (udhar), spring (utsd), cask (kavand/ia\ pail(kosa) and others. Thus the rain- clouds are probably meant when it is saidthat the cows roared at the birth of Indra (8, 59 4 ).
It is however rather as mountains (jxirvata, giri: p. 10) that they appearin the Indra myth. They are the mountains (i, 32*) on which the demonsdwell (i, 322; 2, I2 11), or from which he casts them down (i, 130?; 4, 30**;6,265). Indra shoots forth his well- aimed arrow from these mountains (8, 6 66). He cleft wide the mountain to release the cows (8, 45 3 ). Or the cloud is
a rock (adri) which encompasses the cows and which Indra moves from its place (6, i7 5). He loosened the rock and made the cows easy to obtain(10, ii2 8). He released the cows which were fast within the stone (6, 433 cp. 5, 3o4). The cloud rocks or mountains would seem to represent thestationary rainless clouds seen during drought, while the cloud cows wouldrather be the moving and roaring rain-cloud (p. 10). OLDENBERG (ORV.i4of.) thinks that to the poets of the RV. the mountains as well as the riversin the Vrtra-myth are terrestrial, though he admits that they were originallyaerial and at a later period also were understood as such. * In the mythical imagery of the thunderstorm the clouds also very fre quently become the fortresses (flirah)21 of the aerial demons. They are spokenof as ninety, ninety-nine, or a hundred in number (2, i46. iQ6; 8, i; 14. Sy6). These fortresses are moving (8, i 28), autumnal (i, 1307. 1311 174^ 6, 20 ),made of metal (2, 2o 8) or stone (4, 3o20) 22. Indra shatters them (i,5i 5 &c.),and so the epithet fort -shatterer (purbhid) is peculiar to him. In one verse(10, in 10) he is spoken of as a fort-shatterer and lover of waters at thesame time. In another the various features of the myth are mentionedtogether: he slew Vrtra, broke the castles, made a channel for the rivers,,pierced the mountain, and made over the cows to his friends (10, 89 7).
Owing to the importance of the Vrtra-myth the chief and specific epithetof Indra is Vrtrahan, Vrtra-slayer 23. It is applied about 70 times to himin the RV. The only other deity who receives it with any frequency is Agni;but this is due to Agni s frequent association with Indra as a dual divinity,The few applications of the epithet to Soma are also clearly secondary( 37) 24- Though Indra is sometimes expressly stated to have slain Vrtraby his own might alone (i, i658; 7, 2i 6; 10, I386) other deities are veryoften associated with him in the conflict. The gods in general are said tohave placed him in the van for action or battle (i, 55^; 6, i78 ),or the
slaughter of Vrtra (8, i2 22). They are also said to have increased his vigourfor the fray with Vrtra (10, ii38), or to have infused might or valour intohim (i, So S; 6, 2o 2; 10, 48 3. i2o 3), or to have placed the bolt in his hands(2, 2o8). But most frequently he is urged on and fortified by the Maruts(3> 3 24 ; 10, 731 - 2 &c. 29). Even when the other gods terrified by Vrtra
fled away (8, 857 cp. 4, iS 11; AB. 3, 20), they stood by him; but the Marutsthemselves are in one passage said to have deserted him (8, 731)- Agnir Soma, and Visnu are often also allied with Indra in the fight with Vrtra.Even priests on earth sometimes associate themselves with Indra in his com(5> 38; 8, 5111; 10, 449). The worshipper (jarita) is said to have
bats
placed the bolt in Indra s hands (i, 632), and the sacrifice is spoken of ashaving assisted the bolt at the slaughter of the dragon (3, 3212). Hymns,prayers, and worship, as well as Soma, are also often described as increasing(Yvrdh) the vigour of Indra 2s.
Besides Vrtra, Indra engages in conflict with many minor demons also
ATMOSPHERIC GODS. 22. INDRA. 61
{ 69). One of these, Urana, mentioned only once (2, 14*) is described as having 99 arms, while another, Visvarupa, is three-headed and six-eyed (10, 996). He does not always slay them with his bolt. Thus one of them, Arbuda, he crushes with his foot or pierces with ice (i, 51; 8, 3226). Some
times Indra is described as destroying demons in general. Thus he is said to sweep away the Asuras with his wheel (8, 859), to consume the Raksases with his bolt as fire a dry forest (6, i8 10) and to overcome the druhah or malignant spirits (4, 23". 28 2).
With the liberation of the waters is connected the winning of light, sun, and dawn. Indra won light and the divine waters (3, 348). The god is in voked to slay Vrtra and win the light (8, y84). When Indra had slain the dragon Vrtra with his metallic bolt, releasing the waters for man, he placed the sun visibly in the heavens (i, 5i 4 . 528). Indra, the dragon-slayer, set in motion the flood of waters to the sea, generated the sun, and found the cows (2, i9 3). He gained the sun and the waters after slaying the demons (3, 348< 9). When Indra slew the chief of the dragons and released the waters from the mountain, he generated the sun, the sky and the dawn (i, 32 4; 6, 3o 5). The sun shone forth when Indra blew the dragon from the air (8, 3*). Though the sun is usually the prize of the conflict, it also appears as Indra s weapon, for he burns the demon with the rays of the sun (8, 129). Without any reference to the Vrtra fight, Indra is said to find the light (3, 344; 8, i5 5; 10, 434) in the darkness (i, io8 8; 4, i6 4 ). Indra is the generator of the sun (3, 494). He placed the sun, the brilliant light, in the sky (8, i2 3 ). He made the sun to shine (8, 36. Sy2 ), and made it mount in the sky (i, 73). He gained the sun (i, ioo6 - l8; 3, 349) or found it in the darkness in which it abode (3, 39s) and made a path for it (10, in 3).
Indra produces the dawn as well as the sun (2, 12 7. 2i 4; 3, 31 l5; 328. 494). He has made the dawns and the sun to shine (3, 442). He has opened the darkness with the dawn and the sun (i, 625). He steals the dawn with the sun (2, 20$). The cows which are mentioned along with
sun and dawn (i, 62 5; 2, 12"; 6, i7 5) or with the sun alone (i, 73; 2, i9 3; 3, 349; 6, i7 3 . 322; 10, i38 2 ) as found, delivered, or won by Indra, probably do not so much represent the waters 25 or rainclouds, as the morning beams ( 61) or, according to BERGATGNE (BRV. i, 245) and others, the red clouds of dawn. The waters are probably meant by the ruddy watery (apya) cows (9, io86), but the morning beams or clouds in the following passages. The dawns on seeing Indra went to meet him, when he became the lord of the cows (3, 31 4). When he overcame Vrtra he made visible the cows (dhenah} of the nights (3, 343 cp. BRV. 2, 200). Dawn is in some passages spoken of in expressions reminding of the winning of the cows. Thus Dawn opens the darkness as cows their stall (i, 92 4). Dawn opens the doors of the firm rock (7> 794)- The cows low towards the dawns (7, 75 7). The Angirases burst open the cowstalls of Usas on the heights (6, 65 5). The dawn is sometimes said to have been produced along with the sun in the same passages in which the conquest of the waters is celebrated (i,32x - 2 - 4; 6,3o 5; 10,13s1 - 2). Thus there appears to be a confusion between the notion of the restoration of the sun after the darkness of the thunderstorm and the recovery of the sun from the darkness of night at dawn. The latter trait is in the Indra myth most probably only an extension of the former.
Indra s activity in the thunderstorm is sometimes more directly expressed. Thus he is said to have created the lightnings of heaven (2, 137) and to have directed the action of the waters downwards (2, 175). With the Vrtra fight, with the winning of the cows and of the sun, is
62 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
also connected that of Soma. When Indra drove the dragon from the air, fires,the sun, and (Soma, Indra s juice, shone forth (8, 320). After his victory overthe demon, hechose Soma for his drink (3, 368J. After he conquered thedemons, Soma became his own property (7,98 5j; he became the king of theSoma mead (6, 20^). Indra disclosed the juice pressed with stones anddrove out the cows (3, 445). He won Soma at the same time as the cows(i> 3212)- He found in heaven the hidden nectar (6, 44 23). He found thehoney accumulated in the ruddy cow (usriydyam: 3, 396). The raw cow goeswith ripe milk, in the ruddy cow is accumulated all sweetness, which Indraplaced there for enjoyment (3, 3o 14). Indra places ripe milk in the cows(8,322 5), which are raw (8,78 7) black or red (1,629), anci for which he opensthe gates (6, 17). These passages seem to have primarily at least a mythological reference to rainclouds, as the context in most cases describes thegreat cosmical actions of Indra.
Indra is said to have settled the quaking mountains and plains (2, i22; 10, 448). In a later text Indra is said to have cut off the wings of themountains, which originally alighted wherever they pleased and thus madetheearth unsteady. The wings became the thunder clouds (MS. i, lo 1 ^). Thisis a favourite myth in post-Vedic literature. PISCHEL (VS. i, 174) traces itsorigin to a verse of the E.V. (4, 545). Indra also fixed the bright realms ofthe sky (8, 149). He supported the earth and propped the sky (2, i;5&c.).He holds asunder heaven and earth as two wheels are kept apart by theaxle (10, 894). He stretches out heaven and earth (8, 36) like a hide (8,65 LHe is the generator of heaven and earth (8, 364 cp. 6, 47*). He generatedthat which is and shall be by his great secret name (10, 552 ) and made the nonexistent into the existent in a moment (6,245). The separation and supportingof heaven and earth are sometimes described as the result of Indra s victoryover a demon (5,29*), who held them together (8,6 17). When he was bornfor the Vrtra fight, Indra spread out the earth and fixed the sky (8, 785).The dragon-slayer made earth visible to heaven, when he opened a path forthe streams (2, i3 5). Similarly he is said to have found heaven and earthwhich were hidden (8,85l6) or to have won them along with light and waters)- Possibly the effect of light extending the range of vision and seeming
8
(3>34
to separate heaven and earth apparently pressed together by darkness, mayhave been the starting point of such conceptions.
Indra, the wielder of the thunderbolt, who destroys the aerial demonsin battle, is constantly invoked by warriors (4, 242 &c.). As the great godof battle he is more frequently called upon than any other deity as thehelper of the Aryans in their conflicts with earthly enemies. He protects theAryan colour and subjects the black skin (3, 349; i, i3o8). He dispersed50000 of the black race and rent their citadels (4, i6 13). He subjected theDasyus to the Aryan (6, i83) and gave land to the Aryan (4,262). He turnsaway from the Arya the weapon of the Dasyu in the land of the seven rivers(8, 242 7). Other deities are only occasionally referred to as protectors ofthe Aryas, as the Asvins (i, ii7 2I)> Agni (8, 92 ), or the gods in general
(6, 21"). More generally Indra is spoken of as the one compassionate helper(i, 84*9; 8, 55 3. 691), as the deliverer and advocate of his worshippers(8,8520j, as their strength (7,3i 5), and as a wall of defence (8,69 7). His friendis never slain or conquered (10, I521). Indra is very often called the friendof his worshippers 27, sometimes even a brother (3, 53 5), a father (4, i7 17;
10, 48 ) or a father and mother in one (8, 8711). He was also the friend ofthe fathers in the olden time (6,2i8 cp. 7,33 4), and the epithet Kausika which
ATMOSPHERIC GODS. 22. INDRA. 63
he once receives (I,IOTI), implies that he particularly favoured the family of the Kusikas 28. Indra does not desire the friendship of him who offers no libations (10, 42 4). But he bestows goods and wealth on the pious man (2, 19*. 223; ^ 27 3), and is implored not to be diverted by other worshippers (2, 18^ &c.) 29. All men share his benefits (8, 547). Both his hands are full of riches (7, 37 3). He is a treasury filled with wealth
(10, 422). He can shower satisfying wealth on his worshippers as a man with a hook shakes down ripe fruit from a tree (3, 45 4). Gods and mortals can no more stop him wishing to give than a terrific bull (8, 7o3). He is an ocean of riches (i, 5iT)> and all the paths of wealth lead to him as the rivers to the sea (6, i9 5 ). One entire hymn in particular (10,47) dwells on the manifold wealth which Indra bestows. Cows and horses are the goods which Indra, like other gods, is most often asked to bestow (i,i6 9. 10 14 &c.), and it is chiefly to him that the epithet gopati, lord of cows is applied. His combats are frequently called gavisti, literally desire of cows (8,245&c.) and his gifts are considered the result of victories (4, 1710- 11 c. : cp. BRV. 2, 178). Indra also bestows wives (4, i7l6) and male children (i,53 5 c.). His liberality is so characteristic that the very frequent attribute maghavan, bountiful is almost entirely monopolized by him in the RV. (cp. p. 48) and in post-Vedic literature remains his exclusive epithet. The epithet vasupati, lord of wealth , is also predominantly applicable to Indra.
Though the main myth concerning Indra is his combat with Vrtra, various other stories attached themselves to him as the performer of heroic deeds. Some passages describe Indra as coming into conflict with Usas. He struck down the wain (anas) of Dawn (10, 736). He shattered the wain of Usas with his bolt and rent her slow (steeds) with his swift (mares: 2, i56). Terrified at the bolt of Indra, Usas abandoned her wain (10, I38 5). Indra performed the heroic manly exploit of striking and crushing the female medi tating evil, Usas, the daughter of the sky; her wain lay shattered in the river
Vipas and Usas fled away in terror (4, 3o8~ 1X). The obscuration of the dawn by a thunderstorm is usually regarded as the basis of this myth. Against such an interpretation BERGAIGNE urges that it is not Indra who obscures the sky but a demon, and that the application of the bolt, Indra s characteristic weapon, need not be restricted to the Vrtra-fight. He concludes that the sunrise overcoming the delaying dawn (cp. 2, i56; 5, 79) is here conceived as a victory of Indra bringing the sun 3.
Indra comes in conflict with the sun in the obscure myth about a race run between the swift steed Etasa, who draws a car, and the sun drawn by his yellow steeds. The sun being ahead is hindered by Indra. His car loses a wheel, a loss which in some way seems to have been caused by Indra ( 60 D). With this myth is probably connected the statement that Indra stopped the tawny steeds of the sun (10, 928). Indra is also associated with the myth of the rape of Soma. For it is to him that the eagle brings the draught of immortality ( 37). Another myth which is not often mentioned and the details of which chiefly occur in a single hymn (10, 108) is that of the capture by Indra of the cows of the Panis ( 67). These demons, who here seem to be the mythical representatives of the niggards who withhold cows from the pious sacrificer, possess herds of cows which they keep hidden in a cave far away beyond the Rasa, a mythical river. Sarama, Indra s messenger, tracks the cows and asks for them in Indra s name, but is mocked by the Panis. In another passage (6,39*) Indra desiring the cows around the rock is said to have pierced Vala s unbroken ridge and to have overcome the Panis. Elsewhere the cows are spoken of as confined by the demon
64 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
Vala without reference to the Panis, and driven out by Indra (2, i2 3; 3,3o10).In various passages the Angirases are associated with Indra in piercing Vala,shattering his strongholds, and releasing the cows ( 54).
Fragmentary references, often in enumerations, are frequently madetothe victory of Indra over Dasas or Dasyus. These are primarily humanfoeswhose skin is black (i, i3oH cp. 2, 2o 7), who are noseless (5, 29), are godless and do not sacrifice. Though mythological elements are no doubt largelymingled in the account of his victory over individual Dasas, the foundationof these myths seems to be terrestrial and human. For while Vrtra is slainfor the good of man in general, individual human beings are mentionedforwhom or with whom Indra overcame the Dasa or Dasas. These protegesof Indra are not as a rule ancestors of priests but are princes or warriorswho seem to have been historical. Thus Divodasa Atithigva 31 is the fatherof the famous king Sudas, his Dasa foe being Sambara, the son of Kulitara( 69 B). But when the term ddsa is applied to the dragon (ahi), from whomIndra wrests the waters (2, n 2) or to the three-headed six-eyed monsterwhom Trita combats (10, 996) or to Vyamsa who struck off Indra s jaws(4, i8 9), it unmistakably designates regular demons. An account of Namuciand other Dasas vanquished by Indra will be found in the chapter on demons.A myth which seems to have no general significance but to be simplythe invention of a later poet of the RVV is that of Indra and Vrsakapi, the
details of which are given somewhat obscurely in RV. 10, 86. This hymndescribes a dispute between Indra and his wife Indram about the monkeyVrsakapi, who is the favourite of the former and has damaged the propertyof the latter. Vrsakapi is soundly threshed and escapes, but afterwards returns,when a reconciliation takes place, v. BRADKE considers the story a satire,in which under the names of Indra and Indran! a certain prince andhiswife are intended 32 .
Among stories preserving historical traits is that of Indra having safelybrought Turvasa and Yadu across the rivers (i, i749 &c.). They are theeponymous heroes of two closely connected Aryan tribes, which are, however,sometimes mentioned by the poets in a hostile sense. This varying attitudeis a tolerably sure indication of historical matter. Here the national warriorgod appears as the patron of Aryan migrations. In another passage Indrais said with Susravas to have crushed twenty chiefs and their 60099 warriorswith fatal chariot wheel. The accounts of the conflicts of king Sudas haveall the appearence of a historical character. Thus Indra is said to havehelped him in the battle of the ten kings (7, 333), to have aided himinanswer to the prayers of his priests the Trtsus (among whom Vasisthaisprominent), and to have drowned his foes in the river Parusm (7, i89> I3).
Finally, a hymn of the RV. (8, 80) relates how a maiden named Apalahaving found Soma beside a river and having pressed it with her teeth, dedicates it to Indra who approaches and from whom she receives as a rewardthe fulfilment of certain desires 33.
Regarded as a whole the attributes of Indra are chiefly those of physicalsuperiority and of dominion over the physical world. Energetic actionischaracteristic of him, while passive sway is distinctive of Varuna. Indra is auniversal monarch, not as the applier of the eternal laws of the universe noras a moral ruler, but as an irresistible warrior whose mighty arm wins victory,whose inexhaustible liberality bestows the highest goods on mankind, and whodelighting in the exhileration of magnificent Soma sacrifices, confers rich rewards on the hosts of priests officiating in his worship. The numeroushymns which celebrate him dwell on these features in more or less stereo-
ATMOSPHERIC GODS. 22. INDRA. 65
typed terms and are seldom free from references to the Soma offering. He is not usually described as possessing the moral elevation and grandeur of Varuna. There are, however, several passages which ascribe to Indra actions characteristic of Varuna 34 . There are also a few, mostly in the later books, in which an ethical character is attributed to him and faith in him is con fessed or enjoined (i, 55 5 &c.), faith in the reality of his existence being sometimes expressed as against the disbelief of sceptics (2, 12$ &.) 35. Once he is said in a late passage of the RV. to have attained heaven by austere fervour (10, 167* cp .I594 ). To the more intense anthropomorphism of Indra s nature are doubtless due certain sensual and immoral traits which are at variance with the moral perfection elsewhere attributed to him and essential to the character of the Vedic gods. This incongruity cannot be accounted for by different passages representing chronologically different stages in the development of his char acter, for it is apparent in the words of the same poet, sometimes even in the same verse. It is chiefly connected with his excessive fondness for Soma. In one passage (8, 6y 5- 6) he is said to hear and see everything, viewing the zeal of mortals, and in the next verse his belly is described as full of the vigorous draught. One entire hymn (10, 119) consists of a monologue in which Indra is intoxicated with Soma, boasting of his greatness and capricious power. It is even indicated that he once suffered from the effects of ex cessive drinking ( 69). His love of Soma is even represented as having driven him to parricide (4, i8 12). In judging morally of Indra s immoderate indulgence in Soma, it must be borne in mind that the exhilaration of Soma partook of a religious character in the eyes of the Vedic poets and that the intoxicating influence of Soma itself led to its being regarded as the drink of immortality. It is probably from the latter point of view that Indra is conceived as having performed his grandest cosmical feats, such as fixing heaven and earth, under the influence of Soma (2, i52). And the evident sympathy of the poets with the effect of Soma on the god but reflects the moral standard to the age. Amorous adventures, on the other hand, are entirely absent from the exploits of Indra in the RV. and there is hardly a trace of such even in the Brahmanas, except that he is spoken of as the paramour of Ahalya the wife of Gautama 36 . It is only natural that the poetry of the Soma offering should have dwelt on the thirsty aspect of his nature.
It has been maintained by RoTH^7 followed by WHITNEY (JAOS. 3,327) that the preeminence of Varuna as belonging to an older order of gods was in the course of the Rigvedic period transferred to Indra. This view is based partly on the fact that not a single entire hymn in the tenth book is addressed to Varuna, while Indra is celebrated in forty-five. There are, however, two hymns (126, 185) of book X, in which Varuna is lauded with two other
Adityas, and in many single verses of that book Varuna is invoked or re ferred to along with other deities. The argument from the number of hymns is not very cogent, as in all the earlier books of the RV. far more hymns are addressed to Indra than to Varuna. In book III no hymn is devoted to Varuna but 22 to Indra, and in book II there is only one to Varuna and 23 to Indra. Moreover, these two books added together are considerably shorter than the tenth alone. It is, however, true that Varuna is much less frequently mentioned in the last book than in the earlier books of the RV. Beyond this fact there seems to be no direct and decisive proof of the super session of Varuna by Indra during the composition of the RV. One hymn (4, 42) of the earlier part, describing in the form of a dialogue the rivalry Indo-arische Philologie. Ill, 1 A. 5
66 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
between Indra and Varuna has, however, been regarded (GKR. 27) as characteristically indicating a transition from an older period in the relative importance of the two gods. The conclusion is perhaps hardly justified by thestatements of another (cp. GRV. 2, 401) of the last book (10, i24)38. Atthe same time it must be remembered that on the one hand Varuna seemsto have occupied a more important position than Indra in the Indo-Iranianperiod, while on the other, Indra in the Brahmanas (AB. 8, 12) and in theepics has become chief of the Indian heaven and even maintains this position under the Puranic triad Brahma-Visnu-Siva, though of course subordinateto them 39. Varuna meanwhile had become divested of his supreme powersby the time of the AV. (p. 26). Thus there must have been at least agradually increasing popularity of Indra even in the Rigvedic age. By BENFEY(OO. i, 48) and BREAL (Hercule et Cacus 101) Indra in the Vedas is considered rather to have superseded the ancient Dyaus. This may perhapswith greater probability be maintained with regard to the Indo-Iranian TritaAptya. For Trita though rarely mentioned in the RV. is there describedasperforming the same exploits as Indra, occasionally appearing even as themore important personage in the myth ( 23).
The name of Indra occurs only twice in the Avesta 40. Beyond the factof his being no god, but only a demon, his character there is uncertain41. Indra s distinctive Vedic epithet vrtrahan also occurs in the Avesta in theform of verethraghna, which is, however, unconnected with Indra or thethunderstorm myth, designating merely the God of Victory 42 . Thus it isprobable that the Indo-Iranian period possessed a god approaching to the Vedicform of the Vrtra-slaying Indra. It is even possible that beside the thunderinggod of heaven, the Indo-European period may have known as a distinct conception a thundergod gigantic in size, a mighty eater and drinker, who slaysthe dragon with his lightning bolt 4 ^. The etymology 44 of Indra is doubtful,but that the root is connected with that in indu, drop, seems likely.
i ZDMG. 32, 2967; WZKM. 9, 232. – 2 HVM. i, 44, note. 3 ZDMG.i, 67. – 4 HVM. i, 119. 5 ROTH on Nir. 5, 1 1; KHF. 1389. 6 SB. 5, 5, 49;12, 7, i"; TS. 2, 3, 2, cp. HVM. i, 266; ZIMMER, AIL. 275. 7 HVM. 238. -3 PVS. 2, 242 53; LANG, Myth, Ritual and Religion i, 183; 2, U3f. 244. 9 PVS. 2, 249. – 10 ibid. 2, 514; MACDONELL, JRAS. 27, 183. - - ^ BRV3,5862; PVS. i, 44. 12 ibid, i, 211. X 3 Cp. ibid. 2, 38, note i. H BLOOM FIELD, ZDMG. 48, 54951. 15 Ibid. 548. 16 MACDONELL, JRAS. 25,4701;2 7, I7S. 7 Ibid. 27, 175. 18 HRT. 92. 19 Other passages i, So4- M; 2, 13-1;4, 262; 8, 319-20. 6; 10, 92*. 1249; AV. 13,441. 20 HVM. i, 313. 21 ZLMMKK,AIL 42. 22 Also Kalhaka IS. 12, 161 ; JRAS. 27, 181. 23 ZDMG. 8, 460. -24 MACDONELL, JRAS. 25, 472. 25 QST. 5, 912. 26 AUFRECHT, ZDMG.13,497; BRV. i, 259; KRV. 42 (raincloud).2 7 OST. 5, 1045. 28 QST. 5, 3489.29 OST. 5, 1067. 30 BRV. 2, 193; cp. SONNE, KZ. 10, 4167; MM. Chips2,91 f.; ORV. 169; HRI. 77, note. 31 BRV. 2, 209; HVM. i, 96. 107. 32 ZDMG.46, 465 cp. ORV. 1724. 33 AI-FRECHT, IS. 4, i8; OLDENBERG, ZDMG.39,7-67- 34 BRV. 3, 143. –35 OST. 5, 1034. – 3 WEBER, Sitzungsberichteder Berliner Akad. 1887, p. 903. 37 ZDMG. 6, 73; PW. ; cp. BRI. 27. 3^ ORV.957; OST. 5, 1216. 39 ZDMG. 6, 77; 25, 31. 40 SPIEGEL, Av. Tr. Ill,LXXXI; Sp.AP. 195; OST. 5. 121, note 212. – 41 DARMESTETER, SBE. IV2, LXXII;HILLEBRANDT, ZDMG. 48, 422. - 42 Sp.AP. 195. - 43 ORV. 34, note i; 134;
. v. SCHRODER, WZKM. 9, 230. 44 YN. 10, 8; Sayana on RV. i, 34; BENFEY,OO. I, 49; ROTH, PW.; MM., LSL. (1891)2,543, note; OGR. 218; AR. 396; OST.5, 119, note. 208; GW.; BB. i, 342; BRV. 2, 166; BOLLENSEN, ZDMG. 41, 5057;JACOBI, KZ. 31, 316; IF. 3, 235. KHF. 8; ROTH, ZDMG. i, 72; WHITNEY, JAOS. 3, 31921; DELBRUCK, ZVP.1865, 277-9; OST. 5, 77139; 4, 99 108; LRV. 3, 317; KRV. 407; BRI. 123;BRV. 2, 15996; PERRY, Indra in the Rigveda, JAOS. 11, 117 208; HILLEBRANDT,Literaturblatt f. Or. Philol. 18845, p. 108; Die Sonnwendfeste in Altindien (1889),16; SP. AP. 194-7; HVBP. 6080; ORV. 134-75; ZDMG. 49, 1745; HRI.916; v. SCHRODER, WZKM. 9, 2304.
ATMOSPHERIC GODS. 23. TRITA APTYA. 67
- Trita Aptya. Trita Aptya is not celebrated in any entire hymn of the RV. but is only incidentally mentioned there in forty passages occurring in twenty-nine hymns. The epithet Aptya accompanies or alternates with Trita seven times in four hymns of the RV. (i, 109; 5, 41; 8, 47; 10, 8). He is oftenest mentioned or associated with Indra; he is seven times connected or identified with Agni, is several times spoken of with the Maruts, and ten times with Soma either as the beverage or the deity. Trita is mentioned alone as having rent Vrtra by the power of the Soma draught (i, 187 ). The Maruts aided Trita and Indra in the victory over Vrtra (8, 724j. Such action must have been regarded as characteristic of Trita, for it is mentioned as an illustration. When Indra in the Vrtra fight strove against the withholder of rain, he cleft him as Trita cleaves the fences of Vala (i, 52 4<5 ). So again the man who is aided by Indra-Agni, pierces rich strong holds like Trita (5, 86 1). Trita Aptya knowing his paternal weapons and urged by Indra fought against and slew the three-headed son of Tvastr and released the cows (10, 88). In the following stanza Indra performs exactly the same feat; for he strikes off the three heads of Visvarupa the son of Tvastr and takes possession of the cows. Indra (or perhaps Agni) subdued the loudly roaring three-headed six-eyed demon and Trita strengthened by his might slew the boar (i. e. the demon, cp. i, 121") with iron-pointed bolt (10,99). Here the feat performed by the two gods is again identical. Indra produced cows for Trita from the dragon (10, 482 ). Indra delivered over Visvarupa the son of Tvastr to Trita (2, n^). Indra strengthened by the Soma-pressing Trita, cast down Arbuda and with the Angirases rent Vala (2, ii 20). When the mighty Maruts go forth and the lightnings flash, Trita thunders and the waters roar (5, 542). In two obscure passages of a Marut hymn (2, 34) the bright path of the Maruts is said to shine forth when Trita appears (v. 10) and Trita seems to be conceived as bringing the Maruts on his car (v. 14). In an Agni hymn the winds are said to have found Trita, instructing him to help them (10,1154). The flames of Agni rise when Trita in the sky blows upon him like a smelter and sharpens him as in a smelting furnace (5,9 5). Trita eagerly seeking him (Agni) found him on the head of the cow; he when born in houses becomes as a youth the centre of bright ness, establishing himself in dwellings. Trita enveloped (in flames) seated himself within his place (10,463-6). Trita is spoken of as in heaven (5,95). His abode is secret (9, io2 2 ). It is remote; for the Adityas and Usas are prayed to remove ill deeds and evil dreams to Trita Aptya (8, 47 3-7). It seems to be in the region of the sun. For the poet says: Where those seven rays are, there my origin is extended; Trita Aptya knows that; he speaks for kinship : which seems to mean that he claims kinship with it (i, 1059). In the same hymn (v. 17) Trita is described as buried in a well (kupe) and praying to the gods for help; Brhaspati heard him and released him from his distress. In another passage (10, 8 7 ) Trita within a pit (vavre) prays to his father and goes forth claiming his paternal weapons; and in the next stanza (10, 88) he fights with Visvarupa. Indra is said to drink Soma beside Visnu, Trita Aptya, or the Maruts (8, I2 l6) and to delight in a hymn of praise beside Trita (Val. 41 ). In the ninth book, doubtless owing to its peculiar character, Trita appears in the special capacity of a preparer of Soma, a feature alluded to only once in the rest of the RV. (2, ii 20). Soma is purified by Trita (9, 34*). Trita s maidens (the fingers) urge the tawny drop with stones for Indra to drink (9, 322. 382). Soma occupies the secret place near the two pressing stones of Trita (9, io2 2) and is besought
68 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
to bring wealth in a stream on the ridges (prsthesti) of Trita (9, 102$). Somacaused the sun along with the sisters to shine on the summit (sdnu) of Trita(9, 374). They press out the stalk, the bull that dwells on the mountains,
who, like a buffalo, is purified on the summit; hymns accompany him as heroars; Trita cherishes (him who is like) Varuna in the ocean (9, 95*). WhenSoma pours the mead, he calls up the name of Trita (9, 86 20). There are several passages from which little or nothing can be gatheredas to Trita s original nature. Thus his name occurs in some enumerationswhich furnish no information (2, 3i6; 5, 4i 4; 10, 643). In two other verses(5, 4 19- I0) the interpretation is uncertain, as the text seems to be corrupt.In one passage in the middle of a Varuna hymn Trita is described as onein whom all wisdom is centred, as the nave in the wheel (8,4i6). In anotherpassage Trita is said to have harnessed a celestial steed fashioned from thesun and given by Yama, this steed being in the following stanza said to beidentical with Yama, the Sun, and with Trita by secret operation (i,i63 2<3 ).The half dozen passages of the AV. 1 which mention Trita, add no definiteinformation about him. They suggest only the idea of a remote god, towhom guilt or dream is transferred (i, ii3 I>3 ; 19, 564). The TS. (i, 8, io2)describes Trita as a bestower of long life. This is no doubt a secondarytrait 2 accruing to Trita as the preparer of Soma, the draught of immortality.The Brahmanas speak of Trita as one of three deities, the t other two beingEkata and Dvita, sons of Agni and born from the waters (SB.1, 2, 3*2; TB.3, 2, 810 - "). Sayana on RV. i, 105 quotes a story of the Satyayanins, inwhich the same three brothers are Rsis, Trita being cast into a well by theother two. It is clear that here the three names have a numerical sense.Dvita already occurs in the RV., once along with Trita (8, 47l6) and oncealone in an Agni hymn (5, i8 2) and apparently identified with Agni. Thename of Trita is not mentioned in the list of deities in the Naighantuka.Yaska (Nir. 4, 6) explains the word to mean Very proficient in wisdom(deriving it from ytr\ or as a numeral referring to the three brothers Ekata,Dvita, Trita. In another passage (Nir. 9, 25) he explains Trita as Indrainthree abodes (i. e. heaven, earth, air).
In examining the evidence of the RV. we find that Indra and Trita inthree or four passages perform the same feat, that of slaying a demon. Tritain one is impelled by Indra, while in another Indra is inspired by Trita; andtwice Indra is said to have acted for Trita. Further, Trita is associated withthe Maruts in the thunderstorm. Moreover, he finds Agni, kindles Agniinheaven, and takes up his abode in human dwellings, clearly as a formofAgni. His abode is remote and hidden, and Soma is there. In the ninthbook Trita as the preparer of Soma diverges more from Indra, who is onlya drinker of Soma. Corresponding to Trita in the Avesta we find Thrita,who is a man (as Trita becomes in the Indian Epic). He is once (Yasna9, io) described as the third man who prepared Haoma (= Soma) for the
corporeal world (Athwya = Aptya being the second) and once (Vend. 20, 2)as the first healer who received from Ahura Mazda ten thousand healingplants which grow round, the white Haoma, the tree of immortality. Thritais also called the son of Sayuzhdri in two passages (Yasht 5, 72; 13, 113) inone of which he is said to have dwelt in Apam napat (as a locality on earth)3.This shows that Trita was connected with Soma as early as the Indo-Iranianperiod. The other side of Trita s activity, the slaughter of the three-headedsix-eyed demon or dragon we find in the Avesta transferred to a cognatepersonage, Thraetaona, who slays the fiendish serpent (Azi dahdkd), the three-mouthed, three-headed, six-eyed demon. It is noteworthy that ThraetaonainATMOSPHERIC GODS. 24. APAM NAPAT. 69
his expedition against Dahaka is accompanied by two brothers who seek to slay him on the way4. The word tritd phonetically corresponds to the Greek Tptto;5, the third. That it was felt to have the meaning of the third ,, is shown by the occurrence beside it of Dvita in the RV. and by the invention of Ekata beside these two in the Brahmanas. The collocation of trtni, three, with Trita (RV. 9, 102^; AV. 5, i1 ) points in the same direction. Finally, it is highly probable that in one passage of the RV. (6, 4423) 6 the word trita in the plural means third .
Trita s regular epithet Aptya seems to be derived from dp, water, and hence to be practically equivalent in sense to Apam napat 7. Sayana (on RV. 8, 47 15) explains it as son (putra) of waters . Another epithet of Trita, Taibhuvasa,) which is formed like a patronymic and only occurs once (10, 46 3) may be connected with Soma 8. The above evidence may perhaps justify the conclusion that Trita was a god of lightning, the third or aerial form of fire, originally the middle member of the triad Agni, Vayu or Indra, Surya. By a process of natural selection Indra seems to have ousted this god originally almost identical in character with himself, with the result that Trita occupies but an obscure position even in the RV. If this interpretation be correct, Trita s original connexion with Soma would signify the bringing of Soma from heaven by lightning (as in the Soma-eagle myth: 37). The paucity of the evidence has led to many divergent views 9 . Only some of these need be mentioned here. ROTH (ZDMG. 2, 224) considered Trita a water and wind god. HILLE- BRANDT 10 regards him as a deity of the bright sky. PERRY believes him to be a god of the storm, older than Indra 11. PISCHEL who formerly (PVS. i, 1 86) thought him to be a god of the sea and of the waters has recently (GGA. 1894, p. 428) expressed the opinion that Trita was originally a human healer who was later deified. HARDY thinks Trita is a moon god12.
i See WHITNEY S AV. Index verborum, s. v. Trta. 2 Otherwise PISCHEL, GGA. 1894, p. 427. 3 SP. AP. 193. 4 SP. AP. 271. 5 BRUGMANN, Grundriss 2, 229; according to FICK, Vergleichendes Worterbuch 14, 63. 229, Trita originally meant sea. 6 ORV. 183, n.; cp. POTT, KZ. 4, 441. - - 7 Cp. JOHANSSON, IF. 4, 136. 143. 8 JRAS. 25, 450. 9 Stated up to date in JRAS. 25, 4, 19 23. - 10 Varuna und Mitra 945. JAOS. n, 1425. " HVBP. 358.
MACDONELL, The god Trita; JRAS. 25, 41996. To the authorities here quoted may be added: LRV. 3, 3557; KRV. 33, note 112 d; BRI. II; BDA. 82, n. 3; Sp.AP. 262 71 ; BLOOMFIELD, AJP. 1 1, 341 ; PAOS. 1894, cxix cxxiii; LUDWIG, Rgveda-Forschung 1179; FAY, PAOS. 1894, CLXXIV; AJP. 17, 13; ORV. 143; SEE. 46, 406; I1RL 104; OERTEL, JAOS. 18, 1820.
- Apam napat. – The deity called Apcam napat is celebrated in one whole hymn (2, 35), is invoked in two verses of a hymn to the waters (10, 30^- 4), and is mentioned by name nearly thirty times altogether in the RV. The waters stood around the brilliant Son of waters; the youthful waters go around him the youthful; three divine females desire to give food to him
the divine; he sucks the milk of the first mothers (2, 35 3~5). He, the bull, engendered the embryo in them; he the child, sucks and they kiss him (v.X3); the Son of waters growing strong within the waters, shines forth (v.7). He shines without fuel in the waters (v.4; 10, 3o4). Clothed in lightning the Son of waters has mounted upright the lap of the slanting (waters); carrying him the swift (waters) golden in colour go around him (v.9; cp. Agni in i, 954- s). The Son of waters is golden in form, appearance and colour; coming from a golden womb he sits down and gives food to his worshipper (v.I0). Standing in the highest place he always shines with un- dimmed (splendour); the swift waters carrying ghee as food to their son, fly
70 HI. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
around with their garments (v.I4). The face of the Son of waters, whomthemaidens kindle, whose colour is golden, and whose food is ghee, increasesin secret (v. "). He has a cow which in his own house gives good milk(v. ?). Steeds (vrsanah) swift as thought carry the son of waters (i, i865). The son of waters is connected with rivers (nadya\ v.I ). The son of watershas engendered all beings, who are merely branches of him (v.2- 8). In thelast stanza of the Apam napat hymn, the deity is invoked as Agni and mustbe identified with him. Conversely Agni is in some hymns addressed to him,spoken of as Apam napat (cp. VS. 8, 24). Agni is the Son of waters (3,9T )-He is the Son of waters who sat down on earth as a dear priest (i, I431). But they are also distinguished. Agni, accordant with the Son of waters,confers victory over Vrtra (6, i3 3). The Son of waters unites here with thebody of another as it were (2,35 13). The epithet asuhejnan, swiftly speeding1, applied three times to Apam napat, is in its only other occurrence usedof Agni.
Apam napat is mentioned in various enumerations, especially with Ajaekapcad (2, 31*; 7, 35^), Ahi budhnya (i, i865; 2, 3I6; 7, 35 *), and Savitr(2, 31 6; 6, 5o 13). The epithet is directly applied to Savitr at least once(p- 33); perhaps because Savitr represents another fertilizing form of Agni.
Apam napat, who is golden, is clothed in lightning, dwells in the highestplace, grows in concealment, shines forth, is the offspring of the waters,comes down to earth, and is identified with Agni, appears to represent thelightning form of Agni which is concealed in the cloud. For Agni, besidesbeing directly called Apam napat, is also termed the embryo (garbha) of thewaters (7, 93; i, 7o3 ). As such he has been deposited in human dwellings(3, 53), his abode is in the waters (8, 43^) and the two fire-sticks engenderAgni who is the embryo both of plants and of waters (3, i13). Agni is alsocalled the son of the rock (10, 20? cp. 6, 48$), which can hardly refer toanything but the lightning which issues from the cloud mountain. As contrasted with his celestial and terrestrial forms, the third form of Agni is described as kindled in the waters, the ocean, the udder of heaven, the lap of
the waters (io,45T ~3). *n ^act tne abode of the celestial Agni in the watersis one of the best established points in Vedic mythology2. The term Aptyaapplied to Trita appears to bear a similar interpretation (g 23).
Apam napat is not a creation of Indian mythology, but goes backtothe Indo-Iranian period. In the Avesta Apam napat is a spirit of the waters,who lives in their depths, is surrounded by females and is often invokedwith them, drives with swift steeds, and is said to have seized the brightnessin the depth of the ocean 3 . SPIEGEL * thinks this deity shows indications ofan igneous nature in the Avesta, and DARMESTETER considers him to be the
fire-god as bom from the cloud in lightnings. L. v. SCHROEDER agrees withthis view 6; some scholars, however, dissent from it. OLDENBERG 7 is of opinionthat Apam napat was originally a water genius pure and simple, who becameconfused with the water-born Agni, a totally different being. His groundsare, that one of the two hymns in which he is celebrated (10, 30), is connected in the ritual with ceremonies exclusively concerned with water, whileeven in 2,35 his aqueous nature predominates8. HiLLEBRANDT 9, on the other
hand, followed by HARDY I0, thinks Apam napat is the moon, and MAXMULLER" that he is the sun or lightning.
i WINDISCH, FaR. 144. 2 Cp. especially RV. 3, I (GVS. i, 15770); also5 &5 2; 7, 494; 10, 96. 3 Cp. HVM. i, 3778. 4 Sp.AP. 1923. 5 SEE.42, LXiii; 1 Avesta traduit 2,630, note, 3, 82 (cp. Ormazd et Ahriman 34); but seeHILLEBRANDT, ZDMG. 48, 422. – 6 WZKM. 9, 2278. 7 ORV. 11820,cp.
ATMOSPHERIC GODS. 25. MATARISVAN.
-
_ 8 Cp. v. SCHROEDER, WZKM. 1. c. ; MACDONELL, JRAS. 27, 9556. 9 HVM. I, 36580; ZDMG. 48, 422 f. *o HVBP. 38 f. " Chips, 42, 410; NR. 500. RIALLE, Revue de Ling. 3, 49 ff. ; WINDISCHMANN in SPIEGEL S Zoroastrische Studien 17786; SPIEGEL, Avesta Tr. 3, xix. Liv; GRV. I, 45; BRV. 2, 1719. 36 7; 3, 45; Manuel pour etudier le Sanscrit vedique, s. v. apam napat; LRV. 4, 181; GRUPPE, Die griech. Culte 1,89; BDA. 82, note 2; LRF. 93; MACDONELL, JRAS. 25, 4756; HRI. 106.
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Matarisvan. Matarisvan is not celebrated in any hymn of the RV., and the name is found there only twenty-seven times, occurring twenty- one times in the latest portions of that Veda and otherwise only five times in the third and once in the sixth book. In these six older passages Matarisvan is always either identified with Agni or is the producer of fire.
Though the myth of Matarisvan is based on the distinction between fire and aT personification which produces it, the analysis of the myth shows these Two to be identical. Nothing even in any of the later books of the RV.,
can be said to show clearly that the conception of Matarisvan prevailing in the other Vedas and in the post-Vedic period, had begun to appear in that Veda.
Matarisvan is a name of Agni in three passages (3, 59 . 26 2; i, 96*). This is probably also the case where the name occurs in the vocative at the end of an Agni hymn (9, 88 X 9). In another verse, where an etymological explanation of the name is given, he is spoken of as one of the forms of Agni: As heavenly germ he is called Tanunapat, he becomes Narasamsa when he is born; when as Matarisvan he was fashioned in his mother (ami- mtta matari-. cp. i, i4i 5), he became the swift flight of wind (3, 2911)- It is further said elsewhere: One being the wise call variously: they speak of Agni, Yama, Matarisvan (i, i6446). Once Matarisvan is also a form of Brhaspati, who is several times identified with Agni ( 36): That Brhaspati appeared (sam abhavat] at the rite as Matarisvan (i, i9o2).
Elsewhere Matarisvan is distinguished from Agni. He (Agni) being born" in the highest heavens appeared to Matarisvan (i, I432). Agni first appeared "to" Matarisvan and Vivasvat; the two worlds trembled at the choosing of the priest (i,3i 3). Agni being the highest of the luminaries has supported with his flame the firmament, when Matarisvan kindled the oblation-bearer who was concealed (3,510). This verse follows one in which Agni is directly called Matarisvan. The only explanation of such a discrepancy in contiguous verses of the same hymn, seems to be that the name of a specific personi fication of Agni in the latter verse is used as an epithet of the generic Agni in the former. Matarisvan brought to Bhrgu as a gift the glorious offerer, the banner of the~~sacrificiar]gathering~ the messenger who has two births (i, 60 1 ).. Matarisvan brought the one (Agni) from the sky, the eagle wrested the other (Soma) from the rock (i, 936). Matarisvan brought Agni the adorable priest, the dweller in heaven (3, 2^). Matarisvan (and) the gods fashioned Agni, whom the Bhrgus produced, as the first adorable (priest) for man (10, 46^). Him, the god, Matarisvan has brought from afar for man (i, I28 2 ). Matarisvan, the messenger of Vivasvat, brought hither from afar Agni Vaisvanara, whom the mighty seized in the lap of the waters (6, 84). Matarisvan brought from afar the hidden Agni, produced by friction, from the gods (3,1)5). Matarisvan produced by friction the hidden Agni (i, i4i 3).
i was produced with friction by Matarisvan and was set up in human abodes (i, 7i 4 . I48 1 ). Indra produced cows for Trita from the dragon and delivered the cowstalls to Dadhyanc (and) Matarisvan (10, 482).
There are a few obscure passages in late hymns which hardly shed any further light on the character of Matarisvan. In two of these he seems to
72 HI. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY. be regardedras purifying "and enjoying Soma (9, 6;3X; 10, H41 ); andinanother, he is mentioned in an enumeration of Fathers beside whom Indradrank Soma (Val. 42). Indra is once compared with him as with a skilfulartificer (10, io56), probably in allusion to Matarisvan s skill in producingAgni (cp. 10, 469, where the same verb taks is used). This notion of skillis probably also present in a verse of the wedding hymn (10, 85 4 ?), whereMatarisvan is invoked along with other deities to join the hearts of twolovers (cp. Tvastr, 38). Finally, in a very obscure verse (10, 109*) Matarisvan is spoken of as boundless and wandering (salila, an adjective severaltimes used with vdta in the AV.), attributes which possibly already representthe conception of Matarisvan to be found in later times.
Matarisvan would thus appear to be a personification of a celestial formof Agni, who at the same time is thought of as having like Prometheusbrought down the hidden fire from heaven to earth. Hardly anything butlightning can be his natural basis. This would account for his being themessenger of Vivasvat from heaven to earth (6,84), just as Agni himselfis a messenger of Vivasvat (35) between the two worlds 1. In the AV.Matarisvan is still found as a mystic name of Agni (AV. 10, 8^9- 4). butgenerally in that (AV. 12, i51 &c.) and other Samhitas, the Brahmanas andall the subsequent literature, the name is a designation of wind. The transitionto this conception is to be found in a passage already quoted (3, 29"): Agni, when as Matarisvan he was formed in his mother, became the swiftflight of wind 2, and Agni in the air as a raging serpent is elsewhere compared with the rushing wind (i, 791 ). Such a statement might easily havebeen taken later to interpret Matarisvan as the wind.
The word matarifvan, which is without a cognate in any other Indo European language, has every appearance of being a purely Indian compound(like mdtaribhvari, rjisvan, durgfbhisvati). The Rigvedic poet s explanationof the name as he who is formed in his mother can hardly be dismissedas an etymological conceit, since the word in all likelihood dates from a
contemporary phase of language. It probably means growing in his mother( YSU, to swell, from which we have sisu, child, and other derivatives) 3, Agnibeing also said to grow (Yvrdh) in his mothers (i, i4i 5). There is a changeof accent from the second to the third syllable, probably due to the influenceof numerous words in -van (like prdtaritvaii). By the mother either the
lower aram or the thundercloud might be meant; but the latter is the moreprobable, as Matarisvan comes from heaven. Yaska (Nir. 7, 26), who regardsMatarisvan as a designation of Vayu, analyzes the compound into mdtari(= antarikse) and svan (from svas to breathe or dsu an to breathe quickly),so as to mean the wind that breathes in the air.
1 ORV. 122, n. I thinks the frequently expressed opinion that Matarisvan is nothing but a form of Agni, has no sure foundation, and regards Matarisvansimply as the Prometheus of the RV.; cp. ORV. 108, n. i, and SEE. 46, 123. 2 Cp. BRV. i, 27; BDA. 51; OLDENBERG, SEE. 46, 306. - - 3 Cp. WHITNEY,Sanskrit Roots p. 176; ROTH, Nirukta in 3; WEBER, IS. I, 416; REUTER, KZ.31, 5445-
KHF. 8. 1 4 ; MUIR, JRAS. 20, 4 1 6, note ; OST. 5, 204, note ; SCHWARTZ, KZ. 20, 2 10 ; GW. s. v. ; BRV. i, 52-7; BRL 9; KRV.35; HVBP. no; EGGELING, SEE. 12, 186,note 2; ORV. 1223. S 26. Ahi budhnya. – The serpent of the Deep, Ahi budhnya, whosename is mentioned solely in hymns to the Visvedevas, is spoken of onlytwelve times in the RV. and hardly ever alone. He is associated five timeswith Aja ekapad, three times with Apam napat, three times with the ocean(samudrd), and twice with Savitr. There are only three verses (5, 41l6;
ATMOSPHERIC GODS. 26. Am BUDHNYA. 27. AJA EKAPAD. 73
7, 34l6 I?) in which he is invoked alone. When only one other deity is referred to with him, it is either Apam napat (i, i86 5) or Aja ekapad (10, 644). When Ahi budhnya and Aja ekapad are mentioned together in the same verse, they are always (with the slight exception of 10, 66 IJ) in juxta position. The most characteristic enumerations in which the name is invoked are: Aja ekapad, Ahi budhnya, the ocean, Apam napat, Prsni (7, 35 I3)j Ahi budhnya, Aja ekapad, Trita, Rbhuksan, Savitr, Apam napat (2, 3i6 ); the ocean, the "stream, the space (rajas], the air, Aja ekapad, the thundering flood, Ahi budhnya, and all the gods (10, 66 II). Judged by these associates Ahi budhnya would seem to be an atmospheric deity, and he is enumerated in the Naighantuka (5, 4) among the divinities of the middle or aerial region. But it is only where he is mentioned alone that anything more definite than this can be gathered. In the verse which gives most information about him, the poet exclaims: I praise with songs the serpent born in water (abjdm\ sitting in the bottom (budhne) of the streams in the spaces (7, 34 l6; cp. 10, 935). This indicates that he dwells in the atmospheric ocean, and Yaska explains budhna as air (Nir. 10, 44). In the verse immediately following he is besought not to give his worshippers over to injury, and these identical words are addressed to him in another passage also (5, 4i l6). This suggests that there is something hurtful in his nature. Ahi is otherwise a term com monly applied to Vrtra ( 68), and Vrtra enclosing the waters is described as overflowed by the waters or lying in them (ibid.) or at the bottom (budhna) of the air (i, 526). Agni in the space of air is called a raging ahi (i, 791) and is also said to have been produced in the depth (budhne} of the great space (4, ii 1). Thus it may be surmised that Ahi budhnya was originally not different from Ahi Vrtra, though he is invoked as a divine being, who resembles Apam napat, his baleful aspect only being hinted at. In later Vedic texts Ahi budhnya is allegorically connected with Agni Garhapatya (VS. 5, 33; AB. 3, 36; TB. i, i, io3). In post-Vedic literature Ahi budhnya is the name of a Rudra as well as an epithet of Siva.
. WEBER, IS. i, 96; ROTH, PW. s. v. budhnya; OST. 5, 336; BRV. 2, 2056. 401; 3, 245; HVBP. 41 (as a name of the moon).
- Aja ekapad. This being is closely connected with Ahi budhnya, his name occurring five times in juxtaposition with that of the latter and only once unaccompanied by it (10, 65 13). The deities invoked in the latter passage, the thundering Paviravl ( daughter of lightning : PW.), Ekapad aja, the supporter of the sky, the stream, the oceanic waters, all the gods, Sara svatf, are, however, almost identical with those enumerated in the following hymn: the ocean, the stream, the aerial space, Aja ekapad, the thundering flood, Ahi budhnya, and all the gods (10, 66 ll). These two passages suggest that Aja ekapad is an aerial deity. He is, however, enumerated in the Naighantuka (5, 6) among the deities of the celestial region. In the AV. Aja ekapada is said to have made firm the two worlds (AV. 13, i 6). The TB. (3, i,28) speaks of Aja ekapad as having risen in the east The commen tator on his passage defines Aja ekapad as a kind of Agni, and Durga on Nirukta 1 2, 2 9 interprets him as the sun. Yaska himself does not express an opinion as to what Aja ekapad represents, merely explaining Aja as ajana, driving, and ekapad as he who has one foot or he who protects or drinks with one foot . Though hardly any longer an independent deity, Aja ekapad as well as Ahi budhnya receives a libation in the domestic ritual (Parask. 2, i52j. In the Epic Ajaikapad is both the name of one of the eleven Rudras and an epithet of Siva. RoTH 1, with whom GRASSMANN agrees2, regards Aja ekapad as a genius
74 IH. RELIGION, WELTL. WIRSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
of the storm, translating the name as the one-footed Driver or Stormer. BLOOMFiELD 3 and VICTOR HENRY 4 think he represents a solar deity. HARDY5 believes that the goat who goes alone is the moon. BERGAiGNE 6, interpretingthe name as the unborn (a-ja) who has only one foot , thinks this means hewho inhabits the one isolated mysterious world. If another conjecture maybe added, the name, meaning the one-footed goat 7, was originally a figurativedesignation of lightning, the goat alluding to its agile swiftness in the cloud mountains, and the one foot to the single streak which strikes^ the earth.
i PW. s. v. aja\ Nirukta, Erl. 1656 (cp. OST. 5, 336). 2 GW. s. v. I a/a cp. FAY, AJP. 1 7, 245. 3 AJP. 12, 443 ; SEE. 42, 664. 4 Les hymnes Rohita, Paris1891, p. 24. 5 HVBP. 412. 6 BRV. 3, 23. 7 ORV. 712; cp. BRI. 24.WEBER, IS. i, 96. $ 28. Rudra. – This god occupies a subordinate position in the RV.,
being celebrated in only three entire hymns, in part of another, and in oneconjointly with Soma, while his name occurs about 75 times. His physical features in the RV. are the following. He has a hand(2, 33 7 &c.), arms (2,33^; VS. 16, i), and firm limbs (2, 33"). He has beautiful lips(2, 33 s) and (like Pusan) wears braided hair (i, H41 - 5). His colour is brown(babhru\ 2, 335 &c.). His shape is dazzling (i, H45), and he is multiform( 2 i 33 9) HG shines like the brilliant sun, like gold (i, 43 s). He is arrayedwith golden ornaments (2, 33^) and wears a glorious multiform necklace1 (niska: 2, 33in). He sits on a car-seat (2, 33 4). The later Samhitas (especially VS. 1 6) add a number of other traits. He is thousand-eyed (AV. u,22- ?, VS. 1 6, 7). He has a belly, a mouth, a tongue, and teeth (AV. n, 26). His belly is black and his back red (AV. 15, i7 8). He is blue-necked (VS.1 6, 7) and blue-tufted (AV. 2, 276). He is copper-coloured and red (VS.1 6, 7). He is clothed in a skin (VS. 3, 61; 16, 51) and dwells in mountains(VS. 1 6, 2-4).
The RV. often mentions Rudra s weapons of offence. He is once saidto hold the thunderbolt in his arm (2, 33 3 ). His lightning shaft (didyut) discharged from the sky traverses the earth (7, 46 3). He is usually said to bearmed with a bow and arrows (2, 3310-"; 5, 42"; 10, 125*), which arestrong and swift (7, 46x). He is invoked with Krsanu ( 48) and the archers(10, 648); and seems to be intended when Indra is compared with the archeron the car-seat (6, 20, cp. 2, 33IT). In the AV. he is also called an archer(i, 28 ; 6, 93x; 15, 51"" 7 ). In that and other later Vedic texts his bow,arrow, weapon, bolt, or club are frequently referred to (AV. i, 285 &c.; SB.9, i, i 6). One of the points most frequently mentioned about Rudra is his relationship to the Maruts. He is their father (i, ii46- 9; 2 , 33 ); or they aremore frequently spoken of as his sons and are also several times calledRudras or Rudriyas2. He is said to have generated them from the shiningudder of Prsni (2, 342)3. But Rudra is never associated, as Indra is, withthe warlike exploits of the Maruts, for he does r not engage in conflict withthe demons. Tryambaka, a common epithet of Siva in, post-Vedic literature,is already applied to Rudra in Vedic texts (VS. 3, 58; SB. 2, 6, 29) and seemsto refer to him once even in the RV. (7, 5912). The meaning appears to behe who has three mothers (cp. 3, 56 5 ) in allusion to the threefold divisionof the universe (cp. GRV. i, 555). Ambika, a post-Vedic name of Sivas wife, is mentioned for the first time in VS. 3, 5, appearing here, however,not as Rudra s wife, but as his sister. Uma and Parvati, regular names ofSiva s wife, seem first to occur in the TA. and the Kena Upanisad. In a passage of the RV. (2, i 6) Rudra is one of several deities identified
ATMOSPHERIC GODS. 28. RUDRA. 75
with Agni. He is also identified with Agni in the AV. (7, By1 ), in the TS. (5, 4, 31; 5> 5> 74), and the SB. (6, i, 3, cp. 9, i, i1 ). The word >Wr0 often occurs as an adjective, in several cases as an attribute of Agni 4 (though rather oftener as an attribute of the Asvins ( 21). Sarva and Bhava are, among several others, two new names assigned to Rudra in VS. (16, 18. 28). These two also occur in the AV. where their destructive arrows and lightnings are referred to (2, 276; 6, 93 ; 10, i2 ^; n, 21 - I2 ); but they seem here to have been regarded as deities distinct from one another and from Rudra. Bhava and Sarva are in a Sutra passage^ spoken of as sons of Rudra and are compared with wolves eager for prey fSSS. 4, 20 1). In VS. 39,8 Agni, Asani, Pasupati, Bhava, Sarva, Isana, Mahadeva, Ugradeva, and others are enumerated as gods or forms of one god. Rudra, Sarva, Pasupati, Ugra, Asani, Bhava, Mahan devah are names given to represent eight different forms of Agni (SB. 6, i, 37; cp. Sarikh. Br. 6, i &c.), and Sarva, Bhava, Pasupati, and Rudra are said to be all names of Agni (SB.,i, 7, 38). Asani, one of the above names assigned to Agni Kumara in the SB. (6, i, 310), is there explained to mean lightning (vidyuf) but in the Sankh. Br. it is interpreted as Indra. The epithet pasupati, lord of beasts , which Rudra often receives in the VS., AV., and later, is doubtless assigned to him because unhoused cattle are peculiarly exposed to his attacks and are therefore especially consigned to his care. Rudra is described in the RV. as fierce (2, 339-" 10, 12 6s) and de structive like a terrible beast (2, 33"). He is the ruddy 5 (arusd) boar of heaven (i, ii45). He is a bull (2, 337-8 - x s). He is exalted (7, io4 ), strong d,43 T. H41 ), strongest of the strong (2,333), unassailable (7,46*), unsurpassed in might (2, 3310), rapid (10, 925), and swift (i, ii44). He is young (2, 331 ; 5, 6o5) and unaging (6, 4910). He is called asura (5, 42JI) or the great asura of heaven 6 (2, i 6). He is self-glorious (i, i29 3; 10, 92^), rules heroes (i, Ti4 x< 2 &c.), and is a lord (Jsdna) of this vast world (2, 339) and father of the world (6, 4910). He is an ordainer (6, 461 ), and by his rule and uni versal dominion he is aware of the doings of men and gods (7, 462 ). He makes the streams flow over the earth and, roaring, moistens everything (10, 92 5). He is intelligent (i, 43 ), wise (i, ii44 ), and beneficent (2, 337; 6, 4910). He is several times called bountiful , midhvas (i, 114^), and in the later Vedas the comparative and superlative of this word have only been found in con nexion with Rudra 7. He is easily invoked (2, 336) and is auspicious, siva (10, 92 9); an epithet which is not even in the AV. as yet peculiar to any
particular deity.
Malevolence is frequently attributed to Rudra in the RV.; for the hymns addressed to him chiefly express fear of his terrible shafts and deprecation of his wrath. He is implored not to slay or injure, in his anger, his wor shippers, their parents, children, men, cattle, or horses (i, ii47- 8), but to spare their horses (2, 33*), to avert his great malevolence and his bolt from his worshippers, and to prostrate others with them (2, 33"- I4). He is besought to avert his bolt when he is incensed and not to injure his adorers, their
children, and their cows (6, 287. 462 ~4), and to keep from them his cow slaying, man-slaying missile (2, 33 )- His ill-will and anger are deprecated ( 2 334 ~ 6 I5)? and he is besought to be merciful to the walking food (io; I691). His worshippers pray that they may be unharmed and obtain his favour (2, 331 - 6). He once even receives the epithet man-slaying (4, 36), and in a Sutra passage it is said that this god seeks to slay men (AG. 4, 8 32). Rudra s malevolence is still more prominent in the later Vedic texts. His wrath is frequently deprecated (VS. 3,61 &c.; AV. i, 285 &C.). He is invoked not to assail his worshippers with celestial fire and to cause the lightning to
76 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
descend elsewhere (AV. n, 225; 10, i 23). He is even said to assail withfever, cough, and poison8 (AV. n, 222 - 26; 6, 90 op. 93). Rudra s wide mouthed, howling dogs, who swallow their prey unchewed, are also spokenof (AV. 10, i3, cp. VS. 16, 28). Even the gods were afraid , of the strungbow and the arrows of Rudra, lest he should destroy them (SB. 9, i, i1 - 6).
Under the name of Mahadeva he is said to slay cattle (TMB. 6, 9 ?). Inanother Brahmana passage he is said to have been formed of a compoundof all the most terrible substances (AB. 3, 331 ). It is probably owing to hisformidable characteristics that in the Brahmanas and Sutras Rudra is regardedas isolated from the other gods. When the gods attained heaven, Rudraremained behind (SB. i, 7, 31 ). In the Vedic ritual after offerings to othergods, a remainder is not uncommonly assigned to Rudra (Gobh. GS. i, 828; Ap. Dh. S. 2, 423). His hosts, which attack man and beast with disease anddeath, receive the bloody entrails of the victim (SSS. 4, i98), just as bloodis poured out to demons as their peculiar share of the sacrifice 9 (AB. 2, 71 ). The abode of Rudra in these later texts is commonly regarded as in thenorth 10, while that of the other gods is in the east. It is perhaps due tohis formidable nature that in the RV. Rudra only appears once associatedwith another deity (Soma: S 44) as a dual divinity in one short hymnoffour stanzas.
In the VS., besides many other epithets too numerous to repeat, severaldisgraceful attributes of Rudra are mentioned. Thus he is called a robber,cheat, deceiver, lord of pilferers and robbers (16, 20 i). In fact, hischaracter as shown by the various epithets occurring here, approximates tothe fierce, terrific, impure, and repulsive nature of the post-Vedic Siva. Rudra is, however, not purely maleficent like a demon. He is alsosupplicated in the RV. to avert the anger or the evil that comes from thegods (i, ii44; 2, 337). He is besought not only to preserve from calamity(5, 51 13), but to bestow blessings (i, H41 - 2; 2, 336), and produce welfare forman and beast (i, 436). His healing powers are mentioned with especialfrequency. He grants remedies (2,33"), he commands every remedy (5,42"), and has a thousand remedies (7, 463). He carries in his hand choice remedies (i, ii45). and his hand is restorative and healing (2, 337). He raisesup heroes by his remedies, for he is the greatest physician of physicians(2, 33 4), and by his auspicious remedies his worshipper hopes to live a hundred\vinters (2, 332 J. He is besought to remove sickness from his worshippersoffspring (7, 462 ) and to be favourable to man and beast, that all in thevillage may be well-fed and free from disease (i, H41). In this connexionRudra has two epithets which are peculiar to him, jaldsa^ (perhaps) healingand jaldsa-bhesaja, possessing healing remedies (i, 43 4; AV. 2, 276). Thesemedicines against sickness are probably rains 11 (cp. 5, 53 M ; 10, 599). Thatthis attribute was essential to his nature, appears from a verse of a hymninwhich various deities are characterized without being named (8, 29 5): Onebright, fierce, possessing healing remedies, holds a sharp weapon in his hand. Rudra s lightning and his remedies are also mentioned together in anotherverse (7, 46 3). The healing Rudra with the Rudras is invoked to be favourable (7. 356). The Maruts are also in another verse associated with Rudraas possessing pure and beneficent remedies (2, 33 13). The healing power ofRudra is sometimes referred to in the other Samhitas (VS. 3, 59; 16, 5. 49;AV. 2, 276); but much less frequently than his destructive activity. In theSutras, sacrifices to him are prescribed for removing or preventing disease incattle (AG. 4, 84; Kaus. S. 51, 7 &c.).
The evidence of the RV. does not distinctly show with what physical
ATMOSPHERIC GODS. 28. RUDRA. 29. THE MARUTS. 77
basis Rudra is connected. He is generally regarded as a storm-god. But his missile is maleficent, unlike that of Indra, which is directed only against the enemies of his worshippers. Rudra appears therefore to have originally represented not the storm pure and simple, but rather its baleful side in the destructive agency of lightningI2. This would account for his deadly shafts and for his being the father or chief of the Maruts or Storm-gods, who are armed with lightning and who are said to have been born from the laughter of lightning (i, 2312). His beneficent and healing powers would be based partly on the fertilizing and purifying action of the thunderstorm and partly on the indirect action of sparing those whom he might slay. Thus the de precations of his wrath gave rise to the euphemistic epithet auspicious (siva), which became the regular name of Rudra s historical successor in post-Vedic mythology. This explanation would also account for Rudra s close connexion with Agni in the RV.
WEBER IJ expresses the view that this deity in the earliest period speci ally designated the howling of the Storm (the plural therefore meaning the Maruts), but that as the roaring of fire is analogous, Storm and ,Fire com bined to form a god of rage and destruction, the epithets of the Satarudriya
being derived partly from Rudra = Storm and partly from Agni = Fire. H. H. WILSON thought that Rudra was evidently a form of either Agni or Indra 14 . L. v. SCHROEDER IS regards Rudra as originally the chief of the souls of the dead conceived as storming along in the wind (cp. p. 81).
OLDENBERG is of opinion that Rudra probably represented in his origin a god of mountain and forest, whence the shafts of disease attack mankind 10. The etymology of the word rudra is somewhat uncertain as regards the meaning. It is generally derived from the root rud, to cry, and interpreted as the Howler 17. This is the Indian derivation 18. By GRASSMANN^ it is connected with a root rud having the conjectural meaning of to shine or, according to PISCHEL, to be ruddy20. Rudra would thus mean the bright or the red one 21.
i Cp. PISCHEL, ZDMG.40, 1201. 2 i, 642- 12. 85"; 5, 4215; 6, 504. 66"; 8, 2017 (cp. 5, 59 8; 7, 561. 585). 3 Vayu is once said to have generated the Maruts from the sky (i, 1344) and Vata is approximated to Rudra in 10, 1691. 4 i, 271 (cp. Nir. 10, 8; Erl. 136); 3, 25; 4, 3 i; 5, 33; 8, 6i3. 5 Cp. BLOOM FIELD, AJP. 12, 429; PVS. I, 57; ORV. 359, note 4. 6 Cp. BDA. 46. 54; GELDNER, FaW. 20. 7 BLOOMFIELD, AJP. 12, 4289. - - 8 Cp. BLOOMFIELD S explanation (AJP. 7, 46972) of AV. I, 12 as a prayer to lightning conceived as the cause of fever, headache, and coughs (otherwise WEBER, IS. 4, 405). 9 HRI. 250, note 2; cp. ORV. 488. 3023- 334 5- 458- I0 Cp. ORV. 335, note 3. - ii The remedy is explained by BRV. 3, 32 as Soma, the draught of immortality, and by BLOOMFIELD (AJP. 12, 4259) followed by HVBP. 834, and HOPKINS, PAOS. Dec. 1894, CL ff., as rain (Jalasa = the mutra of Rudra). * 2 MACDONELL, JRAS. 27, 957; HOPKINS, PAOS. Dec. 1894, p. CLI; HRI. 112; cp. KRV. 38, note 133. 13 IS. 2, 1922. – J 4 Translation of the RV., introductions to vol. i, 267. 378; cp. vol. 2, 9 io. 15 WZKM. 9, 248. 16 ORV. 21624 (cp. HOPKINS, PAOS. 1. c.). 17 KUHN, Herabkunft 177; KZ. 2, 278; 3, 335; WEBER, IS. 2, 1922; MM., OGR. 216; otherwise v. BRADKE, ZDMG. 40, 359 61.
18 TS. I, 5, ii; SB. 6, I, 310; YN. 10, 5; Sayana on RV. i, 1141. 19 GW. - 20 pvS. i, 57; ZDMG. 40, 120. 21 Cp. BRI. 14; HVBP. 83.
ROTH, ZDMG. 2, 222; WHITNEY, JAOS. 3, 3189; Oriental and Linguistic Studies 1873, p. 34 5; OST. 4, 299363. 4203; LRV. 3,320 2; BRV. 3, 31 8. 1524; v. SCHROEDER, WZKM. 9, 2338. 24852; HRI. 99. 578.
- The Maruts. – These are prominent deities in the RV., thirty- three hymns being dedicated to them alone, seven at least to them conjointly with Indra, and one each to them with Agni and Pusan. They form a troop, gana (a word generally used in connexion with them) or sardhas (i,37 I-5 &c.),
78 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
of deities mentioned only in the plural. Their number is thrice sixty (8, 858 ) or thrice seven (i, 133; AV. 13, iT 3). Their birth is often referred to (5, 575 &c.). They are the sons of Rudra (p. 74), being also often called Rudras(i, 39 4- 7 &c.) and sometimes Rudriyas (i, 387; 2, 3410 &c.), and of Prsni(2, 342; 5, 52l6. 6o5; 6, 66 3), often also receiving the epithet prsnimatarah,having Prsni for their mother (i, 23 &c.; AV. 5, 2I 11). The cow Prsni($> S26); or simply a cow is their mother (8, 83x ) and they bear the epithetgomatarafa having a cow for their mother (i, 85^, cp. 8, 2o8). This cowpresumably represents the mottled storm-cloud (43. 6iB.); and the flamingcows having distended udders with whom they come (2, 345), can hardlyrefer to anything but the clouds charged with rain and lightning. When bornfrom Prsni the Maruts are compared with fires (6, 66 1-3). They are alsosaid to have been born from the laughter of lightning (i, 2312, cp. 38*).Agni is said to have fashioned or begotten them (6, 3s; i, 71*). Vayu is once said to have engendered them in the wombs of heaven (i, I344), andonce they are called the sons of heaven (10, 772), being also referred to asthe heroes (vtrdh) of heaven (i, 64! 122*; 5, 54I0j or as the males (niaryah)of heaven (3, 54 3; 5, 596). Once they are said. to have the ocean for theirmother, sindhumdtarah (10, 78 cp. p. 51). Elsewhere they are said to beself-born (i, i68 2; 5, 8;z).
They are brothers among whom none is eldest or youngest (5, 596. 60$),for they are equal in age (i, I651 ). They have grown together (5, 565;
7> S^1 )an<^ are f one mind (8, 2O 1 - 2I). They have the same birthplace(S) S3 3 ) and the same abode (i, 165*; 7, 56 ). They are spoken of as havinggrown on earth, in air, and heaven (5, 55 7 ) or as dwelling in the threeheavens (5, 6o6J. They are also once described as dwelling in the mountains(8, 832).
They are associated with the goddess Indram, who is their friend (10,86g), and with Sarasvati (7, 962, cp. 39 5). Their connexion is, however,closest with the goddess RodasI, who is described as standing with them ontheir car bringing enjoyments (5, 568) or simply as standing beside them (6,666). In all the five passages in which her name occurs, she is mentionedwith them (cp. i, i67 4 - 5). She therefore appears to have been regarded astheir bride (like Surya as the bride of the Asvins). It is probably to thisconnexion that they owe the epithet bhadrajanayah, having a beautiful wife(5, 6 14) and their comparison with bridegrooms (5, 6o4) or youthful wooers(10, 786). The brilliance of the Maruts is constantly referred to. They are golden,of sun-like brightness, like blazing fires, of ruddy aspect (6, 66 2; 7, 59"; 8, 77 ). They shine like tongues of fire (10, 78^). They have the form orthe brilliance of Agni (10, 84*; 3, 26 5), with whom they are compared inbrightness (10, 7S2 ). They are like fires (2, 34*) or kindled fires (6, 662) and are expressly called fires (3, 26 4 j. They have the brilliance of serpents(ahibhanavah: i, I721 ). They shine in the mountains (8, 71 ). They areself-luminous (i,372 c.), an epithet almost exclusively applied to them. Theyare frequently spoken of in a more general way as shining and brilliant
(i, 165" &c.).
They are particularly often associated with lightning, vidyut (5, 542 3 11; i, 645). The lightnings smile down on earth when the Maruts shed theirghee (i, i688, cp. 5, 52). The lightning lows like a cow, as a motherfollowing her calf, when they shed their rain (1,388). They are like lightningsshining with rain (7, 56 13). Lightning is so characteristic of them that allthe five compounds of vidyut in the RV. are connected with the Maruts and,ATMOSPHERIC GODS. 29. THE MARUTS. 79
excepting a single instance, with them only. They hold lightnings in their hands (8, 723; 5, 54"), they delight in lightnings and cast a stone (5, 543). Their lances (rsti) are often mentioned, and that these represent the lightning is shown by their epithet rstividyut, lightning-speared (i, i68S; 5, 52 13). Less frequently they are spoken of as having axes (i, 372. 88 3; 5, 33*. 572; 8, 20*), which are golden (S,7 32). Once (ibid.) they are said to bear the bolt (vajrd), India s peculiar weapon, in their hands. Sometimes they are said to be armed with bows and arrows (5, 53 4. 572; 8, 2o4- I2), once being termed archers shooting an arrow; but as this trait is rare in the numerous hymns addressed to them, it may be borrowed from their father Rudra. The Maruts are decorated with garlands and other ornaments (5, 53 4). They wear golden mantles (5, 556). Like rich wooers they deck their bodies with golden orna ments (5, 6o4). Armlets or anklets (khddi) are an ornament peculiar to them. With these they shine like the sky with stars and glitter like showers from the clouds (2, 342). One verse describes their appearance more fully than usual. They have spears on their shoulders, anklets on their feet, golden ornaments on their breasts, fiery lightnings in their hands, golden helmets upon their heads (5, 5411)- The Maruts ride on cars which gleam with lightning (i, 88 1 ; 3, 5413), which are golden (5, 571 ), which have golden wheels or fellies (1,64". 88 5 ), in which are weapons (5, 576), and which have buckets standing in them (i, 87*). The coursers which draw their cars are ruddy or tawny (i, 8S 2; 5 57 4)> golden-footed (8, 72 ?), and swift as thought (i, 85*). These coursers are spotted, as appears from the epithet prsadasva, having spotted steeds , which is several times and exclusively connected with the Maruts. More fre quently the animals which draw their car are spoken of in the feminine as prsaflh (i, 396 &c.). These are in two passages (5, 556. 586), mentioned with the masculine asvah. The Maruts are also described as having yoked the winds as steeds to their pole (5, 58?). The Maruts are great as the sky (5, 5 7 4), they surpass heaven and earth (10, 773), are immeasurable in greatness (5, 582), and no others can reach the limit of their might (i, i67 9). The Maruts are young (i, 642. i652; 5, 42 l5) and imaging (i, 643). They are divine (asura), vigorous, impetuous, without soil (i, 64–I2) and dustless (6, 66 2 ). They are fierce (i, 19*), irascible (7, 568), terrible (5, 562 - 3; 7, 58 ), of terrible aspect (5, 56*), of fearful form (i, i9 5 . 642), and are terrible like wild beasts (2, 34*; cp. p. 75). They are playful like children or calves (i, i66 2; 7, 56l6; 10, 786). They are like black-backed swans (7, 59 7 ). They are iron-tusked boars (i, 885 ); they are like lions (i, 648). The noise which they make is often referred to (i, 169? &c.) and is expressly called thunder (i, 23"); but it is also the roaring of the winds (7, 56 j). At their coming heaven as it were roars with fear (8, 720). They are often described as causing the mountains to quake as well as making the earth or the two worlds tremble r. With the fellies of their cars they rend the mountains or the rock (i, 64"; 5, 52 9). It is when they come with the winds that they cause the mountains to quake (8, 74). They rend trees and like wild elephants devour the forests (i, 39 5. 64?). The forests bow down before them through fear (5, 6o 2). Resistless as mountains they cast down terrestrial and celestial creatures (i, 643). All creatures are afraid of them (i, 858). They speed like boisterous winds (10,78^) and whirl up dust (i, 64"). They make the winds or the noise of the winds (7, 5 63). They come with the winds (8, 73-* X 7) and take them as their steeds (5, 587).
One of the main functions of the Maruts is to shed rain. They are
8o III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
clothed with rain (5, 57 4 ). They rise from the ocean and shed rain (1,389).Milking the unfailing well, they blow through the two worlds with rain (i, 646; 8, 716). Rain follows them (5, 5310). They bring water and impel rain(5> S^ 3 )- They obscure their brilliance with rain (5, 591 ). They cover theeye of the sun with rain (5, 59 5). They create darkness with the cloud whenthey shed rain (1,389). They scatter mist when they speed with winds (8,7*).They cause the heavenly pail (5, 536. 598) and the streams of the mountainsto pour (5, 59 7). When they hurry on, the waters flow (5, 586). A terrestrialriver receives its name, Marudvrddha, swelled by the Maruts (10,7 5s), fromthis action. The sweat of the sons of Rudra became rain (5, 587). Therain shed by the Maruts is also figuratively referred to as milk (i, i663),ghee (i, 85 3; 10, 784) ; milk and ghee (i, 64b); or they are said to pour outthe spring (i, 85") or to wet the earth with honey (5, 548)2. They raisewaters from sea to sky and discharge them from the sky upon the earth(AV. 4, 27 4). The waters which they shed are often clearly connected withthe thunderstorm. Desiring to give water, whirling hail, violent, they rushon with thunder (5, 543). They cause winds and lightnings with their might,milk heavenly gifts from the udder, and fill the earth with milk (i, 64s). The spring which they milk, thunders (i, 646). The sky, the ruddy bull,bellows when they shed the waters (5, 586). They cause the stallion to makewater (i, 646). They bestow the rain of heaven and shed abundantly thestreams of the stallion (5, 836). They assume a golden colour when theymake water with the steed (2, 3413). The streams resound with the fellies of the Maruts, when they raise the voice of the cloud (i, i688). The waterswhich Indra sheds are called marutvatih, attended by the Maruts (i, 8o4). In connexion with their character as shedders of rain, the Maruts receive theepithets purndrapsdh (5, 57s) or drapsinah (i,642 ) abounding in drops andthe frequent suddnavah, dripping well . They also avert heat (5, 541 )- Butthey likewise dispel darkness (7, 5620) ; produce light (i, 86 10), and preparea path for the sun (8, 78). They are also said to have measured out thean" (5? 552 ); stretched out the terrestrial regions as well as the bright realmsof heaven, and held apart the two worlds (8, 83q< IX).
Doubtless in allusion to the sound of the wind, the Maruts are severaltimes called singers (5, 521. 6o8; 7, 35^). They are the singers of heaven(S> 575)- They sing a song (i, i9 4. i66 7J. While singing they made the sunto shine (8, 29) and while blowing their pipe they cleft the mountain(i, 85 ). For Indra when he slew the dragon, they sang a song and pressedSoma (5, 292. 3o6). In singing a song they created Indra-might (i, 852 ). Though their song must primarily have represented the sound of the winds(cp. 4, 22 4 ), it is also conceived as a hymn of praise (3, i44). Thus theycome to be addressed as priests when in the company of Indra (5,29^ andare compared with priests (10, 781 ). They were the first to perform thesacrifice as Dasagvas (2, 362 ), and they purified Agni in the house of thepious, while the Bhrgus kindled him (10, 12 25). Like the other gods theyare several times also spoken of as drinkers of Soma (2,36*; 8, 839I2 &c.).
Being identified with the phenomena of the thunderstorm, the Maruts arenaturally intimate associates of Indra, appearing as his friends and allies ininnumerable passages. They increase his strength and prowess (3, 35 9; 6,17"), with their prayers, hymns, and songs3 (i, 165" &c.). "They generally assistIndra in the Vrtra fight (8; 6$2 - 3; 10, ii3 3). They help Trita as well asIndra in slaying Vrtra (8, 724). They are besought to sing a Vrtra-slayinghymn, (8, 781" 3). They helped Indra in the conflict with the dragon andwith Sambara (3, 47 3 - 4 ). With them Indra gains the light (8, 65 4), found
ATMOSPHERIC GODS. 30. VAYU-VATA. Si
the cows (i, 65) and supported the sky (7, 475). In fact Indra accomplishes .all his celestial exploits in their company (i, 100. 101. 165; 10, 65). Some times the Maruts appear more independent in these exploits. Thus they strike Vrtra,, assisted by Indra (i, 23) and are even spoken of alone as having
rent Vrtra joint from joint (8, 723) or as having disclosed the cows (2, 34*)- They (like the gods in general) have Indra as their chief (i, 238 &c.) and are accompanied by Indra (10, I28 2 ). They are like sons to Indra (i, ioo5) and are called his brothers (i, 170 -). The Maruts are, however two or three times said to have left Indra in the lurch. They involved him alone in the fight with the dragon (i, i656) and they abandoned him (8, 731). One verse even gives evidence of hostility between Indra and the Maruts, when the latter say to him: Why dost thou seek to kill us, Indra? Do not kill us in the fray (i, i7o2 cp. i7i 6)4. A Brahmana passage (TB. 2, 7, n 1 ) also refers to a conflict between the Maruts and Indra.
When not associated with Indra, the Maruts occasionally exhibit male volent traits. They then to some extent participate in the maleficent nature of their father Rudra. They are implored to ward off the lightning from their worshippers nor to let their ill-will reach them (7,s6 9), and are besought to avert their arrow and the stone which they hurl (i, i72 2 ), their lightning (7, 57 4 ), and their cow- and man-slaying bolt (7, 561 ?). Evil can come from them (i, 398 j, their anger is deprecated (i, 171 ; 7, 58s), and they are said to have the wrath of the serpent (i, 648 - 9). But like their father Rudra, the Maruts are supplicated to bring healing remedies, which abide in the Sindhu, the Asiknl, the seas, and mountains (8, 2o^~6), and once they are associated with Rudra in the possession of pure, salutary, and beneficent remedies ( 2 33 13)- The remedies appear to be the waters, for the Maruts bestow medicine by raining (5, 53 H). Like Agni, they are several times also said to be pure or purifying, pavaka (7, 5612 c.). From the constant association of the Maruts with lightning, thunder, wind, and rain, as well as from other traits mentioned above, it seems clear that they are Storm-gods in the RV. According to the native interpreters the Maruts represent the winds, and the post-Vedic meaning of the word is simply wind . But in the RV. they hardly represent the winds pure and simple, as some of their attributes are borrowed from cloud and lightning as well. A. KUHN and BENFEY S held the Maruts to be personifications of the souls of the dead (cp. p. 77), and with this view MEYER 6 and v. ScHROEDER 7 sub stantially agree. This origin is historically possible, but the RV. furnishes no evidence in support of it. The etymology8 being uncertain can throw no additional light on the beginnings of the conception. The root appears to be mart but whether in the sense of to die , to crush , or to shine , it is hard to decide. The latter meaning, however, seems to accord best with the description given of the Maruts in the RV.
i PVS. 2, 73. 2 On the various names for rain in the RV. see BOHNEN BERGER, op. cit. 43-4. 3 BRV. 2, 391. 4 PVS. i, 59. 5 OO. on RV. 1,64. 6 Indogermanische Mythen I, 218. 7 WZKM. 9, 248 9. 8 Niruktair, 13; GRASSMANN, KZ. 16, 1614; BDA. 112 3; ZDMG. 40, 34960; KRV. note 136; MM., Vedic Hymns, SEE. 32, xxiv XXV; HRI. 97.
ROTH, ZDMG. 2, 222; WHITNEY, JAOS. 3, 319; OST. 5, 14754; GRV. I, 44; BRV. 2, 369402; BRI. 14; KRV. 39; MMPhR. 31720; HVBP. 835;
v. BRADKE, FaR. 11725; ORV. 2245. 283> HRI- 96 ~9-
- Vayu-Vata. – Each of the two names of wind Vayu and Vata is used to express both the physical phenomenon and its divine personi fication. But Vayu is chiefly the god and Vata the element. Vayu is cele brated alone in one whole hymn besides parts of others, and in about half Indo-arische Philologie. III. 1 A. 6
82 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
a dozen others conjointly with Indra. Vata is invoked only in two shorthymns (168 and 186) at the end of the tenth book of the RV. The namesof both sometimes occur in the same verse (6, 5o12; 10, 92^). The differencebetween the two is illustrated by the fact that Vayu alone is as a god associatedwith Indra, the two deities being then often invoked as Indravayu. Thiscouple was regarded as so closely connected by the ancient native interpreters, that either of them might represent the deities of the atmospheric
region in the Vedic triad (Nir. 7, 5). Vata on the other hand, being lessfully personified, is only associated with Parjanya ( 31), whose connexionwith the thunderstorm is much more vivid than that of Indra. Different setsof epithets are applied to the two wind-gods, those belonging to Vata beingchiefly expressive of the physical attributes of swiftness and violence.
Few references are made to Vayu s origin. The two worlds are said to- have generated him for wealth (7, 90^). He is once spoken of as the son in-law of Tvastr (8, 26 2I ~2 ), though his wife s name is not mentioned (cp.
38). In the Purusa hymn he is said to have sprung from the breath ofthe world-giant (10, 90^). Vayu is rarely connected with the Maruts. Heis, however, once said to have generated them from the wombs of heaven(i, I344) and to be accompanied by them (i, i42 12) as well as by Pusanand the Visvedevas. His personal attributes are rather indefinite. Heis beautiful (i, 21 ) and with Indra is spoken of as touching the sky, swift asthought, and thousand-eyed (i, 232> 3). He is once said to have roaringvelocity (10, ioo 2 ). Vayu has a shining car drawn by a team or by a pairof red (rohita) or ruddy (arund) steeds. His team consists of 99 (4, 484 ) r ioo or even 1000 (4, 46 3) horses yoked by his will. The attribute niyutvat,drawn by a team , often occurs with reference to Vayu or his car, beingotherwise used only once or twice in each case with reference to Indra, Agni,Pusan, or the Maruts. Vayu s car, in which Indra is his companion (4, 462. 48 2; 7, 915), has a golden seat and touches the sky (4, 46 4). Like the othergods, Vayu is fond of Soma, to which he is often invited to come with histeams and the first draught of which he obtains as his share 1 (also in company with Indra: i,i35 4), f r ne * s tne swiftest of the gods (SB. 13, i, 27 &c.)2. The AB. (2, 25) tells a story of how in a race which the gods ran for thefirst draught of Soma, Vayu reached the goal first and Indra second. Heisin the RV. also called a protector of Soma (10, 85 5) and has the characteristicepithet sudpa, drinking the clear (Soma draught) , an epithet which Indraonce shares with him. He is also once connected with the nectar-yielding(sabardugha) cow 3 (i, 1344). Vayu grants fame, offspring, wealth in steeds,oxen, and gold (7, go2- 6). He disperses foes (4, 48*) and is invoked forprotection by the weak (i, 13 4s).
Vata, as the ordinary name of wind, is celebrated in a more concretemanner. His name is frequently connected with the root vd, to blow, fromwhich it is derived. One of the hymns devoted to his praise (10, 168) describes him as follows. Shattering everything and thundering, his din presseson; he goes along whirling up the dust of the earth; he wanders in the airon his paths; he does not rest even a day. Firstborn, he is a friend of thewaters; but the place of his birth is unknown. This deity wanders where helists; one hears his roaring, but his form one does not see (cp. i, i6444). He is the breath of the gods (cp. 7, 872; 10, 92^) and is worshipped withoblations.
Vata, like Rudra, also wafts healing and prolongs life, for he has thetreasure of immortality in his house (10, 186). This healing power of winddoubtless represents its purifying character (cp. p. 77). The activity of wind
ATMOSPHERIC GODS. 31. PARJANYA. 83
is chiefly mentioned in connexion with the thunderstorm (4, 17"; 5, 83 4; 10, 168 - 2). Blasts of wind being coincident with the appearance of lightnings and preceding the reappearance of the sun, Vata is spoken of as producing ruddy lights (10, i68 l ) and of making the dawns to shine (i, I343). The swiftness of wind often supplies a comparison for the speed of the gods (4, iy12; 5, 4i3; 9, 975*) or of mythical steeds (i, 163"; 4, 38 3 ). Its noise is also frequently mentioned (4, 22^; 8, 91^; 10, 168 - 4). The name of Vata has been identified with that of the Germanic god of storm and battle, Odhin or Wodan 4, which is explained as formed with a derivative suffix from the cognate base. But this identification seems to be very doubtful 5.
i i, 1341. 1351; 4, 461; 5, 43^; 7, 92 *; 8, 892. 2 OLDENBERG, ZDMG.39, 55, note i; HVM. i, 260. - 3 Cp. OLDENBERG, SEE. 46, 244. –4 GROHMANX, KZ. 10,274; ZIMMER, ZDA. 19, 170 2. 17980; MANNHARDT, ibid. 22, 4; MOGK in PAUL S Grundriss 1075; STOKES, BB. 19, 74; MACDONELL, JRAS. 25, 488; v. SCHROEDER, WZKM. 9, 239. 5 Cp. BDA. p. x; IF. 5, 272. OST. 5, 1436; KRV. 38; BRV. i, 248; Sr.AP. 1568; HVBP. 823; ORV. 225 6.
- Parjanya. –This god plays a very subordinate part among the deities of the RV., being celebrated in only three hymns, while the name is mentioned less than thirty times. His praises are also sung in one hymn of the AV. (4, 15), which, however, chiefly consists of verses from the RV. In the following passages the word parjanya can only have the appellative sense of rain-cloud . This same water rises and descends day by day; the rain- clouds (parjanydJi) quicken the earth, the fires quicken heaven (i, i6451). The Maruts even during the day cause darkness by the water-carrying rain- cloud, when they inundate the earth (i, 389 ); they poured out the pail of heaven, they discharge the raincloud through the two worlds, the rain pervades the dry places (5, 536). Brhaspati is besought to cause the cloud to rain and to send the rain-charged (yrsfimantam) cloud (10, 98*-8). Soma flows like the rain-charged cloud (9, 29) and the drops of Soma speed like the rains of the cloud (9, 22 2). In the AV. the rain-shedding cow Vasa is thus addressed: The rain-cloud is thy udder, o excellent goddess, the lightnings are thy teats, O Vasa (AV. 10, io7). In all such passages the native com mentators explain parjanya by megha, cloud . On the other handr parjanya is used to explain dyaus in VS. 12, 6 and stanayitnu, thunder in SB. (14, 5, 510)1. In some cases it is hard to say whether we have the appellative or the personified meaning. Thus the might of Agni is said to resound like parjanya (8, 91$); and the frogs are spoken of as uttering their voices when roused by parjanya (7, I031 ). In most passages, however, the word clearly represents the personification which presides over the rain-cloud, while generally retaining the attributes belonging to the phenomenon. The latter then becomes an udder, a pail (kosd) or water-skin (drti\ 5, 83- 9; 7, ioi 4). The personi fication is to a considerable extent theriomorphic, Parjanya being often spoken of as a bull, though with a certain confusion of gender (probably because clouds are otherwise cows). He is a roaring bull with swift-flowing drops, who places his seed in the plants as a germ (5, 83% cp.7- 9; AV. 4, I51 ). The clouds (abhrdni) impelled by the wind come together, and the roaring waters of the great bellowing aqueous (nabhasvatati) bull delight the earth (AV. 4, 151)- Sometimes Parjanya is like a barren cow, sometimes he is productive, disposing of his body according to his wish (7, ioi-3). The shedding of rain is his most prominent characteristic. He flies around with a watery car and loosens and draws downwards the water-skin (5 83 ). Like a charioteer urging on his horses, he displays his rainy mess engers; when he sheds rain water, the roar of the lion resounds from afar; 6*
84 HI. RELIGION; WELTL. WlSSENSCH. U. KUNST. I A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
with thunder he comes shedding rain-water as our divine (asura) father(S> S3 3 6). He is besought for rains (7, ioi 5) and is implored to withholdrain after shedding it (5, 83 ). It is, however, implied that the action ofParjanya, as well as of the Maruts, in shedding rain is subordinate to thatof Mitra and Varuna (5, 6^~6). He is several times said to thunder (5,83).Thundering he strikes down trees, demons, evil-doers; the whole world isterrified at his mighty weapon (5, 832 ). He and Vata are the wielders ofmighty thunder (10, 66 10). Parjanya is also associated with lightning, thoughless frequently than with thunder. The winds blow forth, the lightnings fall,when Parjanya quickens the earth with his seed (5, S3 4). Parjanya thunderswith lightning in the (aerial) ocean (AY. 19, 30-). He also appears to bemeant, in a hymn of the RV. to the Visvedevas, by the god who thundersand roars, rich in clouds and water, who with lightning excites the two worlds,besprinkling them (5, 42 14). As the shedder of rain Parjanya is naturally in a special degree theproducer and nourisher of vegetation. When he quickens the earth withhis seed, the plants spring up; in his activity are plants of every form; hehas produced plants for nourishment (5, 83**5 * I0, cp. 6, 526; AV. 4, i52 3 15; 8, 721). He is the fructifier and increaser of plants; protected by the godthey bear good fruit (7, ioi I<5 ). Reeds and grass are produced by his action(7, I02 1, cp. 5, 75 5; AV. i, 2T. 31; 19, 3o 5). Parjanya places the germ notonly in plants but in cows, mares, and women (7, io2 2), and is invoked tobestow fertility (5,83?cp.6,52l6). He is the bull that impregnates everything: inhim is the soul of what moves and stands (7, ioi 6; cp. i, H5 1 ). He is evendescribed as a self-dependent sovereign, who rules over the whole world,in whom all beings and the three heavens are established, and in whomthethreefold waters flow (7, ioi 2 -4< 5). Owing to his generative activity Parjanyaseveral times receives the epithet of father (7, ioi 3; 9, 82^ AV. 4, i512; 12, i12). He is once called our divine (asura) father (5, 836); and in another passage the occult power of the Asura (5,63 3 -?) perhaps refers to him.His wife is by implication the Earth (5, 83 4; 7, ioi 3, cp. i, i6o3). TheAV. (12, i12) states that Earth is the mother, Parjanya the father 2, but elsewhere explicitly calls Vasa his wife (10, io6). In these respects as well asthe theriomorphic conception of him as a bull, his relation to thunder,lightning, and rain, he approximates to the character of Dyaus (cp. io, 454; 2, 46. 27 15) whose son he is once called (7, I02 1 ). Parjanya himself is saidto produce a calf (vatsam), the germ of plants (7, ioi 1, cp. v. 3; 5, 831 ),who perhaps represents lightning. Soma may, however, be meant, for his fatheris once (9, 82 3) said to be Parjanya 3, and he is spoken of as increased byParjanya^ (9, 1133).
Parjanya is associated with various other deities. His connexion is closestwith Vata, who, with the single exception of Agni in one passage, is the onlygod forming a dual divinity with him ( 44). The Maruts are also a fewtimes invoked with Parjanya (5, 636. 835) and are called upon to sing hispraises (AV.4,i5 4). Agni is celebrated with him in two verses of one hymn(6, 526 - l6; cp. 44). Indra has much in common with the rainy Parjanya.being compared with him in this respect (8, 61). The two gods have in factmuch the same natural basis, the connexion with which is, however, muchclearer in the case of Parjanya (cp. p. 82).
Parjanya s name is of uncertain derivation. But it is still usually identified, owing to the similarity of character, with that of the Lithuanian thundergodPerkunas 4, though the phonetic difficulties of the identification cannot be explained. The freshness of the conception in the RV. renders it probable that
ATMOSPHERIC GODS. 32. APAH. 85
if the two names are really connected, their Indo-European form was still an appellative. It seems clear that in the RV. the word is an appellative of the thundering rain-cloud as well as the proper name of its personification, the god who actually sheds the rain. The senses of rain- cloud and rain-god both survive through the Brahmanas into the later language. The native dictionaries explain the appellative as thunder-cloud (garjanmegha &c.), while
the deity is sometimes found identified with Indra in the Mahabharata. i Cp. OO. I, 223. 2 The TA. i, 10, 12 says that Bhumi or Earth is the wife and Vyoman or Sky is the husband. – 3 Cp. BLOOMFIELD, FaR. 153. –4 OO. i, 223 ; ZIMMER, ZDA. 19, 164 f., cp. AIL. 42 f.; LRV. 3, 322 f.; ZDMG. 32, 314!".; KRV. note 139; IIiRT, IF. 1, 4812. BUHLER, OO. i, 21429; DELBRUCK, ZVP. 1865, p. 275 f.; ROTH, ZDMG- 24, 3025 (on RV. i, 165); OST. 5, 1402; BRV. 3, 25 30; KRV. 40; BRI. 14; \VC. 56 f.; HVBP. 802; ORV. 226; SEE. 46, 105; I1RI. 103-4.
- A pah. The Waters, Apah, are lauded in four hymns of the RV. (7, 47. 49; 10, 9. 30), as well as in a few scattered verses. They are also invoked in many detached verses along with other deities. The personification is only incipient, hardly extending beyond the notion of their being mothers, young wives, and goddesses who bestow boons and come to the sacrifice. They are goddesses who follow the path of the gods (7, 47 3). Indra armed with the bolt dug out a channel for them (7, 47 4. 49 ), and they never in fringe his ordinances (7, 47 3). They are also said to be under the commands of Savitr (p. 32). They are celestial, as well as flowing in channels, and have the sea for their goal (7,49*). It is implied that they abide where the gods are and the seat of Mitra and Varuna is (io,3ox ). They are beside the sun and the sun is with them (i, 23*7). King Varuna moves in their midst, looking down on the truth and falsehood of men (7,49^). In such passages at least, the rain-waters must be meant (HRI. 99). But the Naighantuka (5,3) enumerates the waters among the terrestrial deities only (cp. YN. 9, 26).
Agni is often described as dwelling in the waters (p 92). He is said to have entered into them (7, 494). As mothers they produce Agni (10, 9i6, cp. 2"; AV. i, 331 ), one of whose forms is called Son of Waters (24). The waters are mothers (10, i710; i,23l6), who are the wives of the world, equal in age and origin (io,3o10). They are besought to give their auspicious fluid like loving mothers (10, 9 ). They are most motherly, the producers of all that is fixed and moves (6, 5o 7 ). The waters cleanse and purify; these goddesses bear away defilement; the worshipper comes up out of them pure and cleansed (10, i710). They are even invoked to cleanse from moral guilt, the sins of violence, cursing,
and lying (i, 23" = io,98). They are remedial (6, 5o 7 ), bestowing remedies and long life, for all remedies, immortality and healing are contained in them
(10, 95 7; i, 23T 9 21). They watch over man s health in the house (HGS. 2, 45). They dispose of boons and wealth and bestow excellent strength and immortality (10, 95. 3o12). Their blessing and aid is often implored (7, 47 4. 49X~~ 4; 10, 9. 30IX), and they are invited to seat themselves along with the Son of waters on the sacrificial grass at the offering of the soma-priest (10, 30M.15). The waters are several times associated with honey. As mothers they mix their milk with honey (i,23l6). The wave of the waters is rich in honey; dripping with ghee it became the drink of Indra, whom it exhilarated (7,47T> 2 )- Apam napat is besought to give waters rich in honey, by which Indra grew to heroic strength (10, 3o4). The waters are invoked to pour the wave, rich in honey and gladdening the gods, for Indra who released them from con finement; the wave which intoxicates, the draught of Indra, which is produced
86 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
in the sky (10, 307~~9). These passages appear to show that sometimes at least the celestial waters were regarded as containing or identical with theheavenly Soma, the beverage of Indra. In other passages the waters used in preparing the terrestrial Soma seem to be meant. When they appear bearingghee, milk, and honey, they are accordant with the priests, bearing well- pressed Soma for Indra (io; 30^). Soma delights in them as a young manin lovely maidens; he approaches them as a lover; they are maidens whobow down before the youth (10, 3o 5~5). OST. 5, 24, note. 343. 345; BRV. i, 260; DARMESTETER, Haurvatat et Ameretat 734; WC. 56; Sp.AP. 1535; ORV. 242.
C. TERRESTRIAL GODS.
- Rivers. Beside the divine Waters, deified rivers occupy a notunimportant position in the RV. The whole of one hymn (io; 75) celebrates the Sindhu or Indus with the exception of the fifth verse, in which several of its tributaries are invoked besides other streams, while in the sixth versea number of other rivers are mentioned as affluents of the Indus. Anotherentire hymn (3, 33), is devoted to the invocation and praise of the sister streams Vipas and Sutudrl. The SarasvatT is, however, more greatly celebrated than any other river. But though the personification in this case goes much further than in the others, the connexion of the goddess with the river is in the RV. alwayspresent to the minds of the poets. Sarasvati is lauded in three hymns ofthe RV. and in numerous detached verses. Sarasvati, Sarayu, and Sindhuare invoked as great streams (10, 649) and elsewhere (10, 755) Ganga,Yamuna, Sarasvati, Sutudrl, Parusnl, and others known and unknown, altogether twenty-one, are addressed. Kings and peoples living on the banks of the Sarasvati are referred to (7, 96*; 8, 2i l8). Sarasvati, an iron fort, flows with fertile flood, a stream (sind/iu) surpassing all other waters in greatness; shealone of rivers appeared pure, flowing from the mountains, from x the (celestial) ocean (7, 95*-2, cp. 5, 43II). She tears away with her mighty waves the peaks of mountains, and her immense and impetuous flood moves roaring(6, 6 12* 8). She is distinguished by greatness among the great, she is the most active of the active, and is implored not to withhold her milk (6, 6i 13). The poet prays that he may not be removed from her to fields which are strange (6, 6i 14). She has seven sisters and is sevenfold (6, 6i 10- 12). She is one of seven, a mother of streams 2 (7,366). She is the best of mothers, ofrivers, and of goddesses (2,4il6). She is called pavlravl, an epithet (appliedalso to tanyatu, thunder , in 10, 65^) probably meaning daughter of light ning 3, and is said (6, 49?) to be the wife of a hero (probably Sarasvat). She fills the terrestrial regions and the wide atmospheric space and occupiesthree abodes (6,6iII<12 ). She is invoked to descend from the sky, from the great mountain, to the sacrifice (5, 4311)- The last three passages (cp. also 7, 952 ) seem to allude to the notion of a celestial origin, like that of Ganga in post Vedic mythology. She is once called asurya or divine (7,96Z ). The goddesscomes to the sacrifice on the same chariot as the Fathers and seats herself on the sacrificial grass (10, i78 -9). Even here she must be conceived as the river goddess, for in the following two verses the waters are invoked to cleanse from defilement.
She herself is a purifier (i, 3). She is besought to come swelling with streams (6,526) and, along with the waters, the bestowers of wealth, progeny,
TERRESTRIAL GODS. 33. SARASVATT. 87
and immortality, to grant vitality (io,3o12). She bestows vitality and offspring (2, 4i 17) and is associated with deities who assist procreation (10, i842). She is also said to have given a son named Divodasa to Vadhryasva (6, 6I 1 ). Her unfailing breast (cp. AB. 4, i) yields riches of every kind d, i6449). She is often said to bestow wealth, plenty, and nourishment (7, 952; 8, 2i 17; 9, 67 32; 10, i73 - 9), and several times receives the epithet subhaga, bountiful (i, 89^; 7, 95 4 - 6; 8, 2i 17). As a mother (ambd} she grants reputation to the unrenowned (2, 41Ib). She stimulates, directs, and prospers the devotions of her worshippers (i, 310- xl; 2, 38; 6, 6i 4). She is invoked along with the goddesses of prayer (7, 37"; 10, 65 13). She destroys the revilers of the gods, is terrible, and a Vrtra-slayer (6, 6i> 7). But to her worshippers she affords protection and conquers their enemies (7, 95^ 5; 2, 3o8; 6, 497).
SarasvatI is often invoked with other deities. Besides Pusan and Indra, she is particularly associated with the Maruts (3, 541-3 ; 7, 95 . 39 s. 4o 3) and is said to be accompanied by them (2, 3o8) or to have them as her friends 4 (7) 962)- She is also once in the RV. connected with the Asvins. When the latter aided Indra, SarasvatI is said to have refreshed him (10, i3i 5 ). With reference to the same myth the VS. (19, 12) states that when the gods cele brated a healing sacrifice, the Asvins as physicians and SarasvatI through speech (vdca) communicated vigour to Indra 5. The VS. even speaks of SarasvatI as the wife of the Asvins (19, 94). SarasvatI is several times asso ciated in the eighth and ninth verses of the dpri and dpra hymns with the sacrificial goddesses Ida and BharatI (with whom she forms a triad), and sometimes also with Mahl and Hotra. This association may have been due to the sacred character of the river. Allusion is made to Agni being kindled for sacrifice on the banks of the SarasvatI and Drsadvati (3, 23*)6; and the AB. (2, 19) refers to a sacrifice performed by Rsis on the SarasvatI. Hence on the banks of the SarasvatI there were perhaps places of worship of the Bharatas; in that case, BharatT, the personified offering of the Bharatas, would naturally find a fixed place along with SarasvatI in the AprI litany which accompanied the animal sacrifice 7.
Though there is nothing to show distinctly (cp. 7, 35") that SarasvatI is ever anything more, in the RV. than a river goddess, we find her identified in the Brahmanas (SB. 3, 9, i?; AB. 3, i10), with Vac, Speech, and in post Vedic mythology she has become goddess of eloquence and wisdom, invoked as a muse and regarded as the wife of Brahma 8. The transition from the older to the later conception is perhaps to be found in passages like VS. 19, 12 quoted above.
There has been much controversy as to the identity of the stream of which the goddess SarasvatI is a personification. The name is identical with that of the Avestan river Haraqaiti in Afghanistan 9, and it may have been the latter river which was first lauded as the SarasvatI 10. But ROTH (PW.), GRASSMANN (GW.), LUDWIG", and ZIMMER (AIL. 10) are of opinion, that in the RV. SarasvatI usually and originally meant a mighty stream, probably the Indus (SarasvatI being the sacred and Sindhu the secular name), but that it occasionally designates the small stream in Madhyadesa, to which both its name and its sacred character were in later times trans ferred. MAX MtiLLER 12 believes it to be identical with this small river SarasvatI, which with the Drsadvati formed the boundaries of the sacred region Brahmavarta and which loses itself in the sands of the desert, but in Vedic times reached the sea. According to OLDHAM X 3 a survey of ancient riverbeds affords evidence that the SarasvatI was originally a tribu tary of the Sutudrl (the modern Sutlej)14, and that when the latter left its
88 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
old bed and joined the Vipas, the Sarasvati continued to flow in the old bed of the Sutudri.
Sarasvati has a male correlative named Sarasvat, who after the praises of the river goddess have been sung in three verses of one hymn (7, 96), is invoked in the next three by worshippers desiring wives and offspring, protection and plenty. Here his fertilizing waters and even his exuberant
breast are referred to. In another passage (i, i6^ 2), Sarasvat, here appar ently a name of the bird Agni1 , is spoken of as refreshing with rain. ROTH(PW.) regards him as a guardian of the celestial waters who bestows fertility. HiLLEBRANDT 16 identifies Sarasvat with Apam napat (= Soma, the moon)and HARDY? expresses a similar view.
i Cp. BRV. i, 326. 2 According to BERGAIGNE (ibid.) having the (celestial) ocean for her mother , owing to the accent. 3 ROTH, Nir. i65f. ; FW. ;,BRV. I, 327. 4 Cp. Marudvrddha as the name of a river (10, 755). 5 Cp. SB. 12, 7, 3l; OST. 5, 94 note. 6 Cp. Manavadharmasastra II, I7f.; OLDENBERG, Buddha 413 f.
7 ORV. 243. 8 Cp. ZDMG. i, 84; 27, 705. 9 Sp.AP. 105 f. 1 HRI. 31. " Nachrichten des RV. und AV. liber Geographic etc., Prag 18756, p. 13; qxPVS. 2, 86. 12 Vedic Hymns SBE, 32, 60. 13 JRAS. 25, 4976. 4 OST,2, 345. 15 BRV. i, 144; 2, 47. 10 HVM. I, 3802. 17 HVBP. 42-3. OST. 5, 33743; BRV. i, 3258; BOLLENSEN, ZDMG. 41, 499; HVM. I, 3823 (celestial Sarasvati = milky way); HVBP. 98; ORV. 243.
J& 34. Prthivi. The Earth, PrthivT, being, as has been shown (p. 22),. generally celebrated conjointly with Dyaus, is lauded alone in only one short hymn of three stanzas in the RV. (5, 84) and in a long and beautiful onein the AV. (12, i). The personification is but slight, the attributes of the goddess being chiefly those of the physical earth. According to the RV. sheabounds in heights, bears the burden of the mountains, and supports thetrees of the forest in the ground (ksma}. She quickens the soil, for shescatters rain, and the showers of heaven are shed from the lightning of hercloud. She is great (ma/it), firm (drlhd] and shining (arfum}.
The meaning of Prthivi is the broad one ; and a poet of the RV. (2, i52 } alludes to the etymology when he says that Indra upheld the earth (prthivT)and spread it out (paprathat). The TS. (7, i, 5) and TB. (i, i, 3s) in describing the origin of the earth, expressly derive the name of Prthivi fromthe root prath, to extend, because she is extended.
Prthivi is spoken of as kindly Mother Earth , to whom the dead man ina funeral hymn (10, i8 10), is exhorted to go. When mentioned wirh Dyaus,.Prthivi frequently receives the epithet of mother (cp. n. 44).
BRUCE, JRAS. 1862, p. 321; OST. 5, 21- 2; BRV. i, 45; BDA. 48; BOLLENSEN, ZDMG. 41, 4945; HVBP. 256; THURNEYSEN, IF. 4, 84.
35- Agni. - - The chief terrestrial deity is Agni, being naturally ofprimary importance as the personification of the sacrificial fire, which is thecentre of the ritual poetry of the Veda. Next to Indra he is the mostprominent of the Vedic gods. He is celebrated in at least 200 hymns ofthe RV., and in several besides he is invoked conjointly with other deities. As his name is also the regular designation of fire, the anthropomorphismof his physical appearance is only rudimentary, his bodily parts having a. clear reference to the phenomena of terrestrial fire mainly in its sacrificial aspect. He is butter-backed (5,43 &c.), butter-faced (3, il8 c.) and beautiful-tongued (i, 147). He is butter-haired (8, 492 ), flame-haired (i, 456 &c.) ortawny-haired (3, 21-*), and has a tawny beard (5,7 7). He has sharp (8, 49 3 &c.)or burning jaws (i, 58 5 &c.), golden (5, 2>) or shining teeth (5, 74) and irongrinders (10, 872). He is once described as footless and headless (4, iix)>TERRESTRIAL GODS. 34. PRTHIVI. 35. AGNI. 89
but elsewhere he is said to have a burning head (7, 31 ) or three heads and seven rays (i, 146*; 2, 53). He faces in all directions (2, 31 &c.). His tongue is often mentioned (8, 6i l8 &c.). He is also said to have three tongues (3, 2o2) or seven (VS. 17, 79), his steeds also being seven-tongued (3, 62). A name was later given to each of these seven tonguesx. Butter is Agni s
eye (3, 26 7); he is four-eyed (i, 3i 13), thousand-eyed (i, 7912), and thousand horned (6, i8). In his hand he bears many gifts for men (i, 72*). Like Indra, he has the epithet sahasra-muska (8, i9 32). He is called an archer (4, 41 ) or is compared with an archer (i, 7oxi ), who sharpens his flame like a blade of iron (6, 35). He is often likened to various animals, in most cases doubtless with a view to indicating his functions rather than representing his personal form. He is frequently called a bull (i, 585 &c.). He is a strong bull with a mighty neck (5, 212). As such he bellows (10, 81), abounds in seed (4, 53), and is provided with horns (5, i8; 6, i6 39), which he sharpens (8, 49 Ij), which he shakes, and which make him difficult to seize (i, 140). He is many times spoken of or alluded to when born as a calf (vatsd). He is also often com pared with (i, 582 &c.) or directly called a steed (i, 149^; 6, i2 6)2. The tail which he agitates like a horse (2, 44) is doubtless his flame. When puri fied by sacrificers he is compared with a groomed horse (i, 60$ &c.). Sacri ficers lead (3, 2 ), excite, and set him in motion like a horse (7, 71 &c.). He is the horse they seek to tame and direct (2, 5 ; 3, 2 7 3). He is kindled like a horse that brings the gods (3, 27^). He is attached to the pole at places of sacrifice (2, 21 ) or to the pole of the rite (i, I43 7 ). He is yoked in order to waft the sacrifice to the gods (10, 5i 7 ). He is also compared with (3, 263) or directly called a neighing steed (i, 368). He is further likened to a horse as conquering (8,9i12) or causing to escape from dangers (4, 28). Agni is, moreover, like a bird. He is the eagle of the sky (7, 15*) and a divine bird (i, i6452). As dwelling in the waters he resembles the aquatic bird hamsa (i, 659). He takes possession of the wood as a bird perches on- a tree (i, 66 2; 6, 35; 10, 9i2). He is winged (i, 58*; 2, 24), his course is a flight (6, 37. 46 &c.), and he darts with rapid flight to the gods (10, 64 ). He is once described as a raging serpent (i, 791 )-
Agni is besides frequently compared with inanimate objects. Like the sun, he resembles gold (2, 24; 7, 36). When he stretches out his tongue (6, 34 ) he is like a hatchet, to which he is elsewhere also several times com pared (i, 1273 &c.). He resembles (i, i4i8 &c.) or is directly called a car (3, ii 5), as bringing riches (i, 583; 3, 155) or as being formidable in battle (i, 666). He seems to be thought of as a car directed by others, for he is conducted to the sacrifice like a laden car (10,1763). He is even compared to wealth (i, 58. 60 ) or to wealth acquired by inheritance (i, 731 ). Wood (2, 76) or ghee (7, 31 )is his food, melted butter is his beverage (2, 76; 10, 692). He is nourished by ghee poured into his mouth (3, 2i x ; 5, n3&c.) and is an eater of oil (AV. i, 72 ). He eats and chews the forests with sharp tooth (1,1435) or eats and blackens them with his tongue (6,6o10; 10, 792 ). He is all-devouring (8, 4426). He is nourished three times a day 3). He is sometimes spoken of as the mouth and the
(4, I2 1, cp. i, i4o 2; 7, 1 1
tongue by which the gods eat the sacrifice (2,iI 3- I4 ); and his flames are spoons with which he besprinkles or honours the gods (i, 76 s; 10, 64). But he is more frequently asked to eat the offerings himself (3, 2I 1" 4. 28 1" 6). Writh upright, god-ward form he strives after the ghee that is offered (i, 127 ), Though the regular offering to him is fuel or butter 3, he is sometimes, and then nearly always with other gods, invited to drink the Soma juice (i, 14 ,
90 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
- 2 11 3; 2, 364). In one hymn he is called somagopd, guardian of Soma(10, 45 5< I2). He is invited to come to the sacrifice (10, 989j and is oftenspoken of as sitting down on the sacrificial grass along with the gods (3, i42;5, ii 2. 265; 7) 1 1*, Cp. 433).
Agni s brightness is naturally much dwelt upon. He is of brilliant lustre(2, io 2 &c.), brilliant-flamed (6, io 3), bright-flamed (7, 15 &c.), clear-flamed(8, 43 3I)> and bright-coloured (i, 140*; 5, 2 3). He has a golden form (4, 31 io, 2o9). He shines like the sun (i, I49 3; 7, 36). His lustre is like the raysof the dawn and the sun and like the lightnings of the rain-cloud (io,9i 4 - 5).He shines even at night (5, 74 ). Like the sun he dispels the darkness withhis rays (8, 4332). He is a destroyer of darkness and sees through the gloomof the night (i, 94 5; 7, 92 ). Kindled he opens the gates of darkness (3, 51).The earth enveloped in darkness and the sky become visible when Agniisborn (io, 88 2). For he is kindled at dawn and is the only individual godwho is described as Svaking at dawn , usarbudh (though the gods collectivelysometimes receive this epithet).
On the other hand, Agni s course, path, or track, and his fellies areblack (i, 1417; 2, 46 - 7; 6,6 ; 7, 82; 8,239), and his steeds make blackfurrows ( 1,140). Driven by the wind he rushes through the wood (i,584 -5),invades the forests and shears the hairs of the earth (i, 658), shaving the
earth as a barber a beard (io, I42 4).
His flames are like the roaring waves of the sea (i, 44"). His soundis like the Wind or the thunder of Heaven (5, 2 5s; 7, 36). He roars likethe thundering Dyaus (io, 45 4), or Parjanya (8, 9i 5), or a lion (3, 211). Hebellows like a bull when he invades the forest trees, and the birds are terrified at the noise when his grass-devouring sparks arise (i, 94 10< IX). Hecannot be checked any more than the sound of the Maruts, an armyletloose, or the bolt of heaven (i, I43 5 ).
Agni flames upwards (6,i52 ). Driven by the wind his flames shoot intothe sky (8, 43*). His smoke wavers and his flame cannot be seized (8,23).His red smoke rises up to heaven (7, 3\ i6 3). His smoke spreads in thesky (6, 26). Like the erector of a post (metr), he supports the sky with hissmoke (4, 62 ). He touches the ridge of heaven with his crest and mingleswith the rays of the sun (7, 21). He encompasses heaven with his tongue(8, 6i l8) and goes to the flood of heaven, to the waters in the bright spaceabove and below the sun (3, 223). The Agni of Divodasa spread alongmother earth towards the gods and stood on the ridge of the sky (8, 922).Smoke-bannered (dhumaketu) is a frequent epithet exclusively connectedwith Agni.
Agni is borne on an lightning car (3, I41 ), on a car that is luminous(i, I4Q 1), bright (i, I4i 12), shining (5, i11), brilliant (io, iSj, golden (4, i*)or beautiful (4, 2 4). It is drawn by two or more horses 4, which are butter-backed (i, i46), ruddy (rohita^ arusa), tawny and ruddy (7, 42-), beautiful(4, 22J, omniform (10,70"), active (2, 42 ), wind-impelled (i, 94 10), mind-yoked(i, i46). He yokes them to summon the gods (i, i412; 3, 66; 8, 641 ). Forhe is a charioteer (i, 253 &c.) of the sacrifice (io, 92* &c.). With his steedshe brings the gods on his car (3, 69). He comes seated on the same carasthe gods (3, 4"; 7, n1 ) or in advance of them (io, 7o2 ). He brings Varunato the offering, Indra from the sky, the Maruts from the air (io, 70").
According to the ordinary view of the Vedic poets, Agni s father isDyaus, who generated him (io,458). He is the child (sisu) of Dyaus (4, 1 56;6,492) and is said to have been born from the belly of the Asura 5 (3,291).He is often called the son of Dyaus and Prthivl (3, 22. 3". 25 ; 10, i2. 27.
TERRESTRIAL GODS. 35. AGNI. 91
i4o 2 ). He is also spoken of as the offspring of Tvastr and the Waters, as well as of Heaven and Earth (10, 27. 469), or even simply of Tvastr (1,9 5*) or of the Waters (10, gi6; AV. i, 33 ). It is otherwise incidentally said that the Dawns generated Agni as well as the Sun and Sacrifice (7, y8 3 ) or Indra- Visnu generated Agni besides Sun and Dawn (7, 99 4 ), or Indra generated
Agni between two stones (2, 12^, cp. i1 ). Agni is also described as the son of Ila (3, 29^) or as the embryo of the rite (6, 48s). The gods, it is some times said, generated him (6, 7 ; 8, 91 17), as a light for the Aryan (i, 592), or simply fashioned him for man (10,46^) or placed him among men (1,36*; 2,43; 6JI61; 8,732). At the same time Agni is the father of the gods (1,69 , cp. p. 12). The different points of view which give rise to these seemingly contradictory statements, are sufficiently clear.
Owing to his slightly developed anthropomorphism, the myths of Agni have little to say about his deeds, being, outside his main activity as sacrificial fire, chiefly concerned with his various births, forms, and abodes.
The divergent accounts given of the births of Agni are not inconsistent, because they refer to different places of origin. His daily terrestrial birth by friction from the two arams or firesticks 6is often referred to (3, 292. 23*- 3; 7, i1; 10, 79). In "this connexion they are his parents, the upper being the male and the lower the female (3, 29^). Or they are his mothers, for he is said to have two mothers (i, 3i2 )7 . The two sticks produce him as a new born infant, who is hard to catch (5, 93>4 ). From the dry (wood) the god is born living (i, 68 2). The child as soon as born devours the parents (10, 794). He is born of a mother who cannot suckle him (10, us1 )- With reference to this production by friction, men are said to have generated him (i, 6o 3; 4, i1; 7, i1 ), the ten maidens 8 that produce him (i, 952 ) being the ten fingers (cp. 3, 23 ) employed in twirling the upright drill, which is the upper aram. Pramantha, the name of this fire-drill, occuring for the first time in a late metrical Smrti work 9, the Karmapradipa (i,7 5) I0 has, owing to a superficial resemblance, been connected with IlpoaYjOs-j;11. The latter word has, however, every appearance of being a purely Greek formation, while the Indian verb math, to twirl, is found compounded only with nis, never with pra, to express the act of producing fire by friction. The powerful friction necessary to produce fire is probably the reason why Agni is frequently called the son (sunu, putra, once yuvan) of strength* (sahasahy*. This explanation is supported by a passage of the RV. stating that Agni rubbed with strength (sahasa) is produced {jayate) by men on the surface of the earth (6,4S 5). According to a later text, the kindling of Agni by friction must not take place before sunrise (MS. i, 610). Being produced every morning for the sacrifice Agni appropriately receives the very frequent epithet, exclusively connected with him, of youngest (yavistha, yavisthyd). His new births are opposed to his old (3, i 20). Having grown old he is born again as a youth (2, 45). In this sense, he does not grow old (i, i28 2 ), his new light being like his old (6,-i6J1 ). Like some other gods, Agni is also spoken of simply as young . At the same time he is old. There is no sacri ficer older than Agni (5, 35), for he conducted the first sacrifice (3, 15*). He shone forth after former dawns (i,4410), and the part played by Agni in the sacrifices of ancestors is often referred to (8, 43 13 &c.). He is thus sometimes in the same passage paradoxically called both ancienc and Very young* (10, 4- 2). More generally Agni is spoken of as born in wood (6, 3*; 10, 79 7), as the embryo of plants (2, i14; 3, i 13) or as distributed in plants (10, i2 ). He is also said to have entered into all plants or to strive after them (8, 439).
92 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
When he is called the embryo of trees (i, 70*) or of trees as well as plants(2, i1 ), there may be a side-glance at the fire produced in forests bythefriction of the boughs of trees.
The terrestrial existence of Agni is further indicated by his being calledthe navel of the earth (i, 592 ). This expression appears, in the manypassages in which it occurs, to allude to the receptacle of the sacrificial Agnion the excavated altar or redi*$. In the Vedic ritual ndbJd or navel is thetechnical term designating the hollow in the uttard vcdi, in which Agniis-deposited 14 . The earlier use of the term probably suggested the figure, thatthe gods made Agni the navel or centre of immortality (3, i; 4). The only
two occurrences in the RV. of the attribute vedisad, sitting on the altar,refer to Agni.
Agni s origin in the aerial waters is often referred to. The Sonofwaters has, as has been shown ( 24), become a distinct deity. Agni is alsothe embryo (garbha) of the waters (3, i12- J 3); he is kindled in the waters(10, 45z; AV. 13, 1 5); he is a bull who has grown in the lap of the waters(10, 81 ); he is ocean-girt (8, 9i 5). He is also said to descend from the dhanuor cloud-island (i, i445; 10, 45) and to be the shining thunder dwellinginthe bright space (6, 62). In such passages the lightning form of Agni must
be meant. Some of the later hymns of the RV. (10, 51 3. I24) 15 tell alegend of Agni hiding in the waters and plants and being found by the gods.This legend is also often related in the Brahmanas 16. In the AV. the Agnisin the waters are distinguished from those that go on the path of lightningor from the celestial Agni with the lightning (AV. 3, 2i T - 7; 8, i 11) andaresaid to have dwelt on earth (AV. 12, i37). In one passage of the RV. alsoit is stated that Agni rests in all streams (8, 398, cp. Ap. SS. 5, 21 ); andinthe later ritual texts Agni in the waters is invoked in connexion with pondsand water-vessels. Thus even in the oldest Vedic period, the waters in whichAgni is latent, though not those from which he is produced, may in variouspassages have been regarded as terrestrial. OLDENBERG I? thinks that theterrestrial waters are chiefly meant in this connexion and doubts, whetherthelightning Agni is intended even in the first hymn of the third book 18. In anycase, the notion of Agni in the waters is prominent throughout the Vedas..Water is Agni s home, as heaven is that of the sun (5, 852: cp. AV. i3,i5"; I 9 331 )- 1 ne waters are also often mentioned along with the plants or woodas his abode 9 (2, i1 c.).
Agni s origin in heaven is moreover frequently spoken of. He is bornin the highest heavens (i, 143*; 6, S2 ). He existed potentially though notactually in the highest heavens (10,5 ), and was brought from heaven, fromafar by Matarisvan ( 25). In such passages Agni doubtless represents lightning;for lightning is regardtd as coming from heaven as well as from the waters(AV. 3, 2i K7; 8, i11), and in a Brahmana passage (AB. 7, 7
2
)it is spoken
of as both celestial (divyd) and aqueous (apsumai). When lightning is mentionedby its proper name vidyitt (which occurs hardly 30 times in the RV.) alorgwith Agni, it is commonly compared with and thereby distinguished fromhim 20, doubtless as a concrete phenomenon in contrast with the god. Themyth, too, of the descent of fire from heaven to earth, due undoubtedlytothe actual observation of conflagrations caused by the stroke of lightning,implies the identity of the celestial Agni and lightning. The heavenly originof Agni is further implied in the fact that the acquisition of fire by manisregarded as a gift of the gods as well as a production of Matarisvan; and
Agni s frequent epithet ot guest (atithi) of men may allude to the samenotion (5, i9 &c.).
TERRESTRIAL GODS. 35. AGNI. 93
In other passages, again, Agni is to be identified with the sun; for the conception of the sun as a form of Agni, is an undoubted Vedic belief. Thus Agni is the light of heaven in the bright sky, waking at dawn, the head of heaven (3,2^). He was born on the other side of the air and sees all things (10, iS; 4 5). He is born as the sun rising in the morning (10, 886) 21. The AB. (8, 28 5 - Ij) remarks that the sun when setting enters into Agni and is produced from him. The same identification is probably alluded to in passages stating that Agni unites with the light or the rays of the sun (5, 37 ; 7, 21), that when men light Agni on earth, the celestials light him (6, 2 3 ), or that Agni shines in heaven (3, 2712; 8, 4429). Sometimes, however, it is difficult to decide whether lightning or the sun is intended. The solar aspect of Agni s nature is not often mentioned, the sun being too individual a pheno menon to be generally conceived as a form of fire. Agni is usually thought of in his terrestrial form, being compared rather than identified with the sun. Thus the poet says that the minds of the godly are turned to Agni as eyes towards the sun (5, i4). At the same time there is frequently a side- glance at Agni s other forms, it being therefore in many cases doubtful which of his aspects is intended.
Owing to the diverse births above described, Agni is often regarded as Jiaving a triple character 22, which in many passages is expressly referred to with some form of the numeral f three . This earliest Indian trinity is important,
for on it is based much of the mystical speculation of the Vedic age*3 . Agni s births are three or threefold (i, 95^; 4, i/). The gods made him threefold (10, SS 10). He is threefold light (3, 26 7 ), has three heads (i, 146 ), three tongues, three bodies, three stations (3, 2o 2 ). The epithet trisadhastha, having three stations , is predominantly connected with Agni 24, and the only passage in which the word tripastya, having three dwellings , occurs (8, 398), it is an attribute of Agni. The triad is not always understood in exactly the same way or mentioned in the same order. Thus one poet says: From heaven first_.Agni was born, the second time from us (= men), thirdly in the waters (10, 451, cp. vv.2- 3). The order of Agni s abodes is also heaven, earth, waters in other passages (8, 44 l6; 10, 27. 469), while one verse (i, 95 3) has the variation: ocean, heaven, waters. Sometimes the terrestrial Agni comes first: He was first born in houses, at the base of great heaven, in the womb of this atmosphere (4, i11 ); the immortals kindled three flames of Agni: of these they placed one with man, for use, and two went to the sister-world
(3, 2). A Sutra passage (Ap. SS. 5, i6 4 ) distinguishes a terrestrial Agni in animals, an aerial one in the waters, and a celestial one in the sun. Occa sionally the terrestrial Agni comes third. He is one of three brothers of whom the middlemost brother is lightning (asnaJi) and the third is butter- backed (i, 164*, cp. i4i2). Agni glows from the sky, to god Agni belongs the broad air, men kindle Agni,. bearer of oblations, lover of ghee (AV. 12, i 20, cp. i3,321; 18,4"). The third form of Agni is once spoken of as the highest (19, i3; cp. 5, 33; i, 722> 4 ). Yaska (Xir. 7, 28) mentions that his predecessor Sakapuni regarded the threefold existence of Agni referred to in 10, 88 10 as being in earth, air, and heaven, a certain Brahmana considering Agni s third mani festation, which is in heaven, to be the sun (cp. Nir. 12, 19). This threefold nature of Agni, so clearly recognised in the RV., was probably the prototype not only of the- posterior triad of Sun, Wind, Fire (8, iS 19), which is spoken of as distributed in the three worlds (10, 158 ; AV. 4, 392) and is implied in another verse (i, 164^), but also of the triad of Sun, Indra, Fire, which though not Rigvedic is still ancient. Here Vata or Vayu and Indra have
94 HI. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
taken the place of Agni Vaidyuta, the lightning Agni, as the Brahmanas andcommentators call him. This substitution is perhaps partly due to the transientnature of lightning and partly to the lack of any name other than Agni forthe personified lightning, which could therefore be expressed only by epithetsor allusions. The triad of Agnis may have suggested and would explain thedivision of the sacrificial fire into the three sacrificial fires 2 5 which in theVedic ritual are kept distinct from the domestic fire 26 and which form anessential feature of the cult in the Brahmanas 27 . The ritual may have thenreacted on the myth. At any rate, later Hindu literature took the three firesas representative of the three forms of Agni known to the RV. 2S The threesacrificial fires may go back to the time of the RV., possibly even to ananterior period 29. Thus Agni is besought to bring the gods and to seat
himself in the three receptacles (yonisu: 2, 36 4; cp. 5, n 2; 10, 105^). Doubtless on the basis of the twofold division of the Universe into heavenand earth, Agni is in several passages said to have two births, being theonly single god spoken of as dvijanman (i, 6oT. i4o 2. i492 - ). An upperand a lower birth are mentioned (2, 9^), his abode in lower and upper spheresis referred to (i, i28 3 ), and the opposition is generally between terrestrialand celestial fire (3, 54%- 10, 4510), though in one passage at least (8, 4328)the contrast is between his birth in heaven and in the waters. Agni is summoned from his supreme abode (8, 1 17) and comes thence to the lower ones(8,64 15). When he is brought from the highest father he rises into the plants(i, 1 4 14 ). Here Agni is conceived as coming down in rain and then enteringthe plants, out of which he is again produced. The fires, like water, afterdescending to earth again rise to heaven (i, i6451). On this distinction oftwo forms of fire are based such prayers as that Agni should sacrifice tohimself (10, 76), that he should bring Agni (7,39 5), or that he should descendwith the gods to the sacrifice (3, 69 &c.). Allied to this distinction is thenotion that Agni was kindled by the gods as contrasted with men3 (6, 2 3). The latter notion is due to the assumption that celestial fires must be kindledby some one and gods must sacrifice like men (cp. AB. 2, 34). From another point of view, Agni is said to have many births (10, 5 ).This multiplicity no doubt primarily refers to the numerous fires kindled onterrestrial altars. For Agni is very frequently said to abide in every family,house, or abode (4, 68. 71 - 3; 5, i5. 6s &c.). He is produced in many places(3> 5419) and nas many bodies (10, 9810). Scattered in many places, he isone and the same king (3, 55 4 ). Kindled in many places, he is but one(Val. io 2). Other fires are attached to him as branches to a tree (8, i933).Thus he comes to be invoked with the Agnis (7, 3T; 8, iS9 . 49 ; io, i4i6) or all the Agnis (i, 26; 6, i2 6). The accounts given of Agni s abodes or birthplaces sometimes involvecross divisions. Thus his brilliance in heaven, earth, air, waters, and plantsis referred to (3, 22 2 ) or he is said to be born from the heavens, the waters,stone, woods, and plants (2, i1 ). Longer enumerations of a similar kindoccasionally occur elsewhere (AV. 3, 21; 12, i 19; Ap. SS. 5, i64). When Agniis said (i, 7o4, cp. 6, 48 5) to dwell in a rock (adrau) the reference is probablyto the lightning latent in the cloud (cp. p. io). The same is probably thecase when he is said (2, i1 ) to be produced from a stone (asmanaK) or tohave been generated by Indra between two stones (2, 12 3); but here theremay lurk an allusion to the production of fire from flint. Animal heat is ofcourse meant when Agni is said to be in the heart of man (io, 51), or inbeasts, horses, birds, bipeds and quadrupeds (AV. 3, 2i 2; 12, i 19. 233; XS.4, 6, 1 3). As being the spark of vitality and so widely diffused in nature,
TERRESTRIAL GODS. 35. AGNI. 95
Agni naturally comes to be described as the germ (garbha) of what is stationary or moves and of all that exists (i, 7o3; AV. 5, 25 7). The triple nature of Agni gave rise to the notion of three brothers (i, I641 ); while the multiplicity of sacrificial fires may have suggested the idea of Agni s elder brothers who are spoken of in the plural (10, 5i6). The number of these is later stated to be three (TS. 2, 6, 61). The same are probably meant by the four Hotrs of the gods, of whom the first three died (Kath. 25, 7) 31 . Varuna is once spoken of as Agni s brother (4, i2). Else where Indra is said to be his twin brother (6, 592) 32. Indra is indeed oftener associated with Agni than with any other god and is, with two slight exceptions, the only god with whom Agni forms a dual divinity ( 44). It is doubtless owing to this association that Agni is described as bursting the rock with heat (8, 46 l6) and vanquishing the unbelieving Panis (7, 63). In one entire hymn (i, 93) Agni is also coupled with Soma ( 44).
Agni is occasionally identified with other gods, especially with Varuna and Mitra 33( 2 , i4- 3, 54- ^ I2 3). He is Varuna when he goes to the sacri fice (10, 8s). He is Varuna when he is born and Mitra when he is kindled (5, 31). Agni in the evening becomes Varuna, rising in the morning he be comes Mitra; becoming Savitr he traverses the air, becoming Indra he illumines the sky in the midst (AV. 13, 3^). In one passage of the RV. (2, i3 7) ne is successively identified with about a dozen gods besides five goddesses. He assumes various divine forms (3, 38 7) and has many names (3, 20^). In him are comprehended all the gods (5, 31 ), whom he surrounds as a felly the spokes (5, i36). What is probably the oldest function of fire in regard to its cult, that of burning and dispelling evil spirits and hostile magic, still survives in the Veda. Agni drives away the goblins with his light (3, 1 5r &c.) 34 and receives the epithet raksohan, goblin-slayer (10, 87 )- When kindled he consumes with iron teeth and scorches with heat the sorcerers as well as the goblins (10, 872- 5- 14), protecting the sacrifice with keen glance (ib.9). He knows the races of the sorcerers and destroys them (AV. i,84). Though this function of dispelling terrestrial demons is shared with Agni by Indra (as well as by Brhaspati, the Asvins, and especially Soma), it must primarily have belonged to Agni alone, just as, conversely, that of slaying Asuras or aerial demons is transferred to Agni (7, 13 ) though properly peculiar to Indra. This is borne out by the fact that Agni is undoubtedly more prominent as a goblin-slayer than Indra, both in the hymns and in the ritual 35.
Agni is more closely connected with human life than any other god. His association with the dwellings of men is peculiarly intimate. He is the only god to whom the frequent epithet grhapati, lord of the house , is applied. He dwells in every abode (7,i52), never leaving his home (8,49*9). The attribute domestic (damunas) is generally connected with him (i,6o4 &c.). This household deity probably represents an old order of ideas; for in the later elaborate ritual of the three sacrificial fires, the one from which the other two (the dhavariiya or eastern and the daksina or southern) were taken, is called the gdrhapatya or that which belongs to grhapati. In this connexion it is interesting to observe that even as early as Rigvedic times there are traces of the sacrificial fire having been transported 36. For Agni is led round (4, 93. I51 ), strides round the offerings (4, i5 3) or goes round the sacrifice three times (4, 6 4 - 5. i52); and as soon as he is released from his parents, he is led to the east and again to the west (i, 3i 4). He is further constantly designated a guest (atitht] in human abodes. He is a guest in every house (io,9i2), the first guest of settlers (5,82 ). For
96 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
he is an immortal (a term much more commonly applied to Agni than toany other god), who has taken up his abode among mortals (8, 6o T ). Hehas been established or settled among human habitations (3, 5 3; 4, 62 ). It isthe domestic Agni who caused mortals to settle (3, iI7j. He is a leader(3, 25) and a protector of settlers (i, 96*), and the epithet vispati, lord ofsettlers is mainly connected with him.
Thus Agni comes to be called the nearest kinsman of man (7, 15; 8, 49T0), or simply a kinsman (i, 2 63 &c.) or a friend (i, 75* &c.). But heis oftenest described as a father (6, i5 c.), sometimes also as a brother(8; 43l6; I0; 73 &c -)> and eyen as a son (2, i9) or mother (6, i$), of hisworshippers. Such terms seem to point to an older order of things, whenAgni was less sacrificial and, as, the centre of domestic life, produced anintimate relation such as is not easily found in the worship of other gods31.
The continuity of Agni s presence in the house would naturally connecthim more closely than any other god with the past. Hence the ancestralfriendship of Agni with his worshipper (i, 7i10) is probably more typical ofhim than of any other deity. He is the god whom the forefathers kindled,to whom they prayed. Thus mention is made of an Agni of Bharata (2, 7*;7,84 &c.), of Vadhryasva (10,69*), of Devavata (3,233), of Divodasa (8,922),and of Trasadasyu (8, I932J38. The names of ancestors sometimes identifiedwith Agni are in part those of families to which composers of the RV. belonged. Some of these, like Vasistha, seem to have had a historical origin,while others, like Angiras ( 54) and Bhrgu ( 51), are probably mythical(cp. S 58).
Agni is further brought into close relations with the daily life of manin the sacrifice. He is, however, not merely a passive receiver of the offering,but is an intermediary between heaven and earth. He transmits the oblationto the gods, who do not get exhilarated without him (7, n 1 ). On the otherhand, he brings the gods (3, i42) to the sacrifice as well as takes it to them(7, ii 5). He seats them on the strewn grass (i, 31 17; 8, 443), to eat theoffering (5, I IT &C.). He goes on the paths leading both to the gods (10,98")and to earth (8, 72), knowing these paths (6, i6 3). He is therefore constantlyand characteristically called a messenger (dutct), who knows the paths andconveys the sacrifice (i, 727) or visits all abodes (4, i8); who flies swiftly(10, 64), moving between heaven and earth (4, 7
. 84; 10, 42 ), or the two
8
races, gods and men (4, 22 -3); who has been appointed by the gods (5,86 &c.)and by men (10, 4610), to be an oblation-bearer (havya-vah or -vdhana,terms always connected with Agni) and to announce the hymn of the worshipper (i, 27 4) or to bring the gods to the place of sacrifice (4, 82). Heisthe messenger of the gods (6, i5 9) and of Vivasvat (p. 42); but as knowingthe innermost recesses of heaven, as conveying- the sacrifice, and bringingthe gods (4, 78. 8J ) he is mainly to be considered the messenger of men.A later text states that Agni is the messenger of the gods, and Kavya Usanasor Daivya that of the Asuras (TS. 2, 5, 85. n 8). Another describes Agni notasthe messenger of, but as the path leading to, the gods, by which the summitof heaven may be reached (TB. 2, 4, i6).
In consequence of his main function in the Veda of officiating at thesacrifice, Agni comes to be celebrated as the divine counterpart of the earthlypriesthood. He is therefore often called generically the priest (rtvij^ viprd)or specifically the domestic priest (purohitd], and constantly, more frequentlyin fact than by any other name, the offerer (hotf) or chief priest, whoispoet and spokesman in one. He is a Hotr appointed by men (8, 491; 10, 7s)and by gods (6, 16 ). He is the most adorable, the most eminent of Hotrs
TERRESTRIAL GODS. 35. AGNI. 97
(10, 21. 918). He is also termed an adhvaryu (3, 54) and (like Brhaspati, Soma, and Indra) a brahman or praying priest (4, 94). He combines in himself the functions, in a higher sense, of the various human priests called by the above and other specific names (i,946; 2, i2 &c.). He is constantly invoked
to honour or worship the gods (3, 25 ; 7, n3 &c.), while they in their turn are said to honour Agni three times a day (3, 42). He is the accomplisher of the rite or sacrifice (3,3 3. 272), promoting it by his occult power (3, 27 7), making the oblations fragrant (10, i512), and causing the offering which he protects to reach the gods (i, i4). He is the father (3,3 4), the king (4, 31), the ruler (10, 6 3), the superintendant (8, 43 24), the banner (3, 33. io4; 6, 2 3; 10, 1 5), of sacrifice. In one hymn (io, 51) it is related that Agni grew weary of the service and refused to fulfil his sacrificial offices, but on being granted the remuneration he required from the gods, continued to act as high priest of men 3?. Agni s priesthood is the most salient feature of his character. He is in fact the great priest, as Indra is the great warrior. But though this phase of Agni s character is so prominent from the beginning to the end of the RV., it is of course from a historical point of view compara tively recent, due to those mystical sacerdotal speculations which ultimately led to the endless sacrificial symbolism of the later ritual texts. From the ordinary sacrificial Agni who conveys the offering (havya-vah or -vdhana) is distinguished the form of Fire which is called corpse-devouring (kravyad: cp. 71). The VS. distinguishes three forms, as the Agni who devours raw flesh (amad\ the corpse-devouring or funereal, and the sacrificial Agni (VS. i, 17, cp. 1 8, 51). The TS. (2, 5, S6) also distinguishes three, the Agni that bears the oblation (havyavdhana), as belonging to the gods, the Agni that bears the funeral offering (kavyavakand), as belonging to the Fathers, and the Agni associated with goblins (saharaksas) as belonging to the Asuras.
Agni is a seer (rsi) as well as a priest (9, 66 20); he is kindled as an eminent seer (3, 2i 3); he is the most gracious seer (6, i42 ); he is the first seer Angiras (i, 31 ). He is the divine one (asurd) among the sages (3, 34 ). Agni knows the sacrifice exactly (io, no11 ) and knows all rites (io, I22 2). Knowing the proper seasons he rectifies the mistakes which men commit through ignorance of the sacrificial ordinances of the gods (io, 24 - 5) He knows the recesses of heaven (4, 82 - 4). He knows everything (io, n 1 ) by his wisdom (10,913). He has all wisdom (3, i1 ?; io, 2i 5), which he embraces as the felly the wheel (2,53) and which he acquired as soon as born (i,96x ). He is all-knowing (visvavid); and the epithets possessed of all knowledge (visvavedas), sage (kavi), and possessing the intelligence of a sage (kavikratu) are predominantly applicable to him. He exclusively bears the epithetjdtav&fas, which occurs upwards of 120 times in the RV. and is there (6, i5 13 ) ex plained as meaning he who knows all generations (visva veda janima)* . He knows the divine ordinances and the generations of men (i, 70 - 3). He knows and sees all creatures (3, 55 ; io, i87 4) and hears the invocations addressed to him (8, 43 23). Agni is also a producer of wisdom (8, 9i8 ). Wisdom and prayers arise from him (4, n 3). He is an inspirer (io, 465 ), an inventor of brilliant speech (2, 94), the first inventor of prayer (6, i1). He is also said to be eloquent (6, 44) and a singer (jaritf). Agni is a great benefactor of his worshippers. He protects them with a hundred iron walls (7, 3?. i6 10, cp. 6, 488; i, i892). He preserves them from calamities or takes them across calamities as in a ship over the sea (3,2o4; 5, 4; 7, i2 2j. He is a deliverer (8, 49 5) and a friend of the man who entertains him as a guest (4, 410). He grants protection to the worshipper who sweats to bring him fuel (4, 26), He watches with a thousand eyes the Indo-arische Philologie. III. 1 A. 7
98 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
man who brings him food and nourishes him with oblations (10, 795). Heconsumes his worshippers enemies like dry bushes (4, 4*) and strikes downthe malevolent as a tree is destroyed by lightning (6, 85, cp. AV. 3, 21 &c.).He is therefore invoked in battle (8,4321 ), in which he leads the van (8,738). The man whom he protects and inspires in battle wins abundant food andcan never be overcome (1,277). All blessings issue from him as branches froma tree (6, 13*). He gives riches, which he abundantly commands (i,i 3. 3i10. 36*). All treasures are collected in him (10, 66) and he opens the door ofriches (i, 68 10). He commands all riches in heaven and earth (4, 511 ) or inearth, heaven, and ocean (7, 6 7; 10, 913). He gives rain from heaven (2, 6s ) and is like a water-trough in the desert (10, 41). He is therefore constantlybesought to bestow every kind of boon: food, riches, deliverance from poverty,childlessness, enemies, and demons 41 . The boons which Agni bestows arerather domestic welfare, offspring, and prosperity, while Indra for the mostpart gives power, victory, and glory. Agni also forgives sin 42 committedthrough folly, makes guiltless before Aditi (4, i2 4; 7, 93?, cp. p. 121), and avertsVaruna s wrath (4, i4). He even frees from guilt committed by a mans father and mother (AV. 5, 3o4; TB. 3, 7, 12*- 4)
Agni is a divine (asura] monarch (samrdj), strong as Indra (7, 6 ). Hisgreatness surpasses that of mighty heaven (i,59 5). He is greater than heavenand earth (3, 62; 10, 88 14), than all the worlds, which he filled when born(3, 310). He is superior to all the other gods in greatness (i, 68 2). All thegods fear and do homage to him when he abides in darkness (6, 97). Heis celebrated and worshipped by Varuna, Mitra, the Maruts, and all the gods(3, 98. 14; 10, 69q). Agni performed great deeds of old (7, 62). Men trembleat his mighty deeds (8,92 3). In battle he procured space for the gods (i,59 5) and he delivered them from curse (7, i32). He is a conqueror of thousands(sahasrajit: more commonly an attribute of Soma). He drives away theDasyus from the house, thus creating a wide light for the Arya (7, 56). Heis a promoter of the Arya (8,92 ) and a vanquisher of irreligious Panis (7,6 3). He receives with some frequency the epithet of Vrtra-slayer , and two orthree times that of fort-destroyer {puramdard), attributes primarily appropriate to Indra (p. 60). Such warlike qualities, though suitable to Agni inhis lightning form, are doubtless derived by him from Indra, with whomheis so frequently associated (p. 127).
Although Agni is the son of Heaven and Earth he is nevertheless calledthe generator of the two worlds (i, 96^ cp. 7,57)> his ordinance, which doesnot perish (2, 8 3 ), being followed by heaven and earth (7, 54). He stretchedthem out (3, 65; 7, 54) or spread them out like two skins (6, 8 3). With hisflame or his smoke he supported the vault of heaven (3, 5 ; 4, 62 ). He keptasunder the two worlds (6, 8 3 ). He supported earth and heaven with truehymns (i, 67^). He stands at the head of the world or is the head of theearth at night (10, 885- 6), but he is also the head and summit (kakud) ofthe sky (i, 592; 6, 7*; 8, 44l6). He measured out the air and touched thevault of heaven with his greatness (6, 82). He measured out the aerial spacesand the bright realms of heaven (6, 77). He caused the sun to ascend thesky (10, i564). The notion that the kindling of Agni exercised a magicalinfluence on the sunrise seems not to be entirely absent in the RV. 43 . Suchappears to be the meaning of the poet when he exclaims: Let us light Agni,that thy wondrous brand may shine in heaven (5,6 4). This notion is clearlystated in a Brahmana passage: By r sacrificing before sunrise he produces him(the sun), else he would not rise (SB. 2, 3, is, Cp. TS. 4, 7, 133). Otherwisethe kindling of Agni and the sunrise are represented merely as simultaneousTERRESTRIAL GODS. 35. AGNI. 99
in the RV.: The sun became visible when Agni was born (4, 311). This trait of the Agni myth resembles the winning of the sun in the Indra myth, but the original point of view in the two cases is clearly different. Agni is further said to have adorned the sky with stars (i, 685 ). He created all that flies, walks, stands, or moves (10, 884). He placed the germ in these beings (3, 210), in plants, in all beings, and engendered offspring in the earth and in women (10, i83 3 ). Agni is once spoken of as having generated these children of men (i, 96*); but this is a mere incidental extension of the notion expressed in the same stanza, that he created heaven, earth, and the waters, and cannot be interpreted as a general belief in Agni as father of the human race 44. Finally, Agni is the guardian (7, 74) and lord (7, 46) of immortality, which he confers on mortal men (i, 3i 7 ).
Though agni is an Indo-European word (Lat. igni-s, Slavonic ogni), the worship of fire under this name is purely Indian. In the Indo-Iranian period the sacrificial fire is already found as the centre of a developed ritual, tended by a priestly class probably called Atharvan; personified and worshipped as a strong,
pure, wise god, giver of food, offspring, intellectual power, fame; friendly to the house, but a destroyer of foes; probably even thought of as having different forms like lightning or the fire produced from wood45. The sacrificial fire
seems to have been an Indo-European institution also 46, since the Italians and Greeks, as well as the Iranians and Indians had the custom of offering gifts to the gods in fire. But the personification of this fire, if it then existed, must have been extremely shadowy 47. The word ag-ni may possibly be derived from the root which in Sanskrit appears as #/ 48, to drive (ajdmi, Lat. ago, Gk. flfyw), meaning nimble , with reference to the agility of the element.
Besides epithets of celestial fire which, like Apam napat, have become separate names, some epithets of Agni exhibit a semi-independent character. The epithet Vaisvanara 49, occurring about sixty times in the RV. and with two exceptions restricted to Agni, is, apart from some five detached verses, to be found in fourteen hymns of the RV., in nearly all of which, according to the native tradition of the Anukramanl, Agni Vaisvanara is the deity ad dressed. The attribute is never in the RV. unaccompanied by the name of Agni. It means belonging to all men and seems to designate Universal Agni , fire in all its aspects, celestial as well as terrestrial. Thus the hymns addressed to this form of Agni sometimes refer to the myth of Matarisvan and the Bhrgus, which is connected with the descent of celestial fire to earth (3) 24 j 6, 84), and Agni Vaisvanara is once even directly styled Matarisvan (3, 26 2). In the Naighantuka (5, i) Vaisvanara is given as one of the names of Agni. Yaska in commenting on the epithet states (Nir. 7, 23) that ancient ritualists (yajnikaJi) took Agni Vaisvanara to be the sun, while Sakapuni con sidered him to be this Agnis . Later on (Nir. 7, 31), he states as his own opinion that the Agni Vaisvanara who receives praise and sacrifice is this (i. e. terrestrial) Agni, while the two higher (uttare) lights (i. e. the aerial and the celestial) only occasionally share this designation. f In the ritual texts Vaisvanara is distinguished as a special form of Agni (ASS. i,3 23; KSS. 23,3*; (PB. 21, io; SB. 1,5, i16). Th epithet Tanunapat, generally unaccompanied by the name of Agni, occurs eight times in the RV. and, with two exceptions (3, 29"; 10, 922) always in the second verse of the AprI hymns, which are liturgical invitations introducing the animal sacrifice and in which fire under various names and forms is invoked51 . The word occurs as an independent name in the Nai ghantuka (5, 2). The explanations given by Yaska (Nir. 8, 5) are artificial 7*
ioo III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
and improbable 52. It seems to mean son of himself ,, as spontaneously generated in wood and cloud. According to BERGAIGNE S interpretation, it signifies the bodily (i. e. own) son of the divine father 53. Tanunapat as con trasted with Matarisvan and Narasamsa is said to be the divine (asura) embryo (3, 29ll). The dawns are said to kiss Agni the domestic priest, the Tanunapat of the ruddy one (10, 922, cp. 5, 58). Tanunapat is beautiful- tongued (10, no2). He is besought to take the sacrifice to the gods (i,i32; 10, no2); he distributes the sacrifice rich in ghee and mead (i, 142% cp. i882 ). The gods honour him three times a day, Varuna, Mitra, Agni, every day (3, 42). HILLEBRANDTS* (comparing 9, 5*) identifies Agni Tanunapat with Agni Somagopa or the lunar Fire, which he assumes to be a special form ofAgni 55. The somewhat more frequent epithet Narasamsa which is given as anindependent appellation in the Naighantuka (5, 3) and is unaccompanied bythe name of Agni in the RV., is not restricted to Agni, being twice connectedwith Ptisan (i, io64; 10, 643 ) 56. It has the third verse as its fixed place in the Apr! hymns and the second in those which are technically called Apra. Narasamsa is four-limbed (10, 92") and is the lord of a celestial wife (gndspati: 2, 3810). With honey on his tongue and in his hand, he performs the sacrifice (i, i3 3/ 5, 52). Three times a day he besprinkles the sacrifice with honey (i, I42 3). He anoints the three heavens and the gods (2, 32). He comes at the head of the gods and makes the sacrifice pleasant for them(10, ;o2). Through his sacrifices worshippers praise the greatness of the gods(7, 22). Soma is said to go between Narasamsa and the celestial (daivya) one (9,8642), which seems to mean, between the terrestrial and the celestial Agni. As contrasted with Tanunapat and Matarisvan, Agni is called Narasamsa when he is born (3, 29"). In one hymn to Brhaspati (10, i82 2) Narasamsa is invoked for protection, and in another he is spoken of as the sacrificer of the seat of heaven (i, i89). He thus seems in these two passagesto be identified with Brhaspati. The word nttra-sdmsa is apparently an improper compound (in which the m of the genitive plural has disappeared), having a double accent and having its parts separated by particles in twopassages (9, 86* 2; 10, 64^). As the expressions naram samsa and devdndmsamsa occur (2,346; i, 141") and a poet once calls Agni samsam dyoh, Praise of Ayu (4, 6"), Narasamsa appears to mean Praise of men in the sense of he who is the object of men s praise . BERGAIGNE expresses the opinion 57 that the exact aspect of Agni represented by Narasamsa, is that ofa god of human prayer, like a second Brhaspati.
i Mund. Up. i, 24; cp. ZDMG. 35, 552. 2 Cp. OLDENBERG, ZDMG. 50, 425 6; SEE. 46, 159. 207. 3 ORV. 104; SEE. 46, 128. 4 Cp. BRV. i, 143; SEE.46, 144. 5 EDA. 501 ; OLDENBERG, ZDMG. 39, 69. 6 SCHWAB, Das alt- indische Tieropfer 77 8; ROTH, Indisches Feuerzeug, ZDMG. 43, 590 5. 7 BRV.2, 52; PVS. 2, 50. 8 ROTH, Nirukta, Erl. 120; PW. s. v. yuvati and tvastr\ OO.2, 510. 9 JOLLY in this Encyclopaedia II, 8, p. 25. *o KHF. ed. Schrader (1889) 37-9; cp. ZDMG. 35, 561. - - KHF. 18; KRV. note 121; HRI. 107.- 12 ROTH, ZDMG. 43, 593; ORV. 121. *3 Cp. HVM. i, 179 note 4. 14 HAUG,AB. 2, p. 62. 15 OLDENBERG, ZDMG. 39, 6872; MACDONELL, JRAS. 26, 16 ff. - 16 LRV. 5, 504. 17 ORV. 115. 18 Cp. GVS. i, 15770. 19 ORV. 113 note 2. – 20 ibid. 112. 21 Other passages are 3, 144; 8, 565; 10, 88 I2; AV. 13, 113; TS. 4, 2, 94. 22 OST. 5, 206; BRV. i, 215; MACDONELL, JRAS.25, 46870; ORV. 106; SEE. 46, 231. 23 Cp. HRI. 105.24 See GW. s. v.
25 LRV. 3, 356; BRV. i, 23. 26 ORV. 348. 27 Cp. SB. 2, i and EGGE LING, SEE. 12, 274 ff. 28 HRI. 106; cp. LRV. 3, 356. 29 BRV. i, 23; LRV.3 355; OLDENBERG, SEE. 30, x, note i; 46, 362; ORV. 348. 3 BRV. i, 103.
3 LRV. 5, 5045. 32 Cp. Sayana; ROTH, Nirukta, Erl. 140; MM., LSL. 2, 614. 33 Cp. BRV. 3, 134 f. 34 BRV. 2, 217. 35 ORV. 128. 36 SEE. 46, 361. -
TERRESTRIAL GODS. 36. BRHASPATI. 101
37 ORV. 1323. - 38 OST. i, 3489; cp. SEE. 46, 123. 211. 39 MAC DONELL, JRAS. 26, 12 22. 4 WHITNEY, AJP. 3, 409; otherwise PVS. I, 94 and BLOOMFIELD, JAOS. 16, 16. 41 OST. 5, 218. 42 Cp. ORV. 299 300. - 43 Cp. BRV. i, 140 ff.; ORV. 109; SEE. 46, 330. 44 The view of KHF. 69 ff.
45 ORV. 103. 46 KNAUER, FaR. 64. 47 ORV. 102. 48 PW.; MM.PhR. 117 (cp. KIRSTE, WZKM. 7, 97); rejected by BARTHOLOMAE, IF. 5, 222. 49 BRV. 1536. 5 ROTH, Nir. Erl. 7, 19. 51 ROTH, Nirukta, Introd. 36 f. ; Erl. 1178. 1214; MM.ASL. 4636; WEBER, IS. 10, 8995; GRV. i, 6. 52 ROTH, Nir. Erl. 117; cp. OLDENBERG, SEE. 46, 10. 53 BRV. 2, 99 f. 54 HVM. i, 339. 55 Ibid. 330 6. 56 ROTH, Erl. 117 f. ; cp. Sp.AP. 209 f. 57 BRV. i, 3058.
KHF. 1 105; WHITNEY, JAOS. 3, 3178; OST. 199220; LRV. 3, 3245; KRV. 357; BRV. i, 1131. 3845. 704. 100 i. 13945; BRL 911; Sp.AP. 147 53; v. SCHROEDER, KZ. 29, 193 ff. (cp. BB. 19, 230); WZKM. 22530; MM.PhR. 144203. 252302; HVBP. 638; ORV. 10233; HRI- 10512.
- Brhaspati. –This god occupies a position of considerable pro minence in the RV., eleven entire hymns being dedicated to his praise. He also forms a pair with Indra in two hymns (4, 49; 7, 97). His name occurs about 120 times and in the form of Brahmanas pati about 50 times besides. The two forms of the name alternate in different verses of the same hymn (e. g. in 2, 23). The physical features of Brhaspati are few. He is seven- mouthed and seven-rayed (4, 5o4), beautiful-tongued (i, 190*; 4, 50*), sharp horned (10, i552), blue-backed (5, 4312), and hundred-winged (7, 97 7)- He is golden-coloured and ruddy (5, 4312), bright (3, 62"- 7, 977),^pure (7, 977), and clear-voiced (7, 97 5). He has a bow, the string of which is the rite (rfa), and good arrows (2, 248; cp. AV. 5, i88-9). He also wields a golden hatchet (7, 97 7) and is armed with an iron axe, which Tvastr sharpens (io, 539). He has a car (10, 103*) and stands on the car of the rite, which slays the goblins, bursts the cowstalls, and wins the light (2, 23^). He is drawn by ruddy steeds (7, 976).
Brhaspati was first born from great light in the highest heaven and with thunder (ravena) drove away darkness (4, 5o4; cp. 10, 68 12). He is the off spring of the two worlds (7, 978), but is also said to have been generated by Tvastr (2, 231 ?). On the other hand, he is called the father of the gods (2, 26 3); being said to have blown forth the births of the gods like a black smith (10, 722 ).
Brhaspati is a domestic priest1 (2, 249; VS. 20, n; TS. 6, 4, 10; AB. 8, 264), a term almost peculiar to Agni (p. 96). The ancient seers placed him at their head (puro-dha) (4, 50*). He is Soma s purohita (SB. 4, i, 2 4 ). He is also a brahman or praying priest2 (2, i3; 4, 5o8)_, once probably in the technical sense (10, i4i 3). In later Vedic texts Brhaspati is the brahman priest (in the technical sense) of the gods 3. He is even called the prayer or devotion (brahmd) of the gods (TS. 2, 2, 91 &c.) Brhaspati promotes the yoking of devotion, and without him sacrifice does not succeed (i, i8 7). As a pathmaker he makes good the access to the feast of the gods (2, 236 - 7). From him even the gods obtained their share of sacrifice (2,23 ). He awakens the gods with sacrifice (AV. ig} 63x). He himself pronounces the hymn in which Indra, Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman, the gods take pleasure (i, 4o5). He sings chants (10, 36s). His song (sloka) goes to heaven (i, i9o4 ) and metre (chandas) belongs to him (MS. i, 92). He is associated with singers (7, io4; 10, 1 43). He sings with his friends that cry like Hamsas (10,67^), by whom the Angirases 4( 54) mentioned in the preceding verse (io, 672) seem to be meant. He is also said to be accompanied by a singing (rkvatY host (gana: 4, 5o5). This is doubtless the reason why he is called ganapati, lord of a host (2, 231), a term once applied to Indra also (io, ii2 9). As the name Brahmanas pati shows, the god is a lord of prayer . He
io? III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
is also described as the supreme king of prayers, the most famous sage ofsages (2, 231 ). Mounting the car of the rite he conquers the enemies ofprayer and of the gods (2,233-8). He is the generator of all prayers (i,i9o 2 ), He utters prayer (i, 405) and communicates prayers to the human priest (io, 98 27)- Thus he comes later to be called a )ord of speech , vdcaspati(MS. 2, 66, cp. SB. 14, 4, i2-3 ), a term specially applied to Brhaspati as god ofeloquence and wisdom in post-Vedic literature. 6
There are several passages in which Brhaspati appears identified withAgni. Thus the lord of prayer, Agni, handsome like Mitra is invoked(i, 38*3). In another passage (2, i3 ff.) Agni, though identified with othergods as well, is clearly more intimately connected with Brahmanaspati, as
only these two names are in the vocative. In one verse (3, 26 2) both Mli tarisvan and Brhaspati the wise priest, the guest, the swiftly-moving seem to be epithets of Agni, while in another (i, ipo2) Matarisvan seems to be anepithet of Brhaspati. Again, by Brhaspati, who is blue-backed, takes up his abode in the house, shines brightly, is golden-coloured and ruddy (5, 4312), Agni must be meant. In two other verses (i, i8 19; io, i82 2 ) Brhaspati seemsto be the same as Narasamsa, a form of Agni (p. 100). Like Agni, Brhaspatiis a priest, is called Son of strength (i, 4o2 ) and Angiras (2, 23l8) as well(the epithet angirasa belonging to him exclusively), and burns the goblins(2, 23 14 ) or slays them (io, io34). Brhaspati is also spoken of as ascendingto heaven, to the upper abodes (io, 6710). Like Agni, Brhaspati has threeabodes (4, So1 ); he is the adorable one of houses (7,97 s), and lord of thedwelling , sadasas pati 7 (i,i86; Indra-Agni are once called sadaspati, i,2i5).On the other hand, Agni is called brahmanas kavi, sage of prayer (6, i63)and is besought (2, 2 7) to make heaven and earth favourable by prayer(brahmana). But Brhaspati is much more commonly distinguished from Agni(2, 253; 7, io4; io, 689), chiefly by being invoked or named along with himin enumerations (3, 20$ &c.)8.
Like Agni, Brhaspati has been drawn into and has obtained a firmfooting in the Indra myth of the release of the cows. The mountain yieldedto his splendour, when Brhaspati, the Angiras, opened the cowstall and withIndra as his companion let loose the flood of water enveloped by darkness(2, 23l8, cp. i, 56 s. 899). Accompanied by his singing host (cp. 54) hewith a roar rent Vala; shouting he drove out the lowing cows (4, 5o5). Hewon treasures and the great stalls full of cows; desiring waters and light, the irresistible Brhaspati slays his foe with flames (6, 733). What was firmwas loosened, what was strong yielded to him; he drove out the cows, hecleft Vala with prayer; he covered up the darkness and made heaven visible;the stone-mouthed well filled with honey, which Brhaspati pierced with might,that the celestials drank, while they poured out together abundantly thewatery fountain (2,24-^ 4). When Brhaspati with fiery gleams rent the defencesof Vala, he revealed the treasures of the cows; as if splitting open eggs, hedrove out the cows of the mountain; he beheld the honey enclosed by thestone; he brought it out, having cloven (Vala) with his roar; he smote forthas it were the marrow of Vala (io, 68 4 ~9). He drove out the cows anddistributed them in heaven (2, 24 14). Brhaspati fetched the cows out of therock; seizing the cows of Vala, he took possession of them (io, 685). Hisconquest of Vala is so characteristic that it became proverbial (AV. 9, 32). Being in the clouds (abhriyd) he shouts aloud after the many cows (io,6812, cp. 67 3). These cows may represent the waters, which are expressly mentioned(2, 23l8; 6, 733) or possibly the rays of dawn (cp. io, 67 5. 689). In releasing the cows Brhaspati seeks light in darkness and finds the
TERRESTRIAL GODS, 36. BRHASPATI. 103
light; he found the Dawn, light, and Agni, and dispelled the darkness (10, 684 9). In shattering the fort, he found the Dawn, the Sun, the Cow (10, 67 5). He hid or dispelled the darkness and made visible the light (2, 24$; 4, 5o4). Brhaspati thus comes to acquire more general warlike traits. t He
penetrated the mountain full of riches and split open the strongholds of Sam bara (2, 242). Brhaspati Angirasa, the first-born holy one, cleaver of rocks, roars as a bull at the two worlds, slays Vrtras (prtrdni\ shatters forts, over comes foes (6, 731 - ). He disperses foes and wins victory (10, 103^). No one can overcome him in great fight or small (i, 4o8). He vanquishes the enemy in battle (2, 23"). He is to be invoked in combats (2, ^3 13) and is a priest much praised in conflict (2, 249).
Being the companion and ally of Indra (2, 23l8. 24 ; 8, 85 15), he is often invoked with that deity (4, 5010 - IX &c.). With Indra he is a soma drinker (4, 49^. 50*) and, like him, is styled maghavan, bountiful (2, 2412).
Indra, too, is the only god with whom he forms a pair (2, 2412; 4, 49T ~6). Thus he comes to be styled vajrin, wielder of the bolt (i, 4o8) and to be described as^hurling the bolt, the Asura-slaying missile (AV. n, lo 1 ^). He is also invoked with the Maruts at the same time as Indra (i, 40*) and is once besought to come accompanied by the Maruts, whether he be Mitra, Varuna or Pusan (10, 98 )- In one passage he is said to have heard the prayer of Trita buried in a well and to have delivered him (i, 105*7).
Brhaspati favours the man who offers prayer (2, 251 ) but scourges the hater of prayer (2, 23^). He protects the pious man from all dangers and calamities, from curse and malignity, and blesses him with wealth and prosperity (i, 18^; 2, 231I0). Possessed of all desirable things (7, 10*. 97*), he is opulent, a procurer of wealth, and an increaser of prosperity (i, i8 2 ). He is a prolonger of life and a remover of disease (i, i8 2 ). Having such benevolent traits he is called a father (4, 5<D 6; 6, 731 )- He is asurya, divine (2, 232 ), belongs to all the gods (3, 62 4; 4, 5o6), and is the most god-like of the gods (2, 243). As a god he widely extended to the gods and embraces all things (2, 24", cp. 8, 6i l8). Mightily he holds asunder the ends of the earth with his roar (4, 5oT ). It is his inimitable deed that sun and moon rise alternately (10, 68 10). He is also spoken of as stimulating the growth of plants (10, 97^- ^j. Later Brhaspati is brought into connexion with certain stars. Thus in the TS. (4, 4, lo 1) he is stated to be the deity of the constellation Tisya 9, and in post-Vedic literature he is regarded as the regent of the planet Jupiter.
Brhaspati is a purely Indian deity. Both forms of the name occur throughout the older as well as the later books of the RV. But since appella tions formed with pati (like vacas pati, vastos pati, ksetrasya pati} to designate deities presiding over a particular domain, must be comparatively recent as products of reflexion 10, this mythological creation can hardly go much further back than the beginning of the Rigvedic period. The accentuation of the word brhaspdti shows it to be an improper compound. The prior member might possibly be a neuter noun in -as* 1, but the contemporaneous form brdhmanas pati, which is a kind of explanation, indicates that the poets of the RV. regarded it as the genitive12 of a noun brh, from the same root as brahman.
The evidence adduced above seems to favour the view that Brhaspati was originally an aspect of Agni as a divine priest presiding over devotion, an aspect which (unlike other epithets of Agni formed with pati, such as visdm pati, grhapati, sadaspati) had attained an independent character by the beginning of the Rigvedic period, though the connexion with Agni was
104 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY. not entirely severed. LANGLOIS^, H. H. WILSON I4, MAX MULLER X S agree in regarding Brhaspati as a variety of Agni. ROTH 16 was of opinion that this sacerdotal god is a direct impersonation of the power of devotion. SimilarlyKAEGi 17 and OLDENBERG IS think him to be an abstraction of priestly action, which has appropriated the deeds of earlier gods. WEBER Z 9 considers Brhaspatito be a priestly abstraction of Indra, and is followed in this by HOPKINS 20. Finally, HiLLEBRANDT 21 holds him to be a lord of plants and a personificationof the moon 22, representing predominantly the igneous side of that luminary.
As the divine brahman priest, Brhaspati seems to have been the proto type of Brahma, the chief of the -Hindu triad, while the neuter form of theword, brahma, developed into the Absolute of the Vedanta philosophy2 ^
i Cp. ZDMG. 32, 316. 2 ORV. 396, note i; SEE. 46, 190. 3 ORV. 382. 4 ROTH thinks they are the Maruts: ZDMG. I, 77. 5 Stars, HVM. i, 416;Maruts, Vedainterpretation 10. 6 ZDMG. i, 77. 7 Cp. HILLEBRANDT, Vedaint. 10. 8 OST. 5, 283. 9 WEBER, Die Naksatra 2, 371. – > ROTH, ZDMG. i, 72. – ii HVM. i, 409. MACDONELL, KZ. 34, 292 6. 13 RV. Trans, i, 249. 254. 578. – T 4 RV. Trans, i, xxxvii. J 5 Vedic Hymns, SEE. 32, 94. - 16 ZDMG. i, 73; PW. *7 KRV. 32. 18 ORV. 66-8. 3812; SEE. 46, 94. 19 Vajapeya 15.2 HRI. 136; cp. WILSON, RV. Tr. 2, ix; EDA. xi. 21 HVM,i, 404. 4189 (cp. 277); cp. OLDENBERG, ZDMG. 49, 173. 22 Also HVBP. 467.- 23 BRV. i, 304; HRI. 136.
ROTH, ZDMG. i, 7280; OST. 5, 27283; BRV. i, 299-304; KRV. 734;BRI. 15 6; HVM. i, 404-25; LRF. 978; PISCHEL, GGA. 1894, p. 420. 37. Sojna.- - Since the Soma sacrifice forms the main feature of theritual of the RV. T, the god Soma is naturally one of the most important deities of that Veda. All the 114 hymns of the ninth besides 6 in other books, arededicated to his praise. He is also celebrated in portions of four or five otherhymns, and as a dual divinity with Indra, Agni, Pusan, or Rudra, in aboutsix more. The name of Soma, in its simple form and in compounds, occurshundreds of times in the RV. Judged by the standard of frequency, Somatherefore comes third in order of importance among the Vedic gods. Somais much less anthropomorphic than Indra or Varuna, the constant presenceof the plant and its juice setting limits to the imagination of the poets whodescribe its personification. Consequently little is said of his human formor action. The marvellous and heroic deeds attributed to him are eithercolourless, because common to almost all the greater gods, or else onlysecondarily belong to him. Like other gods, he is, under the name of Induas well as Soma, invoked to come to the sacrifice and receive the offeringson the strewn grass2. The ninth book mainly consists of incantations sungover the tangible Soma while it is pressed by the stones, flows through thewoolen strainer into the wooden vats, in which it is finally offered on alitter of grass to the gods as a beverage, sometimes in fire (i, 94 14; 5, 51; 8, 43IX &c.) or drunk by the priests. The processes to which it is subjectedare overlaid with the most varied and chaotic imagery and with mysticalfancies often incapable of certain interpretation.
In order to make intelligible the mythology of Soma, the basis of whichare the concrete terrestrial plant and the intoxicating juice extracted therefrom , it is necessary briefly to describe these as well as the treatment theyundergo. The part of the Soma plant which is pressed is called amsu, shootor stalk (9,672b). The shoots swelling give milk like cows with their udders(8,9T 9). As distinguished from the stalk, the whole Soma plant seems to beintended by andhas (8, 32*8; io,948 &c.), which is said to have come fromheaven (9,6i10) and to have been brought by the eagle (5,45 9; 9,686; 10,1445).The same term is applied to the juice also 3 and is distinguished from Induthe god (9, 51 3; 10, 115^). The juice is also designated by soma (which
TERRESTRIAL GODS. 37. SOMA. 105
means the plant as well) and generally by rasa, fluid. In one hymn (i, 187) the juice is called pitu, the beverage ; and it is often styled mada, intoxi cating draught 4. Soma is occasionally also referred to with anna, food (7, 98*; 8, 412; SB. i; 6, 4s). The term madhu, which in connexion with the Asvins means honey or mead , comes to be applied, in the general sense of sweet draught , not only to milk (payas) and ghee (ghrta), but especially to the Soma juice (4, 275; 8, 696). Mythologically madhu is the equivalent of Soma when the latter means the celestial ambrosia (amrta) s. Conversely, amrta is frequently used as an equivalent of ordinary Soma (5, 2 3; 6, 37 3 &c.; VS. 6, 34; SB. 9, 5, i8) 6. King Soma when pressed is amrta (VS. 19, 72). Another expression is somyam madhu, Soma mead (4., 26 5; 6, 2o3). Figu ratively the Soma juice is called piyusa (3, 482 &c.), milk (9, io712), the wave of the stalk (9, 968) or the juice of honey (5, 43 4). The most frequent figur ative name applied to Soma is indu, the bright drop , another term of similar meaning, drapsa, drop , being much less common. The extraction of the juice is generally described by the root su, to press (9, 62* &c.), but often also by duh to milk (3, 366 - ? &c.). The juice is intoxicating (i, 1253; 6, 17". 2o6) and honied , madhumat (9, 971 )- The latter expression simply means sweet , but as applied to Soma originally seems to have meant sweetened with honey", some passages pointing to this admixture (9, i78. 8648. 97". io920)7. As flowing from the press, Soma is compared with the wave of a stream (9, 8o 5) and directly called a wave (9, 64" &c.) or a wave of honey (3, 47). With reference to the juice collected in the vat, Soma is spoken of as a sea (arnava: 10, ii5 3) and frequently as an ocean (samudra-. 5, 47 3; 9, 64 &c.). The heavenly Soma is also called a well (utsa), which is in the highest place of the cows (5, 458), which is placed in the cows and guided with ten reins (i. e. fingers: 6, 4424), or a well of honey in the highest step of Visnu (i, i545). The colour of the plant and juice, as well as of the god, is described as brown (babhni) or ruddy (aruna\ but most frequently as tawny (Jiari). Thus Soma is the branch of a ruddy tree (10, 94^); it is a ruddy milked shoot (7, 981 ); the tawny shoot is pressed into the strainer (9, 921 ). The colour of the Soma plant or its substitute prescribed in the Brahmanas is ruddy (SB. 4, 5, lo 1); and in the ritual the cow which is the price paid in the purchase 9f Soma, must be brown or ruddy because that is Soma s colour (TS. 6, i, 6J; SB. 3, 3, i< 4)8 - Soma is described as purified with the hands (9, 8634), by the ten fin gers (9, 8 4 . i58 &c.), or, figuratively, by the ten maidens who are sisters (9, i7. 65), or by the daughters (naptt] of Vivasvat (9, i45). Similarly, the maidens of Trita are said to urge on the tawny one with stones as a drop for Indra to drink (9, 322. 38"). Soma is also spoken of as purified or brought by the daughter of the sun (9, i 6. 72^. H33)9. Sometimes it is said to be purified by prayer (9, 96 13 . H35). The priests who press Soma are Adhvaryus10 (8, 4"). The shoot is crushed with a stone (9, 67 19) or pressed with stones (9, ic>7 10); the plant is pounded to produce the Soma draught (10, 85 3). The stones tear its skin (TB. 3, 7, I31). The stones lie on a skin; for they chew him on the hide of the cow (9, 794). They are placed on the vedi or altar (5, 3i12): a practice differing from that of the later ritual 11. They are held with hands or arms (7, 22 1; 9, 794; AV. n, i10). The two arms and the ten fingers yoke the stone (5, 43 4). Hence the stones are said to be guided by ten reins (10, 948). Being spoken of as yoked, they are com pared with horses (10, 946). The usual name for the pressing stones is adri
io6 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
(generally used -with the verb su, to press) or grdvan (generally connectedwith vad, to speak, or verbs of cognate meaning, and hence showing a greatertendency to personification12 than adri). Both terms nearly always occureither in the singular or the plural, and not in the dual. The stones are
also once respectively called asna (8, 22 ), bharitra (3, 36 7), parvata (3, 358) and parvata adrayah (10, 941 ). The pressing of Soma by means of stoneswas the usual method in the period of the RV. But the extraction of thejuice by mortar and pestle, which is also sanctioned by the ritual texts, was
already known to the RV. (i, 28 T ~4 ); and as this method is in use amongthe Parsis, it may go back to the Indo-Iranian age. The pressed drops are poured upon (9, 6310 &c.) and pass over thestrainer of sheep s wool (9, 699). For it removes Soma s impurity, so thathe goes cleansed to the feast of the gods (9, 78*). This strainer, which is very frequently mentioned, passes under various names. It is called a skin(tvac], hair (romaii), wool (vdra\ filter (pavitrd), or ridge (sdnu, as the topof the contrivance). All these terms are used with or without an adjectiveformed from am, sheep. The word am itself is sometimes figuratively employed in this sense. As passing through the strainer Soma is usually calledpavamdna or pundna^ flowing clear (from rfpu). The more general termmrj\ to cleanse ^ is not only applied to the purification of Soma with thestrainer, but also to the addition of water and milk (9, 86". 9i2 ). Thepurified (unmixed) Soma juice is sometimes called suddha, pure , but muchoftener sukra or suci, bright (8, 2TO; 9, 332; i, 5s. 3o2). This unmixed Somais offered almost exclusively to Vayu and Indra, the epithet sucipa, drinkingclear (Soma) being distinctive of Vayu (p. 82). This agrees with the laterritual, where, in the Grahas or draughts for dual divinities, clear Soma is offered to Vayu and Indra-Vayu, but is mixed with milk for Mitra-Varuna,and with honey for the Asvins 1 -3.
After passing the filter, Soma flows into jars (kalafa, 9, 6o3 c.) orvats (drona)**. The streams of Soma rush to the forest of the vats like buffaloes (9, 33*. 926); the god flies like a bird to settle in the vats (9, 31 );
like a bird sitting on a tree, the tawny one settles in the bowls (camu:9, 7 25). Soma is mixed with water in the vat. United with the wave, thestalk roars (9, 745). Like a bull on the herd, he rushes on the vat, intothe lap of the waters, a roaring bull; clothing himself in waters, Indu rushesaround the vat, impelled by the singers (9, y6 5. icy 26). The wise milk himinto the waters with their hands (9, 794). Having passed over the wool andplaying in the wood, he is cleansed by the ten maidens (9, 6 5 ). Severalother passages refer to the admixture of water with Soma (9, 305. 534. 868 - 25). The Soma drops are said to spread brightness in the streams (9, 761 ). Besides the verb mrj\ to cleanse , which is commonly used to express theadmixture of water (e. g. 9, 63 17), a-dhav, to wash , is also employed (8, i 17). In the preparation of Soma, the pressing ( ~/~su) comes first, then the mixingwith water (7, 326; 8, i 17. 318; AV. 6, 21), just as in the later ritual thesavana, pressure , precedes the ddhavana, washing . In the bowls Somais mixed with milk (9, 86 &c.) 15, which is said to sweeten it (8,23)l6. In severalpassages the addition of both water and milk is mentioned. Thus it is saidthat Soma clothes himself in waters, that streams of water flow after him,when he desires to clothe himself in cows (i. e. milk: 9, 23-4). They presshim with stones, they wash him in water, clothing him as it were in cow-garments,men milk him out of the stalks (8, i17; cp. 2, 36 ; 6, 4o2; 9, 86 ? 4-5. 96^).Soma is recognised in the RV. as having three kinds of admixture(trydtir: 5, 275), with milk (gavasir), sour milk (dadhydsir], and barley (yavd-
TERRESTRIAL GODS. 37. SOMA. 107
sir). The admixture is figuratively called a garment (vastra, vdsas, or a shining robe (nirnij: 9, i45), the latter term being applied to the strainer also (9, 7o7). Hence Soma is spoken of as decked with beauty (9, 344 &c.) and as richly adorned (9, Si 1 ). Mention is also made, though rarely, ot mixture with ghee (9, 82 2); but neither this addition nor that of water, is a regular dsir 18.
In the ritual there is a ceremony called dpydyana or causing the half- pressed Soma stalks to swell by moistening them with water afresh. The beginnings of it are found in the MS. (4, 55). The verb d-pya, to swell , occurs in the RV. in connexion with Soma (i, 9il6 ~8); 10, 85$)X 9; but here it seems to refer to Soma as identified with the moon. In one other passage, however, (9, 3i 4 )it may have a ritual application. Soma is also said in the RV. to swell (p^ pinv}) like a sea or river (9, 648. io712). Soma is described in the RV. as pressed three times in the day. Thus the Rbhus are invited to the evening pressing (4, 33" &c.)20, Indra to the midday pressing (3, 32*-2; 8, 371 ), which is his alone (4, 36?), while the mor ning libation is his first drink (10, H2 1). The abode (sadhastha] of Soma is often referred to 21; once, however, mention is made of three, which he occupies when purified (9, io32), the epithet trisadhastha, having three abodes , being also applied to him in another passage (8, 83 5 ). These three abodes may already designate the three tubs used at the Soma sacrifice of the later ritual (TS. 3, 2, i2; KSS. 9, 517 . 74; cp. RV. 8, 2s); but BERGAIGNE (BRV, i, 179) regards them as purely mytholo gical. A similar remark applies to the three lakes of Soma which Indra drinks (5, 29 78; 6, 17"; 8, 710) 22. The epithet triprstha, three-backed , is peculiar to Soma. Being applied to the juice at least once (7, 371 )it probably refers (as Sayana thinks) to the three admixtures, much as the Agni s epithet ghrtaprstha alludes to ghee being thrown on the fire 23.
Based on the mixture of water with the juice, the connexion of Soma with the waters is expressed in the most varied ways. Streams flow for him (9? 3l3 ) The waters follow his ordinance (9, 825). He flows at the head of streams (9, S6 12). He is lord and king of streams (9, i5 5 . 86H 892 ), lord of spouses (9, 86^ 2); an oceanic (samudriyd) king and god (9, io7 l6). The waters are his sisters (9, 8 2 3). As leader of waters, Soma rules over rain (9, 742). He produces waters and causes heaven and earth to rain (9, 96 3 ). He streams rains from heaven (9, 88. 491. 97 17. io89- 10). The Soma drops themselves are several times compared with rain (9, 4i 3. 891. io69) 24 and Soma is said to flow clearly with a stream of honey like the rain-charged cloud (9, 2 9). So too the Pavamana drops are said to have streamed from heaven, from air, on the ridge of earth (9, 63 2?). There are some other passages in which the soma that is milked appears to refer to rain (8, 710; 9, 744, cp. 10, 3o4)25. The SB. (n, 5, 45) identifies the amrta with the waters. This identification may have given rise to the myth of Soma brought down to man by an eagle (p. in) 26. But the celestial Soma descending to earth was doubtless usually regarded as only mixed with rain, and not confounded with it 27 .
The waters are invoked to set in motion the exhilerating wave, the draught of Indra, the sky-born well (10, 3o9). Soma is the drop which grows in the waters (9, 8510. 892). Hence he is the embryo of the waters (9, 97 41; SB. 4, 4, 521 ) or their child, for seven sisters as mothers are around the child, the newly born, the Gandharva of the waters (9, 86^6; cp. 10, 13$), and the waters are directly called his mothers (9, 6i 4). Soma is also spoken of as a youth among the waters or cows (5, 459; 9, 9$).
io8 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
The sound made by the Soma juice as it is being purified and rushesinto the vats or bowls, is often referred to. It is compared with that of rain(9, 4 13). But the language is generally hyperbolical. Thus the sweet dropis said to flow over the filter like the din of combatants (9, 69"). The noiseis constantly designated by various verbs meaning to roar or bellow (krand,nad, md, ru, vas: 9, 9i 3. 95 4 &c.). Even the verb stan, to thunder , is used(9, 86 9) and the wise are described as milking the thundering unfailing stalk(9, 726). Lightning also is in some verses connected with the purificationof Soma (9, 4 13. So1. 843. 8;8); this in all probability alludes to the purifi cation of the celestial Soma and may have referred to the phenomena ofthe thunderstorm 28.
When Soma is said to roar he is commonly compared with or directlycalled a bull. As a bull he bellows in the wood (9, 73); the tawny bullbellows and shines with the Sun (9, 26). As the waters, added with or without milk,2 9 are figuratively called cows, the relation of Soma to them is usually that of a bull to cows. He is a bull among the cows (9, i66. 69!96 7) or is lord of the cows (9, 72 4). He bellows like a bull traversing thecows (9, 71 9) or like a bull towards the cows (9, 7i 7), the cows also bellowingtowards him (9, 8o 2 &c.). He is the bull of heaven as well as of the earthand the streams (6, 4421)- The impetuosity of Soma is also several timesillustrated by comparison with a buffalo (mahisd). Thus he even comes tobe called an animal (pasu: 9, 8643). Being a bull among the cow-waters,Soma is the fertilizer of the waters (10, 368, cp. 9, i9 5). He is also (9, 86 39) an impregnator (retodha), an epithet especially applied to the moon in theYV. (e. g. MS. i,69). Hence he is a bestower of fertility (9, 6o4. 745). Somabeing so frequently called a bull (uksan, vrsan, vrsabhd) is sharp-horned(tigmasrngd), an epithet which in five of its six occurrences in the RV. is accompanied by a word meaning bull . Thus the brewed drink (manthd) ofIndra is like a sharp-horned bull (10, 86 IS). Soma is also said (like Agni)to sharpen his horns (9, i5 4. 70?) 3. Soma is swift (i, 47 ) and, in illustration of the speed with which thepressed juice flows, is very often compared with or designated a steed. Thusthe ten maidens are said to cleanse him like a swift steed (9, 6s). The dropwhich intoxicates Indra is a tawny steed (9, 63 17). Soma flowing into thevats is sometimes also compared with a bird flying to the wood (9, 72$ &c).
Owing to the yellow colour of the juice, the physical quality of Somamainly dwelt on by the poets, is his brilliance. His rays are often referredto and he is frequently assimilated to the sun. He shines like or with thesun or clothes himself in its rays (9, 76! 86 32; cp. 7i 9). He ascends the carof the sun and stands above all beings like the sun 31 - He fills heaven andearth with rays like the sun (9, 41 5). When born a bright son, he causedhis parents to shine (9, 93 ). The daughter of the sun purifies him (9, i6). Thus it comes to be said of him that he combats the darkness (9, 97), wardsit off with light (9, 86 22), or creates bright light, dispelling the darkness(9, 66 24 . ioo8. io8 12 &c.).
Its mysteriously exhilerating and invigorating action, surpassing that ofordinary food or drink and prompting to deeds beyond the natural powers,led to Soma being regarded as a divine drink which bestows immortal life. Hence it is mythologically called amrta, the draught of immortality. It is animmortal stimulant (i, 84^), which the gods love (9, 85") and of which, whenpressed by men and mixed with milk, all the gods drink (9,109*5); for theyhasten to exhileration (8, 2l8) and become exhilerated (8, 58"). Soma is immortal (i, 439; 8, 4812; 9, 3T &c.)j and the gods drank him for immortalityTERRESTRIAL GODS. 37. SOMA. 109
(9, io6 8). He confers immortality on the gods (i, gi6; 9, io8 3 ) and on men (i, 911; 8, 48 3). He places his worshipper in the everlasting and imperishable world where there is eternal light and glory, and makes him immortal where king Vaivasvata lives (9, ii3 7- 8) 32 . Thus Soma naturally has medicinal power also. It is medicine for a sick man (8, 6i 17). Hence the god Soma heals whatever is sick,, making the blind to see and the lame to walk (8, 68 2; 10,25"). He is the guardian of men s bodies and occupies their every limb (8, 48 9), bestowing length of life in this world (i, 9i6; 8, 484<7 ; 9, 46. gi6). The Soma draught is even said to dispel sin from the heart, to destroy falsehood and to promote truth. When imbibed Soma stimulates the voice (6, 47 3; 9, 84". 95 5 . 97 32)> which he impels as the rower his boat (9, 952). This is doubtless the reason why Soma is called lord of speech vdcas pati^ (9, 26 4 . ioi5) or leader of speech, vdco agriya or agre (9, 73. 62 25~6. 86 12. io6 10). He is also said to raise his voice from heaven (9, 68 s). In the Brahmanas vac, speech , is described as the price paid by the gods for Soma 34. Soma also awakens eager thought (6,47 3). So his worshippers exclaim: We have drunk Soma, we have become immortal, we have entered into light, we have known the gods (8, 48 3). Thus he is also spoken of as a lord of thought and as a father, leader, or gener ator of hymns 35 . He is a leader of poets, a seer among priests (9, 966). He has the mind of seers, is a maker of seers (9, 96l8) and a protector of prayer (6, 52 3). He is the soul of sacrifice (9, 210. 68), a priest (brahma) among the gods (9, 96), and apportions to them their share of sacrifice (10, 85 19). Soma s wisdom thus comes to be predominantly dwelt upon36. He is a wise seer (8, 68 1 ). He knows the races of the gods (9, 8i 2. 952. 97 7 . io8 3). He is a wise man-seeing wave (9, 782). Soma with intelligence surveys creatures (9, 71 9). Hence he is many-eyed (9, 26 5 ) and thousand eyed (9, 6o T ). Soma stimulated the Fathers to deeds (9, 96"); through him the Fathers found the light and the cows (9, 97 39). Soma is also said to be united with the fathers (8, 48 13) or to be accompanied by them (AV. 18, 412; SB. 2, 6, i4, &c.), the Fathers, conversely, being called soma-loving, (somya: 10, i46; AV. 2, 125). The exhilerating effect of the draught on man was naturally transferred to the gods, to whom the Soma was offered. The main application of its intoxicating power is its stimulating effect on Indra in his conflict with the hostile powers of the air. That Soma strengthens Indra for the fight with Vrtra, is mentioned in innumerable passages of the RV. (8, 8i 17 &c.). In the intoxication of Soma Indra slays all foes (9, i 10) and no one can resist him in battle when he has drunk it (6, 47 ). Soma is the soul of Indra (9? &5 3), the auspicious friend of Indra (10, 25 9). whose vigour he stimulates (9, 762 ) and whom he aids in slaying Vrtra (9, 6i 22). With Soma as a com panion Indra made the waters to flow for man and slew the dragon (4, 28 1 ). Thus Soma is sometimes even called the bolt (vajra) of Indra (9. 72 7. 77 in3). Soma, Indra s juice, becomes a thousand-winning bolt (9, 47 3 ). It is the intoxicating draught which destroys a hundred forts (9, 482) and is n Vrtra-slaying intoxicating stalk (6, 17"). Thus the god Soma is said to be like Indra a slayer of Vrtras and a fort-destroyer (9, 884) and comes to .receive half a dozen times the epithet vrtrahan, Vrtra-slaying , which pri marily belongs to Indra 37. When drunk by Indra Soma caused the sun to rise in heaven (9, 86 22). So this cosmic action comes to be attributed to Soma independently. He caused the sun to shine (9, 28s . 37 4), caused the lights of the sky to shine
no III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. K.UNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
(9> ^5 9), and produced the sun. in the waters (9, 42*) 3 8. He caused the sunto rise, impelled it, obtained and bestowed it, and caused the dawns toshine 39. He makes his worshippers participate in the sun (9, 45) and findslight for them (9, 35 ). He found the light (9, 594) and wins light andheaven (9, 32J. Just as even the sacrificial butter is spoken of as the navelof immortality , on which rests the whole world (4, 581 - 11), the conceptionof Soma comes to be extended to that of a being of universal dominion(9, 86 28 -* 9), who is lord of the quarters (9, ii32), who performs the greatcosmic actions of generating the two worlds (9, 901), of creating or establishing heaven and earth, of supporting heaven, and of placing light in the
sun (6, 4423 ~4 - 47 3 4) 40-
Being so intimately connected with Indra in the conflict with Vrtra,Soma comes to be spoken of independently as a great fighter. He is a victor,unconquered in fight, born for battle (i, 9i21). He is the most heroic ofheroes, the fiercest of the terrible, ever victorious (9,, 66 l6~7). He conquersfor his worshippers cows, chariots, horses, gold, heaven, water, a thousandboons (9, 784), and everything (8, 68 1 )- Without reference to his warlikecharacter, he is constantly said to bestow all the wealth of heaven andearth, food, cattle, horses, and so forth (9, 45^. 49^. 52T &c.). Soma himselfis, occasionally called a treasure (rayi: 9, 48^) or the wealth of the gods(SB. i, 6, 45). Soma can also afford protection from foes (10, 257). Hedrives away goblins (9, 49 5 ) and, like some other deities but more frequently,receives the epithet of goblin-slayer (raksohan). Soma is the only god whois called a slayer of the wicked (9, 286 &c.). In the later Vedic literaturethe statement occurs that Brahmans who drink Soma are able to slay at aglance (MS. 4, 82)*1.
Being a warrior, Soma is said to have weapons (9, 96l6), which like ahero he grasps in his hand (9, y62 ) and which are terrible and sharp (9,613.9o3 ). In one passage he is said to have obtained his weapons by robbinghis malignant father of them (6, 4422). He is described as armed with athousand-pointed shaft (9, 83 s. 864 ) and his bow is swift (9, 9o3 ). Soma rides in the same chariot as Indra (9, Sy 9 . 962. 1035). Heischarioteer to the car-fighter Indra (AV. 8, 82 3). He drives in a car (9, 35), which is heavenly (9, in 3). He has light (9, 86 45) or a filter for his car(9> 83s). He is the best of charioteers (9, 66 26). He has well-winged maresof his own (9, 86 37) and a team like Vayu (9, 883 ). Soma is naturally sometimes connected with Indra s intimate associates,the Maruts. They are said to milk the bull of heaven (9, 108", cp. 54*)and to adorn the child when born (9, 96*7). Like Indra, Soma is attendedby the Maruts (6, 475) or the troop of the Maruts (9, 66 22). The Winds,too, are said to be gladdening to Soma (9, 3i 3) and Vayu is his guardian(10, 855). Soma forms a pair with Agni, Pusan, and Rudra respectively(p. 128 9). A few times he is mystically indemnified with Varuna (9, 77 5 . 954; cp. 73 3 9 ;8, 4 i8).f The Soma plant is once in the RV. (10, 341 ) described as maujavata,which according to later statements 42 would mean produced on MountMujavat . Soma is also several times described as dwelling in the mountains(giristha)^ or growing in the mountains 44 (parvatavrdh: 9, 461 ). Mountainsare also called Soma-backed (AV. 3, 2i 10), a term which, perhaps by sacrificial symbolism, is applied to the pressing stones (adraya/i) in RV. 8, 522. All these terms point to the abode of the Soma plant being on terrestrialmountains (cp. especially 9,823). This is confirmed by the statement of theAvesta that Haoma grows on the mountains^. Since the Soma plant actually
TERRESTRIAL GODS. 37. SOMA. in
grew on mountains, it is probable that this fact is present to the mind of the poet even when he says that on the vault of heaven sweet-tongued friends milk the mountain-dwelling bull (9, 8$l cp. 95 4). Terrestrial hills may also be intended when it is said that Varuna has placed Agni in the waters, the sun in heaven, and Soma on the rock (5, 852), or that Matarisvan brought the one (Agni) from heaven, while the eagle carried off the other (Soma) from the rock (i, 936); but here there is more doubt, as mountain and rock mythologically often mean cloud (p. 10).
Though Soma is a terrestrial plant, it is also celestial (10, n63); in fact its true origin and abode are regarded as in heaven. Thus it is said that the birth of the plant is on high; being in heaven it has been received by earth (9, 6i 10). The intoxicating juice is the child of heaven (9, 38 s), an epithet frequently applied to Soma. In one passage, however, he is called the offspring (jdh) of the sun (9, 931 ) and in another Parjanya is spoken of as the father of the mighty bird (9, 82^ cp. ii3 3). In the AV. the origin of amrta is also traced to the seed of Parjanya (AV. 8, y21). When Soma is called a child (sisu) simply (9, 96 I7 ) or a youth (yuvan), this is doubtless in allusion to the fact that, like Agni, he is continually produced anew 46. Soma is the milk (plyusa) of heaven (9, 512 &c.), is purified in heaven (9, 832. 86 22 &c.). He flows with his stream to the dear places of heaven (9, i2 8). He runs through heaven across the spaces with his stream (9, 37). He occupies heaven (9, 85 9), is in heaven (SB. 3, 4, 3^), or is the lord of heaven (9, 86 II - 33). As bird of heaven he looks down on earth and regards all beings (9, yi^). He stands above all worlds like god Surya (9, 54 3). The drops being purified have been poured from heaven, from the air, on the surface of the earth (9, 63 27) 47; for he is a traverser of space (rajastur: 4, 48 4. io8 7 ). Fingers rub him surrounded with milk f on the third ridge, in the bright realm of heaven (9, 86 27). His place is in the highest heaven (3, 3210; 4, 26 6; 9, 86 5) or in the third heaven (TS. 3, 5, 71 &c.)8. Heaven , however, also seems to be frequently a mystical name of the strainer of sheep s wool 49 . This seems to be the case when Soma is spoken of as being on the navel of heaven, on the sheep-filter (9, i2 4), as traversing the lights of heaven, the sheep-filter (9, 373), as running with Surya in heaven, on the filter (9, 27$); or when it is said that the bull has occupied heaven, the king goes soaring over the strainer (9, 859 cp. 86 8). The term sdnu, summit , so frequently applied to the filter, is suggestive of divah sanu, the summit of heaven . Such terms would naturally come to be connected with the terrestrial Soma, because heaven is the abode of the celestial Soma or amrta (6, 4423). Soma has been brought from heaven (9, 63 27. 66 3). The myth most commonly expressive of this belief is that of Soma and the eagle. It was brought by the eagle (i, 8o 2 ). The bird brought Soma from that highest heaven (4, 266). The eagle brought the Soma or mead (madhu) to Indra (3 43 7; 4, i8 13 ). The swift eagle flew to the Soma plant (5, 45^); the eagle tore off the sweet stalk for Indra (4, 20). The eagle brought it for Indra through the air with his foot (8, 71 9). Flying swift as thought, the bird broke through the iron castle (cp. 4, 271 ), going to heaven he brought the Soma for the wielder of the bolt (8, 8gs). The eagle bore the plant from afar, from heaven (9, 68. 772. 86 24; 10, n*. 998. I444). The myth is most fully dealt with in RV. 4, 26 and 275. In the Brahmanas it is Gayatri, a mystical sacerdotal name of Agni 5x, that carries off the Soma. In the RV. the eagle is constantly distinguished from Indra as bringing the Soma to him. There is only one passage (unconnected with this myth) in which Indra seated
1 1 2 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
at the Soma offering is called an eagle (10, 998). Eagle of heaven is anepithet applied to Agni (7, i5 4 : otherwise twice said of the Maruts), the termeagle is connected with Agni Vaidyuta or lightning (TB. 3, 10, 51 cp. i2,i2), and Agni is often called a bird in the RV. (p. 89). On this evidence BLOOM FIELD, who subjects his predecessors interpretations of RV. 4, 27 to a search ing criticism, with much plausibility explains the carrying off of Soma bythe eagle as a mythological account of the simple phenomenon of thedescent of lightning, darting from the cloud (i. e. the iron castle) and causingthe fall of the ambrosial fluid Soma (i. e. the water of the cloud). At thesame time he refers to a passage of the RV. (i, 936) in which the descentof fire and of Soma are mentioned together52. A detail of the myth (pro bably a mere embellishment added by the individual poet) is the trait that as the eagle carried away Soma, the archer KrsanuS 3 shot at him knockingout a feather (4, 272- 4; Cp. AB. 3, 25). This trait is related with greaterdetail in the Brahmanas. Either a feather or a claw is here stated to havebeen shot off. Falling to the ground, it became a parna (palasa] or asalyaka tree. The tree hereby acquired a specially sacred character in connexion with the ritual 54.
Being the most important of herbs Soma is said to have been born as the lord of plants (9, ii4 2), which are also said to have Soma as their king 55 (9, 9718 "" 9). He receives the epithet vanaspati, lord of the wood (i, gi6; 9, 127) and is said to have generated all plants (i, 9i22). In the Brahmanasplants are connected with Soma, being styled saumya (SB. 12,, i, i2) 50 . Irrespectively of his being lord of plants, Soma is often, like other leadinggods, called a king 57. He is also a king of rivers (9, 892), a king of thewhole earth (9,97 s8), a king or father of the gods (9, 86 10. 872. 109*) a kingof gods and mortals (9, 97 24), and a king of Brahmans (VS. 9, 40; TS. i,810; MS. 2, 6 9). He is of course often called a god; but in one passage he is described as(a god pressed for the gods (9, 36- ?).
In the post-Vedic literature Soma is a regular name of the moon, whichis regarded as being drunk up by the gods and so waning, till it is filled upagain by the sun. In the Chandogya Upanisad (5, lo 1 ) the statement is found that the moon is king Soma, the food of the gods, and is drunk upby them 58. Even in the Brahmanas the identification of Soma with the moonis already a common-place 59. Thus the AB. (7,11) remarks that the moonis the Soma of the gods; the SB. (i, 6, 45), that king Soma, the food ofthe gods, is the moon; and in the Kausitaki Br. (7, 10; 4, 4) the sacrificial plant or juice is symbolical of the moon-god. The mythology of the Brahmanas already explains the phases of the moon as due to the gods andFathers eating its substance, which consists of ambrosia 60. Soma, as themoon, is in the YV. also conceived as having the lunar asterisms, the daughtersof Prajapati, for his wives 61. In the AV., moreover, Soma several timesmeans the moon (7, 8i 3 4; n, 6 7, &c.). A large number of scholars agreethat even in a few of the latest hymns of the RV. (in the first and tenthbooks) Soma is already identified with the moon62. Most of them, however,hold that Soma as a god is celebrated in the Vedic hymns only as a personification of the beverage, regarding his identification with the moon as merely a secondary mythological growth6-3. The most important of thepassages in which the identification is generally admitted, is that which describes the wedding of Soma and the sun-maiden Surya (10, 85) 64 . HereSoma is spoken of as in the lap of the stars , (v.2 ), and it is said that noone eats of that Soma which the priests know and which is contrasted withthat which they crush (v. 3). The Soma nature of the moon being referred
TERRESTRIAL GODS. 37. SOMA. 113
to as a secret known to Brahmans only, shows that it cannot yet have been a popular notion. The process by which the celestial Soma gradually coa lesced with the moon is not difficult to understand. Soma is, on the one
hand, continually thought of as celestial and bright, sometimes as dispelling darkness and swelling in the waters; on the other hand, it is very often called a drop , indu (6, 4421) 65 . Comparison with the moon would there fore easily suggest itself. Thus Soma in the bowls is said in one passage to appear like the moon in the waters (8, yi8; cp. i, I051); and in another, Soma being described as the drop (drapsd] which goes to the ocean, looking
with the eye of a vulture (io; i238), is generally admitted to allude to the moon. HILLEBRANDT, however, in his Vedische Mythologie not only claims this identification for a number of other passages in the RV., but asserts that in the whole of the ninth book Soma is the moon (p. 309) and nowhere the ordinary plant (p. 326), the ninth book in fact being a book of hymns to the moon66. Soma, he maintains, means, in the earliest as well as the latest parts of the whole RV., only the Soma plant or juice on the one hand, and, as a deity, only the moon on the other (pp. 274. 340. 450). According to his view, the moon is a receptacle of Soma or amrta and is the god whom the worshipper means when he presses the draught, which is part of the lunar ambrosia. HILLEBRANDT goes even further than this complete iden tification of Soma and the moon in the RV. He also asserts that the moon god as Soma forms the centre of Vedic belief and cult (p. 277), being the creator and ruler of the world much more than the sun (p. 313), while Indra is the most popular Vedic god only next to the moon67 (p. 315). In opposition to this hypothesis, it has been argued that, in the vast majority of the references to Soma in the RV., the character of the god as a personification of the plant and juice is clear and obvious. On the other hand, while the identification of Soma and the moon is perfectly clear in the later literature, there is in the whole of the RV. no single distinct and explicit instance either of the identification or of the conception that the moon is the food of the gods. It is only in passages where the brilliance of Soma, so constantly connected with the sun, is vaguely expressed, that references to the moon can be found. At the same time it is possible that amid the chaotic details of the imagery of the Soma hymns, there may occasionally lurk a veiled identification of ambrosia and the moon. Here and there passages celebrating the luminous nature of Soma or referring to his swelling (apyayana), which affords a parallel to the swelling of the moon, may allude to such a notion. But on the whole, with the few late excep tions generally admitted, it appears to be certain that to the seers of the RV. the god Soma is a personification of the terrestrial plant and juice68. It is, moreover, hardly conceivable that all the Vedic commentators, in whose day Soma and the moon were believed to be one, should not know that Soma means the moon in the RV. also 69. It is an undoubted fact that Soma, the Avestan Haoma, was already prepared and celebrated in the Indo-Iranian period. In the RV. Soma is described as growing on the mountains or a particular mountain; in the Avesta it is said to grow on a certain mountain. In the RV. Varuna places it on the rock; in the Avesta it is placed on the great mountain Haraiti by a skilful god. In the RV. it is brought by an eagle; in the Avesta it is distributed from its native mountain by certain auspicious birds. In both it is king of plants. In both it is a medicine which gives health, long life, and removes death. As Soma grows in the waters, so Haoma in the waters of Ardvi-sura 7. The pressing and offering of Soma was already an important Indo-arische Philologie, III. 1 A. Q
ii4 in. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
feature of Indo-Iranian worship. But while three daily pressings are referredto in the RV., only two are mentioned in the Avesta (Yasna 10, 2). In both
it is stated that the stalks (amsu = dsu} were pressed, that the juice wasyellow and was mixed with milk (Yasna 10, 13). In both the celestial Somais distinguished from the terrestrial, and the beverage from the god. In boththe mythical home of Soma is heaven, whence it comes down to earth. Inboth the Soma draught (like the sacrificial fire) had already become a mightygod and is called a king. As Soma is vrtrahan, so Haoma is verethrajan
and casts missiles (vadare = Vedic vadhar). Both are light-winning (svarsa= hvaresd] and wise (sukratu = hukhratii). Both remove the machinationsof the wicked, bestow victory over foes, and confer the celestial world. Bothgrant steeds and excellent children. The RV. and the Avesta even agree inthe names of ancient preparers of Soma, Vivasvat and Trita Aptya on theone hand, and Vivanhvant, Athwya, and Thrita on the other 71. The beliefin an intoxicating divine beverage, the home of which was heaven, may beIndo-European. If so, it must have been regarded as a kind of honey-mead(Skt. mddhu, Gk. jxsftu, As. medii) brought down to earth from its guardian demonby an eagle (the Soma-bringing eagle of Indra agreeing with the nectar-bringing eagle of Zeus and with the eagle which, as a metamorphosis of Odhin,carried off the mead) 72 . This madhu or honey-mead, if Indo-European, wasreplaced in the Indo-Iranian period by Soma; but may have survived intothe Vedic period, by amalgamating with Soma 73.
Etymologically Soma = Haoma means pressed juice , being derived fromthe root su hu, to press .
i OLDENBERG, ZDMG. 42, 241. 2 BRV. i, 182. 3 HVM. i, 47. 4 Anna= sura SB. 12, 7, 38; cp. HVM. I, 264. 5 HVM. i, 518. 6 KHF. 128 f. ; ZDMG. 32, 301. - - 7 HVM. i, 2434. 8 Op. cit. 28. - - 9 Op. cit. 468 ff.; ORV. 389. 10 HILLEBRANDT, Vedainterpretation 16. - - ir HVM. i, 182. 12 Op. cit. 151. - - J 3 Op. cit. 206 7.- - 14 WINDISCH, FaR. 141. – 15 HVM.I, 186. 16 LRV. 3, 3789. 17 HVM. i, 210. i* Op. cit. 229. 9 Op.cit. 195. - - 20 Op. cit. 256, note 3.- - 21 Op. cit. 189. - - 22 LRV. 5, 260. 23 Otherwise HVM. i, 3923. - - 24 WINDISCH, FaR. 140. 25 pyS. i, 878;KHF. 129. 142. 227; KZ. I, 521 ff.; GGH. 70. 115; WVB. 1894,4. 13- 26 HRI.1234. 27 BRV. i, 165. 28 Op. cit. I, 170; lightning is associated with rainin i, 399; 5, 843; 7, 56^3; 10, 915 cp. 5, 834; BLOOMFIELD, AJP. 7, 470. - 29 BRV. I, 204. - 3 HVM. i, 340 thinks the horns are those of the moon. 31 References in HVM. I, 601. 32 KRV. note 308; BRV. I, 192. 33 BRV.i, 185; HVM. i, 349. 34 ROTH, ZDMG. 35, 687; WEBER, IS. 10, 360; HVM.i, 79- 35 BRV. i, 300, note 2; HVM. i, 403. 36 BRV. i, 1856. 37 KHF.105; MACDONELL, JRAS. 25, 472. 38 HVM. i, 3878. 39 References in HVM.i, 388. 4o_Cp HAUG, ZDMG. 7, 511. 41 ZDMG. 7, 331. 375. 42 VS. 3, 61and comm., Ap. oS. 12, 5, 1 1 ; YN. 9, 8; cp. AIL. 29; HVM. i, 63 ff. 43 Twice,also said of Visnu, once of the Maruts. - - 44 Bergfroh , HILLEBRANDT, Veda interpretation 15. 45 On the habitat of the Soma plant, see ROTH, ZDMG. 38,1349; MM., Biographies of Words (London, 1888) 222 42. 46 JRAS. 25,437.
47 WINDISCH, FaR. 140. 48 Also 6, i, 6i; Kath. 23, 10 in IS. 8, 31; VS. i, 211; TB. I, I, 310; 3, 2, ii. 49 HVM. i, 361, note 3. 5 ROTH, ZDMG. 36,35360. 384; LUDWIG, Methode 30. 66; KOULIKOVSKI, Revue de linguistique 18, 1 9; BRV. 3, 322 ff.; PVS. i, 20716; HVM. i, 2789; BLOOMFIELD, FaR. 14955;ORV. 180-1; WVB. 1894, p. 5. 5i Cp. bB. 3, 9, 410; KHF. 130 f. 144 f. 172.- 52 BLOOMFIELD, JAOS. 16, 124; ORV. 176. 180 thinks there is no reason to see a natural agent in the bird, or to assume any connexion between the Somaand the water of clouds. - - 53 Sp.AP. 224. - - 54 KHF. I59f. 170. 209; WVB.
1894, p- 5- 55 Cp. ZDMG. 25, 647. 56 HVM. I, 390, note 4. - - 57 Op. cit. 3178. 58 DEUSSEN, System des Vedanta 415 ff. 59 WVB. 1894, p. 167.60 HVM. i, 296. – 61 WEBER, Naksatra 2, 274 ff ; OLDENBERG, ZDMG. 49, 470;on Soma dwelling with Rohinl, cp. TACOBI, FaR. 71, note; R. BROWN JR., Academy42, 439. 62 HVM. i, 269. 63 BRV. i, 1 60. 6 4 WEBER, IS. 5, 178 ff.; WVB.1894, p. 34; OST. 5, 237; EHNI, ZDMG. 33, 1678; JACOBI, ib. 49, 227; OLDENBERG, ib. 478. - - 65 EHNI, 1. c. 66 Cp. BLOOMFIELD, AJP. 14, 4913; MM.
ABSTRACT GODS. 38 A. VARIOUS AGENT GODS. 115
Fortnightly Review, Oct. 1893, 443 ff. (= Chips 42, 32867) 67 GUBERNATIS, Myth, des Plantes 2, 351, Letture sopra la mitol. vedica 106, and PVS. I, 80 (cp. 2, 242) had called for a complete identification, but without attempting to prove the pro position (cp. GGA. 1889, p. 10). 68 WHITNEY, PAOS. 1894, p. xcixf.; ORV. 599612. 69 HRI. 1 17. 7 SPIEGEL, Av. Tr. 2, LXXII f. ; DARMESTETER, Ormazd et Ahriman 140. 71 Yasna IX x; cp. SP.AP. 172; HVM. I, 121. 265. 450; ORV. 178; MACDONELL, JRAS. 25, 485. 7 2 ORV. 176. 73 Op. cit. 178.
WINDISCHMANN, Ueber den Somakultus der Arier, Abh. d. Miinchner Akad. 1846, p. 127 ff.; KHF. 105 ff.; WHITNEY, JAOS. 3, 299; WEBER, IS. 3, 466; WVB. 1894, p. 3. 13 17; HAUG, AB. Introd. p. 612; OST. 5, 25871; BRV. I, 148
225 &c.; BRI. 24; ROTH, ZDMG. 35,68092; Sp.AP. 168-78; HVM. I; ZDMG. 48, 419 f.; E. H.MEYER, IF. 2, 161; KNAUER, Vedische Fragen, FaR. 61 7; HVBP. 68-74.
D. ABSTRACT GODS.
- Two Classes. There are in the RV. two classes of deities whose nature is founded on abstraction. The one class consisting of the direct personfications of abstract notions such as desire is rare, occurring only in the very latest hymns of the RV. and due to that growth of specu lation which is so plainly traceable in the course of the Vedic age. The other and more numerous class comprises deities whose names primarily either denote an agent, in the form of a noun derived from a root with the suffix -tr, such as Dhatr, Creator , or designate some attribute, such as Prajapati, Lord of Creatures . This class, judged by the evolution of the mythological creations of the Veda, does not represent direct abstractions, but appears in each case to be derived from an epithet applied to one or more deities and illustrating a particular aspect of activity or character. Such epithets gradually becoming detached finally attained to an independent position. Thus Rohita,
the Red One (whose female form is Rohim), originally an epithet of the sun, figures in the AV. as a separate deity in the capacity of a Creator 1. A. Various Agent Gods. The most important of the gods whose names denote an agent in -tr, is Savitr, who has already been treated among the solar deities ( 1 5). Most of the others are of rare occurrence in the RV. Dhatr, found in a few passages as an appellative designating priests as establishes of the sacrifice, occurs as the name of a deity about a dozen times and, with the exception of one indefinite mention in company with a number of other gods (7, 35 3), only in the tenth book. In one of these passages the name is an epithet of Indra (10, 167^) and in another of Visvakarman (10, 82 2 ). The frequent ascription of the action of establishing ( Ydha) the phenomena of the world to different gods, gradually led to the conception of a separate deity exercising this particular activity. Thus Dhatr generally has the independent character of a god who creates sun, moon, heaven, earth, and air (10, iQo3), and is lord of the world (10, I28 7). In a hymn to the Sun, Dhatr is invoked to grant a clear eye (10, 158^). He is besought with Visnu, Tvastr, Prajapati, to grant offspring (10, 184*) and, by himself, to bestow length of days (10, i8 5). He is also prayed to indefinitely with Visnu and Savitr (10, i8i I3) or with Matarisvan and DestrT (10, 85 47). In the Naighantuka (5,5) Dhatr is enumerated among the gods of the middle region and by Yaska (Nir. n, 10) explained as the ordainer of everything . In the post-Vedic period, Dhatr is the Creator and Preserver of the world, being the equivalent of Prajapati or Brahma. The rare name Vidhatr, the Disposer is in two passages an epithet, beside Dhatr, once of Indra (10, 1673) and once of Visvakarman (10, 82 2); but appears twice in enumerations of deities to have an independent character (6, 5o12; 9,81$). Dhartr, Supporter ,
1 1 6 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
frequently used (almost exclusively with the genitive of that which is supported)as an epithet of Indra and other gods, occurs once as an independent namealong with Dhatr and other deities (7, 353). Similarly, Tratr, the Protector, mostly employed as an epithet of Agni or Indra and, in the plural, of theAdityas, occurs independently as the Protector God in five passages alongwith other deities (i, 106"; 4, 55 5> 7; 8, i8 20; 10, i28 7). In ROTH S opinion,Savitr especially and also Bhaga are intended by this god2. A LeaderGod (deva netr) is invoked two or three times in one hymn (5, 50) as aguide to prosperity in life.
B. Tvastr. The only deity bearing a name of this type, who besidesSavitr is mentioned with any frequency, is Tvastr. His name occurs about65 times in the RV., pretty uniformly in the family books (though rarely inthe seventh as well as the eighth), but relatively oftenest in the first andtenth. No hymn is, however, devoted to his praise.
No part of Tvastr s physical form is mentioned except his arm or hand,it being characteristic of him to hold an iron axe in his hand (8, 29 3). Heis once described as yoking his two steeds to his chariot and shining greatly(6, 47 19). Tvastr is beautiful-armed (sugabhasti\ 6} 499), or beautiful-handed(supdni\ predominantly applied to him and Savitr).
He is a skilful workman (i, 85 9; 3, 5412), producing various objectsshowing the skill of an artificer. He is in fact the most skilful of workmen,versed in crafty contrivances (10, 53 9). He is several times said (5, 3i 4 &c.)to have fashioned ( ytaks) the bolt of Indra. He also sharpens the iron axe
of Brahmanaspati (10, 539). He formed a new cup (i, 2o6) which containedthe food of the asura (i,no 3) or the beverage of the gods (i,i6i 5; 3,35s). He thus possesses vessels out of which the gods drink (10, 53 9). The AV.(9, 43> 6) describes him as an old man bearing a bowl of wealth, a cup fullof Soma. From Tvastr the swift horse was produced (VS. 29, 9), andhegives speed to the horse (AV. 6, 921). The RV. further states that Tvastr adorned all beings with form (10,no9). He developes the germ in the womb and is the shaper of all forms,human and animal (i,i88 9; 8,9i8; 10, i84 x). Similar statements are frequentlymade in later Vedic texts (AV. 2, 26% &c.), where he is characteristically acreator of forms (SB. n, 4, 33; TB. i, 4, 71)3. He himself is called omniform(visvarupd) oftener than any other deity in the RV. As fashioner of livingforms, he is frequently described as presiding over generation and bestowingoffspring (3, 49 &c.). Thus he is said to have fashioned husband and wifefor each other from the womb (10, io 5; AV. 6, 782). He has produced andnourishes a great variety of creatures (3, 55 19). Beasts belong to Tvastr (SB.3 5 7) 311- 8, 3"). He is indeed a universal father, for he produced the wholeworld (VS. 29, 9). He is also the ancestor of the human race in so far as his daughterSaranyu, wife of Vivasvat, becomes the mother of the primeval twins Yamaand YamI (io, ly1 - 2, cp. 5, 42 13). Vayu is once said to be his son-in-law(8, 26 21). Tvastr begot Brhaspati (2, 23*7). Agni produced by the ten fingers,is the offspring of Tvastr (i, 952 ), who, along with Heaven and Earth, theWaters, and the Bhrgus, generated him (io, 2?. 469). It is to be inferredthat Tvastr was also the father of Indra (p. 57). Tvastr is especially a guardianof Soma, which is called the mead of Tvastr (i, ii722). It is in his housethat Indra drinks Soma and presumately steals it, even slaying his father inorder to obtain it (p. 57). The omniform Tvastr has a son named Visvarupa(the Omniform), who is a guardian of cows. The hostility of Indra is directedagainst the son in order to win these cows, just as against the father in
ABSTRACT GODS. 386. TVASTR. 117
order to gain possession of the Soma. Even Tvastr himself is said to tremble with fear at the wrath of Indra (i, So 1 *) and is represented as inferior to Indra, inasmuch as not even he was able to perform a feat done by Indra
(10, 4910). The TS. (2, 4, I2 1 ) tells a story of how Tvastr, whose son had been slain by Indra, refused to allow the latter to assist at his Soma sacri fice, but Indra came and drank off the Soma by force. The Brahmanas often relate a similar tale (SB. i, 6, 36, &c.).
Probably because of his creative agency in the womb 4, Tvastr is closely allied with celestial females (gndh, janayak) or the wives of the gods, who are his most frequent attendants (i, 22 9 &c.)5. Tvastr is chiefly mentioned with gods of cognate activity, Pusan, Savitr, Dhatr, Prajapati. Savitr is indeed an attribute of Tvastr in two passages (3, 55 19; 10, io5) in which occurs the identical collocation devas tvastd savitd visvarupah^^ god Tvastr, the omni form vivifier , and in both of which the generative or creative faculty of the deity is referred to. In the Kausika Sutra, Tvastr is identified with Savitr and Prajapati 7, and in the Markandeya Purana, with Visvakarman and Prajapati. In the later mythology Tvastr is one of the twelve Adityas and in the Mahabharata and the Bhagavata Purana is once or twice a form of the sun.
The RV. adds a few rather indefinite traits, which throw no light on Tvastr s character. He is said to be the first (i, i310) or the first-born (agrajd} and one who goes before (9, 59). As a companion of the Angirases he knows the region of the gods (10, 70^), goes to the place of the gods (2, i9) between heaven and earth (MS. 4, i49). He is a bestower of blessings and is possessed of excellent wealth (10, 7o9. 92"). He is supplicated to grant riches to his worshippers and to delight in their hymns (7, 3421). Tvastr also confers long life (10, i8&; AV. 6, 78 3). The word is derived from a rare root tvaks^ of which only one verbal form, besides some nominal derivatives, occurs in the RV., and the cognate of which, thwaks, is found in the Avesta. It appears to be identical in meaning with the common root taks, which is used with the name of Tvastr in referring to the fashioning of Indra s bolt. The meaning therefore appears to be the Fashioner or Artificer .
Tvastr is one of the obscurest members of the Vedic pantheon8. The obscurity of the conception is explained by KAEGi 9 as due to Tvastr, like Trita and others, having belonged to an earlier race of gods who were ousted by later ones; while HILLEBRANDT thinks Tvastr was derived from a mythical cycle outside the range of the Vedic tribes. Different explanations have been offered of Tvastr s original nature. Owing to Tvastr being called Savitr, A. KuHN 10 thought that he meant the sun, but seems later 11 to have with drawn this view. LuDwio 12 regards him as a god of the year, while OLDEN BERG believes him to be a pure abstraction expressing a definite characteristic activityI3. HILLEBRANDT holds KUHN S earlier view that Tvastr represents the sun, to be probable 14. HARDY also considers him a solar deity 15 . It does not indeed seem unlikely that this god, in a period anterior to the RV., represented the creative aspect of the sun s nature. If such was the case the Rigvedic poets themselves were only very dimly conscious of it. The name itself would have encouraged the growth of mythical accretions illustrative of creative skill, the desire to supply the pantheon with a regular divine artificer being natural enough. Much in the same way it was supplied with a divine priest in the person of Brhaspati.
The cup of Tvastr has been explained as the bowl of the year or the nocturnal sky. But neither of these could well have been conceived as full
1 1 8 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
of Soma and drunk by the gods. HILLEBRANDT S interpretation of it as themoon is more plausible (cp. p. 133).
i OST. 5, 3956; V. HENRY, Les Hymnes Rohitas, Paris 1891; BLOOMFIELD,AJP. 12, 42944; HRI. 209, n. I. 2 ROTH, PW.; cp. GW.; WC. 9 10. 3 Cp.PW. s. v. tvastr. 4 Ibid. 5 OST. 5, 229. 6 ROTH, Nir. Erl. 144. 7 WEBER,Omina und Portenta 391 2. 8 GGH. 1136. 9 KRV. note 131. 10 KZ.i, 448. KHF. 109. 12 LRV. 3, 3335- J 3 ORV. 233. H HVM.i, 517. 15 HVBP. 301.
ZDMG. I, 522; GEIGER, Ostiranische Kultur 304; BRI. 22; BRV. 3, 3864;HVM. I, 51335; IF. i, 8; EHNI, Yama 416; OLDENBERG, SEE. 46, 416 f. 248. 39. Visvakarman, Prajapati. A few other abstract deities originatingin compound epithets and all representing the supreme god who was beingevolved at the end of the Rigvedic period, are found in the RV. As thename of a god Visvakarman occurs only five times in the RV. and alwaysin the tenth book. Two whole hymns (10, 81. 82) are dedicated to his praise.The word also occurs as an attribute once (8, 8y2) of Indra and once (10., i7o4) of the Sun as the (all- creating . It is not uncommon as an adjectivein the later Vedas, where it also appears as an attribute of Prajapati (VS.12, 61). The two hymns of the RV. describe Visvakarman thus. He is all- seeing, having eyes, as well as a face, arms, and feet, on every side. (Inthis the Brahma of later mythology, who is four-faced and four-armed, resembleshim.) He is also provided with wings. He is a seer, a priest, our father. Heis a lord of speech (vdcas pati}, swift as thought, beneficent, the source ofall prosperity. He knows all places and beings, and he alone gives theirnames to the gods. He is wise and energetic, the highest apparition (paramdsamdrk). He is an establisher (dhdtf) and a disposer (vidhdtr), having produced the earth and disclosed the sky. It seems likely that the word wasat first attached as an epithet chiefly to the sun-god, but in the later Rigvedicperiod became one of the almost synonymous names given to the one god(10, Si 3) the conception of whom was then being tentatively evolved, andwho as Visvakarman was, owing to the name, mainly thought of in his archi-techtonic aspect1. Visvakarman in the Brahmanas is expressly identified withthe creator Prajapati (SB. 8, 2, i 10. 3^, cp. AB. 4, 22). In post-Vedic timeshe was conceived as the artificer of the gods.
Prajapati occurs in one passage of the RV. (4, 532) as an epithet ofSavitr, who is spoken of as a supporter of heaven and prajdpati of theworld 2, and in another, as an epithet of Soma compared with Tvastr andIndra (9, 59). Otherwise the word is found four times as the name of adistinct deity, always in the tenth book. The god Prajapati is invoked (10,85 43) to bestow abundant offspring (prajdui}, is besought, along with Visnu,Tvastr, and Dhatr, to grant offspring (10, 184*), and is spoken of as makingcows prolific (10, i694). As a protector of generation and living beingsPrajapati is also often invoked in the AV.3 In the one hymn devoted tohis praise in the RV. (10, 121), he is invoked by this name only in the lastverse. In this hymn he is celebrated as the creator of heaven and earth,of the waters and of all that lives; who was born (jdtd) as the one lord(pati} of all that is, the one king of all that breathes and moves, the onegod above the gods; whose ordinances all beings and the gods follow; whoestablished heaven and earth; who traverses space in the atmosphere; whoembraces with his arms the whole world and all creatures. Here Prajapati is clearly the name of the supreme god. Though only mentioned once in theRV. in this sense, he is commonly in the AV. and VS., and regularly in theBrahmanas, recognized as the chief god. He is the father of the gods, (SB.n, i, 6 14; TB. 8, i, 34 &c.), having existed alone in the beginning (SB. 2ABSTRACT GODS. 39. VISVAKARMAN, PRAJAPATI. 40. MANYU, SRADDHA. 119
2, 41). He created the, Asuras as well (TB. 2, 2, 2^)4. He is also described as the first sacrificer (SB. 2, 4, 41; 6, 2, 31 ). In the Sutras Prajapati is identi fied with Brahma (AGS. 3, 4, &c.). In the place of this chief god of the later Vedic theology, the philosophy of the Upanisads put the impersonal Brahma, the universal soul or the Absolute. A myth is told in the MS. (4, 212) of Prajapati being enamoured of his daughter Usas. She transformed herself into a gazelle; whereupon he trans formed himself into the corresponding male. Rudra incensed at this aimed his arrow at him, when Prajapati promised to make him lord of beasts if he did not shoot (cp. RV. io,,6i7). The story is several times referred to in the Brahmanas (AB. 3, 33; SB. i, 7, 41; PB. 8, 2IO)s. The basis of this myth seem to be two passages of the RV. (i, 7i 5; 10, 6iS~~7 ) in which the incest of a father (who seems to be Dyaus) with his daughter (here apparently the Earth) is referred to and an archer is mentioned 6.
In the refrain of the first nine verses of RV. 10, 121 the supreme god is referred to as unknown by the interrogative pronoun Ka, Who ? The answer given in the tenth verse, is that Prajapati alone embraces all beings. This later led to the employment of Ka not only as an epithet of Prajapati (AB. 3, 22 7), but as a name, used by itself, of the supreme god (MS. 3, 12$). In the TS. (i, 7, 66) Ka is expressly identified with Prajapati 7.
In the first verse of RV. 10, 121 the supreme god is referred to as Hiranyagarbha, the Germ of Gold , the one lord of what exists. This is the only occurrence of the name in the RV., but it is mentioned several times in the AV. and the literature of the Brahmana period (cp. p. 13). Hiranyagarbha is also alluded to in a passage of the AV. (4, 28) where it is stated that the waters produced an embryo, which as it was being born, was enveloped in a golden covering. In the TS. (5, 5, i2) Hiranyagarbha is ex pressly identified with Prajapati. In the later literature he is chiefly a desig nation of the personal Brahma 8.
i OST. 4, 5n; 5, 354-55 WC. 805; SPH. 33-40. 2 Cp. BLOOMFIELD, AJP. 14, 493. 3 See PW. s. v. prajdpati. 4 Cp. OST. 5, 80 i. 5 ASL. 529; OST. 4, 45; SEE. 12, 284, n. i; DELBRUCK, FaB. 24; WVB. 1894, p. 34; GELDNER, FaW. 21. 6 Cp. BRV. 2, 109 f.; OLDENBERG, SEE. 46, 78 f. 7 SPH. 27,11.2; ASL. 433; IS. 2, 94; SEE. 12, 8. - - 8 ASL. 569 f.; OGR. 295; OST. 4, 15 18; 5> 35 2- 355; WC. 50 i; HVM. i, 380, n. i; HRI. 1412; GELDNER, 1. c.
- Manyu, Sraddha &c. – We have yet to deal with the deifica tions of abstract nouns. Manyu, Wrath, a personification suggested chiefly by the fierce anger of Indra, is invoked in two hymns of the RV. (10, 83. 84). He is of irresistible might and self-existent. He glows like fire, is a god; who is Indra, Varuna, Jatavedas. He slays Vrtra, is accompanied by the Maruts, grants victory like Indra, and bestows wealth. United with Tap as, Ardour, he protects his adorers and slays their, foes. One short hymn of the RV. (10, 151) is devoted to the praise of Sraddha, Faith 1. She is said to be invoked morning, noon, and night. Through Faith fire is kindled and ghee offered. Through Faith wealth is obtained. In the Brahmanas Sraddha is the daughter of the Sun (SB. 12,7,3") or of Prajapati (TB. 2, 3, lo 1). Her relationships are still further worked out in the Epics and Puranas. Anumati, Favour (of the gods), occurs twice as a personification in the RV. She is besought to be gracious and let her worshippers long see the sun (10, 596) and her protection is referred to (10, i67 3). In the AV. and VS. she becomes a goddess of love and presides over propagation. The later ritual connected her with the moon, regarding her as representing the day before full-moon 2. Aramati, Devotion, Piety, is occasionally personified
120 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
in the RV. The name has a counterpart in the Avestic Armaiti, a genius ofearth as well as wisdom 3, but the personification can hardly go back to theIndo-Iranian period. Sunrta, Bounty 4, appears to be personified as a goddesstwo or three times in the RV. (i, 40^; 10, i4i2)- Asunlti, Spirit-life, is personified in one passage of the RV. (10, 595>6 J, being besought to prolonglife and grant strength and nourishment 5. Nirrti, Decease, Dissolution, appearsabout twelve times in the RV. as a personification presiding over death.
Other personifications appear for the first time in the later Vedas. Kama,Desire, is deified in the AV. (9, 2; 19, 52). Here he is not, as in post-Vedicliterature, a god of love, but a deity who fulfils all desires. His arrows, withwhich he pierces hearts, are already referred to (AV. 3, 251). He is describedas the first who was born (AV. 9, 2I 9). The origin of the conception is mostprobably to be traced to the kama desire , which in a cosmogonic hymn(p. 13) of the RV. (10, i294), is called the first seed of mind 6. Kala,Time, is personified as a cosmogonic force in the AV. (19, 53. 54) 7, andSkambha, Support, an abstraction postulated by the speculation of the AV.to uphold the universe created by Prajapati, comes to be praised as the All- god (AV. 10, 82)8. Prana, Breath, is also deified and identified with Praja pati (AV. n, 412 &c.) 9. Other personified abstractions of a like nature areto be found in the, AV. 10 Sri as a personification of Beauty or Fortunefirst appears in the SB. (n, 4, 31 )11-
i Cp. OLDENBERG, ZDMG. 50, 450 f. 2 ZDMG. 7, 608; IS. 5, 229. 3 ZDMG. 7, 519; 8, 770; 9, 690 2; Sp.AP. 151. 2003; HVBP. 91; HRI. 136. 4 OLDE*-BERG, ZDMG. 50, 440. 5 But cp. MM., JRAS. 2, 460, n. 2. 6 WEBER, IS. 5, 224; 17, 290; ZDMG. 14, 269; OST. 5, 402; SPH. 767. 7 SPH. 7882;HVBP. 88. 8 SPH. 509; HRI. 209. 9 SPH. 35. SPH. 14. GGH. 4.
- Aditi. There is one deity who, if rightly interpreted as thepersonification of a pure abstraction, like those treated in the precedingparagraph, occupies an anomalous position in the RV. For the name is notlimited to the latest portion, but occurs throughout the collection. This wouldbe accounted for by the peculiar manner in which the personification cameabout, supposing the explanation offered below to be correct. Otherwise this deity would have to be classed with abstractions of the epithet type ( 39).
The goddess Aditi is not the subject of any separate hymn, but is oftenincidentally celebrated in the RVV her name occurring nearly eighty times. Very rarely mentioned alone (8, i9 14 ), she is constantly invoked with hersons, the Adityas.
She has no definite physical features. She is often called a goddess(devi), who is sometimes styled anarva, intact (2, 4o6; 7, 4o4). She is widelyexpanded (5, 46), extensive, a mistress of wide stalls (8, 6"7 12). She is brightand luminous, a supporter of creatures (i, I36 3: otherwise said of Mitra Varuna only), and belongs to all men (7, io4 : also said of Heaven and Earth).She is invoked at morning, noon, and sunset (5, 69 3 )1.
Aditi is the mother of Mitra and Varuna (8, 25 3; io, 36^.1 326) as well as ofAryaman (8, 479). Hence she is called the mother of kings (2, 27% cp. v.x ), of excellent sons (3,4"), of powerful sons (8,56"), of heroic sons (AV. 3,8 3 ; n, i11), or of eight sons (10, 728; AV. 8, g21). She is once said to be themother of the_ Rudras, being the daughter of the Vasus and (strange to say)sister of the Adityas (8. 90^), and the AV. (6, 41 ) mentions her brothers as
well as her sons. In another passage of the AV. (7, 62 = VS. 21, 5) she is invoked as the great mother of the devout, the mistress of rta> strong in might, undecaying, widely extended, protecting, skilfully guiding. Such passagesand the constant invocation of Aditi along with the Adityas, her sons, show
ABSTRACT GODS. 41. ADITI. 121
that her motherhood is an essential and characteristic trait. Her epithet pastya, housewife (4, 55 3; 8, 27^) may possibly also allude to her mother hood. In the Epic and Puranic mythology Aditi is the daughter of Daksa and mother of the gods in general, and expressly of Vivasvat, the Sun, and of Visnu in his dwarf incarnation. She is said to be the wife of Visnu in
VS. (29, 6o = TS. 7, 514).
Aditi is several times spoken of as protecting from distress (amhas), and she is said to grant complete welfare or safety (10, 100; i, 94 15), but she is more frequently invoked to release from guilt or sin. Thus Varuna (i, 245), Agni (4, i2 4), and Savitr (5, 82 6), are besought to free from guilt against Aditi. Aditi, Mitra, and Varuna are implored to forgive sin (2, 27 14), Aditi and Aryaman, to loosen (the bonds of) sin (7, 93 7 ). Worshippers beseech Aditi to make them sinless (i,i62 22); praying that by fulfilling her ordinances they may be without sin towards Varuna (7, 87 7) and that evildoers may be cut off from Aditi (10, 87l8). Hence though other gods, Agni (3, 5410), Savitr (4, 543), Sun, Dawn, Heaven and Earth (10, 35 3) are petitioned to pardon sin, the notion of releasing from it is much more closely connected with Aditi and her son Varuna, whose fetters that bind sinners are characteristic, and who unties sin like a rope and removes it (p. 26).
This notion is nearly allied to the etymology of the name. The word aditi is primarily a noun meaning unbinding , bondlessness , from di-ti binding (= Gk. 5=-ai-c), derived from the root da, to bind . The past passive parti ciple of this verb is employed to describe Sunahsepa bound (di-td) to the stake (5, 27). Hence as a goddess Aditi is naturally invoked to release her worshippers like a tied (baddhd) thief (8, 67 14). The original unpersonified meaning of freedom seems to survive in a few passages of the RV. Thus a worshipper exclaims, who gives us back to great aditi, that I may see father and mother ? (i, 241 ). The Adityas are besought (7, 5I1 ) to place the offering in guiltlessness (andgastve) and freedom (adititvef. The poet perhaps means the same thing when he prays to Heaven and Earth for the secure and unlimited gift of aditi* (i, 1853). The word aditi also occurs several times in the adjectival sense of boundless . It is thus used as an attribute twice of Dyaus (5,598; 10, 63 3) and more frequently of Agni (1,94*5; 4, i 20; 7, 93; 8, i 9 <4). The indefiniteness of the name would easily have lent itself to mystical identifications, and the conception was naturally affected by the theogonic and cosmogonic speculations found in the more recent portions of the RV. Thus the gods are said to have been born from Aditi, the Waters, and Earth (10, 632; cp. p. 14). In the verse immediately following, the boundless Sky (dyaur aditi), their mother, is said to supply the gods with honied milk. Here there fore she appears to be identified with the sky2. Elsewhere (1,72$; AV. 1 3,1 38) Aditi seems to be identified with the Earth, and this identification is frequent in the TS. and SB. In the Naighantuka the name is given as a synonym of earth, and, in the dual, of Heaven and Earth 3 . In many passages of the RV., however, she is distinguished from Heaven and Earth by being mentioned separately along with them (io,63IO &c.) +. In another passage (i ; 8910) Aditi represents a personification of Universal Nature: Aditi is the sky; Aditi is the air; Aditi is the mother, and father, and son; Aditi is all the gods and the five tribes; Aditi is whatever has been born; Aditi is whatever shall be born (p. 1 6; cp. Katha Up. 4, 7).
Though according to the older mythology of the RV. Aditi is the mother of Daksa as an Aditya (2, 271 ), she is in a cosmogonic hymn (10, 72*- s) said to be his daughter as well as his mother by the reciprocal generation
122 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
which is a notion not unfamiliar to the RV. (p. 12; cp. 10, go5). In two otherhymns of the tenth book (5". 645) these deities are connected in such away that Aditi can scarcely be the mother of Daksa, but seems rather to besubordinate to him. Though Aditi is the mother of some of the leadingdeities, she plays an inferior part in a few other passages also. Thus shecelebrates, along with her sons Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman, the praises of Savitr(7, 38*) and is said to have produced a hymn for Indra (8, i2 14, cp. 5, 31$).
Probably as the mother of the luminous Adityas, Aditi is sometimesconnected with light. She is asked for light (4, 25^, cp. 10, 36^), her imperishable light is celebrated (7, 82 10), and Dawn is called the face of Aditi(i, ii3 19). Occasionally Aditi is referred to in general terms which mightapply to other deities. Thus she is implored to protect or bless her worshippers, their children, and their cattle (8, i86- 7; i, 432J. She is prayed tofor wealth (7, 40*), her pure, intact, celestial, imperishable gifts are supplicated (i, i85 3), and the large blessings bestowed by the Maruts are compared with the beneficent deeds of Aditi (i, i66 I2j.
In some passages of the RV. (i, I533; 8, 9o l5; 10, n1 &c.) as well asin later Vedic texts (VS. 13, 43. 49), Aditi is spoken of as a cow, and, inthe ritual, a ceremonial cow is commonly addressed as Aditi 5. TerrestrialSoma is compared to the milk of Aditi (9, 96^); and milk only can bemeant6 by the daughter of Aditi who yields to Soma as he flows to the vat(9, 693). There may be a similar allusion when priests with their ten fingersare said to purify Soma on the lap of Aditi (9, 26 1. 7i 5). A review of the evidence indicates that Aditi has two and only twoprominent characteristics. The first is her motherhood. She is the motherof a group of gods whose name represents a metronymic formation from hers.Her second main characteristic, in conformity with the etymological meaningof the name, is her power of releasing from the bonds of physical sufferingand moral guilt. Mystical speculation on the name would lead to her beingstyled a cow, as representing boundless plenty, or to her being identified withthe boundless earth, heaven, or universe. But how are we to account for soearly a personification of such an abstract idea, and in particular for Aditibecoming the mother of the Adityas ? BERGAIGNE? thinks the transition to Aditi s motherhood is to be found in such an expression as dyaur aditih, the boundless sky , the mother who supplies the gods with milk (10, 63 3)- Accordingto this view, the rare and secondary adjectival meaning boundless would havedeveloped from being an epithet of the sky, otherwise characteristically regardedas a father, into an independent female deity. Nor does this explanationseem to account satisfactorily for the conception of Aditi releasing frombondage. Another explanation is possible. The expression aditeh putrdh,sons of Aditi, several times applied to the Adityas in the RV., may in thepre-Vedic period have simply meant sons of freedom (like sahasah putrah,son of strength : p. 12) as describing a prominent quality of Varuna andcognate gods. Such an expression^ would easily lead to the personificationof Aditi as a mother. Similarly SavasT wa? evolved as a name of Indras mother in the RV. itself from his epithet Son of Might (savasah: p. 12)and Indra s epithet sacipati, lord of might , later led to sad being personified as the wife of that god, the compound being interpreted as husband ofSacf. The formation of a metronymic Aditya, son of Aditi, would tend tothe limitation of the group comprising her sons. The deified personificationwould naturally retain a connexion with the original meaning of existencefree from all fetters, but would assume a few additional fluctuating attributes,such as brightness, from the Adityas. As mother of some of the leading gods
ABSTRACT GODS. 42. Dm. 123
or of the gods in general, she might occasionally be identified with Heaven and Earth, the universal parents, and the meaning of the word would en courage cosmogonic speculations. Thus Aditi, an entirely Indian goddess, is historically younger than some at least of her sons. The opinion that Aditi is a personification of the idea of freedom from bondage is favoured by WALLIS* and OLDENBERG 9 . MAX MULLER IQ thinks that Aditi, an ancient god or goddess, is the earliest name invented to ex press the infinite as visible to the naked eye, the endless expanse beyond the earth, the clouds, and the sky. ROTH at first: x interpreted Aditi to mean inviolability, imperishableness , denoting as a. personification the goddess of eternity. Later he explained her as eternity , the principle which sustains the Adityas, or imperishable celestial light12. He regards her not as a definite but only an incipient personification. In the St. Petersburg Dictionary, how ever, he explains Aditi as a personification of the boundlessness of heaven as opposed to the finite earth. PISCHEL, on the other hand believes Aditi re presents the earth X 3. This is also HARDY S opinion 14. COLINET considers Aditi the female counterpart of Dyaus1 *. The Naighantuka gives aditi as a synonym viprthivt (earth), vac (speech), go (cow), and, in the dual, of dydvd prthivl (heaven and earth). Yaska defines Aditi as the mighty mother of the gods , and following the Naighantuka (5, 5) locates her in the atmospheric region, while the Adityas are assigned to the celestial, and Varuna to both l6.
1 OST. 5, 36, note 68. 2 Op. cit. 5, 39, note 73. 3 According to BRV. 3, 90, Aditi in 4, 55 lb =3 7, 624 a is synonymous with dyavaprthivl. 4 References in OST. 5, 40 f. 5 ORV. 206 cp. 72. 6 Otherwise BRV. 3, 94. 7 BRV. 3, 9o. 8 WC. 45 f. 9 ORV. 2047 cp. SEE. 46, 329. > Vedic Hymns, SEE. 32, 241; cp. LSL. 2, 619; HOPKINS, JAOS. 17, 91. " Nirukta, Erl. 1501. 12 ZDMG. 6, 68 f.; so also KRV. 59, HILLEBRANDT, Aditi p. 20. 13 PVS. 2, 86. H HVBP. 94. 15 Trans, of the 9* Or. Congress I, 396410. 16 ROTH on Nir. 10, 4.
BENFEY, Hymnen des Samaveda 218 (= Unteilbarkeit); OST. I, 26; 5, 3553. 55; BRV. 3,8898; HILLEBRANDT, Ueber die Gottin Aditi, Breslau 1876; BRI. 19; DARMESTETER, Ormazd p. 82; COLINET, Etude sur le mot Aditi, Museon 12, 81 90; ROTH, IS. 14, 3923; BLOOMFIELD, ZDMG. 48, 552, note i; HRL 723.
- Diti. - The name of Diti occurs only three times in the RV., twice along with that of Aditi. Mitra and Varuna are said to behold from their car Aditi and Diti (5, 62 s). Sayana here explains the two as the in divisible earth and the separate creatures on it, ROTH X, as the eternal and the perishable , and MuiR 2 as the entire aggregate of visible nature . In a second passage (4, 211 ), Agni is besought to grant diti and preserve from aditi. Here Sayana interprets the two words as liberal giver and illiberal giver , ROTH as wealth and penury . BERGAIGNE^ takes the words to de signate the goddesses of the previous passage; but it is more likely that they are here quite different words, derived from da, to give , and thus meaning giving and non-giving . This view seems to be favoured by both the con text and the order in which the words occur. In the third passage (7, i512 ) Diti is mentioned without Aditi, but along with Agni, Savitr, and Bhaga, being said to give (da) what is desirable (varyam). Diti is named along with Aditi as a goddess in the later Samhitas also (VS. 18, 22; AV. 15, i84; 16, 6 7). Her sons are mentioned in AV. 7, 7. These are the Daityas, who in post Vedic "mythology are the enemies of the gods. The name of Diti as a goddess seems to be merely an antithesis to that of Aditi 4, formed from the latter to express a positive sense, as sura, god , was later (by false etymo logy) evolved from asura, demon .
i ZDMG. 6, 71. 2 OST. 5, 42. 3 BRV. 3, 97. 4 MM., SEE. 32, 256; cp. WC. 46.
124 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY. E. GODDESSES.
- Goddesses. Goddesses occupy a very subordinate position in Vedic belief and worship. They play hardly any part as rulers of the world.The only one of any importance is Usas, who judged by the statistical stan dard ranks as a deity of the third class (p. 20). But, unlike nearly all thegods, she received no share in the Soma offering1. Next to her comes Sa rasvatl ( 33), who, however, only ranks with the lowest class of deities. Afew other goddesses are praised in one hymn each. Prthivi, hardly separable from Dyaus, is praised in one short hymn of three stanzas ( 34). Ratri, Night, is also invoked in one hymn (10, 127). Like her sister Dawn,she is called the daughter of Heaven. She is not conceived as the dark,but as the bright starlit night. She shines manifoldly with her eyes. Deckedwith all splendour, she fills the valleys and heights, driving away the darknesswith light. At her approach men return home like birds to their nests. She is invoked to keep away the wolf and the thief, guiding her worshippersto safety. Night probably became a goddess by way of antithesis to Dawn,with whom she is invoked in several verses as a dual divinity2 (pp. 48. 129).Vac, personified Speech, is celebrated in one hymn (10, 125 cp. 71), in which she describes herself. She accompanies all the gods and supportsMitra-Varuna, Indra-Agni, and the Asvins. She bends Rudra s bow againstthe unbeliever. Her place is in the waters, the sea. She encompasses all beings. In another passage (8, 89 IO> n) she is called queen of the gods anddivine 3. In the Naighantuka (5, 5) Vac is enumerated among the deities of the atmosphere; and thunder, or mddhyamika vac, the voice of the middleregion , in the terminology of the commentators (Nir. 1 1 , 27), may navebeen the starting point of the personification. A legend about Vac frequentlyreferred to in the Brahmanas is that of Soma being bought back from theGandharvas at the price of Vac transformed into a woman (AB. i, 27). Puramdhi, whose name occurs about nine times in the RV., is goddess ofPlenty 4 . She is nearly always mentioned with BhagaS, two or three timesalso with Pusan and Savitr, and once \vith Visnu and Agni. Parendi, commonly regarded as identical with Puramdhi, is generally considered a goddessof riches and abundance (cp. Yast 8, 38) in the Avesta 6. HILLEBRANDT,however, thinks Puramdhi is a goddess of Activity 7. Another goddess ofabundance is D his an a, mentioned nearly a dozen times in the RV8. I la, Nourishment, is the personification (mentioned less than a dozen times in theRV.) of the offering of milk and butter, thus representing plenty derivedfrom the cow. Hence Ida is in the Brahmanas frequently connected with, though never an actual name of, the cow; and in the Naighantuka (2, n)it occurs as one of the synonyms of cow. Owing to the nature of theoffering Ila is called butter-handed (7, i6 8) and butter-footed (10, 7o8). Asa personification she generally appears in the Apr! hymns, in which sheusually forms a triad with SarasvatI and Mahl or BharatR It is doubtfulwhether the literal or the personified sense is intended by the phrase ilayas_pade, in the place of nourishment (i. e. of the sacrificial fire). Agni is oncecalled the son of Ila, clearly in allusion to the place of his production
2 99 I0)- Pururavas is also said to be her son (10, 95l8). She is once
(3>
called the mother of the herd (yutha] and connected with UrvasT (5, 4i 19). She is once mentioned with Dadhikravan and the Asvins in reference to themorning sacrifice (7, 44"). In the SB. she is called the daughter of Manu(i, 8, i8; ii, 5, 3 5) as well as of Mitra-Varuna (1,8, i2 ?; 14, 9, 427; ASS. i, 7?). The name of the goddess Brhaddiva occurs four times in hymns to the
43- GODDESSES. 125
Visvedevas. She is called a mother (10, 6410) and is mentioned with Ila (2, 314; 5, 41T 9), SarasvatI and Raka (5, 42"). Raka (probably from Yrd, to give) is mentioned only twice in the RV. as a rich and bountiful goddess, who is invoked with others (2, 327; 5, 42I2J. Sinivali is referred to in two hymns of the RV. (2, 32; 10, 184). She is a sister of the gods, broad-, hipped, fair-armed, fair-fingered, prolific, a mistress of the family, and is implored to grant offspring. She is invoked with SarasvatT, Raka, as well as Gungu (who is only mentioned here). In the AV. (8, 46^) Sinlvali is called the wife of Visnu. The later Samhitas and the Brahmanas also men tion a goddess Kuhu, a personification of the new moon 10. Raka and Sinlvali are in later Vedic texts connected with phases of the moon, the former being the presiding deity of the actual day of full moon, and the latter, of the first day of new moon. There is nothing to show that any such connexion is to be found in the RV 11. A few other goddesses occasionally mentioned in the RV. have already been incidentally referred to. Prsni, the mother of the Maruts (p. 78) pre sumably represents the mottled storm-cloud 12. The word is also used as an adjective in the sense of speckled (cp. 7, io36- IOJ, in the singular as an attribute of both bull and cow, and in the plural, of the cows which milk Soma for Indra (i, 84*- "; 8, 61 ?. 710. 58^. It thus came to mean speckled cow , and finally speckled cloud . Saranyu occurs once in the RV. (10, if2) as the name of Tvastr s daughter, wedded to Vivasvat. The most likely interpretation seems to be that which identifies her with the sun-maiden Surya; or Usas, the Dawn^. The word also occurs four times as an adjec tive in the RV. meaning swift . It is an ordinary Sanskrit formation, derived with the suffix -yu from sarana, speed (]Ar, to run), like caran-yu and others.
Goddesses as wives of the great gods similarly play an insignificant part in the Veda. They are altogether without independent character, simply representing the spouses whom such gods as Indra must have had. Hardly anything about them is mentioned but their names, which are simply formed from those of the gods with the feminine suffix -ani. Thus Indrdm is simply wife of Indra 14 . VarunanI and Agnayl also occur in the RV., but rarely. Rudrani is not found till the Sutras, but she plays a decidedly more import ant part in the cult than any of the other goddesses in -dni^. The wife of the Asvins is once in the RV. called AsvinI (= Surya: p. 5i)x6. The wives of the gods (devandm patmti) occasionally mentioned in the RV. have in the Brahmanas an established place assigned to them in the cult apart from the gods (SB. i, 9, 211)17.
i BERGAIGNE, Recherches sur 1 histoire de la liturgie vedique, p. 9.2 OST. 5, 191; HRI. 79 f. 3 WEBER, IS. 9, 473 ff.; BRI. 16; OLDENBERG, ZDMG. 39, 589; WC. 856; HRI. 1423. 226. 4 PVS. 2, 20216; BLOOMFIELD, JAOS. 1 6, 19; ORV. 63. 5 Cp. OLDENBERG, SEE. 46, 190. 6 DARMESTETER, Ormazd et Ahriman 25; SEE. 4, LXX; 23, ii; MILLS, SEE. 31, 25; PVS. I, 202; Sr.AP.
207 9; COLINET, BOR. 2, 24554, 121 ; Trans. Or. Cong. 1892, i, 396420. 7 HILLE- BRANDT, WZKM. 3, 18894. 259 73; cp. also V.HENRY, Vedica, ire serie, p. iff., Memoires de la Societe de ling. 9. 8 pyS. 2, 82 ff. ; OLDENBERG, SEE. 46, 120 2. 9 WEBER, IS. i, 1689; BRV. i, 325; GGH. 51; ORV. 238.326; SEE. 46, 11. 156. 191. 288; BAUNACK, KZ. 34, 563. ZDMG. 9, LVIII. u IS. 5, 228 ff. 12 Cp. ROTH on Nir. 10, 39, p. 145. J 3 BLOOMFIELD, JAOS. 15, 172 88, where the opinions of his predecessors are stated. M ORV. 172; cp. LEUMANN, KZ. 32, 299. 15 ORV. 219. 16 KRV. n. 148; on Surya and the Asvins cp. WEBER, IS. 5, 17889; BRV. 2, 486; PVS. i, 1329; OLDENBERG, GGA. 1889, 78; ORV. 241. 17 On female divinities cp. HOPKINS, PAOS. 1889, p. CLXII; on Sarama (above pp. 63 4) see below, 62.
126 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
F. DUAL DIVINITIES.
. 44. A peculiar feature of Vedic mythology is the celebration inpairs of a number of deities whose names are joined in the form of a specialkind of dual compound in which both members are dual, accented, andoccasionally separable1. About a dozen gods are thus conjointly praised inat least sixty hymns of the RV. The name of Indra enters into seven ormore than half of these combinations, but by far the largest number ofhymns twenty-three, and parts of several others is addressed, to the pairMitravdrund,. Eleven are dedicated to Indragnl, nine to Indrd-vdrund,about seven to Jndra-vayii, six to DySvd-prthivt, e two each to Indrd-sdmdand Indrd-brhaspdti, and one each to Indrdvisnii, Indrd-pusdnd, Somd-pusdnd,Somd-nidrd, and Agm-sdmd. A few other couples, including the names ofnine or ten deities not mentioned above, are invoked in detached verses.These are Indra-ndsatyd, Indrd-parvatd, Indrd-marutah, Agiii-parjanyd, Par jdnyd-vdtd (once Vdtd-parjanya), Usdsdndkta or (less often) Ndktosdsd,Suryd-masd or Suryd-candramdsa.
There can be little doubt that the analogy for this favourite formationwas furnished by Dyavaprthivl, Heaven and Earth 2, the pair which toearly thought appeared so indissolubly connected in nature, that the myth oftheir conjugal union is found widely diffused among primitive peoples 3 andhas therefore probably come down to the Veda from a period anterior tothat immediately preceding the separation of the Indo-European nations. Inthe RV. itself this couple is so closely associated that while they are invokedas a pair in six hymns, not one is devoted to the praise of Dyaus aloneand only one of three verses to that of Prthivl. So hard was it for thepoets to dissociate the two, that even in this hymn Prthivl is praised for sending the rain of heaven from her cloud (5, 843). The dual compound, moreover,occurs much more frequently than the name of Dyaus as a god. It occurs, including the comparatively rare synonyms Dydvdksdmd and Dydvabhiiml,about a hundred times, or more frequently than the name of any other pair.Heaven and Earth are also called rodasi, the two worlds (spoken of as sisters,i, i85 5, owing to the gender of the word), an expression occurring at leasta hundred times in the RV. Heaven and Earth are parents, being oftenstyled pitard, mdtard, janitri, and also separately addressed as father andmother (i, I591" 3. i6o2). They are primeval parents (7, 532; 10, 658). Theirmarriage is referred to in the AB. (4, 27 5~6)1 They have made and sustainall creatures (i, I592. i6o 2. 185 ). Though themselves footless, they supportmuch offspring with feet (i, i852 ). They are the parents of the gods also;for to them exclusively belongs the epithet dei dputre, having the gods assons . They are in particular said to be the parents^ of Brhaspati (7, 978) and, with the Waters and Tvastr, to have begotten Agni (10, 2 7). At thesame time they are in different passages spoken of as themselves created byindividual gods. Thus a poet observes that he who produced heaven andearth must have been the most skilful artisan of all the gods (i, i6o4; 4, 56 3). Indra is said to have generated or fashioned them (6, 3o5; 8, 36*; 10, 296. 543). Visvakarman produced them (10, 8i 2 cp. AV. 12, i 6o)5. They received theirforms from Tvastr (10, no?). They sprang from the head and feet of Purusa(10, 904). But one poet is puzzled as to how they were produced and whichof the two first came into being (i, 185; cp. p. i3)6. Many of the epithetsapplied to Dyavaprthivl are suggested by their physical characteristics. Theone is a prolific bull, the other a variegated cow (i, i6o 3). They are bothrich in seed (i, I592; 6, 701 - 2). They yield milk, ghee, and honey abundantly
44- DUAL DIVINITIES. 127
(6, 7Q1 5), and produce amrta (i, i$92. i856). They never grow old (6, 70*). They are great (i, I591 ) and wide-extended (i, i6o2). They are broad and great abodes (i, i856). They are fair-faced, wide, manifold, with ends which are far away (i, i856 - 7 ). Sometimes, however, moral qualities are attributed to them. They are wise and promote righteousness (i, I591)- As father and mother they guard beings (i, i6o 2) and protect from disgrace and mis fortune (i, i8510). They grant food and wealth (6, yo6; i, I595 ) or bestow great fame and dominion (i, i6o 5). They are sufficiently personified to be called leaders of the sacrifice and to be conceived as seating themselves around the sacrifice (4, 56 2>7 ), as coming to their worshippers along with the heavenly folk (7, 532), or taking the sacrifice to the gods (2, 4i20). But Heaven and Earth never attained to a living personification or importance in worship. These two deities are quite coordinate. But in most of the other couples one of the two greatly predominates, his characteristic qualities being shared by his companion. Thus Indra-Agni are conjointly called wielders of the bolt and Vrtra-slayers . Occasionally an attribute of the lesser deity is predicated of both. Thus Indra-Visnu are together said to have taken wide strides (6, 6g 5). Frequent association of this kind may lead to a deity receiving by himself an epithet to which he originally had no right. Thus
Agni when mentioned alone is often called a Vrtra-slayer . The characteristics of each member of the pair are, however, in some passages distinguished 7. Next to Heaven and Earth, the pair most frequently named is Mitra Varuna. These two deities are invoked conjointly in many more hymns than are dedicated to their separate praise. As Mitra has hardly any individual traits, the same attributes and functions belong to the pair conjointly as to Varuna alone. Scarcely anything need therefore be here added to what
has already been said about Varuna. The couple are conceived as young men (3, 54 ; 7,62 s). Like various other gods, they are spoken of as shining (candrd), bright (sud), sunlike (svardrs), ruddy (rudra), and terrible (ghora}. The priority of the name of Mitra in the compound might seem to indicate that he was originally the more important deity; it is, however, probably due
simply to the tendency to make the shorter word the first member of a com pound. This dual invocation goes back to the Indo-Iranian period, for Ahura and Mithra are thus coupled in the Avesta 8.
Indra-Varuna, the two universal monarchs (i, 17 ), hollowed out the channels of the waters and set the sun in motion in the sky (7, 82^). They are vanquishers of Vrtra (6, 68 2), aid in battle (4, 41")? and grant victory (i, 177). They cast their mighty bolt against the wicked (4, 4i 4). They bestow protection and prosperity (i, i7 7 8), fame, wealth, and abundance of steeds (4, 41 *- 10; 6, 688). They are drinkers of the pressed Soma, their car comes to the sacrifice, and they are invoked to exhilerate themselves seated on the sacrificial grass (6, 68 10- 11). In some passages the characteristics of each member of the pair are distinguished. Thus Varuna is besought to divert his wrath from his worshippers, and Indra to procure them wide space (7, 842). Indra is contrasted as the warlike god who slays Vrtra, with Varuna who supports men in peace and wisdom (6, 68^; 7, 82 5 - 6. 853). The asso ciation of the couple Indra-Agni^ is very intimate; for Indra is invoked conjointly with Agni in more hymns than with any other deity10, while Agni is otherwise addressed as a dual divinity only in one hymn and two detached verses with Soma and in one verse with Parjanya. Indra-Agni, the best of Soma-drinkers (i, 2I 1 ), come on their car to drink Soma (i, loS 1 ), and are invited together to come and drink it (7, 936; 8, 384- 7 ~9), to sit down on the sacrificial grass at the offering, and to exhilerate themselves with the
128 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
pressed draught (i, lop 5). They are often called Vrtra-slayers. They arearmed with the bolt (6, 59 3 &c.), and their lightning is sharp (5, 86 3). Theyare fort-destroyers who aid in battle (i, 1097-*). They together demolishedthe 99 forts of the Dasa (3, i2 6) and are invincible in battle (5, 86 2). Theyreleased the rivers from their imprisonment (8, 48s) and accomplished heroicdeeds together (i, io8 5). They are bountiful (5, 86 3 ). All these are traitscharacteristic of Indra. Indra-Agni are also called the two priests of sacrifice (8, 381), and are wise (8, 403). They are lords of the abode (sadaspafi)and drive away the goblins (x, 2i 5). These features are more appropriateto Agni. The two gods are twin brothers who have one father (6, 592 ).They are once called Asvins 11 (i, io94), possibly in allusion to this close
relationship. They bestow food, wealth, strength, cattle, steeds (4, 6oI3~14).They are greater than heaven and earth, rivers, and mountains (i, io96).The two gods are once contrasted, though not when addressed as a pair;Indra being said to slay, but Agni to burn, the Dasyus (6, 284). The twohymns (4, 49; 7, 97) addressed to Indra-Brhaspati consist chiefly of invitations to drink Soma and of prayers to bestow great wealth aboundinginsteeds and to promote devotion. Indra-Vayu are constantly invited tocome and drink Soma (i, 231 " 2 &c.), little else being said about them. Theycome to the offering with their teams (4, 472 ~4) or in their golden-seated car(4, 46*) and seat themselves on the sacrificial litter (7, 9i 4). They arethousand-eyed, lords of devotion (dhiyas patt: i, 233), and lords of might(savasas patl: 4, 47 3). They help in battle (7, 92 4) and bestow wealthinsteeds, cattle, and gold (7, 9o6). Indra-Soma perform the warlike exploitscharacteristic of Indra or the great cosmic actions so often ascribed to him.They made the waters flow for man, released the seven rivers, slew thedragon, depressed the wheel of the sun (4,28 I<2 ;6, 72^). The true workof the two bountiful gods was that they destroyed their foes and broke openwhat was enclosed in the rock (4, 284 - 5). They performed the first greatdeeds in finding the sun and light, dispelling the darkness, causing the sunto shine, supporting heaven, and spreading out the earth (6, 72- 2). Theytoo placed ripe milk in the raw bodies of cows (ib.4). They grant victoriousmight to men (ib.5). Indra-Visnu, who are receptacles of Soma, lordsofintoxication (madapaft)^ are invited to come with their steeds, to drink Soma,and to fill their belly with it. The two gods strode out widely in the intoxication of Soma, made the air broader, and spread out the spaces forexistence. Ever victorious, they grant wealth, and conduct safely acrossdangers. As generators of all prayers, they are besought to hear the invocations of their worshippers (6, 69)I2. Indra-Pusan are invoked conjointly in only one short hymn (6, 57), and their names form a dual compound only twice. When Indra made the great waters flow, Pusan washiscompanion. With him as a friend, Indra slays Vrtras (6, 562 ). One of themdrinks Soma and is drawn by two steeds with which he slays Vrtras, whilethe other desires gruel (karambhd) and is drawn by goats. Mention is once
(i, i62 2) made of the abode (pdthas) of Indra-Pusan, to which a goat conducts the sacrificial horse. The two gods are as usual also besought to conferwelfare and booty.
Soma-Pusan (2, 40) drive away darkness and are invoked to quickenthe seven-wheeled five-reined car, yoked by thought, which measures outspace. They are generators of wealth, of heaven and earth, and protectorsof the world (cp. 10, i7 3), whom the gods made the centre of immortality.For them Indra is invoked to produce ripe milk in the raw cows. Togetherthey bestow victory over foes and grant abundance of wealth and food.44- DUAL DIVINITIES. 129
But they are also contrasted. One of them has made his abode high in heaven, while the other dwells on earth and in air; one generated all beings, while the other moves seeing everything 3. Soma-Rudra (6, 74) are in voked to drive away sickness and decay from the house, to place all remedies in the bodies of their worshippers, to remove from them all sin, and to free from the fetter of Varuna. Wielding sharp weapons, they are besought to have mercy and are implored for prosperity to man and beast. Agni Soma are celebrated together for having released the confined streams, obtained the light, and set the luminaries in the sky. At the same time they are distinguished, Matarisvan being said to have brought the one from heaven, and the eagle the other from the rock (i, 93). Their joint help and pro tection are invoked, and they are besought to grant cattle, horses, offspring, health, happiness, and wealth (10, 19. 66 7 ). This pair is mentioned several
times in the AV. In the MS. (3, 71 ) they are spoken of as two eyes . The SB. refers to them as brothers (n, i, 619), also stating that the sun belongs to Agni and the moon to Soma (i, 6, 324). In the ritual Agni-Soma seem
never to receive a share in the Soma offering, but only cakes and animal sacrifices. It is somewhat remarkable that the two great ritual deities, who form a very frequent couple in the sacrificial literature, should, outside the one hymn (i, 93) devoted to their praise, be mentioned only twice as a pair, and that only in the most recent part of the RV. 14 A few other pairs are invoked in detached verses only. Agni-Parjanya
are mentioned in one passage (6, 52l6). They are together besought to bestow food and progeny, but are at the same time contrasted, the one being said to have produced the oblation (ildm) and the other offspring (garbham). Parjanya-Vata are invoked in four passages. As bulls of earth they are besought (6, 496) to impel the watery vapours (purisani). Along with Indra-
Vayu and other gods, they are invoked as vaporous (purlsina) bulls (10, 65 9). In another enumeration they are entreated to bestow abundant food (6, 5o12). They are also once (10, 66 10 cp. Nir. 7, 10) invoked as connected with the thundering buffalo (probably Dyaus 15). Dawn and Night are invoked several times. They are mentioned almost exclusively in Visvedeva or Apr! hymns. They are rich goddesses (2, 31$; 10, yo6), divine maidens (7, 26; 10, no6), daughters of heaven (5, 417; 10, 7o6). They are like two wives (i, I22 2) and abound in milk (2, 36). Changing their colour they suckle a single child who beams between heaven and earth (i, 965). They are two sisters who are of one mind but of different colour, whose path is the same and endless, who, taught by the gods, move alternately and never clash or stand still (1,1133). They are the shining mothers of order (i, I42 7); they con duct with bright rays every offering (5. 4i 7) and weave the web of sacrifice- (2, 36). They are bountiful, much invoked, and sit on the sacrificial grass (7, 26). They are great and well-adorned (10, 361. no6; i, i3 7. 1427). Appearing alternately they arouse all living things (2,3i5)16. Sun and Moon " are mentioned five times in the form of snrydmasd and three times in that <j of suryacandramdsa. These are the only dual compounds formed with the .1 name of SuryaT 7. In most cases the concrete luminaries only are meaner J Thus they are said to move alternately so that we may see (i, io2 2). It is the act of Brhaspati that sun and moon rise alternately (10, 68 10). The Creator fashioned sun and moon (10, 190 3). A poet says, let us go on our path like sun and moon (5, 5i 15). There is, however, an incipient personi fication when the pair is invoked with other deities (10, 64$. 9212. 935). In a few passages sun and moon, though not expressly mentioned, are evidently thought of in their dual character. The two go round the sacrifice like Indo-arische Philologie. III. 1 A. 9
130 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
playing children; the one surveys all beings, the other is born again, orderingseasons (10, 85l8). There is no doubt that they are meant by the twobright eyes of Varuna (8, 4i 9) and by the two eyes of heaven made by the
(the
immortals (i, 72).
i KHF. i6if.; OGR. 297 f.; HVM. i, 98. 2 Sp.AP. 159; cp. ORV. 93.240. 3 TYLOR, Primitive Culture 3228 (Chapter on Mythology). 4 HAUGTranslation of the AB., vol. 2, 308. 5 Cp. ibid. 2, 299. 6 Cp. Nirukta 3, 22; MM., LSL. 2, 606. - - 7 RV. 2, 404-5; 6, 52*6. 572. 683; 7, 362. 825-6. 839.842. 853. 8 OST. 5, 70; EGGERS, Mitra 2931; OLDENBERG, ZDMG.50, 46. 9 OST. 5, 220; MACDONELL, JRAS. 25, 470. io Cp. FAY, AJP. 17,14. " LSL. 2, 614. 12 MACDONELL, JRAS. 27, 175. 13 OST. 5, 180; HVM.i, 456. 14 OLDENBERG, Die Hymnen des Rigveda I, 267; HILLEBRANDT, GGA.1890, p. 401; HVM. i, 45861. 15 Cp. LRV. 4, 228. 16 KRV. 52; OLDENBERG, ZDMG. 39, 89; HRI. 79. 17 OLDENBERG, ZDMG. 50, 63. G. GROUPS OF GODS.
- The mythology of the Veda recognised a certain number of moreor less definite groups of divine beings, generally associated with some particular god. The largest and most important of these, the Maruts, whosenumber in the RV. is variously stated to be 21 or 180 (p. 78), is, as hasbeen shown, constantly described as attending Indra in his warlike exploits(p. 57). The same group under the name of Rudras is occasionally associated with their father Rudra (7, io4. 356). The number of the Rudras,treated as, a separate class in the Brahmanas, is stated to be eleven in theAB. and SB. (p. 19) but is thirty-three in the TS. (i, 4, n 1). The smallergroup of the Adityas, whose number in two passages of the RV.isseven or eight (p. 43) and in the Brahmanas becomes twelve, is in the RV.constantly associated either with their mother Aditi (7, io- &c.) or with theirchief Varuna (7, 356 &c.). This group is more definite than that of theMaruts inasmuch as its members have separate names. A third group frequently mentioned in the RV. is more vague than the other two, for theyare neither characterized nor is their number mentioned. That they wereconceived as specially connected with Indra, is shown by two passages inwhich Varuna or Aditi with the Adityas, Rudra with the Rudras, and Indrawith the Vasus, are invoked (7, io4. 356). But in later Vedic texts Agni is theleader of the Vasus 1. They are regarded as eight in number in the AB. andSB. (p. 19), but in the TS. (5, 5, 25) become 333. The three groups of theAdityas, Rudras and Vasus are invoked together in a few passages of theRV. (2, 311; io, 66 12 cp. 7, io*. 356)2. The Brahmanas distinguish,, as threekinds of r gods, the Vasus of earth, the Rudras of air, and the Adityas ofheaven (SB. i, 3, 4"; 4, 3, 51 ). In the Chandogya Upanisad (3, 6 io) fivegroups are mentioned, the Vasus being connected with Agni, the Rudras withIndra, the Adityas with Varuna, the Maruts with Soma, and the Sadhyas withBrahma (cp. RV. io, 97-l6)3. There is besides the group of the semi-divineAngirases who are chiefly connected with Brhaspati ( 36, 54) and thesmall one of the three Rbhus who are nearly always associated with Indra( 46). Finally, a comprehensive group is formed of the VisvedevahorAll-gods, who occupy an important position in the sacrifice, for at least fortyentire hymns of the RV. are devoted to their praise. It is a factitious sacrificial group meant to represent all the gods in order that none should beexcluded in laudations intended to be addressed to all. But the All-godsare sometimes conceived as a narrower group, being invoked with othergroups, such as the Vasus and Adityas (2, 3^)4.
i IS. 5, 240; BRV. 2, 370; BLOOMFIELD, FaR. 151. 2 LRV. 6, 147; cp.PERRY, JAOS. 16, 178. 3 WEBER, IS. 9, 6; SPH. 23. 4 HRI. 137. 143, note i. 182.
45- GROUPS OF GODS. H. LOWER DEITIES. 46. RBHUS. 131 H. LOWER DEITIES.
- Rbhus. - - Besides the higher gods of the Veda there are a number of mythical beings not regarded as having the divine nature fully and originally. The most important of these are the Rbhus. They are cele brated in eleven hymns of the RV. and are mentioned by name over a hundred times. They form a triad. Their individual names, which often occur, are Rbhu or less commonly Rbhuksan ( chief of the Rbhus ), Vaja, and Vibhvan. These three names are several times mentioned together, sometimes only two of them, while occasionally Rbhu is referred to alone. They are most often spoken of in the plural as rbhavah, but the plural of each of their names may designate the triad. Sometimes the plurals of all three (4, 36^; 8, 48 1 ) or of only two (Vdjd Rbhuksanah or Vdjd RbhavaJi) appear to be used together pleonastically to indicate the trio. Once the com bination Vdjo Vibhvdn RbhavaJi occurs (4, 366j. Occasionally an indefinite group seems to be meant, as all (visve) the Rbhus (7, 5i 3 ), or Rbhu with the Rbhus, Vibhvan with the Vibhus (7, 482) are invoked. In the latter passage Rbhu and Vibhvan are evidently thought of as chiefs of groups of the same name. The three Rbhus are once distinguished as eldest, younger, and youngest (4, 33 5). The Rhbus are about a dozen times called by the patronymic name of Saudhanvana, sons of Sudhanvan, the good archer . They are also once collectively addressed as the son (suno) of Indra (4, 37 4). In the same verse they are invoked as children of might (savaso napdtaJi), as if a play on the meaning of napdt (also grandson ) were intended, in contrast with the epithet son of might (savasah sunu), which is applied exclusively to Indra. The epithet savaso napdtaJi is almost peculiar to them, being applied to them five times and otherwise only once to Mitra-Varuna. In one passage (3,6o3) they are spoken of as children of Manu (manor napdtaJi) and their parents (pitara) are several times mentioned. In one hymn they address Agni. as their brother (i, i6i T - 3).
They are very frequently invoked to come to the sacrifice (4,34*- 3 . 371) and to drink the Soma juice (4, 344 . 362; 7, 481 ). Being high in heaven they are besought to come to the Soma in the lower abodes (4, 37^). In this they are generally associated with Indra (3, 6o4~6; 4, 333. 346. 357), a few times with the Maruts (i, 20$. in 4; 4, 34"), and once with the Adityas, Savitr,
Mountains, and Rivers (4,348). In other respects also they are closely connected with Indra. They are Indra-like (4,37 5) and Rbhu is like a new Indra (i, no?). With Indra they help mortals to victory (4, 376) and are invoked with him to crush foes (7, 48^). They are said to have obtained the friendship of
Indra by their skilful work (3, 6o3; 4, 35? 9); for it is they who fashioned his steeds. In the hymns devoted to their praise, they are rarely invoked with gods other than Indra, there being only one such passage (4, 34) in which Indra is not mentioned as well. Indra s connexion with them is indeed so characteristic, that he is, like the eldest of the triad, called chief of the Rbhus (rbhuksan\ a term also two or three times applied to Indra s asso ciates, the Maruts. In some of the Visvedeva hymns they are brought into connexion with a few other gods, chiefly Tvastr. The references to the physical aspect or the equipment of the Rbhus are scanty. They are of sunlike appearance (i, no4). They have a caj (i,i6i ) which is drawn by steeds (7, 481 ). Their car is bright, their steeds are fat; they wear metal helmets and fair necklaces (4, 37^). Rbhu is a possessor of steeds (asvin\ 4, 37$). The Rbhus are characteristically deft- 9*
132 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
handed (suhastdh) and skilful (apds, suapas: 4, 331 8 &c.); their skilful deedsbeing incomparable (3, 60-*). They are frequently said to have acquired therank of gods in consequence of their marvellous skill. Through their wondrousdeeds they obtained divinity (3, 60 T ). By their skilful deeds they becamegods and immortal, alighting like eagles in heaven (4, 358). They are menof the air who by their energy mounted to heaven (i, no6). For theirskilful services they went the path of immortality to the host of the gods(4, 353), obtaining immortality among the gods and their friendship (4,33 3>4 . 353. 364). But they were originally mortals, children of Manu, who by theirindustry acquired immortality (3, 6o3; i, no4). The AB. (3, 3o2) speaks ofthem as men who by austerity (tapas) obtained a right to partake of Somaamong the gods. The gods rejoiced so greatly in their work, that Vajabecame the artificer of the gods, Rbhuksan of Indra, and Vibhvan of Varuna(4> 33 9)- They went to the gods and obtained the sacrifice, or a share ofthe sacrifice, among the gods through their skilful work (i, 2o u8. i2i 6 - /).Thus the third or evening pressing or libation (savana) belongs to them,they having obtained it by their skilful work (i, i6i 8; 4, 33". 344. 35).They are thus sometimes expressly invoked as gods (4, 36 5. 37 ). Like the higher gods, they are besought to give prosperity and wealth
(4? 338- 37 5X m cattle, horses, heroes (4, 3410), and to grant vigour, nourishment, offspring, dexterity (i, in 2). They grant treasures to the Soma presser(1,20?; 4,356). He whom they help is invincible in fight (4, 366), and Rbhuand Vaja are besought to give aid and booty in battle (i, n55). The same verb taks, to fashion, is generally used with reference to themanual skill of the Rbhus as to that of Tvastr. The five great feats of dexterity
by which they became gods, are spoken of with pretty uniform frequencyand are all or most of them mentioned in nearly every hymn dedicated totheir praise. They fashioned or made a car (i, in 1. i6i3; 4, 338. 362 ),which is horseless, reinless, three-wheeled, and traverses space (4, 361). Thecar which goes round they fashioned for the Asvins (i, 2o3. i6i 6; 10, 3912).When in a verse (4, 349) which enumerates each of their feats with a singleword, they are said to have fashioned the Asvins themselves, this appearsto be only a loose way of referring to the same exploit.
For Indra they fashioned the two bay steeds (hari) which waft him(4? 3310 &c.). It appears to be only a varied reference to the same featwhen the Rbhus are represented as desiring to make a horse or as havingmade one horse after another (i, i6i3-?). They further fashioned or made a cow (i, i6i3; 4, 34$), which yieldsnectar (i, 2o3) and is all-stimulating and omniform (4, 338). This cow theyformed out of hide (i, no8) or extracted (arinitd) from a hide (i, i6i 7 &c.j.They guarded her and formed her flesh (4,33 4). That they formed this cowfor Brhaspati may be inferred from a verse (i, i6i 6) which states that Indrayoked the two bay steeds and the Asvins the car, while Brhaspati drove up
the omniform (cow). A minor feat, only twice referred to and perhaps connected with the foregoing one, consists in their having re-united the motherwith her calf (i, no8, in 1 ). The Rbhus also rejuvenated their parents (i, 2o4. in 1; 4, 355), whowere frail and lay like decaying posts (i, no8; 4, 332- 3). They madethetwo who were old young again (i, i6i3- 7). When in the brief enumerationof their feats already referred to (4, 349), they are simply said to havefashioned their parents, the same feat is doubtless meant. It was their laudablefame among the gods, that they made their frail and very old parents youngagain so as to walk (4, 36^). In the first verse of the same hymn it is said
LOWER DEITIES. 46. RBHUS. 133
to have been the great proclamation of their divine power, that they made heaven and earth to thrive. The latter thus seem to be intended by their
parents.
The exhibition of skill which is most frequently mentioned and appears to have been thought the greatest, as showing the Rbhus in the character of successful rivals of Tvastr, consists in their having made the one cup, the work of Tvastr, into four (i, 2o6. no3; 4, 352 - 3. 3 64). This cup is the drinking vessel of the gods (i, i6i 5; 4, 35 5) or of the Asura (i, iio3). The
Rbhus were commissioned by the gods through their messenger Agni, to make the one cup, which was of wood, into four, promising as a reward that they should receive worship equally with the gods (i, i6i T> 2 ). Tvastr praised (panayaf) the proposal of the Rbhus to make two, three, or four cups, and acquiesced (avenat) when he saw the four shining cups (4, 33$6). But in another passage it is said that Tvastr, on seeing the four cups, hid himself among the females and desired to kill the Rbhus for desecrating the drinking vessel of the gods (i, i6i 4> 5), though the Rbhus in a previous verse of the same hymn (v.T) disclairn any wish to desecrate it. They are described as measuring out like a field the one wide drinking vessel (fiatra), desiring fame among the immortals (i,no5). The same feat is less definitely referred to when they are said to have formed or fashioned cups (i, i6i 9; 3, 6o 2 cp. 4, 35 5)- The skill of the Rbhus is incidentally exemplified by the statement that they fashioned prayer (10, 8o7 ), sacrifice (3, 5412), and the two worlds (4, 349), or that they are supporters of the sky (10, 66 10).
Another myth connects the Rbhus with Savitr. They are said to have been round the sky, wind-sped, in swift course (4, 331 cp. i, i6i 12). After much wandering they came to the house of Savitr, who conferred immortality on them when they came to Agohya (i, no2 - 3). When, slumbering for twelve days, they had rejoiced in the hospitality of Agohya, they made fair fields and directed the streams, plants occupied the arid ground and waters the lowlands (4, 33 7). By their skill they made grass on the heights and waters in the depths, when they slumbered in the house of Agohya (i, I6: 11). Having slept, they asked Agohya as to who had awakened them; in a year they looked around (ib.I3). The word rbhu is apparently derived from the root rabh, to grasp (cp. 2, 38)1, thus meaning handy , dexterous . It frequently occurs in the RV. as an adjective and is several times thus used as an attribute of Indra, Agni, and the Adityas. It seems to be identical with the German elbe and the English elf2. Vaja (from the root vaj) means the vigorous one 3, and Vibhvan 4 (from m and the root bhu), the eminent (artist). Thus both the name of the Rbhus and the account given of them in the RV. indicate that their essential character is that of skilful artificers.
It is clear that they were regarded as not having been gods from the beginning. Whether their close connexion with Indra has in any way to do with their original nature is doubtful. It is also uncertain who is meant by their patronymic Saudhanvana, since the word sudhanvan occurs only twice in the RV. as an attribute of Rudra and of the Maruts. It is, however, most probable that their parents who are mentioned so often, represent heaven and earth 5. The notion that they produce fertility is connected with their sojourn of twelve days in the house of Savitr or Agohya, the sun who cannot be concealed 6. They have therefore by various scholars 7 been taken to be genii of the three seasons 8, which are at a stand-still during the twelve days of the winter solstice. The cup of Tvastr possibly represents the moon,
134 HI. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
and the four into which it was transformed by the Rbhus, its four phases.On the whole it seems probable that the Rbhus were originally terrestrial oraerial elves, whose dexterity gradually attracted to them various myths illu strative of marvelous skill. But the evidence furnished by the RV. is hardlysufficient to warrant any certain conclusion.
1 Cp. WACKERNAGEL, Altind. Gr. p. 70. 2 BRUGMANN, Grundriss 2, 298; cp.A. KUHN, KZ. 4, 10320; WACKERNAGEL, KZ. 24, 297. 3 Riches according toBRV. 2, 407. - - 4 Cp. OLDENBERG, SEE. 46, 191. - - 5 A. KUHN, Entwicklungs stufen 134; AIL. 366. 6 WVB. 1894, 37, note 3; according to BRV. 3, 52, fromwhom nothing is concealed . 7 AIL. 1. c. ; LRV. 3, 335; KRV. 534; HVM.i, 515; HVBP. 100. - - 8 According to WEBER, 1. c., they are genii of creativetime, past, present, and future; according to BRV. 2, 412, three ancient skilfulsacrificers who acquired immortality and whose number is connected with the triadof sacrificial fires.
NEVE, Essai sur le Mythe des Ribhavas, Paris 1847; cp. ROTH, ZDMG.2, 126; OST. 5, 2267; GKR. 119; GRV. i, 103; BRV. 2, 40313; 3, 515;GGH. 108. no; WC. 246; E. H. MEYER, Germanische Mythologie 124; An zeiger fur deutsches Altertum 13, 315; ORV. 2356 (cp. L. v. SCHROEDEK,WZKM. 9, 253).
- The Apsarases. Apsaras denotes a kind of nymph that evenin the RV. appears almost completely separated from her physical basis.The information there obtainable is very scanty, as the name occurs onlyfive times. The Apsaras smiles at her beloved (the Gandharva mentioned inthe preceding verse) in the highest heaven (10, i23 5). Vasistha was bornof the Apsaras (7, 33I2j and the Vasisthas are said to have sat close to theApsarases (ibid. 9). The Apsarases of the sea are described as flowing toSoma (9, y8 J), with reference to the water which is mixed with the juice.The long-haired ascetic with semi-divine powers is spoken of as able to moveon the path of the Apsarases and the Gandharvas (10, i366). The Apsarasis also doubtless meant by the aqueous nymph (apyd yosa), the wife of theGandharva in the waters (10, io4). More is said about the Apsarases in the AV. Their abode is in thewaters, whence they come and go in a trice (AV. 2,2^); and they are besoughtto depart from the vicinity of men to the river and the bank of the waters(AV. 4, 373). The goddesses accompanying the Gandharva Visvavasu aredescribed as connected with clouds, lightning, and stars (AV. 2, 24). Theyare expressly called wives of the Gandharvas (AV. 2, 25), and their connexionwith the latter has assumed the character of a formula in the later Samhitas(VS. 30, 8; AV. 8, 99, &C.)1. In the SB. (n, 5, i) the Apsarases are described as transforming themselves into a kind of aquatic bird (dtayaJr. cp.RV. 9, 59). In the post-Vedic literature they are very often spoken of asfrequenting forest lakes and rivers, espescially the Ganges, and they are foundin Varuna s palace in the ocean 2. The etymological meaning of the wordis most probably moving in the waters 3. The above evidence indicates that the oldest conception of the Apsarasis that of a celestial water nymph, already regarded in the RV. as the consort of a genius named Gandharva. In the later Samhitas the sphere of theApsarases extends to the earth and in particular to trees. They are spokenof as inhabiting banyans (nyagrodhd] and sacred fig-trees (asvattha], in whichtheir cymbals and lutes resound (AV. 4, 374). Elsewhere the same trees aswell as other varieties of the fig-tree (udumbara and plaksa) are said to bethe houses of Gandharvas and Apsarases (TS. 3, 4, 8 4 ). The Gandharvas andApsarases in such trees are entreated to be propitious to a passing weddingprocession (AV. 14, 29)4. jn the SB. (n, 6, i) the Apsarases are describedas engaged in dance, song, and play. Post-Vedic texts even speak of mount-
LOWER DEITIES. 47. THE APSARASES. 135
ains, both mythical and actual, as favourite resorts of these two classes of beings 5. The AV. adds the traits that the Apsarases are fond of dice and bestow luck at play (AV. 2, 25 &c.), but that they are feared especially as causing mental derangement, magic therefore being employed against them (AV. 2, 3s &c.). The love of the Apsarases, who are of the great beauty6 (cp. 86.13,4
37 8), is enjoyed not only by the Gandharvas, but occasionally even by men (cp. 10, 959). A myth turning on such a union is related of at least one individual Apsaras in Vedic literature. The names only of several other Apsarases are there mentioned. The AV. refers to three, Ugrajit, Ugram pasya, and Rastrabhrt (AV. 16, nS1 - 2 ), while the VS., airing several others, speaks of Urvasi and Menaka (VS. 15, 15 19). The SB. (3, 4, i22) also specifies Sakuntala, the ancestress of the royal family of the Bharatas? (SB. 13, 5, 4T 3), as well as UrvasT (SB. u, 5, i1 ). ^ The only one of these names occurring in the RV. is that of Urvasi. That she was there regarded as an Apsaras, appears from the fact that; Vasistha is said in one verse" to have been born of Urvasi and, in the next,! of an Apsaras (7, 3311 I2). She is once invoked with the streams (5, 4i I<? ). Her name is otherwise only mentioned 8 twice in a late and obscure hymn (10, 95IC- X 7), which consists of a dialogue between her and her lover Puru ravas, son of Ila. She is there described as aqueous (apyd), as filling the atmosphere, and traversing space (the latter expression is also applied to the celestial Gandharva in 10, i395). She is said to have spent four autumns among mortals (v.l6) and is besought to return (V. I7)- The request is ap parently refused; but Pururavas receives the promise that his offspring shall worship the gods with the offering, while he himself shall enjoy bliss in heaven (svarga: v.l8). Several verses of this hymn find their setting in a continous story told in the SB. (n, 5, i), which fills in details partly based on a misunderstanding of the text of RV. It is there related that the Apsaras Urvasi joins herself with Pururavas, son of Ila, in an alliance, the permanence of which depends on the condition that she shall never see him naked. The Gandharvas by a stratagem produce a noise during the night. Pururavas springs up naked, when he is seen by Urvasi illuminated by a flash of light ning. Urvasi vanishes forthwith. Pururavas wanders about in search of her, till he at last observes her swimming in a lotus lake with other Apsarases in the form of an aquatic bird. Urvasi discovers herself to him and, in response to his entreaties, consents to receive him for one night a year later 9 . He returns at the appointed time, and on the following day the Gandharvas grant him the boon of becoming one of themselves by producing fire in a particular way. Excepting 10, 95, the name of Pururavas, which means calling aloud , occurs only in one passage of the RV. (i, 31*), where Agni is said to have caused the sky to thunder (vdsaya) for the righteous man (manave) Pururavas. The word may here, however, have the adjectival sense. Pururavas and Urvasi have by some scholars 10 been interpreted as sun and dawn.
1 See PW. s. v. gandharva. 2 HOLTZMANN, ZDMG. 33, 635. 641. 3 Ex plained by YN. 5, 13 by ap-sarim; cp. MEYER, Indogermanische Mythen l, 183; GGH. 10 ; PVS. I, 79 cp. 183 ff. ; LUDWIG, Methode 91; otherwise WEBER, IS. 13, I35> GW., BURY, BB. 7, 339. - - 4 HAAS, IS. 5, 394; 13, 136; E. H. MEYER, op. cit. 13. 5 HOLTZMANN, ZDMG. 33, 640 f.; v. SCHROEDER, op. cit. 67; MANN HARDT, Wald- und Feldkulte I, 99 ff. 6 in the Epic period the Apsarases have become regular celestial courtesans. 7 Cp. WEBER, IS. i, 198 201; HOLTZMANN, ZDMG. 33, 635 f. ; LEUMANN, ZDMG. 48, 802; v. BRADKE, ibid. 498 ff. 8 Cp. OLDENBERG, SEE. 46, 323. 9 They have a son named Ayu: cp. KHF. 65. 71;
136 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.
IS. i, 197; GVS. i, 283; BRV. 2, 324; OLDENBERG, SEE. 46, 28. - 10 WEBER,IS. I, 196; MM., Oxford Essays p. 61 ; Essays i, 408 10; Chips 42, 109 f. LASSEN, Indische Alterthumskunde 1,432, note 2; KHF. 71 8; ROTH, Nirukta1556; GRV. 2, 488; BRV. 2, 906; v. SCHROEDER, op. cit. i, 2339 (cp. WZKM.9, 253); OLDENBERG, ZDMG. 37, 81 ; 39, 52 n. 4. 736; GGA. 1890, 420 flf.; GVS. i, 243 95; SIECKE, Die Liebesgeschichte des Himmels, Strassburg 1892(Urvasl = moon); HRI. 137.
- Gandharvas. With the Apsaras or Apsarases are associatedeven in the RV., as has been shown, a male being or beings named Gan dharva. Of the twenty occurrences of the word in the RV. only three arein the plural, while of the thirty-two occurrences in the AV. half are in theplural. The name is found a few times in the Avesta as Gandarewa 1 (adragon-like monster) and only in the singular. This points to the Gandharvasas a class having been gradually developed from a single being. In the laterSamhitas they are spoken of as forming a distinct class by the side of Gods,Fathers and Asuras (AV. n, 52; TS. 7, 8, 252). Their number is fixed as 27in some Yajus texts and is even said to be 6333 in the AV. (n, 52 )2. The fact that the conception goes back to the Indo-Iranian period, accountsto some extent for its obscurity. The evidence of the RV. is, moreover, soscanty and vague that no certain result as to its definite original characteris attainable. It is worthy of note that the name is found only once inbooks II to VII, while in book VIII it occurs twice as that of a being hostileto Indra. The word seems sometimes to be only an appellative 3. It is occasionally accompanied by the epithet visvdvasu, possessing all goods(9, 86 36; 10, i394- 5; AV. 2, 2*; VS. 2, 3). This epithet is in one hymnused alone to designate Gandharva (10, 85"- 22 cp.4 - 4I); and in the laterSamhitas, the Brahmanas, and the post-Vedic literature, it frequently occursas the name of an individual Gandharva.
In the RV. Gandharva seems to be localized in the high region of airor sky. He is a measurer of space (10, i39 5). He is found in the fathomless spaces of air (8, 66 5 ). He is heavenly (divyd) and stands erect on thevault of heaven (10, I23 7). He is the lover on whom the Apsaras smiles(ib. 5). His abode is in heaven (AV. 2, 21 - 2 ) and the Blest live with theGandharvas (AV.4, 343). In several passages Gandharva is closely connected withsome form of celestial light. Thus he is brought into relation with the sun,the golden-winged bird, the messenger of Varuna (10, I236), with the sun bird (10, i77 2 ), with the sun-steed (i, i632 ), with Soma likened to the sun(9? 8512) He is further connected with the 27 stars of the moon s orbit(VS. 9, 7) and in particular with Rohini (AV. 13, i 23). He is possibly alsoassociated with the rainbow 4 in one hymn of the RV. (10, 123). In the VS.(18, 38 ff.) the Gandharvas are enumerated with Agni, Sun, Moon, and Wind.In post-Vedic literature one of the names of the mirage is city of theGandharvas 5.
Gandharva is, moreover, in the RV. often associated (chiefly in the ninthbook) with Soma. He guards the place of Soma and protects the races ofthe gods (9, 834 cp. i, 22 14). Observing all the forms of Soma, he standson the vault of heaven (9, 85*2). Together with Parjanya and the daughterof the sun, the Gandharvas cherish Soma (9, H33). Through Gandharvasmouth the gods drink their draught (AV. 7, 733). The MS. (3, 810) statesthat the Gandharvas kept Soma for the gods, but having allowed it to bestolen, were as a punishment excluded from the Soma draught. Doubtlessowing to this association with Soma, Gandharva is described as knowingplants (AV. 4, 41 ). It is probably as a jealous guardian of Soma that Gandharva in the RV. appears as a hostile being, who is pierced by Indra in
LOWER DEITIES. 48. GANDHARVAS. 137
the regions of air (8, 66 5) or whom Indra is invoked to overcome (8, i 11). For in a later text Soma is besought to elude the Gandharva Visvavasu in the form of an eagle (TS. i,2,9T ). Soma is further said to have dwelt among the Gandharvas or to have been stolen by the Gandharva Visvavasu, but to have been bought from the Gandharvas, as they were fond of females, at the price of the goddess Vac (AB. i, 27; TS. 6, i, 65; MS. 3, 73). The trait of hostility appears to be old, for in the Avesta (Yt. 5, 38) the hostile Ganda rewa, dwelling in the sea Vourukasa, the abode of the white Haoma, is fought with and overcome by Keresaspa. Moreover, the archer Krsanu, who shoots at the eagle that carries off the Soma (RV. 4, 27^), appears to be a Gan dharva 6, being expressly said to be one in TA. i, 9. Gandharva is sometimes connected with the waters. Gandharva in the waters and the aqueous nymph are alluded to as the parents of Yama and Yam! (10, lo4). Soma poured into water is called the Gandharva of the waters (9, 8636). Gandharva, connected with the Apsarases, is also said to dwell in the waters in the AV. (2, 23; 4, 3712). In the Avesta Gandarewa is a lord of the abyss who dwells in the waters (Yt. 15, 28). The union of Gandharva with the water nymph is typical of marriage. He is therefore connected with the wedding ceremony, and the unmarried maiden is said to belong to Gandharva as well as to Soma and Agni (10, 3540-1). The Gandharva Visvavasu in the first days of wedlock is regarded as a rival of the husband (ib.22), and the Gandharvas love of women is prominent in later texts (cp. MS. 3, 73). The Gandharvas and Apsarases thus preside over fertility and are prayed to by those who desire offspring (PB. 19, 32)- Of the conception of the Gandharvas being celestial singers, which appears in the Epics and later, there seems to be no distinct trace in the RV. (cp. 10, i 772. ii 2 ).
There are only two or three references to their physical appearance in the RV. They are wind-haired (3, 386) and Gandharva has brilliant weapons (10, i23 7). The AV. is more definite (especially 4, 37; 8, 61 ff.). Here they are said to be shaggy and to have half animal forms, being in many ways dangerous to men. Elsewhere, however, they are spoken of as handsome (SB. 13, 4, 37 - 8). The RV. adds the touch that Gandharva wears a fragrant (surabhi] garment (10, 1237), while in the AV. (12, i 23) the odour (gandha) of the earth is said to rise to the Gandharvas.
This suggests the derivation from gandha as possible. But such an ety mology, even if true, would seem to shed no light on the original conception. The name has even been identified with Ksvraupo;; but in order to justify this equation the aid of popular etymology has to be called in 7 as well as the doubtful epenthesis of u assumed in the Greek word 8. The two con ceptions, moreover, appear to have nothing in common. The utmost, from a review of the evidence, it seems possible to say about the original nature of the Gandharva is, that he was a bright celestial being, sometimes thought of as dwelling in the waters with his spouse the Apsaras. Various conjectures have, however, been made by different scholars. Some regard the Gandharvas as wind-spirits9, others think that Gandharva represents the rainbow 10, or a genius of the moon 11, or Soma12, or the rising sun 13, or a cloud-spirit14.
1 Yasht 5, 37; 19, 41; cp. SP AP. 276; BARTHOLOMAE, ZDMG. 42, 158. - 2 WVB. 1894, p. 34. 3 HVM. i, 427. 4 Disputed by BERGAIGNE and HILLE- BRANDT; cp. ORV. 246, note l. 5 See PW. s. v. gandharva-nagara, -pura. - 6 KHF. 151 2; WVB. 1894, 79 (cp. 1888, p. 13, n.); as to Krsanu, cp. also WEBER, IS. 2, 3134; KUHN in KZ. i, 523; ROTH, ZDMG. 36, 359; BRV. 3, 30 ff.; Sp.AP, 2234; BLOOMFIELD, JAOS. 16, 20; ORV. 181. 7 v. SCHROEDER, GGH. 73;
138 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY. MEYER, Indog. Mythen 164 f. – 8 Cp. BRUGMANN, Grundriss I, 481. 9 MANN HARDT 201; MEYER, op. cit. i, 219 f.; v. SCHROEDER, op. cit. 71; HVM. I, 446. 10 ROTH, Nir. Erl. 145; GRV. 2, 400; DPV. 253; KIRSTE, WZKM. 9, 164. - 11 PW.; LRV. 4, 158; HRI. 157. - - 12 BRV. 2, 38 ff. - - 13 WC. 34. 36 cp. LRF. 10 1. 14 KHF. 153.
A. KUHN, KZ. i, 513 ff.; WEBER, IS. i, 90; 5, 185. 210; 13, I34f.; MEYER,op. cit. 112.168.23.55. 179; BRV. 3, 647; PVS. i, 7781; Sp.AP. 21015;HVM. i, 42766; ORV. 2449; ZDMG. 49, 1789. 49. Tutelary Deities. The name of Vastos pati occurs onlyseven times in the RV., and one hymn of three stanzas (7, 54) is devotedto his praise. He is there invoked to grant a favourable entry, to removedisease, to bless man and beast, to confer prosperity in cattle and horses,and always to afford protection. In the first verse of the hymn immediately
following (7, 551 ) he is described as a destroyer of disease, who assumes all forms. He is once (7. 542 ) identified with Soma, being addressed as Indu.In a verse of a hymn to the All-gods (5, 418) he is invoked in immediatejuxtaposition with Tvastr and is perhaps identified with him as the greatartificer. In another verse (8, i7 14) he is called a firm pillar, a cuirass ofSoma-pressers, and seems to be identified with Indra. In the only passageof the tenth book which mentions him, he is spoken of as the observer ofordinances who, along with prayer (brahmct), was fashioned by the gods (10,6 17). According to GELDNER X Rudra is here meant, Vastospati being anepithet of that god in TS. 3,40, io3. Though identified with various deities in the above passages, there seems no sufficient reason to suppose that thename was originally attached to any one particular greater deity as an epithet(like grhapati to Agni). The Grhya Sutras (AGS. 2, 99; SGS. 3, 4; PGS.3, 47) prescribe that Vastospati is to be propitiated when a new house is to be entered. This, together with the contents of the hymn devoted to his praise, points to his having been simply a tutelary deity of the house 2, asthe name itself Lord of the dwelling implies. He thus seems to be one ofthe lower order of deities which in primitive beliefs animate, inhabit, or presideover natural objects such as trees and mountains.
To the same order belongs Ksetrasya pati the tutelary deity of thefield. He is invoked, in the first three verses of 4, 57, to grant cattle andhorses as well as to fill heaven and earth, plants and waters with sweetness 3. In a verse of a hymn to the All-gods (7, 35) he is besought, along withSavitr, the Dawns, and Parjanya, to bestow prosperity. In a similar hymn(10, 66 I 3), worshippers express a desire to have him as a neighbour. TheGrhya Sutras state that r he is sacrificed to or worshipped when a field is ploughed (AGS. 2, io+; SGS. 4, i3 5). In one verse of a hymn addressed to agricultural deities (4,576) Slta, the Furrow, is invoked to grant rich blessingsand crops. Sita later appears (PGS. 2, 179) as the wife of Indra (perhapsbecause that god is once in the RV. called urvarapati, lord of the field : 8, 2i3 cp. 4, 577) and bears the patronymic Savitrl (TB. 2, 3, zo 1 ). In theSutra passage just mentioned the blessings of Urvara, the arable Field, described as having a garland of threshing-floors , are invoked.
i FaW. 21; V. = Agni, WC. 22. – 2 Cp. BLOOMFIELD, SEE. 42, 3434. - 3 PERRY, DRISLER Memorial 241, thinks Pusan is probably meant. Cp. WINDISCH,Berichte der k. sachs. Gesellschaft 1892, p. 174; ORV. 254 5.