5 ANIMALS AND INANIMATE OBJECTS

59. General Traits. – Animals enter to a considerable extent into the mythological creations of the Veda. There are still numerous traces surviving from a more primitive age, when the line dividing men from animals 10*

148 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.

was not definitely drawn ( 65) and gods might be conceived as havinganimal forms also. The higher Vedic gods themselves being anthropomorphicin character, the supernatural beings of the Veda which have an animal formbelong to a lower order, being semi-divine only or demoniac according as the animal is useful to man, as the cow, or injurious, as the serpent. Moreover, just as man has attached to him various animals which are serviceable to him, so the great anthropomorphic gods are naturally surrounded by acelestial animal world of a similar character. Lastly, actual animals are in the ritual connected with mythological conceptions of the gods. They aresymbolical representatives intended only as an instrument for the time beingto influence the gods they in some respect resemble. This fetishistic pointof view is probably the faded remnant of a more primitive identification ofgods with visible objects. The part which such animal fetishes play in Vedictimes is, however, no longer great,, since the representation of deities byanimals conflicted with the higher conception prevailing of the gods as mightymen dwelling in heaven and coming invisibly to the sacrifice.

60. The Hors_e_L. A. Dadhikra. Besides the celestial horses whichdraw the cars of the gods, various individual divine steeds occur in Vedicmythology. One of the most notable of these is Dadhikra, who is celebrated in four rather late 2 h\mns of the R.V. (4, 38 40; 7, 44). The name is mentioned there twelve times, interchanging with the extended form Dadhikravan,which is found ten times. The name hardly ever occurs in other Vedic texts. Dadhikra is so characteristically a steed that the word is given in the Nai ghantuka (i, 14) as a synonym of horse. He is swift (4, 38* 9. 39*), beingthe first steed at the head of chariots (7, 44*) and a vanquisher of chariots(rathatur), who speeds like the wind (4, 38 3). The people praise his swift ness and every Puru praises him as he runs on a precipice as it were (ib. 9- 3). He bounds along the curves of the paths (4, 40*). He is also conceived aswinged. For he is called bird-like, his wing being compared with that ofa bird and of a speeding eagle (4, 4o 2 -3). He is likened to a swoopingeagle and even directly called an eagle (4, 38s - 2 ). In one passage (4, 40^)he is spoken of as the swan (hamsd) dwelling in light, as well as the Vasuin the air, the priest at the altar, the guest in the house - - all epithetsappropriate to various forms of Agni.

Dadhikra is a hero, smites the Dasyus, and is victorious (4, 38Z ~~ 3 7). His adversaries fear him as the thunder of heaven, when he fights againsta thousand; he wins booty in combats and the tribes cry after him in contests (ib.8 - 5- 4). Making himself (krnvana) a garland, he tosses the dust andscatters it from his brows (ib.6 - 7). He belongs to all the tribes, pervadesthe five tribes with his power, as Surya the waters with his light, and observesthe assemblies (ib.2 - I0- 4). Mitra-Varuna gave him, the victorious steed, likeshining Agni, to the Purus (4, 392 cp. 381 - 2); they gave us the horse Dadhikra as a blessing for the mortal (ib. 5). The steed Dadhikravan is praised when Agni is kindled at the dawningof Usas (4, 39 3). He is invoked with the Dawns (ib.1. 40 ), who are prayedto turn to the sacrifice like Dadhikravan (7, 4i 6). He is regularly invokedwith Usas, nearly as often with Agni, less frequently with the Asvins andSurya, sometimes with other deities also (3, 20 1 - 5; 7, 44I4 j 10, ioi x); butDadhikra is invoked first (7, 441 ). The etymological meaning, being uncertain 3, cannot be said to throwany additional light on the original nature of Dadhikra. The second partof the compound may be a by-form of the root kr, to scatter , and theword would then mean scattering curdled milk , in allusion to the dew orANIMALS AND INANIMATE OBJECTS. 60. THE HORSE. 149

rime appearing at sunrise, according to ROTH and GRASSMANN*, who both think that Dadhikra represents in the form of a steed the circling ball of the sun. This view is supported by the fact that the deity with whom Dadhikra is most closely connected is lisas, that the sun is often conceived as a steed or bird (p. 31) and that he is sometimes regarded as warlike (ib.). The statement that Dadhikra was given by Mitra and Varuna might be connected with the notion of the sun being the eye of those deities. BER- GAIGNE thinks that the name of Dadhikra refers rather to lightning, but that he represents Agni in general, including his solar and lightning forms 5. LuDWic6, PISCHEL?, v. BRADKE 8, and OLDENBERG^, however, agree in the opinion that Dadhikra was not a deity, but an actual horse, famous as a racer or charger, which received divine honours.

It has already been remarked (p. 142) that Dadhyanc is allied to Da dhikra in name, and possibly in nature, since he is spoken of as having a horse s head.

B. Tarksya. Nearly related to Dadhikra is Tarksya, whose name is mentioned only twice in the RV. (i, 8Q6; 10, 178*). One late hymn, con sisting of three stanzas (10, 178), is devoted to his praise. He is there described as a god-impelled mighty steed (vdjin), a vanquisher of chariots (cp. 6, 444), swift, and speeding to battle. He is invoked as a gift of Indra. In the identical words applied to Dadhikra (4, 3810), he is said to have per vaded the five tribes with his power, as Surya the waters with his light. That he was primarily conceived as a steed is shown (v.2; i, 896) by his epithet aristanemi, whose fellies are intact (which in VS. 15, 1 8 appears as an in dependent name beside Tarksya and Garuda). In the Naighantuka (i, 14) the word tdrksya occurs as a synonym of horse . In one or two later Vedic texts Tarksya is, however, referred to as a bird; and in the Epic and subsequent literature, he is identical with the swift bird Garuda, the vehicle of Visnu. It seems on the whole probable that Tarksya originally represented the sun in the form of a divine steed 10. The word seems to be derived from Trksi, the name of a man, with the patronymic Trasadasyava, once mentioned in the RV. (8, 22 7). This derivation leads Fov 11 to believe that Tarksya was an actual race horse (like Dadhikra), belonging to Trksi of the family of Trasadasyu.

C. Paidva. Another mythical steed is that which the Asvins are said to have brought to Pedu (i, iig 10; 7, 7i 5) and which is therefore called Paidva (i, n66; 9, 88 4). The object of the gift was to replace an inferior horse, as may be inferred from the description of Pedu as agkdsva, he who

has a bad horse (i, n66). This steed is several times spoken of as white , sveta (i, n66, &c.). He is praiseworthy (i, 119; 10, 39; cp. 4, 382 ) and is to be invoked (i, n66) by men, like Bhaga (10, 3910). He is compared with Indra (i, ii910) and is called a dragon-slayer , ahihan (i, 1179. n89 cp. 9, 884), an epithet otherwise peculiar to Indra. He is a conqueror in vincible in battles, seeking heaven (i, ii9 10). Here again the evidence, as far as it goes, appears to favour the interpretation of the steed of Pedu as symbolical of the sun 12.

D. Etas a. The word etasa, which occurs a few times as an adjective meaning swift , more frequently signifies steed in the RV. In the plural it designates the horses of the sun (7, 62 2; 10, 37^. 497). It occurs about a dozen times as a proper name in the singular,, always connected with the sun, often with reference to the wheel of the sun. Savitr is the steed (etasa) who measured out the terrestrial regions (5, 8i 3). The swift god Etasa draws the bright form of the sun (7, 66 I4j. Yoked to the pole, Etasa moves the

150 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.

wheel of the sun (7, 6.32); he brought the wheel of the sun (i, i2i 3; 5, 31"). India urged on the steed (etasd) of the sun (8, i11 cp. 9,6s8). Indra helpedEtasa contending in a race with Surya (i, 6i I 5). It may be gathered fromstray references to this mythical contest, that Etasa being at first behind takes up the lost wheel of the sun and fixes it to the car of Surya; he has nowgained the lead, and in the end Surya seems to concede to him the place of honour before his own car 13 . It appears to be impossible to suggest anysatisfactory interpretation of this myth. It can, however, hardly be doubtedthat Etasa represents the steed of the sun.

E. The Horse symbolical of Sun and Fire. That the horse is symbolical of the sun, is indicated by a passage of the RV. in which Dawn is said to lead a white steed (7, 77^, and is suggested by another (i, 163*) in which the sacrificial steed is said to have been fashioned by the gods out ofthe sun 14 . In a particular form of the Soma ritual, the horse also appears to be symbolical of the sun s.

Agni, the swift and agile god, is often, as has been shown (p. 89), spokenof as a steed. In the ritual the horse is symbolical of Agni. A horse is stationed so as to look at the place where fire is produced by friction. When the fire is borne towards the east, it is deposited in the track of the horse which goes in front 16. In the ceremony of piling the fire-altar, the horse is addressed with the verse: In heaven is thy highest birth, in air thy navel, on earth thy home (VS. n, 12). Such a rite is explained in the SB. as bringing Agni together with himself17 . The same Brahmana speaks oflightning as a horse descended from the waters or the clouds (SB. 5, i, 45;

7, 5, a").

i Cp. GUBERNATIS, Zoological Mythology i, 283 ff. 2 E. V. ARNOLD, KZ.34> 303- 3 Cp. WACKERNAGEL, Altind. Gr. p. 15. 4 ROTH, PW.; GW. s. v. ; cp. HRI. 55, note 5. 5 BRV. 2, 4567; cp. MACDONELL, JRAS. 25, 471; MM.,SEE. 46, 282. – 6 LRV. 4, 79. – 7 PVS. i, 124; cp. HILLEBRANDT, Vedainter pretation 1718. 8 ZDMG. 42, 4479. 4623. – 9 ORV. 71; SEE. 46, 282. - i PW. ; BRV. 2, 498; HIRZEL, Gleichnisse und Metaphern im RV. (1890) 27. 623; GRIFFITH, Transl. of SV. 69, note i. " KZ. 34, 366 7.- - 12 Cp. BRV. 2, 51-2. 13 BRV. 2, 330 3; ORV. 169 f.; cp. PVS. i, 42; GVS. 2, 161 ff. M Cp. AB. 6, 35 &c.; KHF. 52; WEBER, IS. 13, 247, n. 3; Die Naksatra 2, 270. - 15 ORV. 81. 16 ORV. 77. 17 ORV. 80.

6 1. A. The Bull. Indra is in the RV. constantly designated abull, a term applied much less frequently to Agni, and occasionally to other gods, such as Dyaus (p. 22). In the AV. (9, 4?) a bull is addressed as Indra, and in the SB. (2, 5, 3l8) the bull is stated to be Indra s form 1. In the Avestathe bull appears as one of the incarnations of Verethraghna, the AvestanIndra 2. In one of the sacrifices of the Vedic ritual, a bull also represents the god Rudra 3. A bull plays a part in the obscure and much discussed myth of Mudgala and MudgalanI (RV. 10, io2) 4.

B. The Cow. - - Owing to its great utility on earth, the cow naturally enters largely into the conceptions of Vedic mythology. The beams of Dawnare personified as cows 5, which draw her car (p. 47). The rain-cloud is personified as a cow, the mother of a (lightning) calf (pp. 10. 12). Thiscloud-cow is individualized as Prsni 6, the mother of the Maruts (VS. 2, 16), her milk (6, 48") and udder being several times referred to (cp. p. 125). Thebountiful clouds are doubtless the prototypes of the many-coloured cowswhich yield all desires (kdmadugha) in the heaven of the Blest (AV. 4, 348) and which are the forerunners of the Cow of Plenty (kamaduK) so often mentioned in post-Vedic poetry 7. Ida, the personification of the offering ofmilk and butter, has a tendency to be regarded as a cow (p. 124). Aditi

ANIMALS AND INANIMATE OBJECTS. 61. THE BULL &c. 62. THE GOAT &c. 151

also is sometimes spoken of as a cow (p. 122). The gods are sometimes called cow-born, gojdtdh. The most frequent application of the cow is, how ever, in the myth of the kine released from the rock by Indra (pp. 59. 61).

The terrestrial cow herself has already acquired a certain sanctity in the RV., being addressed as Aditi and a goddess, while the poet impresses on his hearers that she should not be killed (8, Qo 15 l6 cp. VS. 4, 19. 20). The inviolability of the cow is further indicated by her designation aghnyd, not to be slain , which occurs sixteen times in the RV. (the corresponding masculine form aghnya being found only three times). In the AV. the worship 9f the cow as a sacred animal is fully recognised (AV. 12, 4. 5.)8. In the SB. (3, i, 221) he who eats beef is said to be born again (on, earth) as a man of evil fame; though beef is allowed to be cooked for guests (SB. 3, 4, i2 )9.

i Cp. MS. i, 1016; TB. I, 6, 74; Ap. SS. 8, 1119. 2 ORV. 76, note 2. 3 ORV. 82. 4 Last treated of by V. HENRY (with reference to his predecessors) in JA. 1895 (6), 516 48. 5 Cp. GRUPPE, op. cit. i, 77.6 Cp. ROTH, Nir. Erl. 145; PW. s. v. 7 KHF. 188. - - 8 HRT. 156; cp. BLOOMFIELD, SEE. 42,

656. 9 WVB. 1894, p. 36; HRL 189; cp. WINTERNITZ, Hochzeitsrituell 33.

657. The Goat &c. –In the RV. the goat is specially connected with Pusan as drawing his car (p. 35). It also appears there as a divine being in the form of Aja ekapad, the one-footed Goat ( 27)1. In the the later Vedic literature the goat is several times connected or identified with Agni2. The ass appears in Vedic mythology mainly as drawing the car of the Asvins (p. 50) -3. The dog4 is found in the RV. mythologically in the form of the two brindled hounds of Yama, called Sarameya (p. 173). This name indicates that they were regarded as descendants 5 of Sarama 6 (p. 63), the messenger of Indra. There is nothing in the RV. directly showing that Sarama was there conceived as a bitch, though in the later Vedic literature she is regarded as such and by Yaska (Nir. u, 25) is described as the bitch of the gods

(devaswii).

The boar occurs in the RV. as a figurative designation of Rudra, the Marufs, "anoTTrtra 7. In the TS. and TB. this animal appears in a cosmo gonic character as the form assumed by the Creator Prajapati when he raised the earth out of the waters. A later development of it is the boar incar nation of Vismi 8.

In the later Samhitas the tortoise is raised to a semi-divine position as lord of waters (VS. 13, 3i) 9, or, as Kasyapa, often appears beside or identical with Prajapati in the AVV where he receives the epithet svayambhu,

self-existent (AV. 19, 5310) 10. In the AB. (8, 2i 10) the earth is said to have been promised to Kasyapa by Visvakarman. In the SB. Prajapati is described as changing himself into a tortoise (7, 4, 35), in which form he produced all creatures (7, 5, i1 )11. This assumed form of the creator became in post Vedic mythology the tortoise incarnation of Visnu 12. In the TS. (2, 6, 33) the sacrificial cake (purodasd) is said to become a tortoise. A monkey appears in a late hymn of the RV. (10, 86) as Indra s favourite, who is expelled for his mischievousness by Indram, but is finally restored to favour ( 22, p. 64).

Frogs awakened by the rains are in RV. 7, 103 the objects of a pane gyric as bestowing cows and long life, and seem to be conceived as possessing magical powers 3. This hymn has, however, been interpreted by MAX MtJLLER14 as a satire on Brahmans. BERGAIGNE interprets the frogs as meteorological phenomena^.

152 in. RELIGION, WELTL, WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.

i ORV. .72; SEE. 46, 62; BLOOMFIELD, SEE. 42, 625. 664, who thinks Ajaekapad is undoubtedly the Sun, with reference to TB. 3, I, 28 ( Aja ekapad. has risen in the east , &c.), a passage which, however, is not cogent for the Rigvedicconception. 2 ORV. 78. 3 WVB. 1894, p. 26, n. 2. 4 Cp. HOPKINS, TheDog in the RV., AJP. 1894, 1545; BLOOMFIELD, SEE. 42, 500. 5 Cp. WHITNEY,Sanskrit Grammar2, 1216. 6 Op. cit. Ii66b; WACKERNAGEL, Altind. Gr. 52 a.; KRV. n. 149; ZDMG. 13, 4939; 14, 583- ? Cp. KHF. 1778; Entwicklungs stufen 136; IS. i, 272, note; HOPKINS, JAOS. 17, 67. 8 MACDONELL, JRAS. 27, 17889. 9 Cp. IS. 13, 250. i Cp. SPH. 8 1. ii Cp. IS. i, 187. 12 MACDONELL, JRAS. 27, 1667. 3 ORV. 70; BLOOMFIELD, JAOS. 17, 1739. - 14 ASL. 4945; cp. OST. 5, 436. 15 BRV. i, 292 &c.; cp. HRI. 100 i.

63. TJae Bird. - - Birds figure largely in Vedic mythology. Somais often compared with or called a bird 1 (p. 106). Agni in particular is frequentlylikened to or directly designated a bird 2, once being spoken of as the eagleof the sky (p. 89) 3 . The sun is also sometimes conceived as a bird (p. 3i) 4, twice under the name of garutmat^. The fact that Visnu s vehicle in post Vedic mythology is Garuda, the chief of the birds, is probably based on thesame notion (cp. p. 39). The main application of the bird in the Veda is as the eagle which carries off the Soma for Indra and which appears torepresent lightning6. In the Kathaka it is Indra himself who in the form ofan eagle captures the Soma or amrta. Similarly in the Avesta, Verethraghnaassumes the form of Varaghna, the swiftest of birds, and in Germanic mythology,the god Odhin transforming himself into an eagle, flies with the mead to therealm of the gods (p. H4) 7.

Ominous birds as well as beasts are occasionally connected with certaingods by whom they are supposed to be sent. Thus in the RV. the owl andthe pigeon are spoken of as messengers of Yama ( 77)8. In the Sutrasthe owl is the messenger of evil spirits ; while the beast of prey besmearedwith blood and the carrion vulture are called messengers of Yama 9. In theRV. a bird of omen is once invoked to give auspicious signs (2, 42^).

i Cp. BENFEY, SV. glossary, s. v. syena.2 BLOOMFIELD, FaR. 152. 3 KHF.29. 4 v. BRADKE, ZDMG. 40, 356. 5 GW.; HRI. 45. 6 BRL II. 7 ORV.75. 8 Cp. ZDMG. 31, 352 ff.; BLOOMFIELD, SEE. 42, 474. 9 ORV. 76.

64. Noxious Animals. - - These generally appear as demons orshow demoniac traits. Demons are sometimes in the RV. referred to withthe generic term mrga, wild beast (i, 80?; 5, 29*. 32 3). One demon who

is mentioned three times (2, n l8; 8, 3226. 66 2) is called Aurnavabha, Spider brood ; another referred to only once (2, 14*) is named Urana, Ram . The most common animal form applied in this way is the serpent1

(ahi = Av. azhi)2. This is generally only another designation of the demonVrtra, who probably received his name (cp. 68) as a formidable enemy ofmankind enveloping his prey like a serpent in his coils 3. The Vrtra-slayerIndra, who is also called the serpent-slayer, is said to have slain the serpent(8, 82 2 cp. 4, I71 ); the identity of Ahi and Vrtra is clear where the termsinterchange (i, 32I - 2-7- I 4) j and by the first-born of the serpents (ib> 4) noother can be meant than Vrtra, the most Vrtra (ib.5). In several passages,too, the words are in apposition and may be translated the serpent Vrtra 4 . When Ahi is mentioned alone, the results of Indra s victory over him arethe same as in the case of Vrtra, the god causing the waters to flow, deli vering the seven streams, or winning the cows 5. The waters are also described as encompassed by the serpent, the action being expressed by theroot vr (2, i92) among others. They are similarly said to be swallowed(Vgras) by the serpent (4, i;1; 10, ui9). Ahi is armed with lightningthunder and hail (i, 32 13). He is bright, for the Maruts are called ahi-bhanavah, shining like Ahi (i, 172 ); and the term ahi is applied to Agni,

63. THE BIRD. 64. Noxious ANIMALS. 65. PREHISTORIC NOTIONS. 153

who is described as a raging serpent, like the rushing wind (i, 791)5. Soma is once besought to deliver an enemy to Ahi (7, 1049). The plural of the word is occasionally used to express a race of demons (9, 884; 10, I396), of whom the Ahi is the first-born (i, 32^4).

The serpent, however, also appears as a divine being in the form ot Ahi budhnya (26), who seems to represent the beneficent side of the char acter of Ahi Vrtra.

In the later Samhitas the serpents (sarpah) are found as a class of semi-divine beings beside the Gandharvas and others. They are spoken of as being in earth, air, and heaven (VS. 13, 6; cp. TB. 3, i, i7 ). They are often mentioned in the AV. 6, one hymn of which (n, 9) is sometimes inter

preted as an invocation of certain serpent divinities 7 . In the Sutras offerings to the serpents of earth, air, and heaven (AGS. 2, i?; PGS. 2, i49) are ,pre- scribed; serpents are satiated along with gods, plants, demons, &c. (SGS. 4, 93. i5 4; AGS. 3, 41 ), and blood is poured out for them (AGS. 4, 8 27). In this worship the serpent, owing to its hurtfulness, is naturally regarded as having a demoniac nature, which has to be propitiated. In a similar sense offerings are sometimes made to ants (KS. 116).

1 Cp. BENFEY, GGA. 1847, p. 1484; GUBERNATIS, Zoological Mythology 2, 392 7; WINTERNITZ, Der Sarpabali, Vienna 1888. 2 Sp.AP. 257. 3 Cp. Sp.AP. 261. 4 BRV. 2, 204. 5 GRIFFITH, RV. Transl. i, 133, note i; MACDONELL, JRAS. 25, 429. 6 \VEBER, Jyotisa 94; PW. s. v. sarpa. 7 Cp. BLOOMFIELD, SEE. 42, 6314.

65. Survival of prehistoric notions. The primitive conception that man does not differ essentially from beast, has left a few traces in the form of a belief in beings of the werewolf order. These are represented by the man-tigers (VS. 30, 8; SB. 13, 2, 42)1 and by the Nagas, human beings in appearance but in reality serpents, which are first mentioned under this name in the Sutras 2 (AGS. 3, 41). It does not seem likely that the later serpent worship had any connexion with the myth of the Vrtra serpent, but its development was probably due rather to the influence of the aborigines. For on the one hand there is no trace of it in the RV., and on the other it has been found prevailing very widely among the non-Aryan Indians. The Aryans doubtless found the cult extensively diffused among the natives when they spread over India, the land of serpents \

Similarly, there are possibly in the RV. some survivals of totemism or the belief in the descent of the human race or of individual tribes or families from animals or plants. Kasyapa, Tortoise , the name of a seer (9, ii42 ) and of a priestly family (AB. 7, 27), is also frequently found in the AV. and the later Vedic literature 4 as that of a cosmogonic power nearly related to or identified with the Creator Prajapati. In a passage of the SB. (7, 5, i5) Prajapati appears in the form of a tortoise (kurma}. Here it is remarked that, as kurma is identical with kasyapa, therefore men say: all beings are the children of the tortoise (kasyapa) . The RV. (7, i86 -/9) mentions as tribal names the Matsyas (Fishes) 5, the Ajas (Goats), and the Sigrus (Horse-radishes). As names of Vedic t priestly families also occur the Gotamas 6 (Oxen), the Vatsas (Calves), the Sunakas (Dogs), the Kausikas (Owls), and Mandukeyas 7 (Frog-sons). The father of Samvarana (a name occurring in RV. 5, 5310), from whom the kings of the Kurus claimed descent, is in the Epic called Rksa (Bear)8. HOPKINS, however, expresses a doubt whether the names of animals ever point to totemism in the RV. 9

i Cp. the Man-lion incarnation of Visnu. 2 Cp. WINTERNITZ, Sarpabali 43. 3 ORV. 69, note 2. 4 PW. s. v.; IS. 3, 457. 459. 5 Also mentioned in

154 HI. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.

Manu 2, 19. 6 Superlative of go. 7 See PW. sub vocibus. 8 ORV. 856;BLOOMFIELD, JAOS. 15, 178, note. 9 PAOS. 1894, p. CLIV.

66. Deified Terrestrial Objects. A. Besides the phenomena andforces of nature, mostly aerial and celestial, and the earth itself ( 34), variousnatural features of the earth s surface, as well as artificial objects, are treatedas deities in the RV. It is the worship of inanimate things chiefly regardedas useful to man 1. It is not pantheistic, since each object is regarded as aseparate divinity2, but is rather fetishistic in its character. Rivers personified as goddesses have already been dealt with ( 33).

Mountains (parvata) are often in the RV. conceived as divinely animate,being invoked as deities nearly twenty times in the plural and four times in the singular. In this capacity they never appear alone, but only with othernatural objects such as waters, rivers, plants, trees, heaven and earth (7,3423,&c.),or with gods like Savitr, Indra, and others (6, 49 M, &c.). They are invokedas manly, firmly fixed, rejoicing in plenty (3, 542J). Parvata is even threetimes lauded with Indra in the dual compound Indrdparvata (i, I22 3. i326j. The pair are spoken of as driving in a great car and are besought to cometo the offering (3, 53*). Here Parvata seems to be a mountain god, conceivedanthropomorphically as a companion of Indra. Plants (osadhi) are also personified as divine. The whole of a longhymn of the RV. (10, 97)^ is devoted to their praise, mainly with referenceto their healing powers4 . They are called mothers and goddesses (v. *), andSoma, to whom trees are subject, is described as their king. In another text a herb to be used medicinally is spoken of as a goddess born on thegoddess earth (AV. 6, I361 ). An animal sacrifice is even offered to plants in order to remove their obstruction to the attainment of offspring (TS. 2, i,5 3j.

Large trees, called vanaspati, lord of the forest , are a few timesaddressed as deities either in the plural (7, 34 23; 10, 648) or the singular(i, 90*; Val. 6 4), chiefly along with Waters and Mountains. Later texts refer to the adoration paid to large trees passed in marriage processions 5 (cp. p. 134).The forest as a whole appears as a deity under the name of Ar an vanI, the jungle goddess, who is invoked in RV. 10, 146. Here she is called themother of beasts, abounding in food without tillage; and the various uncannysounds heard in her dark solitudes are weirdly described. The plant, tree, and forest deities, however, play a very insignificant part not only in theRV., but even in the AV. and in the ritual of the lesser domestic sacrifices; while in the Buddhist literature they seem to have been more closely connected with human life than any other lower deities 6.

B. Implements. Another group of inanimate objects susceptible ofpersonification and worship is formed by various implements of sacrifice. Thedeification of these is by BARTH 7 called by the rather misleading name ofritualistic pantheism8. The most important of these objects is the sacrificial post, which under the name of vanaspati and svaru is deified and invokedin RV. 3, 8. The tree is here described as well-lopped with the axe, asanointed and adorned by priests; and the posts set up by priests are gods,and as gods go to the gods (vv.6- 9). In the tenth or eleventh verses of theApr! hymns 10, the post is described as thrice anointed with ghee and beingset up beside the fire is invoked to let the offering go to the gods. In otherverses of the same hymns the sacrificial grass (bar/its) is twice (2,34; 10, 7o4 ) addressed as a god, and more frequently the doors leading to the place ofsacrifice, as goddesses (devlr dvdrah).

The pressing stones (grdvan, also adri) are deified in three hymns(10, 76. 94. 175). They are spoken of as immortal, unaging, and more

66. DEIFIED TERRESTRIAL OBJECTS. 155

mighty even than heaven 11. When pressing they are like steeds or bulls and the sound of their voice reaches to heaven. They are invoked to drive away demons and destruction, and to bestow wealth and offspring. In two verses of the RV. (i, 2 8 s- 6) the mortar and pestle are invoked to resound aloud and to press Soma for Indra. The AV. ascribes divine power of the highest order to Ucchista, the remnant of the sacrifice (AV. 11,7)" as well as to different sacrificial ladles 1 ^ Agricultural implements named Suna and Sir a, probably the ploughshare

and the plough, are invoked in a few verses of the RV. (4, 57 5~8), and a cake is assigned to them at the sacrifice in the ritual (SB. 2, 6, 3s). Weapons, finally, are sometimes deified. The whole of RV. 6, 75 is devoted to the praise of various implements of war, armour, bow, quiver, and arrows. The arrow is adored as divine and is besought to grant pro tection and to attack the foe (vv." J 5- l6). The drum (dundubhi) is invoked

to drive away dangers, foes, and demons (vv.29~31 ); and a whole hymn of the AV. (5, 20) celebrates its praises 14 .

C. Symbols. Material objects are occasionally mentioned in the later Vedic literature as symbols representing deities. Something of this kind (possibly an image) must be meant even in a passage of the RV., in which the poet asks, Who will buy this my Indra for ten cows? When he has slain his foes he may give him back to me (4, 24; cp. 8, i5). References to idols 15 begin to appear in the later additions to the Brahmanas and in the Sutras 16.

The wheel is in various ritual performances employed as a symbol of the sun, as representing both its shape and its motion. It is thus used in the Vajapeya sacrifice 17, in the ceremony of laying the sacrificial fire, and at the solstitial festival 18. In post-Vedic mythology, moreover, one of the weapons of Visnu is a wheel (cakrd) I9 .

Gold or a firebrand was employed as a symbol of the sun, when drawing water after sunset (SB. 3, 9, 29); gold served the same purpose when the sacrificial fire was made up after sunset instead of before (SB. 12,4, 46); and in piling the fire- altar, a disc of gold was placed on it to represent the sun (SB. 7, 4, i 10) 20. A symbol must have been used, as at a later period, in the phallic wor ship which was known in the earliest Vedic period, as is shown by the occurrence in two passages of the word sisnddevafa those who have a phallus for their deity . Such worship was, however, repugnant to the religious ideas of the RV.; for Indra is besought not to let the sisnadevah approach the sacrifice (7, 2iS), and he is said to have slain the sisnadevdh, when he won the treasure of the hundred-gated fort (10, 99 3). In the post-Vedic period the phallus or linga became symbolical of Siva s generative power and its worship is widely diffused in India even at the present day21.

i HRI. 166. 2 HRI. 135. 3 Cp. ROTH, ZDMG. 25, 6458. - - 4 Cp. DARMESTETER, Haurvatat et Ameretat 746. 5 ORV. 252; tree-worship also appears in the Sfitras, where a newly married couple are said to bring offerings to the itdumbara and to invoke its blessing: WINTERNITZ, Hochzeitsrituell 101 2. 6 ORV. 259 61. 7 BRI. 37, note. 8 HRI. 135. 9 Cp. OLDENBERG, SHE. 46, 12. 2535. - 10 Cp. ROTH, Nir. xxxvi, Erl. 1178. 121 4; ASL. 4636; WEBER, IS. 10, 89 95; GRV. 1,6; KRV.n.126; OLDENBERG, SBE. 46, 9-10. HVM. i, 151. I2 OST. 5, 396; SPH. 87-8. - - 13 OST. 5, 398. - - M ROTH, FaB. 99. 15 The allu sion to idols of Agni, seen in RV. i, 1454- 5 by BOLLENSEN (ZDMG. 47, 586), is inconclusive. 16 WEBER, Omina und Portenta 337. 367 f.; IS. 5, 149; KRV. note 79a; HRI. 251. 17 WEBER, Vajapeya 20. 34 f. 18 ORV. 88, note 4. X 9 v. BRADKE, ZDMG. 40, 356. 20 ORV. 25561. 8792. 2 v. SCHROEDER WZKM. 9, 237; HRI. 150.

156 III. RELIGION, WELTL. WISSENSCH. u. KUNST. i A. VEDIC MYTHOLOGY.