Q PŪṢan

Although Pūṣan is a minor god in the R̥gveda, with only eight hymns dedicated to him alone and several more shared with more prominent divinities (Indra and Soma), his idiosyncratic characteristics and the special diction used in his hymns attract more than his share of attention to him. Of the bardic families, only the Bharadvājas of Maṇḍala VI favor this god; they dedicate five hymns to him (VI.53– 56, 58) with a further one to Pūṣan and Indra (VI.57) and a significant portion of the composite hymn VI.48; the three other hymns exclusive to him are found in I and X.

The characteristics ascribed to him are humble and somewhat countrified: his draft-animals are goats, his tools generally an awl and a goad, his food of choice is porridge, and the skills he deploys for us are especially the protection of the roads and the finding of lost articles, particularly cattle.+++(5)+++ The level of discourse is often colloquial and lively, though he is occasionally celebrated in a register more appropriate to loftier divinities.

One striking feature does not fit this profile: Pūṣan in several passages is said to be the husband or consort of Sūryā, the daughter of the Sun, who is the archetypal bride in the R̥gveda, and he is also said to be the lover of his sister and the wooer of his mother (VI.55.4–5), though this apparent incest provokes no blame.+++(5)+++ The tangled family relations thus alluded to are not treated in any detail, so we are left with only tantalizing clues.