of Indra. The first and second verses are as follows: 1. Yo jātaḥ eva prathamo manasvān devo devān kratunā paryabhūshat | yasya śushmād rodasī abhyasetām nṛimnasya mahnā sa janāsaḥ Indraḥ | 2. Yaḥ prithivim vyathamānām adṛimhad yaḥ parvatan prakupitān aramṇāt | yo antariksham vimame variyo yo dyām astabḥnāt sa janāsaḥ Indraḥ | "1. He who, as soon as born, the first, the wise, surpassed the gods in force at whose might the two worlds trembled, through the greatness of his strength, he, o men, is Indra. 2. He who fixed the quivering earth, who settled the agitated mountains, who meted out the vast atmosphere, who established the sky,-he, o men, is Indra." The following verses all end in the same way, by declaring that Indra is he who had performed the several acts, or possessed the various powers, which they specify. This might appear as a polemical assertion, against gainsayers, of Indra's claims to recognition as a fit object of worship.21

In x. 48, 11, Indra is introduced as saying: Ādityānāṁ Vasūnām rudriyānām devo devānām na mināmi dhāma | te ma bhadrāya savase tatakshur aparajitam astṛitam ashālham | "I, a god, do not assail the rank (or glory) of the Adityas, the Vasus, or the sons of Rudra, who have fashioned me for glorious power, and made me unconquerable, irreversible, and unassailable."

In viii. 51, 2, it is said: Ayujo asamo nṛibhir ekaḥ krishṭir ayasyaḥ | purvir ati pra vavṛidhe viśvā jātāni ojasā ityādi | 7. Viśve te Indra vīryam devāḥ anu kratum daduḥ | 12. Satyam id vai u tam vayam Indram stavāma nānṛitam | mahān asunvato vadho bhūri jyotiñshi sunvataḥ | "2. Without a fellow, unequalled by men, Indra, alone, unconquered, has surpassed in power many tribes and all creatures. All the gods yield to the Indra in valour and strength. 12. May we praise Indra truly and not falsely: great destruction falls upon him who pours out no libations to Indra,216 while he who does offer them is blessed with abundant light."

7.

In iv. 30, 1 ff. Indra is described as having no superior or equal (Nakir Indra tvad uttaro na jyāyān asti Vṛittrahan | nakir eva yathā

215 There is another hymn (x. 86), each verse of which ends with the words “Indra is superior to all;" but the drift of the hymn is too obscure to admit of my determining whether it has any polemical tendency or not.

216 This sentiment appears to be repeated from i. 101, 4.

tram), and as having alone conquered all the gods in battle. And in vii. 21, 7, it is said that even the former gods subordinated their powers to his divine glory and kingly dignity (devās chit te asuryyāya pūrve anu kshattrāya mamire sahāmsi). In the following passages (formerly quoted in the 4th vol. of this work, pp. 85 ff.), it is said that all of the gods are unable to frustrate the mighty deeds and counsels of Indra (ii. 32, 4); that no one, whether god or man, either surpasses or equals him (vi. 30, 4); that no one, celestial or terrestrial, has been born, or shall be born, like to him (vii. 32, 23); and that by battle he has acquired ample space (or wealth) for the gods (vii. 98, 3). It is even said (i. 101, 3) that Varuna and Surya are subject to the command of Indra (yasya vrate Varuno yasya Suryaḥ); and in x. 89, 8, 9, the latter is besought to destroy the enemies of Mitra, Aryaman, and Varuna (thereby evincing, of course, his superiority to those three gods) (pra ye Mitrasya Varunasya dhāma yujam na janāḥ minanti Mitram | 9. Pra ye Mitram pra Aryamanam durevāḥ pra sangiraḥ pra Varunam minanti | ni amitreshu vadham Indra tumram vṛishan vṛishānam arusham sisihi).

All these texts, however, which are so laudatory of Indra, may be paralleled in the Rig-veda, not only by similar ones referring to Mitra and Varuna (as we have seen above), but also by a farther set of texts, in which other gods are magnified in the same style of panegyric. This is in accordance with the practice of the Indian poets to exaggerate 217 (in a manner which renders them often mutually inconsistent) the attributes of the particular deity who happens at the moment to be the object of celebration. Thus in ii. 38, 9, it is said that neither Indra, Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman, nor Rudra can resist the ordinance of Savitri (na yasya Indro Varuno na Mitro vratam Aryamā na minanti Rudraḥ); and in vii. 38, 4, that the divine Aditi, and the kings Varuna, Mitra, and Aryaman unite to magnify the same deity (abhi yam devi Aditiḥ grināti savam devasya Savitur jushāṇā | abhi samrājo Varuno grinanti abhi Mitrāso Aryamā sajoshāḥ). Again, in i. 156, 4, it is declared that king Varuna and the Aśvins submit to the power of Vishnu (tam asya rājā Varunas tam Aśvinā kratum sachante Mārutasya redhasaḥ). In i. 141, 9, Varuna, Mitra, and Aryaman are said to triumph through Agni when he blazes forth (tvaya hi Agne Varuno 217 See Müller's Anc. Ind. Lit. pp. 532 ff.

dhritavrato Mitraḥ śāśadre Aryamā). In iv. 5, 4, the same god is besought to consume those enemies who menace the stable abodes 218 of Varuna and the wise Mitra (pra tān Agnir babhasat... pra ye minanti Varunasya dhāma priyā Mitrasya chetato dhruvāni). If, therefore, we were to infer from passages like i. 101, 3 (which declares Varuna and Surya to be subject to Indra), that the worship of Indra was beginning to gain ground on that of Varuna, we should have, in like manner, to conclude from the other texts just cited, that the worship of Savitri, or Vishnu, or Agni, was beginning to supersede that of all the other deities who are there subordinated to them, not excepting Indra himself.

(12) Indra as represented in the hymns;-a metrical sketch.

In the following verses I have endeavoured to combine in one picture the most salient and characteristic points in the representations of Indra, which are contained in the hymns. It will be seen that some parts of the sketch are translations, nearly literal, of verses occurring there; that other portions are condensed summaries of epithets, or descriptions, which are by far too numerous and too similar to each other to be all reproduced in detail; and that a third class of passages contains an amplification, and not an approximate rendering, of the texts of the original on which they are founded.

(1) Invitation of Indra to the sacrifice.

Hear, Indra, mighty Thunderer, hear,
Bright regent of the middle sphere;
List while we sweetly sing thy praise,
In new, and well-constructed, lays,
Hymns deftly framed by poet skilled,
As artizans a chariot build.

Come, Indra, come, thou much-invoked,
Our potent hymn thy steeds has yoked;
Thy golden car already waits.

Thy pleasure at thy palace-gates:

218 Ordinances.-Roth, s.v. dhaman.

Friend Indra, from the sky descend,
Thy course propitious hither bend;
Come straight, and may no rival priest
Prevail to draw thee from our feast.
Let no one catch thee unawares,
Like bird the artful fowler snares.
All is prepared; the Soma draught
Is sweet as thou hast ever quaffed;
And we will feed with corn, and tend,
Thy coursers at their journey's end.
But, Indra, though of us thou thinkest,
And our libations gladly drinkest,
We, mortal men, can only share
A humble portion of thy care.
We know how many potent ties
Enchain thee in thy paradise.
Thou hast at home a lovely wife,
The charm and solace of thy life;
Thou hast a ceaseless round of joys,
Which all thy circling hours employs-
Joys such as gods immortal know,
Unguessed by mortals here below.
But, brother Indra, come, benign,
Accept our gifts, thou friend divine.
Come, Indra, come in eager haste,
Our hymns to hear, our food to taste,
Like lover lured by female charms,
Who rushes to his mistress' arms.
Accept our sweet and grateful song,
Come, we will not detain thee long.

The Sky exclaimed, at that great sight,
"Thy father was a stalwart wight;
Of most consummate skill was he,

The god whose genius fashioned thee."
This infant of unrivalled force

Sprang forth from a transcendant source.
A blessed mother bore the child,
And fondly on her offspring smiled,
Foretelling then, with pride and joy,
The might and glory of the boy.
He needed not a tedious length
Of autumns to mature his strength;

His force he felt as soon as born,

And laughed all hostile powers to scorn.
Grasping his deadly shafts, in pride

Of prowess, thus the infant cried :

"Where, mother, dwell those warriors fierce

Whose haughty hearts these bolts must pierce ?"

And when thy father proved thy foe,

Thy fury, Indra, laid him low.

Who vainly sought thy life to take,

When thou didst sleep, when thou didst wake?

Who, Indra, in his vengeful mood,

Thy mother doomed to widowhood?

What god stood by, thy wrath to fire,

When, seizing by the foot thy sire,
Thou smot'st him dead, in youthful ire?

(3) Indra's arrival.

Fulfilling now our ardent prayer,
The god approaches through the air.
On, on, he comes, majestic, bright,
Our longed-for friend appears in sight.
His brilliant form, beheld afar,
Towers stately on his golden car.
Fair sunlike lustre, godlike grace,
And martial fire illume his face.