The rivers flow at his behest,

And yet-admire his wondrous skill-
The ocean-bed they cannot fill,
Although their currents never rest.

The path of ships across the sea,

The soaring eagle's flight, he knows, t
The course of every wind that blows,
And all that was or is to be.

Descending, ceaseless, from the skies,

His angels glide this world around;
As far as earth's remotest bound,
All-scanning, range their thousand eyes.

This mighty lord who rules on high,
Though closely veiled from mortal gaze,
All men's most secret acts surveys;

He, ever far, is ever nigh.

Two think they are not overheard

Who sit and plot, as if alone;

Their fancied secrets all are known,

Unseen, the god is there, a third.

Whoe'er should think his way to wing,
And lurk, unknown, beyond the sky,

Yet could not there elude the eye
And grasp of Varuna, the King.

For all within the vast expanse

Of air that heaven and earth divides,

Whate'er above the heaven abides,

Lies open to his piercing glance.

+ Compare Proverbs, xxx. 18: "There be three things which are too wonderful for me; yea, four which I know not: 19. The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid."

The ceaseless winkings all he sees,

And counts, of every mortal's eyes: In vain to wink a creature tries, Unless the god the power decrees.

To thoughtful men who truth discern,
And deeply things divine explore,
The god reveals his hidden lore;
But fools his secrets may not learn.

He marks the good and ill within

The hearts of men-the false and true
Discerns with never-erring view:

He hates deceit, chastises sin.

His viewless bonds, than cords and gyves
More hard to burst, the wicked bind;
In vain, within their folds confined,

To cast them off the sinner strives.

And yet the god will not refuse

His grace to one who inly moans,
When fetter-bound, his errors owns,

And for forgiveness meekly sues.

But where is, lord, thy friendship now?
Thine ancient kindness, o, restore;
May we, so dear to thee of yore,
No longer dread thy frowning brow.

Thine ire we did not madly brave,

Nor break thy laws in wanton mood; We fell, by wrath, dice, wine, subdued: Forgive us, gracious lord, and save.

Absolve us from the guilt, we pray,

Of all the sins our fathers wrought,
And sins which we commit by thought, §
And speech, and act, from day to day.

From dire disease preserve us free,

Nor doom us to the house of clay
Before our shrivelling frames decay :
A good old age yet let us see.

In vain shall hostile shafts assail

The man thy shielding arm defends;
Secure, no wrong he apprehends,
Safe, as if cased in iron mail.

As mother birds their pinions spread

To guard from harm their cowering brood,
Do thou, o lord, most great and good,
Preserve from all the ills we dread.

See Exodus, xx. 5, Deuteronomy, v. 9, and Ezekiel, xviii. 1 ff. § Rig-veda, x. 37, 12.

SECTION V.

INDRA.146

According to the Greek geographer Strabo, the Indians, as known to him by the report of other writers, "worshipped Jupiter Pluvius, the river Ganges, and the gods of country.147 This Jupiter Pluvius was, no doubt, Indra. Although at the period to which Strabo's information refers, this god, in all probabilty, no longer occupied the same prominent position as of old; he was, as Professor Roth remarks, 148 the favourite national deity of the Aryan Indians in the Vedic age. More hymns are dedicated to his honour than to the praise of any other divinity.

(1) His origin and parents; his wife.

Although, however, his greatness is celebrated in the most magnificent language, he is not regarded as an uncreated being. As I have already noticed, he is distinctly spoken of in various passages as being born, and as having a father and a mother.

Thus it is said of him:

iii. 48, 2. Yaj jāyathās tad ahar asya kāme añśoḥ piyūsham apibo girishṭhām | tam te mātā pari yoshā janitrī mahaḥ pitur dame āsinchad agre | 3. Upasthāya mātaram annam aiṭṭa tigmam apaśyad abhi somam udhaḥ|

"On the day that thou wast born, thou didst, from love of it, drink the mountain-grown juice of the soma-plant. Of old, the youthful

146 Strabo, xv. 1, 69, p. 718, quoted by Lassen, Indische Alterthumskunde, ii. 698: Λέγεται δὲ καὶ ταῦτα παρὰ τῶν συγγραφέων, ὅτι σέβονται μὲν τὸν ὄμβριον Δία οἱ Ινδοὶ, καὶ τὸν Γάγγην ποταμὸν, καὶ τοὺς ἐγχωρίους δαίμονας.

147 In my account of Varuna there is little of importance that had not been previously said by Professor Roth; but in this description of Indra there is a larger collection of particulars than I have noticed to have been brought together elsewhere. 18 In his Lexicon, s.v. Indra.

mother who bore thee, satiated thee with it in the house of thy mighty father. 3. Approaching his mother, he desired sustenance; he beheld the sharp-flavoured soma on her breast."

Again in iv. 17, 4. Suviras te janita manyata Dyaur Indrasya karttā svapastamo 'bhut | yaḥ im jajāna svaryam suvajram anapachyutam sadaso na bhūma . . . . 17. Kiyat svid Indro adhi eti matuḥ kiyat pitur janitur yo jajāna | "Thy father was, as the Sky thought, a most stalwart being; the maker of Indra, he who produced the celestial thunderer, immovable as the earth,—he was a most skilful workman. 17. How much does Indra regard his mother, how much the father who begat him?" 149

iv. 18, 1. Ayam panthaḥ anuvittaḥ purano yato devāḥ udajāyanta viśve | atas chida janishishta pravriddho mā mataram amuya pattave kaḥ 5. Avadyam iva manyamānā guhā 'kar Indram mātā vīryena nyṛishṭam | atha ud asthāt svayam atkam vasānaḥ ā rodasī apṛinaj jāyamānaḥ | 10. Grishṭiḥ sasūva sthaviram tavāgām anādhṛishyam rishabham tumram Indram | arilham vatsam charathāya mātā svayam gātum tanve ichhamānam | 11. Uta mātā mahisham anvanenad amī tvā jahati putra devāḥ | athābravīd vṛittram Indro hanishyan sakhe Vishno vitarām vi kramasva | 12. Kas te mātaram vidhavām achakrat śayum kaś tvām ajighāmsat charantam | kas te devo adhi marḍike asid yat pitaram prakshinaḥ pädagṛihya |

"This has been traversed as the ancient path, through which all the gods were born; through this let the grown (embryo) be produced; let him not vainly cause his mother to perish.150 5. Regarding it (his birth) as a fault, the mother concealed Indra, who was full of vigour. Then he himself arose, clothed with a robe, and filled both worlds as soon as he was born. 10. His mother, (like) a cow, bore Indra, an unlicked calf, strong, robust, unassailable, vigorous, and lusty, in order

149 Professor Müller, Lectures ii. 430, translates the first of these verses thus: Dyu, thy parent, was reputed strong; the maker of Indra was mighty in his works; he (who) begat the heavenly Indra, armed with the thunderbolt, who is immovable as the earth, from his seat:" and the 12th verse as follows: "Indra somewhat excels his mother and the father who begat him."" Of the Maruts also it is said v. 60, 5, that Rudra, their father, was young and an excellent workman (yuvā pitā svapāḥ Rudraḥ esham. The next hymn of the same Mandala, iv. 18, makes repeated reference to Indra's birth and parents.

150 For the Commentator's explanation of this obscure hymn see Professor Wilson's Translation, note 1.