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8

SECTION I.

THE INDIAN GODS GENERALLY, AS REPRESENTED IN THE

RIG-VEDA.

Before proceeding to offer some description of the powers, functions, characters, and mutual relations of the several deities celebrated in the Rig-veda, I shall give some account of the general conceptions entertained by the Vedic poets and some later Indian writers, regarding their classes, numbers, origin, and duration.

(1) Yaska's classification of the gods.

The following classification of the Vedic gods is adduced by Yaska in his Nirukta (vii. 5), as being that given by the ancient expositors who preceded him: Tisrah eva devataḥ iti Nairuktāḥ Agniḥ prithivisthāno Vāyur vā Indro vā antariksha-sthānaḥ Suryo dyu-sthānaḥ | tāsām māhābhāgyād ekaikasyāḥ api bahūni nāmadheyāni bhavanti api vā karma-pṛithaktvād yatha hota adhvaryur brahmā udgātā ity apy ekasya sataḥ | api va prithag eva syuḥ | prithag hi stutayo bhavanti tathā abhidhānāni | "There are three deities according to the expounders of the Veda (Nairuktāḥ), viz. Agni, whose place is on the earth; Vayu, or Indra, whose place is in the air; and Surya (the sun), whose place is in the sky. These deities receive severally many appellations, in consequence of their greatness, or of the diversity of their functions, as the names of hotṛi, adhvaryu, brahman, and ud

For some account of Yaska's work see the second vol. of this work, pp. 162 and 173, and my article "On the Interpretation of the Veda" in the Journ. R. A. S. for 1866, pp. 319 ff.

• Compare R.V. x. 158, 1. Suryo no divas pātu Vato antarikshāt | Agnir naḥ pārthivebhyaḥ | “May the Sun preserve us from the sky, Vayu from the air, and Agni from things on earth."

gātṛi, are applied to one and the same person, [according to the particular sacrificial office which he happens to be fulfilling]. Or these gods may all be distinct, for the praises addressed to them, and also their appellations, are distinct."7 Pursuing the triple classification here indicated, Yāska proceeds in the latter part of his work to divide the different deities, or forms of the same deities, specified in the fifth chapter of the Naighanțuka or Vocabulary, which is prefixed to his work, into the three orders of terrestrial (Nirukta vii. 14-ix. 43), intermediate or aerial (x. 1-xi. 50), and celestial (xii. 1-46). I shall not reproduce these lists, which could not in some places be thoroughly understood without explanation, as they include several deities whose precise character and identification with other divinities are disputed, and embrace a number of objects which are not gods at all, but are constructively regarded as such from their being addressed in the hymns.

(2) Their number.

The gods are spoken of in various texts of the Rig-veda as being thirty-three in number. Thus it is said in R.V. i. 34, 11: "Come

This passage is quoted more at length in the 4th vol. of this work, pp. 133 ff. * The following is the manner in which Yäska classifies the hymns. I quote the classification as interesting, though unconnected with my present subject:-He divides (Nir. vii. 1) the hymns, or portions of hymns, devoted to the praise of the gods into three classes, viz. (1) those in which the gods are addressed in the third person as absent, as “Indra rules over heaven and earth" (x. 89, 10), etc.; (2) those which address them in the second person as present, such as “O Indra, slay thou our enemies" (x. 152, 4), etc.; and (3) those in which the author speaks in the first person, and about himself. Of these the first two classes are the most numerous. Again some of the hymns are merely laudatory, as, "I declare the valorous deeds of Indra," R.V. i. 32, 1; others contain prayers, not praises, as, " may I see clearly with my eyes, be radiant in my face, and hear distinctly with my ears." Again, there are imprecations, as, "may I die to-day, if I am a Yātudhāna" (vii. 104, 15), etc. Again, a particular state of things is described, as, "there was then neither death nor immortality” (x. 129, 2). Again, a lamentation is uttered, as, "the bright god will fly away and never return" (x. 95, 15). Or, praise and blame are expressed, as, "he who eats alone, is alone in his guilt" (x. 117, 6), and "the house of the liberal man is like a pond where lotuses grow" (x. 107, 10); and in the same way, in the hymn to Dice, gambling is reprehended, and agriculture praised (x. 34, 13). "Thus the views with which the rishis beheld the hymns were very various." The original text of most of this passage will be found in the 3rd vol. of this work, p. 211.

hither, Nasatyas, Asvins, together with the thrice eleven gods,' to drink our nectar” (ā nāsatyā tribhir ekādaśair iha devebhir yātam madhupeyam Aśvinā).

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Again, in i. 45, 2: Agni, the wise gods lend an ear to their worshipper. God with the ruddy steeds, who lovest praise, bring hither those three and thirty" (śrushṭivāno hi dāśushe devāḥ Agne vichetasaḥ | tān rohidaśva girvanas trayastrimśatam ā vaha).

i. 139, 11 (=Taitt. S. i. 4, 10, 1). "Ye gods, who are eleven in the sky, who are eleven on earth, and who in your glory 10 are eleven dwellers in the (atmospheric) waters, do ye welcome this our offering (ye devāso divi ekādaśa stha pṛithivyām adhi ekādaśa stha | apsukshito mahinā ekādaśa stha te devāso yajnam imam jushadhvam).

iii. 6. 9. "Agni bring hither according to thy wont and gladden the three and thirty gods with their wives" (patnīvatas trim̃śatam trīṁś cha devan anushvadham āvaha mādayasva).

viii. 28, 1. "May the three over thirty gods who have visited our sacrificial grass, recognize us, and give us double" 11 (ye trimśati trayas paro devāso barhir āsadan | vidann aha dvitā’sanan).

viii. 30, 2. "Ye who are the three and thirty gods worshipped by Manu (or man), when thus praised, may ye become the destroyers of our foes" (iti stutāso asatha riśādaso ye stha trayaś cha trimśach cha | manor devāḥ yajniyāsaḥ).

viii. 35, 3. “Aśvins, associated with all the thrice eleven gods, with the Waters, the Maruts, the Bhrigus, and united with the Dawn and the Sun, drink the soma " (viśvair devais tribhir ekādaśair iha adbhir marudbhir Bhrigubhiḥ sachābhuvā | sajoshasā Ushasā Sūryena cha somam pibata Aśvinā).

That is, as Sayana explains, those included in the three classes, consisting each of eleven gods, specified in the verse (i. 139, 11), "Ye eleven gods who exist in the sky," etc.

10 On this Sayana, remarks, "Although, according to the text, 'There are only three gods,' (Nirukta, vii. 5), the deities who represent the earth, etc., are but three, still through their greatness, i.e. their respective varied manifestations, they amount to thirty-three, according to the saying, 'other manifestations of Him exist in different places."" Compare S'p. Br. xi. 6, 3, 4 ff. The Atharva-veda (x. 9, 12) divides the gods into dwellers in the sky, air, and earth (ye devāḥ divishado antarikshasadas cha ye ye cha ime bhūmyām adhi). And the same Veda i. 30, 3, speaks of the gods who dwell in the sky, on earth, in the air, in plants, animals, and waters (ye devāḥ divi stha ye pṛithivyām ye antarikshe oshadhīshu paśushu apsu antaḥ).

11 Roth says that dvitā does not mean double, but assuredly, especially.

ix. 92, 4. "O pure Soma, all these gods, thrice eleven in number, are in thy secret," etc. 12 (tava te, Soma pavamāna ninye viśve devās trayaḥ ekādaśa).

This number of thirty-three gods is in the Satapatha Brahmana (iv. 5, 7, 2) explained as made up of 8 Vasus, 11 Rudras, and 12 Adityas, together with Dyaus and Prithivi (Heaven and Earth), while Prajapati makes a thirty-fourth (ashṭau Vasavaḥ ekādaśa Rudrāḥ dradaśa Ādityāḥ ime eva dyāvā-pṛithivi trayastrimśyau | trayastrimśad vai devāḥ Prajapatiś chatustrimśaḥ). Or, according to another passage (xi. 6, 3, 5), the thirty-three are made up in the same manner with the exception of Indra and Prajapati, who are substituted for Heaven and Earth (te ekatrimsad Indras chaiva Prajapatis cha trayastrimśau).13

This enumeration could scarcely have been the one contemplated in the hymns, as we have seen that one of the texts above quoted (R.V. i. 139, 11) assigns eleven deities, who must probably have been all of the same class, to each of the three spheres, sky, air, and earth. It is

12 This number of thirty-three gods is referred to in a hymn to the sun in the Mahābhārata iii. 171, as joining in the worship of that deity: Trayas trims ach cha vai devāḥ. See also v. 14019 and 15465 of the same third book; book iv. 1769, and book xiii. 7102. According to the Rāmāyana, Aranyakānḍa 14, 14 f. (Bombay ed.) Aditi was the mother of thirty-three gods, Adityas, Vasus, and Rudras, and of the two Asvins (Adityūm jajnire devās trayastrimsad arindama | Adityāḥ Vasavo Rudrāḥ Asvinau cha parantapa). In Gorresio's edit. the verse occurs in 20, 15. See also the S'p. Br. xii. 8, 3, 29. The Taittiriya Sanhita, ii. 3, 5, 1, says that Prajapati had thirty-three daughters, whom he gave in marriage to Soma. The A.V. xi. 3, 52, says that Prajapati made thirty-three worlds out of the odana oblation. See also R.V. viii. 39, 9, Välakhilya, 9, 2. The Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, ii. 18, says: trayastrimgad vai devāḥ somapās trayastrimsad asomapāḥ | ashṭau Vasavaḥ ekādaśa Rudrāḥ dvādaśa Adityāḥ Prajāpatiś cha Vashaṭkāraś cha ete devāḥ somapāḥ | ekādaśa prayājāḥ ekādaśa anuyājāḥ ekādaśa upayājāḥ ete asomapāḥ paśu-bhājanāḥ | somena somapān prīņāti paśunā asomapān | “Thirty-three gods are drinkers of Soma, and thirty-three are not. The eight Vasus, the eleven Rudras, the twelve Adityas, Prajāpati and Vashatkāra are the soma-drinkers. The eleven Prayājas, the eleven Anuyājas, and the eleven Upayājas are those who do not drink it, but receive animal sacrifices. He (the sacrificer) satiates the soma-drinkers with soma, and those who do not drink it with animal-sacrifices." For an explanation of the terms prayāja, anuyāja, and upayāja see Professor Haug's translation of the Ait. Br. ii. 110, notes.

13 Compare Taitt. Br. ii. 7, 2, 4. In the sequel of the above passage (S'atap. Br. xi. 6, 3, 6) Dyaus, Prithivi, and Aditya are said to be included among the Vasus. So that it is clear there is no consistency in these accounts.

14 On this division of the universe into three domains, see the remarks of Professor Roth in his dissertation on "The Highest Gods of the Arian Races." Jour. Germ. Or. Society, 1852, p. 68.

also clear that this number of thirty-three gods could not have embraced the whole of the Vedic deities, as in some of the preceding texts Agni, the Aśvins, and the Maruts are separately specified, as if distinct from the thirty-three. Further, Indra could not have been, in the opinion of the author of the Brahmana, at least as expressed in this passage, xi. 6, 3, 5, one of the twelve Adityas (as he was regarded at a later period), since he is separately specified as making up the number of thirty-three gods.

In the R.V. iii. 9, 9 (= R.V. x. 52, 6 and Vāj. S. 33, 7) the gods are mentioned as being much more numerous: "Three hundred, three thousand, thirty and nine gods have worshipped Agni," 15 etc. (trīni śatā trī sahasrāni Agnim trimśach cha devāḥ nava cha asaparyan).

In another passage (i. 27, 13) the gods are spoken of as divided into great and small, young and old: "Reverence to the great, reverence to the small reverence to the young, reverence to the old. Let us worship the gods if we are able; may I not, o gods, neglect the praise of the greatest" (namo mahadbhyo namo arbhakebhyo namo yuvabhyo namaḥ aśinebhyaḥ | yajāma devān yadi śaknavāma na jyāyasaḥ śamsam ā sṛikshi devāḥ |).

I am not aware, however, that this latter classification of the gods is alluded to in any other of the hymns. In fact this distinction among the deities is denied in another passage, viii. 30, 1: na hi vo asti arbhako devāso na kumārakaḥ | viśve satomahāntaḥ it | ("None of you, o gods, is small or young: you are all great").

(3) Their origin and immortality.

16

In the Rig-veda the gods are spoken of as immortal 16 (as in i. 24, 1 ; i. 72, 2, 10; i. 189, 3; iii. 4, 11; iii. 21, 1; iv. 42, 1; vii. 11, 1; vii. 17,4; x. 13, 1; x. 65, 15; x. 69, 9; x. 72, 5; but they are not regarded in

15 The commentator remarks here that the number of the gods is declared in the Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad. See pp. 642 ff. of the text of this Upanishad, printed in the Bibl. Ind.; and pp. 205 ff. of the English translation in the same series. The same passage occurs in nearly the same words in the S'atapatha Brāhmaṇa, xi. 6, 3, 4 ff. On the numbers of the gods, see a note of Professor Haug in his Aitareya Brāhmana, ii. 212, note, and the remarks by Dr. Kuhn in his notice of this paper in his Zeitschrift, p. 223.

16 In the Atharva-veda i. 31, 1, four immortals are spoken of as the guardians of the four quarters of the sky (āśānām āśāpālebhyaś chaturbhyo amṛitebhyaḥ).

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