of thunder-storms and rain, the generator and nourisher of plants and living creatures. Three hymns are addressed to Parjanya in the Rig-Veda. In some passages he appears as a supreme god. He is called father, like Dyaus, the sky. He is called asura, the living or life-giving god, a name peculiar to the oldest and greatest gods. One poet says, "He rules as god over the whole world; all creatures rest in him; he is the life (âtmâ) of all that moves and rests (vii. 101. 6). In other hymns he is represented as performing his office, namely that of sending rain upon the earth, under the control of Mitra and Varuna, who are then considered as the highest lords, the mightiest rulers of heaven and earth." In other verses Parjanya appears simply as a name of cloud or rain.* In later times the name is applied to Indra. VAYU. The second hymn of the Rig-Veda is addressed to Vayu, the blower. He is also called Vata, the blast. There are not many hymns belonging to him. In the Purushasukta, Vayu is said to have sprung from the breath of Purusha, and in another hymn he is called the son-in-law of Tvastri. He is often associated with Indra, and rides in the same chariot with him, Indra being the charioteer. One hymn, referring to both, says: "Drink of the soma, for to you twain belongs the right to take the first draught." He is called the king of the whole world, the first born, the breath of the gods, the germ of the whole world, whose voices we hear, though we can never see him. Rig-Veda, X, 168. In later books Hanuman is said to be his son. THE MARUTS, OF STORM GODS. "The Maruts, literally the Smashers, are clearly the represen tatives of such storms as are known in India when the air is darkened by dust and clouds, when in a moment the trees are stripped of their foliage, their branches shivered, their stems snapped, when the earth seems to reel and the mountains to shake, and the rivers are lashed into foam and fury. Then the poet sees the Maruts approaching with golden helmets, with spotted skins on their shoulders, brandishing golden spears, whirling their axes, shooting fiery arrows, and cracking their whips amidst thunder and lightning. They are the comrades of Indra, sometimes like Indra, the sons of Dyaus, or the sky, but also the sons of another terrible god, called Rudra, or the Howler, a fighting god, to whom many hymns are addressed. In him a new character is *India: What can it Teach us? pp. 184, 185. evolved, that of a healer and saviour,-a very natural transition in India, where nothing is so powerful for dispelling miasmas,restoring health, and imparting fresh vigour to man and beats, as a thunderstorm, following after weeks of heat and drought."* The number of them in one place is said to be thrice sixty, and in another only twenty-seven. Different parentage is also assigned to them. They are sons of Rudra, sons and brothers of Indra, sons of the ocean, sons of heaven, sons of earth. The Hymns to the Maruts, with copious notes, have been translated by Max Müller. SOLAR DEITIES. With reference to light, Whitney says: The "The very prominent part which this element has played in giving form to the earliest religions of all nations is well known; that of the Indian forms no exception; he even manifests a peculiar sensitiveness to the blessings of the light, and a peculiar abhorrence of darkness. former is to him life, motion, happiness, breath; the latter death, helplessness, evil, the time and abode of demons. Accordingly, the phenomena of the night, moon and stars, he almost ignores; the one makes no figure at all in his religion, the others are but rarely even alluded to."t Max Müller thus shows how the sun was gradually developed into a supreme being: "The first step leads us from the mere light of the sun to that light which in the morning wakes man'from sleep, and seems to give new life not only to, man, but to the whole of nature. He who wakes us in the morning, who recalls the whole of nature to new life, is soon called 'the giver of daily life.' "Secondly, by another and bolder step the giver of daily light and life becomes the giver of light and life in general. He who brings light and life to-day, is the same who brought life and light in the first of days. As light is the beginning of the day, so light was the beginning of creation, and the sun, from being a mere light-bringer or life-giver, becomes a creator, then soon also a ruler of the world. "Thirdly, as driving away the dreaded darkness of the night, and likewise as fertilizing the earth, the sun is conceived as a defender and kind protector of all living things.. "Fourthly as the sun sees everything and knows everything, he is asked to forget and forgive what he alone knows."+ *India: What can it Teach us? pp. 180, 181. Hibbert Lectures, pp. 265, 266. MITRA. In the Vedas Mitra is generally associated with Varuna: he is seldom mentioned alone. Sayana says, "Mitra is the god who presides over the day, and Varuna is the god who rules over the night." Mitra is the same as the Persian Mithra. He must have been worshipped before the Persian and Indian branches of the Aryans separated. He is a form of the sun. Mitra and Varuna have the same attributes. In hymn iii. 59, Mitra is addressed alone. The following are a few quotations: "Mitra uttering his voice calls men to activity. Mitra sustains the earth and the sky. Mitra with unwinking eye beholds (all) creatures. Mitra, son of Aditi, may the mortal who worships thee with sacred rites have food. He who is protected by thee is neither slain nor conquered." SURYA. : Surya, the sun god, is in one hymn styled the son of Dyaus in another he is called the son of Aditi. Ushas is in one place said to be his wife, while in another she is described as his mother. He moves in a car which is sometimes said to be drawn by one and sometimes by seven fleet and ruddy horses. Pushan goes as his messenger with his golden ships, which sail in the aerial ocean. Surya is the preserver and soul of all things stationary and moving; enlivened by him men perform their work; he is far-seeing, all-seeing, beholds all creatures, and the good and bad deeds of mortals. By his greatness he is the divine leader of the gods. The epithets architect of the universe and possessed of all divine attributes, applied to him. are In many passages, however, the dependent position of Surya is asserted. He is said to have been caused to shine by Indra, who also once carried off one of the wheels of his chariot. Mitra and Varuna sometimes conceal him by clouds and rain.* In the Ramayana, Sanjna, the daughter of Visvakarma, is the wife of Surya. As his brightness was too great for his wife, Visvakarma cut part of him away. The fragments fell blazing to the earth, and from them Visvakarma formed the discus of Vishnu, the trident of Siva, and the weapons of the other gods! SAVITRI. Savitri is sometimes distinguished from Surya, sometimes identified with him. The two names are sometimes employed indiscriminately to denote the same deity. Sayana says that the sun before his rising is called Savitri, and Surya from his rising to his setting. The name is supposed to mean Generator. * Abridged from Muir's Sanskrit Texts, Vol. V. pp. 156-159. F Savitri is pre-eminently the golden deity, being golden-eyed, golden-handed, golden-tongued, the yellow-haired. Luminous in his aspect, he ascends a golden car, drawn by radiant, brown, white-footed horses, and beholding all creatures, he pursues an ascending and descending path. He is lord of all desirable things and sends blessings from the sky, from the atmosphere, and the earth.* The worship of Savitri has continued to present time. It is to him that the Gayatri is addressed at his rising by every devout Brahman. This short verse is supposed to exert magical powers. It is as follows: Tat Savitur varenyam bhargo devasya dhímohi | dhiyo yo naḥ prachodayát | iii. 62, 10. It has been variously translated. Griffith renders it thus: "May we attain that excellent glory of Savitar the god : So may he stimulate our prayers." Wilson says that it was "in its original use, a simple invocation of the sun to shed a benignant influence upon the customary offices of worship." The Skanda Purana thus extols it: "Nothing in the Vedas is superior to the Gayatri. No invocation is equal to the Gayatri, as no city is equal to Kasi, The Gayatri is the mother of the Vedas and of Brahmans. By repeating it a man is saved. What is there indeed that cannot be effected by the Gayatri ? Gayatri is Vishnu, Brahma, and Siva and the three Vedas." VISHNU. For the Vishnu is the only one of the great gods of the Hindu triad who makes his appearance under the same name in the Veda. In the Veda, however, he is not in the first rank of gods. He is the sun in his three stations of rise, zenith, and setting. This the Vedic poets conceive of as striding through heaven at three steps. This is Vishnu's great deed, which in all his hymns is sung to his praise. It constitutes the only peculiar trait belonging to him. Concerning these steps it is said that two of them are near the habitation of men. The third none can attain, not even the bird in its flight. He took them for the benefit of mortals, that all might live safe and happy under them. The middle station, the zenith, is called Vishnu's place.† In Manu the name Vishnu is mentioned, but not as that of a great deity. In the Mahabharata and Puranas, he becomes the second member of the triad, the preserving power, the all-pervading spirit. * Abridged from Muir's Sanskrit Texts, Vol. V. pp. 162-170. PUSHAN. The word Pushan comes from the root push; the primary idea is that of nourisher. He is the protector and nourisher of cattle (pashupā). He was originally the sun as viewed by shepherds. As a cowherd he carries an ox goad, and he is drawn by goats. He is a guide on roads and journeys. He is called the lover of his sister Surya conceived as a female deity. Though in one place" says Max Müller, "he is spoken of as only higher than mortals and equal to the gods, he is in other places called the lord of all that rests and moves. Like all solar deities, he sees everything, and like Savitri he is also supposed to conduct the souls of the departed to the regions of the blessed."* In later books he is represented as toothless. He feeds upon a kind of conjee, and the offerings made to him are of ground materials. The cause of his being toothless is variously explained. One account is that at the Daksha sacrifice Rudra knocked out his teeth while he was eating the purodasa offering. USHAS. This goddess corresponds to the Eos of the Greeks, and to the Aurora of the Romans. The hymns specially addressed to her are about in 20 in number. "The worship of the Indian," says Whitney, "commenced at daybreak; Ushas, the dawn, is the earliest object of his morning songs. The promise of the day is hailed with overflowing and inspiring joy; the feeling of relief as the burden of darkness is lifted off the world, and the freedom and cheerfulness of the day commence again, prompts to truly poetic strains, and the songs to Ushas are among the finest in the Veda. She is addressed as a virgin in glittering robes, who chases away the darkness, or to whom her sister Night willingly yields her domain; who prepares a path for the sun; is the signal of the sacrifice, rouses all beings from slumber, gives sight to the darkened; and power of motion to the prostrate and helpless. In the midst of such gladsome greetings, however the poet is reminded, by the thought of the many dawns that have thus shone upon the earth, and the many that are to follow them, of those, who, having witnessed the former ones are now passed away, and of those who shall welcome them when he is no more. So he is led to mournful reflections on the wasting away of life, as one day after another is subtracted from the time allotted to each mortal."+ Ushas is represented as the daughter of heaven and loved by the Sun, but vanishing before him at the very moment when he tries to embrace her with his golden rays. Agni and the gods generally are described as waking from sleep with Ushas. * Hibbert Lectures, pp. 263, 269. † Oriental and Linguistic Studies, 1st Series. pp. 37, 38. |