The Great Vedic Deities
Agni the Fire God—Source of Life—The Divine Priest—Myths
regarding his Origin—The Child God—Resemblances to Heimdal and
Scyld—Messenger of the Gods—Martin Elginbrodde—Vayu or Vata, the
Wind God—Teutonic Vate and Odin—The Hindu “Wild Huntsman”—Rudra the
Howler—The Rain God—Sublime Varuna—The Omniscient One—Forgiver of
Sins—Mitra, an ancient Deity—Babylonian Prototype—A Sun God—A Corn
God—Mitanni Deities—Surya, the Sun God—The Adityas—Ushas, Goddess
of Dawn—Ratri, Night—Chandra, the Moon—Identified with Soma—The
Mead of the Gods—A Humorous Hymn—Sources of Life—Origin of Spitting
Ceremonies.
Agni, the fire god, was closely associated with Indra, and is sometimes
called his twin brother. The pair were the most prominent deities in
Vedic times: about 250 hymns are addressed to Indra and over 200 to
Agni.
Indra gave the “air of life” to men; Agni symbolized the “vital spark”,
the principle of life in animate and inanimate Nature; he was in man,
in beast, and fish; he was in plants and trees; he was in butter and in
intoxicating Soma. The gods partook of the nature of Agni. In one of
the post-Vedic Creation myths he is identified with the Universal soul;
Brahma existed in the form of Agni ere the worlds were framed and gods
and men came to be. Agni was made manifest in lightning, in celestial
sun flames, in the sacred blaze rising from the altar and in homely
household fires. The fire god was the divine priest as contrasted with
Indra, the divine warrior.
In the Vedic invocations there are evidences that several myths
had gathered round the fascinating and wonderful fire god. One hymn
refers to him as a child whose birth was kept a secret; his mother,
the queen, concealed him from his sire; he was born in full vigour as
a youth, and was seen sharpening his weapons at a distance from his
home which he had forsaken.[66] Sometimes he is said to have devoured
his parents at birth: this seems to signify that he consumed the fire
sticks from which holy fire was produced by friction. Another hymn says
that “Heaven and Earth (Dyaus and Prithivi) fled away in fear of (the
incarnation of) Twashtri when he was born, but they returned to embrace
the lion”.[67]
[66] _Rigveda_, v, 2.
[67] _Rigveda_, i, 95.
Agni was also given ten mothers who were “twice five sisters”,[68] but
the reference is clearly explained in another passage: “The ten fingers
have given him birth, the ancient, well-loved Agni, well born of his
mothers”.[69]
[68] _Rigveda_, iv, 6. 8.
[69] _Rigveda_, iii, 23. 3.
Dawn, with its darkness-consuming fires, and starry Night, are the
sisters of Agni; “they celebrate his three births, one in the sea, one
in the sky, one in the waters (clouds)”. Typical of the Oriental mind
is the mysterious reference to Agni's “mothers” owing their origin to
him. The poet sings:
Who among you hath understood the hidden (god)?
The calf has by itself given birth to its mothers.
Professor Oldenberg, who suggests that the waters are the “mothers”,
reasons in Oriental mode: “Smoke is Agni, it goes to the clouds, the
clouds become waters”.[70]
[70] _Rigveda_, _i_, 95. 4, and note, Oldenberg's _Vedic Hymns_
(_Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xlvi).
[Illustration: AGNI, THE FIRE GOD
_From a painting by Nanda Lall Bose_
(By permission of the Indian Society of Oriental Art, Calcutta)
7]
In his early humanized form Agni bears some resemblance to Heimdal,
the Teutonic sentinel god, who has nine mothers, the daughters of
sea-dwelling Ran, and is thus also a “son of the waters”; he is clad
in silvern armour, and on his head is a burnished helmet with ram's
horns. Horsed on his swift steed, Gulltop, he watches the demons who
seek to attack the citadel of the gods.... His sight is so keen that
he can see by night as well as by day.... Heimdal is loved both by
gods and by men, and he is also called Gullintani because his teeth
are of gold. There was a time when he went to Midgard (the earth) as
a child; he grew up to be a teacher among men and was named Scef.
Scef is identified as the patriarch Scyld in _Beowulf_, who came over
the sea as a child and rose to be the king of a tribe. Mankind were
descended from Heimdal-Scef: three sons were born to him of human
mothers—Thrall, from whom thralls are descended; Churl, the sire of
freemen, and Jarl from whom nobles have sprung.[71]
[71] _Teutonic Myth and Legend_, pp. 16 and 187-9.
In _Mahabharata_ there is a fragment of an old legend which relates the
origin of Karna, the son of Queen Pritha and the sun god: the birth
of the child is concealed, and he is placed in a basket which is set
afloat on the river and is carried to a distant country.[72]
[72] See Chapter X.
One of the Vedic references to Agni, as we have seen, suggests an
origin similar to Karna of the epic period. He was connected with the
introduction of agriculture like the Teutonic Scef, which signifies
“Sheaf”. Agni is stated to have been “carried in the waters.... The
great one has grown up in the wide unbounded space. The waters (have
made) Agni (grow)”.[73] Agni is “sharp faced” (i, 95); he is “the
bright, brilliant, and shining one” (iv, i. 7); he is “gold toothed”
(v, 22); he sees “even over the darkness of night” (i, 94. 7); he
“makes all things visible”; he conquers the godless, wicked wiles; he
sharpens his two horns in order to pierce Rakshasas (giants) (v, 2). “O
Agni, strike away with thy weapons those who curse us, the malicious
ones, all ghouls, be they near or far” (i, 94. 9). Heimdal blows a
trumpet in battle; Agni is “roaring like a bull” (i, 94. 10).
[73] Oldenberg, _Rigveda_, iii, 1.
As Heimdal, in his Scef-child form, was sent to mankind by the gods,
“Matarisvan[74] brought Agni to Bhrigu as a gift, precious like wealth,
of double birth, the carrier, the famous, the beacon of the sacrifice,
the ready, the immediately successful messenger.... The Bhrigus
worshipping him in the abode of the waters have verily established
him among the clans of Ayu. The people have established beloved Agni
among the human clans as (people) going to settle (establish) Mitra”
(i, 60). Oldenberg explains that people going anywhere secure safety
by ceremonies addressed to Mitra, i.e. by concluding alliances under
the protection of Mitra. Another reference reads, “Agni has been
established among the tribes of men, the son of the waters, Mitra
acting in the right way”. Oldenberg notes that Mitra is here identified
with Agni; Mitra also means “friend” or “ally” (iii, 5. 3, and note).
Scyld in _Beowulf_, the mysterious child of the sea, became a king over
men. Agni “indeed is king, leading all beings to gloriousness. As soon
as born from here, he looks over the whole world.... Agni, who has been
looked and longed for in Heaven, who has been looked for on earth—he
who has been looked for has entered all herbs” (i, 98).[75] To Agni's
love affairs upon earth there are epic references, and in the “Vishnu
Purana” he is mentioned as the father of three human sons.
[74] A demi-god.
[75] _Vedic Hymns_, trans. by Oldenberg. (_Sacred Books of the East_,
vol. xlvi.)
The reference to the Bhrigus, to whom Agni is carried, is of special
interest. This tribe did not possess fire and were searching for it
(_Rigveda_, x. 40. 2). In another poem the worshippers of Agni are
“human people descended from Manush (Manu)” (vi, 48. 8). The Bhrigus
were a priestly family descended from the patriarch Bhrigu: Manu was
the first man. Two of the Teutonic patriarch names are Berchter and
Mannus.
Agni was the messenger of the gods; he interceded with the gods on
behalf of mankind and conducted the bright Celestials to the sacrifice.
The priest chanted at the altar:
Agni, the divine ministrant of the sacrifice, the greatest
bestower of treasures; may one obtain through Agni wealth
and welfare day by day, which may bring glory and high
bliss of valiant offspring.
Agni, whatever sacrifice and worship thou encompassest on
every side, that indeed goes to the gods. Thou art King of
all worship.... Conduct the gods hither in an easy-moving
chariot.[76]
[76] _Rigveda_, i, 13 and i, 26 (Oldenberg).
Like Indra, Agni was a heavy consumer of Soma; his intensely human side
is not lost in mystic Vedic poetry.
Agni, accept this log, conqueror of horses, thou who lovest
songs and delightest in riches....
Thou dost go wisely between these two creations (Heaven and
Earth) like a friendly messenger between two hamlets....
His worshippers might address him with great familiarity, as in the
following extracts:—
If I were thee and thou wert me, thine aspirations should be
fulfilled.
_Rigveda_, xiii, 44. 23.
If, O Agni, thou wert a mortal and I an immortal, I would not
abandon thee to wrong or to penury: my worshippers should
not be poor, nor distressed, nor miserable.
_Rigveda_, viii, 19.
These appeals are reminiscent of the quaint graveyard inscription:
Here lie I, Martin Elginbrodde.
Hae mercy on my soul, Lord God,
As I wad dae were I Lord God,
And ye were Martin Elginbrodde.
The growth of monotheistic thought is usually evinced in all
mythologies by the tendency to invest a popular deity with the
attributes of other gods. Agni is sometimes referred to as the sky god
and the storm god. In one of the hymns he is entreated to slay demons
and send rain as if he were Indra:
O Agni, overcome our enemies and our calamities;
Drive away all disease and the Rakshasas—
Send down abundance of waters
From the ocean of the sky.
_Rigveda_, x, 98. 12.
Indra similarly absorbed, and was absorbed by, the wind god Vayu or
Vata, who is also referred to as the father of the Maruts and the
son-in-law of the artisan god Twashtri. The name Vata has been compared
to Vate, the father of the Teutonic Volund or Wieland, the tribal deity
of the Watlings or Vaetlings; in old English the Milky Way was “Watling
Street”. Comparisons have also been drawn with the wind god Odin—the
Anglo-Saxon Woden, and ancient German Wuotan (pronounced Vuotan). “The
etymological connection in this view”, writes a critic, “is not free
from difficulty.”[77] Professor Macdonell favours the derivation from
“va” = “to blow”.
[77] Art. “Aryan Religion”, Hastings' _Ency. Rel. and Ethics_.
The Indian Vata is invoked, as Vayu, in a beautiful passage in one of
the hymns which refers to his “two red horses yoked to the chariot”: he
had also, like the Maruts, a team of deer. The poet calls to the wind:
Awake Purandhu (Morning) as a lover awakes a sleeping maid....
Reveal heaven and earth....
Brighten the dawn, yea, for glory, brighten the dawn....
These lines recall Keats at his best:
There is no light
Save what from heaven is with the breezes blown....
_Ode to the Nightingale._
A stirring hymn to the wind god loses much of its vigour and beauty in
translation:
Sublime and shining is the car of Vata;
It sweeps resounding, thundering and crashing;
Athwart the sky it wakens ruddy flashes,
Or o'er the earth it sets the dust-clouds whirling.
The gusts arise and hasten unto Vata,
Like women going to a royal banquet;
In that bright car the mighty god is with them,
For he is rajah of the earth's dominions.
When Vata enters on the paths of heaven,
All day he races on; he never falters;
He is the firstborn and the friend of Ocean—
Whence did he issue forth? Where is his birthplace?
He is the breath[78] of gods: all life is Vata:
He cometh, yea, he goeth as he listeth:
His voice is heard; his form is unbeholden—
O let us offer sacrifice to Vata.
[78] The air of life = the spirit.
_Rigveda_, x, 168.
Another wind or storm god is Rudra, also the father of the Maruts,
who are called “Rudras”. He is the “Howler” and “the Ruddy One”, and
rides a wild boar. Saussaye calls him “the Wild Huntsman of Hindu
Mythology”. He is chiefly of historical interest because he developed
into the prominent post-Vedic god Shiva, the “Destroyer”, who is still
worshipped in India. The poets invested him with good as well as evil
qualities:
Rudra, thou smiter of workers of evil,
The doers of good all love and adore thee.
Preserve me from injury and every affliction—
Rudra, the nourisher.
Give unto me of thy medicines, Rudra,
So that my years may reach to a hundred;
Drive away hatred, shatter oppression,
Ward off calamity.
_Rigveda_, ii, 33.
The rain cloud was personified in Parjanya, who links with Indra as the
nourisher of earth, and with Agni as the quickener of seeds.
Indra's great rival, however, was Varuna, who symbolized the investing
sky: he was “the all-enveloping one”. The hymns impart to him a
character of Hebraic grandeur. He was the sustainer of the universe,
the lawgiver, the god of moral rectitude, and the sublime sovereign
of gods and men. Men worshipped him with devoutness, admiration, and
fear. “It is he who makes the sun to shine in heaven; the winds that
blow are but his breath; he has hollowed out the channels of the rivers
which flow at his command, and he has made the depths of the sea. His
ordinances are fixed and unassailable; through their operation the
moon walks in brightness, and the stars which appear in the nightly
sky, vanish in daylight. The birds flying in the air, the rivers in
their sleepless flow, cannot attain a knowledge of his power and wrath.
But he knows the flight of the birds in the sky, the course of the
far-travelling wind, the paths of ships on the ocean, and beholds all
secret things that have been or shall be done. He witnesses men's truth
and falsehood.”[79]
[79] Muir's _Original Sanscrit Texts_, v, 58, ff.
[Illustration: SHIVA'S DANCE OF DESTRUCTION, ELLORA (see pages 147-8)
8]
He is the Omniscient One. Man prayed to him for forgiveness for sin,
and to be spared from the consequences of evil-doing:
May I not yet, King Varuna,
Go down into the house of clay:
Have mercy, spare me, mighty Lord.
O Varuna, whatever the offence may be
That we as men commit against the heavenly folk,
When through our want of thought we violate thy laws,
Chastise us not, O god, for that iniquity.
_Rigveda_, vii, 89.[80]
[80] Professor Macdonell's _A History of Sanskrit Literature_.
His messengers descend
Countless from his abode—for ever traversing
This world and scanning with a thousand eyes its inmates.
Whate'er exists within this earth, and all within the sky,
Yea, all that is beyond, King Varuna perceives....
May thy destroying snares, cast sevenfold round the wicked,
Entangle liars, but the truthful spare, O King!
_Rigveda_, iv, 16.[81]
[81] _Indian Wisdom_, Sir Monier Williams.
In contrast to the devotional spirit pervading the Varuna hymns is the
attitude adopted by Indra's worshippers; the following prayer to the
god of battle is characteristic:—
O Indra, grant the highest, best of treasures,
A judging mind, prosperity abiding,
Riches abundant, lasting health of body,
The grace of eloquence and days propitious.
_Rigveda_, ii, 21. 6.
The sinner's fear of Varuna prompted him to seek the aid of other gods.
Rudra and the Moon are addressed:
O remove ye the sins we have sinned,
What evil may cling to us sever
With bolts and sharp weapons, kind friends,
And gracious be ever.
From the snare of Varuna deliver us, ward us,
Ye warm-hearted gods, O help us and guard us.
Associated with Varuna was the God Mitra (the Persian Mithra). These
deities are invariably coupled and belong to the early Iranian period.
Much controversy has been waged over their pre-Vedic significance.
Some have regarded Mithra as the firmament by day with its blazing
and fertilizing sun, and Varuna as the many-eyed firmament of night,
in short, the twin forms of Dyaus. Prof. E. V. Arnold has shown,
however, that in the Vedas, Mithra has no solar significance except in
his association with Agni. The fire god, as we have seen, symbolized
the principle of fertility in Nature: he was the “vital spark” which
caused the growth of “all herbs”, as well as the illuminating and
warmth-giving flames of sun and household hearth.
Mitra as Mithra with Varuna, and a third vague god, Aryaman, belong
to an early group of equal deities called the Adityas, or “Celestial
deities”. “It would seem that the worship of these deities”, says Prof.
Arnold, “was already decaying in the earliest Vedic period, and that
many of them were then falling into oblivion.... In a late Vedic hymn
we find that Indra boasts that he has dethroned Varuna, and invites
Agni to enter his own service instead. We may justly infer from all
these circumstances that the worship of the ‘celestials’ occupied at
one time in the history of the race a position of greater importance
than its place in the _Rigveda_ directly suggests.”[82]
[82] _The Rigveda_, by Professor E. Vernon Arnold, p. 16 (_Popular
Studies in Mythology, Romance, and Folklore_).
The following extracts from a Mitra-Varuna hymn indicate the attitude
of the early priests towards the “Celestial deities”:—
To the gods Mitra and Varuna let our praise go forth with
power, with all reverence, to the two of mighty race.
These did the gods establish in royal power over themselves,
because they were wise and the children of wisdom, and
because they excelled in power.
They are protectors of hearth and home, of life and strength;
Mitra and Varuna, prosper the mediations of your
worshippers....
As the sun rises to-day do I salute Mitra and Varuna, and
glorious Aryaman.... The blessings of heaven are our
desire....
_Prof. Arnold's translation._
In Babylonian mythology the sun is the offspring of the moon. The
Semitic name of the sun god is Samas (Shamash), the Sumerian name is
Utu; among other non-Semitic names was Mitra, “apparently the Persian
Mithra”. The bright deity also “bears the names of his attendants
‘Truth’ and ‘Righteousness’, who guided him upon his path as judge of
the earth”.[83]
[83] _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, by Dr. T. G. Pinches, p.
68.
It may be that the Indian Mitra was originally a sun god; the religion
of the sun god Mithra spread into Europe. “Dedications to Mithra the
Unconquered Sun have been found in abundance.”[84] Vedic references
suggest that Mitra had become a complex god in the pre-Vedic Age,
being probably associated with a group of abstract deities—his
attributes symbolized—who are represented by the Adityas. The
Mitra-Varuna group of Celestials were the source of all heavenly gifts;
they regulated sun and moon, the winds and waters and the seasons. If
we assume that they were of Babylonian or Sumerian origin—deities
imported by a branch of Aryan settlers who had been in contact with
Babylonian civilization—their rivalry with the older Aryan gods, Indra
and Agni, can be understood. Ultimately they were superseded, but the
influence exercised by their cult remained and left its impress upon
later Aryan religious thought.
[84] Frazer's “Golden Bough” (_Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, p. 255, n.,
third edition).
The Assyrian word “metru” signifies rain.[85] The quickening rain which
caused the growth of vegetation was, of course, one of the gifts of the
Celestials of the firmament. It is of interest to note, therefore, in
this connection that Professor Frazer includes the western Mithra among
the “corn gods”. Dealing with Mithraic sculptures, which apparently
depict Mithra as the sacrificer of the harvest bull offering, he says:
“On certain of these monuments the tail of the bull ends in three
stalks of corn, and in one of them cornstalks instead of blood are seen
issuing from the wound inflicted by the knife”.[86]
[85] Professor H. W. Hogg, in Professor Moulton's _Early Religious
Poetry of Persia_, p. 37.
[86] “The Golden Bough” (_Spirits of the Corn and Wild_, vol. ii, p.
10).
Commenting on the Assyrian “metru” Professor Moulton says: “If this is
his (Mithra's) origin, we get a reasonable basis for the Avestan (Early
Persian and Aryan) use of the word to denote a ‘contract’, as also for
the fact that the deity is in the Avesta patron of Truth and in the
Veda of Friendship. He is ‘the Mediator’ between Heaven and Earth, as
the firmament was by its position, both in nature and mythology: an
easy corollary is his function of regulating the relations of man and
man.”
The character of an imported deity is always influenced by localization
and tribal habits. Pastoral nomads would therefore have emphasized the
friendliness of Mithra, who sent rain to cause the growth of grass on
sun-parched steppes. Both Mithra and Varuna had their dwelling-place
in the sea of heaven, the waters “above the firmament” from which the
rain descended. Ultimately the Indian Mitra vanished, being completely
merged in Varuna, who became the god of ocean after the Aryans reached
the sea coast. In post-Vedic sacred literature the priestly theorists,
in the process of systematizing their religious beliefs, taught that a
great conflict took place between the gods and demons. When order was
restored, the various deities were redistributed. Indra remained the
atmospheric god of battle, and Varuna became the god of ocean, where,
as the stern judge and lawgiver and the punisher of wrongdoers, he kept
watch over the demons. In the “Nala and Damayanti” epic narrative, the
four “world guardians” are: Indra, king of the gods; Agni, god of fire;
Varuna, god of waters; and Yama, judge of the dead.
It may be that the displacement of Varuna as supreme deity was due to
the influence of the fire-worshipping cult of Agni, who was imported
by certain unidentified Aryan tribes that entered India. Agni did not
receive recognition, apparently, from the other Aryan “folk-wave”,
which established a military aristocracy at Mitanni in Mesopotamia,
and held sway for a period over the Assyrians and some of the Hittite
tribes. An important inscription, which is dated about 1400 B.C.,
has been deciphered at Boghaz-Köi in Asia Minor by Professor Hugo
Winckler, who gives the names of the following deities:
“Mi-it-ra, Uru-w-na, In-da-ra, and Na-sa-at-ti-ia”—
Mitra, Varuna, Indra, Nasatya. The latter is Nasatyau, the Vedic
Aswins, twin gods of morning, who have been compared to the Greek
Dioskouri (Castor and Pollux), sons of Zeus.
A Vedic triad, which suggests a rival cult to that of the worshippers
of Varuna and other Adityas, is formed by Vayu (wind), Agni (fire), and
Surya (the sun).
The Indian sun god Surya, like the Egyptian Ra, had three forms. The
rising sun was Vivasvat; the setting sun was Savitri.
Vivasvat was the son-in-law of Twashtri, the artisan of Nature; he
was an abstract deity, and apparently owed his origin to the group of
Adityas.
Savitri, who had yellow hair, was of pre-Vedic origin. He was the
“Stimulator”. When he commanded Night to approach, men ceased their
labours, birds sought their nests, and cattle their sheds.[87]
[87] _Rigveda_, ii, 38.
During the long centuries covered by the Vedic period many “schools of
thought” must have struggled for supremacy. The Vivasvat myth belongs,
it would appear, to the time before the elephant was tamed by the
Aryans. Aditi, the mother of the Adityas, who is believed to be of
later origin than her children, had eight sons. She cherished seven
of them; the eighth, which was a shapeless lump, was thrown away, but
was afterwards moulded into Vivasvat, the sun; the pieces of the lump
which were cast away by the divine artisan fell upon the earth and
gave origin to the elephant, therefore elephants should not be caught,
because they partake of divine nature.
[Illustration: SURYA IN HIS CHARIOT
_From the Kailâsa Temple, Ellora_
9]
Surya is an Aryanized sun god. He drives a golden chariot drawn by
seven mares, or a mare with seven heads; he has golden hair and golden
arms and hands. As he is alluded to as “the eye of Varuna and Mitra”,
and a son of Aditi, it is evident that if he did not originally belong
to the group of Adityas, he was strongly influenced by them. In his
Savitri character, which he possesses at morning as well as at evening,
he stimulates all life and the mind of man. One of the most sacred and
oldest mantras (texts) in the Vedas is still addressed by Brahmans to
the rising sun. It runs:—
Let us meditate on that excellent glory of the divine Vivifier,
May he enlighten (or stimulate) our understandings.[88]
[88] _Indian Wisdom_, p. 20.
The feeling for Nature pervades the ancient religion and literature of
India. Priests were poets and singers in early Vedic times. A Rishi
was a composer of hymns to the gods, and several are named in the
collections. Every great family appears to have had its bardic priest,
and its special poetic anthology which was handed down from generation
to generation. Old poems might be rewritten and added to, but the
ambition of the sacred poet was to sing a new song to the gods. The
oldest Vedic hymns are referred to as “new songs”, which suggests that
others were already in existence.
These Rishis looked upon Nature with the poet's eye. They symbolized
everything, but they revelled also in the gorgeous beauty of dawn and
evening, the luxuriance of Indian trees and flowers, the serene majesty
of Himalayan mountains, the cascades, the rivers, and the shining
lakes. The wonder and mystery of the world inspired their hymns and
their religion. Even the gods took delight in the songs of birds, the
harping of forest winds, the humming of bees, the blossoming trees,
and the flower-decked sward. Heaven has its eternal summer and soft
scented winds, its lotus-gemmed lakes and never-fading blooms.
The effulgence and silence of dawn inspired some of the most beautiful
Vedic hymns. Dawn is Ushas, the daughter of Dyaus; she is the Indian
Aurora:
Hail, ruddy Ushas, golden goddess, borne
Upon thy shining car, thou comest like
A lovely maiden by her mother decked,
Disclosing coyly all thy hidden graces
To our admiring eyes; or like a wife
Unveiling to her lord, with conscious pride,
Beauties which, as he gazes lovingly,
Seem fresher, fairer, each succeeding morn.
Through years and years thou hast lived on, and yet
Thou'rt ever young. Thou art the breath of life
Of all that breathes and lives, awaking day by day
Myriads of prostrate sleepers, as from death,
Causing the birds to flutter from their nests,
And rousing men to ply with busy feet
Their daily duties and appointed tasks,
Toiling for wealth, or pleasure, or renown.[89]
[89] _Indian Wisdom_, Sir Monier Williams.
The Vedic poets “looked before and after”. One sang:
In ages past did mortals gaze
On Ushas veiled in gleaming gold.
We who are living watch her rays,
And men unborn will her behold.
_Rigveda_, i, 113. 11.
Night, Ratri, is the sister of Dawn. The one robes herself in crimson
and gold; the other adorns her dark raiment with gleaming stars. When
benevolent Ratri draws nigh, men turn towards their homes to rest,
birds seek their nests, cattle lie down; even the hawk reposes. The
people pray to the goddess to be protected against robbers and fierce
wolves, and to be taken safely across her shadow:
She, the immortal goddess, throws her veil
Over low valley, rising ground, and hill.
But soon with bright effulgence dissipates
The darkness she produces; soon advancing
She calls her sister Morning to return,
And then each darksome shadow melts away.
_Rigveda_, x.[90]
[90] _Indian Wisdom_, Sir Monier Williams.
The moon is the god Chandra, who became identified with Soma. Among
ancient peoples the moon was regarded as the source of fertility
and growth; it brought dew to nourish crops which ripened under the
“harvest moon”; it filled all vegetation with sap; it swayed human life
from birth till death; it influenced animate and inanimate Nature in
its periods of increase and decline; ceremonies to secure offspring
were performed during certain phases of the moon.
Soma was the intoxicating juice of the now unknown Soma plant, which
inspired mortals and was the nectar of the gods. The whole ninth book
of the _Rigveda_ is devoted to the praises of Soma, who is exalted even
as the chief god, the Father of all.
This Soma is a god; he cures
The sharpest ills that man endures.
He heals the sick, the sad he cheers,
He nerves the weak, dispels their fears;
The faint with martial ardour fires,
With lofty thought the bard inspires,
The soul from earth to heaven he lifts,
So great and wondrous are his gifts;
Men feel the god within their veins,
And cry in loud exulting strains:
We've quaffed the Soma bright
And are immortal grown:
We've entered into light
And all the gods have known.
What mortal now can harm,
Or foeman vex us more?
Through thee beyond alarm,
Immortal god, we soar.[91]
[91] Muir's _Original Sanskrit Texts_, v, 130.
“The sun”, declared one of the poets, “has the nature of Agni, the moon
of Soma.” At the same time Agni was a great consumer of Soma; when it
was poured on the altar, the fire god leapt up joyfully. The beverage
was the “water of life” which was believed to sustain the Adityas and
the earth, and to give immortality to all the gods; it was therefore
called Amrita (ambrosia).
As in Teutonic mythology, the Hindu giants desired greatly to possess
the “mead” to which the gods owed their power and supremacy. The
association of Soma with the moon recalls the Germanic belief that the
magic mead was kept for Odin, “the champion drinker”, by Mani, the moon
god, who snatched it from the mythical children who are the prototypes
of “Jack and Jill” of the nursery rhyme.[92] Indra was the discoverer
of the Soma plant and brought it from the mountains. The Persian mead
(mada) was called Haoma.
[92] See _Teutonic Myth and Legend_.
The priests drank Soma when they made offerings and lauded the gods.
A semi-humorous Rigvedic hymn compares them to the frogs which croak
together when the rain comes after long drought.
Each (frog) with merry croak and loudly calling
Salutes the other, as a son his father;
What one calls out, another quickly answers,
Like boys at school their teacher's words repeating....
They shout aloud like Brahmans drunk with Soma,
When they perform their annual devotions.
_Rigveda_, vii, 103.[93]
[93] Kaegi's _Rigveda_, Arrowsmith's translation. This was apparently a
rain charm; its humour was of the unconscious order, of course.
There are references in the _Rigveda_ to the marriage of Soma, the
moon, and Suryá, the maiden of the sun.
In Vedic religion many primitive beliefs were blended. We have seen,
for instance, that life was identified with breath and wind; the
“spirit” left the body as the last breath. Agni worshippers regarded
fire as “the vital spark”. Soma worship, on the other hand, appears
to be connected with the belief that life was in the blood; it was
literally “the life blood”. The “blood of trees” was the name for
sap; sap was water impregnated or vitalized by Soma, the essence of
life. Water worship and Soma worship were probably identical, the
moon, which was believed to be the source of growth and moisture,
being the fountain head of “the water of life”. In Teutonic mythology
the “mead” is taken from a hidden mountain spring, which issued from
“Mimer's well” in the Underworld. Odin drank from Mimer's well and
obtained wisdom and long life. The “mead” was transported to the moon.
The “mead” was also identified with saliva, the moisture of life,
and spitting ceremonies resulted; these survive in the custom still
practised in our rural districts of spitting on the hand to seal a
bargain; “spitting stones” have not yet entirely disappeared. Vows are
still taken in India before a fire. References to contracts signed in
blood are common and widespread.