The Development of Hindu Iconography c9.30.2

c9.30.2

Varuṇa, the moral god, sung by the hymnist in various ways, is conceived as covered by a coat of mail and veiled in his radiance, thus being impervious to prying eyes, but himself looking into the secret virtues and vices of the mortals; the hymnist's idea about his spies is a necessary corollary of this conception about him, for the god sends them to look into the actions of mankind and report to him all about them. As regards R. V., V. 52, 15, Max Müller has translated the whole verse in this way, “If he, after perceiving them, has approached them as gods with an offering, then may he for a gift remain united with the brilliant (Maruts) who by their ornaments are glorious on their march.” He further remarks, “This verse, as Roth says, is very obscure;...whatever the verse may mean, *eṣām devān* cannot mean the gods of the Maruts or prove the existence of idols, as Bollensen and even Muir imagined.”¹ This verse is undoubtedly difficult of correct interpretation; it is extremely uncertain whether the particular extract from it at all means the images of the Maruts, and one cannot support a theory with the help of this enigmatic passage. The eleventh verse in the same hymn, however, may throw some light on it; there we are told that the Maruts might assume different forms according to their different functions (*iti citrā rūpāṇi darśyā*), such as protecting the world or collectively supporting it or sustaining from afar (the planets, stars and others).