Elements of Hindu Iconography v4.c35.s3.3

v4.c35.s3.3

In the Vēdic period the Maruts are said variously to be the children of the earth under the name of Priśni and Rudra and as children of the ocean : they are said to behave like sons to Indra. Rudra and Priśni are said to have begotten these in their assumed forms of a bull and a cow. Generally they were very friendly to Indra and with their help strengthened him against Vṛitrāsura. Only in a very few instances they are described as having abandoned Indra and left him to kill Vṛitrā single-handed. The Maruts are the gods of the tempest and as such are sometimes included in the thirty-three gods and sometimes counted as outside this number ; in some places they are said to be thrice sixty and in others as only twenty-seven in number. They were the favourite deities of some ṛishis who have sung high praises about them. In these they are extolled as having spears resting upon their shoulders wearing anklets, golden ornaments and helmets, seated upon resplendent cars drawn by spotted deer and carrying light in their hands; they are ever engaged in gathering rain-clouds and compelling them to discharge their contents. Divested of the poetic element and viewed in the ordinary sense, the Maruts are gusts of wind personified; they are as fleet as deer and are really ever busy in gathering rain-clouds and helping Indra the god of the atmosphere.