Prehistoric India to 1000 B.C. c14.36

c14.36

The portraits carry conviction in their artless barbarism, so curiously transmitted in the sophisticated Sanskrit verse. The atmosphere is that of the Irish tales that reflect the conditions of the Celtic Iron Age of the first century B.C. in Ulster and North Britain; Indra is often reminiscent of the grotesque Dagda with his insatiable appetite, Rudra and the Maruts make one think of Finn and the fianna, the young band of heroes, and the cattle-raiding is as familiar. But the Aryan reivings are carried out on the plains of the Punjab, and Indra and his followers fight against foes who, if not feared as opponents on the battle-field, are regarded with the superstitious dread of the simple soldier for the subtle townsman.