A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, so far as it illustrates the Primitive Religion of the Brahmans c11.151

c11.151

It is curious to watch the almost imperceptible transition by which the phenomena of nature, if reflected in the mind of the poet, assume the character of divine beings. The dawn is frequently described in the Veda as it might be described by a modern poet. She is the friend of men, she smiles like a young wife, she is the daughter of the sky. She goes to every house, (i. 123. 4.); she thinks of the dwellings of men (i. 123. 1.); she does not despise the small or the great (i. 124. 6.); she brings wealth (i. 48. 1.); she is always the same, immortal, divine, (i. 124. 4.; i. 123. 8.); age cannot touch her, (i. 113. 15.); she is the young goddess, but she makes men grow old, (i. 92. 11.). All this may be simply allegorical language. But the transition from devî, the bright, to devî, the goddess, is so easy; the daughter of the sky assumes so readily the same personality which is given to the sky, Dyaus, her father, that we can only guess whether in every passage the poet is speaking of a bright apparition, or of a bright goddess; of a natural vision, or of a visible deity. The following hymn of Vasishṭha, (vii. 77.), will serve as an instance:—