A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.2034

c5.2034

A few hymns of the *Rig-veda*, more especially some of the later hymns in the tenth Mandala, appear to contain some vague, hazy conception of one Supreme Being; but as a whole they are addressed directly to certain personifications of the powers of nature, which personifications were worshipped as deities having those physical powers under their control. From these powers the Vedic poets invoked prosperity on themselves and their flocks; they extolled the prowess of these elemental powers in the struggles between light and darkness, warmth and cold, and they offered up joyous praise and thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth and personal protection. Chief among the deities so praised and worshipped were Agni, Indra, and Sūrya. More hymns are addressed to Agni (Ignis), ‘fire,’ than to any other deity, and chiefly in its sacrificial character, though it receives honour also for its domestic uses. Indra was honoured as the god of the atmosphere, who controlled the rains and the dew, so all-important to an agricultural people. Sūrya, ‘the sun,’ was ‘the source of heat,’ but he shared this honour with Agni, the sun being considered a celestial fire. Among the most ancient of the myths was that of Dyaus-pitar, ‘heavenly father,’ the regent of the sky. Others were Aditi, ‘the infinite expanse;’ Varuna (Οὐρανός), ‘the investing sky,’ afterwards god of the waters; Ushas (ἠώς), ‘the dawn,’ daughter of the sky; the two Aswins, ‘twin sons of the sun,’ ever young and handsome, and riding in a golden car as precursors of the dawn. Prithivī, ‘the broad one,’ as the earth was called, received honour as the mother of all beings. There were also the Maruts or storm-gods, personifications of the wind, the especial foes of Vritra, the spirit of drought and ungenial weather, who was in constant conflict with Indra; Rudra, the howling, furious god, who ruled the tempest and the storm; Yama, the god of the dead and judge of departed spirits, also received his meed of reverence; last, though apparently not least in the estimation of the Aryan worshippers, was Soma, the personification of the fermented juice of the plant so named. This exhilarating liquid was alike acceptable to the gods and their worshippers, and many hymns are addressed to it as a deity.