The Religion of the Veda: The Ancient Religion of India (from Rig-Veda to Upanishads) c8.104

c8.104

Both Manu and Yama are primarily nothing but first men. Yama’s father Vivasvant is probably primarily the sun, whose divine character is, however, at that time quite completely forgotten: old as is this affiliation it is probably not original, because the first twins, Yama and Yamī, are in reality an attempt to beg the question of the origin of the human race altogether. The descent of man from the sun represents another start towards solving the difficulty; of course this conception must and does blend with the Yama pair. In the same way Manu begins quite early to adopt Vivasvant for his father, and he remains so for all time. The myths begin to interlace very much, and to sprout shoots in unexpected directions. A famous pair of riddle-stanzas, Rig-Veda 10. 17. 1 and 2, expand the theme in an interesting fashion, according to an interpretation which I have proposed¹: it is worth while to present it as an extreme example of the blend of original mythic roots into a real myth: