The Religion of the Veda: The Ancient Religion of India (from Rig-Veda to Upanishads) c9.68

c9.68

The familiar notion that the sun oversees everything³ appeals in this instance to the simple reasoning power of shepherd folk. A more suitable origin for a shepherd god it is not easy to imagine. They therefore dress him out in shepherd’s clothes, feed him on shepherd’s food, and turn him into a heavenly bell-wether of their flocks. But his real natural history does not seem to me to be very much disguised by the simple-minded fable. We may safely call Pūshan a translucent god.