The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c16.s3.23

v1.c16.s3.23

Pūṣan shares with the gods in general the usual attributes of strength, glory, wisdom, generosity, and like the Açvins he is termed wonder worker, while with Agni alone he bears the epithet of Narāçaṁsa, probably felt as ‘extolled by men’. He is most frequently invoked with Bhaga and Viṣṇu of the other gods: in joint laudations he is found with Soma and Indra, while his food is expressly distinguished from the Soma of Indra, nevertheless in one passage it is attributed to Indra, and in two passages the libation to Indra is said to be mixed with it. The characteristic epithets of Pūṣan’s activity are those which denote him as the bringer of prosperity, who loses neither goods nor cattle. Pūṣan is essentially concerned with safefaring on paths: he is born himself on the far path of paths, the far path of heaven and earth, and between the two beloved abodes he goes and returns. Hence it follows that he is a guardian of roads, he makes the paths safe by removing the wolf and the waylayer: his epithet *vimuco napāt* may be rendered either ‘son of unyoking’ after safe arrival, or ‘son of deliverance’, and in the Atharvaveda⁶ he is definitely called upon to deliver from sin. As he is lord of the roads and a guide, he is invoked by the man who proposes to make a journey and by the man who on his way is lost.¹ In the morning and evening of the Gṛhya ritual, the offering made to Pūṣan is performed on the threshold of the house.² It is Pūṣan who preserves cattle, who keeps them from falling into pits and finds them when lost and brings them again home.³ He guides straight also the furrow, guards horses, and weaves the coats of sheep. Cattle are sacred to him and he is called the producer of cattle.