The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c16.s7.1

v1.c16.s7.1

Uṣas the goddess is no small figure in the Rigveda: she is the subject of twenty hymns and is mentioned not less than 300 times in all, and the hymns addressed to her are among the most brilliant in the whole of the Saṁhitā. The personification of the dawn is of the slightest description, and takes the form of picturing her as a maiden decked by her mother in gay attire, who reveals her bosom to mortal eyes. She is young, being born again and again, and yet is ancient : she wastes away the life of mortals. She shines now, and shall shine in the future as in former days ; she shines forth, shortening the days of men, the last of the days that have dawned, the first of those that have to come. Uṣas on her coming awakes to life men and animals : the birds fly up from their nest, and men seek their work. She illumines the ways, and drives away the spirits of darkness and evil : bad dreams she sends to Trita Āptya. She opens the gates of darkness as the cattle their stall, and she is called the mother of cattle. She is borne on a shining swift car drawn by steeds, or ruddy kine or bulls, perhaps the red rays of the light of morning rather than the red clouds of the morning : in a day she traverses thirty Yojanas.