The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c16.s8.1

v1.c16.s8.1

Apart from his connexion with Soma,² the moon is not prominent in the Vedic literature, unless with Hillebrandt we recognize him under such guises as that of Bṛhaspati, Apāṁ Napāt, Varuṇa, Yama, Narāçaṅsa, or Tvaṣṭṛ, or Viçvarūpa. He appears rarely in conjunction with Sūrya in the compounds Sūryāmāsā and Sūryācandramasā, but little is said of the pair beyond noting their alternate appearance, which is once attributed to Bṛhaspati, their creation by the creator, and the fact that they are the two bright eyes of Varuṇa.³ The birth of the moon from the sun is recognized, as well as its regular death.⁴ The connexion of the moon with the mind is early recorded,⁵ and may stand in relation to its connexion with the Fathers.⁶ In addition to the influence of the moon on vegetation, its connexion with the tides is recognized.⁷ The moon phases also receive some degree of worship,⁸ and the darkness in the face of the moon is accounted for in various ways.⁹ The Jaiminīya Brāhmaṇa¹⁰ already records the existence in the moon of a hare, identified with Yama, whence the later name of Çaçin, a view corresponding to the occidental belief in the man in the moon. Among other identifications Prajāpati appears once equated with Candramas, but the more normal view is found in the idea of the Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇa that from the asceticism of Prajāpati there sprang up five beings, Agni, Vāyu, Āditya, Candramas, and Uṣas. Another passage tells that the first four of these deities made good the members of Prajāpati when the work of creation exhausted him and he fell to pieces.¹¹