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The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c17.s8: § 8. Parjanya

The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c17.s8

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§ 8. Parjanya

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Parjanya, like Vāta, is a god whose natural character is obvious and undeniable. He has three hymns in the Rigveda and his name occurs some thirty times, but in other passages it has beyond doubt the simple sense of rain cloud. More often, however, the rain cloud is made into a real person, often in theriomorphic shape: thus he is a bull who roars and impregnates the plants, and his roaring waters delight the earth. But, as the waters are normally conceived as feminine, he becomes in other cases a barren cow, or even a productive cow. He is the rain giver, and is besought to bestow rain, but in his actions he is subject to the control of Mitra and Varuṇa. He also thunders and smites trees and evildoers in anger, and, when he quickens the earth with his seed, the winds blow, and the lightning flashes. He is often associated with Vāta, as Vāyu with Indra. As a rain god plants spring up through him, and he is also credited with the increase of cattle, of mares, and of women. He is even exalted as an independent monarch, the ruler of all the world, in whom are established the three worlds and all beings. From another point of view he is essentially the father, and even the divine father.⁴

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⁴ Von Schroeder (*Arische Religion*, ii. 602 f.) argues that Parjanya is a hypostasis of the heaven god, as Perun among the Slavs, Perkúnas among the Lithuanians, Pehrkon among the Letts; cf. i. 417 ff.

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In one place Dyaus is stated to be his father, and in his character, especially in the stress laid on his paternity, and his bull shape he is like to his father. His wife is the earth, though once⁵ she is called Vaçā. He has a son⁶ who may be Soma, for that god is called son of Parjanya,⁷ but the lightning may also be meant. He is not rarely connected with Indra, rarely with Agni, and occasionally with the Maruts. In an interesting hymn¹ the frogs are spoken of as raising their voices when aroused by Parjanya, though it is uncertain if the god or the cloud is meant.

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⁵ AV. x. 10. 6.

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⁶ RV. vii. 101. 1.

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⁷ RV. ix. 82. 3.

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¹ RV. vii. 103.

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The nature of Parjanya as the thunder cloud is preserved throughout the Vedic literature and is recognized in the later period, where his name is also applied to Indra with whom in much he is identical, though his character has clear similarities also to that of Dyaus. The identification of him with the Lithuanian god Perkúnas, the Slav Perun, and the Norse Fjörgynn, which would make him to be in origin a god of the oak, or of the thunder which smites the oak, is open to the gravest difficulties of phonology,² and must be considered as too doubtful to be worth more than serious consideration.³ No other attempt to explain his name is yet made plausible, though it has been attempted to show that he is a rain god pure and simple.

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² Kretschmer, *Gesch. der griech. Sprache*, p. 81. See Hillebrandt, *Ved. Myth.*, iii. 331, n. 5; Macdonell, *Ved. Myth.*, pp. 85, 177; E. Meyer, *Gesch. des Alt.*³ I. ii. p. 870; Carnoy, *Les Indo-Européens*, pp. 164–6; von Schroeder, *Arische Religion*, ii. 422, n. 2, 519, n. 1, 531–4, 544 ff.; O. Schrader, *ERE.* ii. 33; Helm, *Altgerm. Rel.* i. 278, n. 1. Cf. Gray, *Myth. of All Races*, iii. 320, 322 ff.; Rhys, *Celtic Heathendom*, p. 220; Brückner, *KZ.* l. 195.

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³ Grassmann and von Schroeder prefer derivation from *pṛc*, 'fill'; Bloomfield (*Rel. of Veda*, p. 111) suggests modulation to suggest *pari-jana*, one who surrounds the folk. Perun's name seems clearly to be from *per*, 'strike'.

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