The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c19.s9.13

v1.c19.s9.13

Possibly another deity who plays some part in the development of Vedic thought may be traced to a natural origin, namely Vāc, ‘speech’. In the Rigveda⁵ she has a hymn in which she describes herself as accompanying all the gods, and supporting Mitra and Varuṇa, Indra and Agni, and the Açvins, and as bending the bow of Rudra against the unbeliever: she claims to have a place in the waters, in the sea, and to encompass all beings, while in another hymn she is styled the queen of the gods. In the Brāhmaṇas⁶ she is specially famed in the legend of the purchase of the Soma from the Gandharvas by means of a woman, Vāc taking that form to tempt the Gandharvas, as lovers of the sex, to surrender the Soma which they guard: she agrees,⁷ however, with the gods, before the transaction takes place, to return to them and does so when called upon. The goddess seems to have too much life and reality in the Rigveda to be a mere abstraction, and it is important perhaps that in the Naighaṇṭuka⁸ she is ranked among the gods of the atmosphere. Therefore it is possible that thunder, which in the Nirukta appears as the Vāc of the middle region, may be the starting-point of the goddess who naturally develops in connexion with human speech.