Vedic Mythology c3.s2: § 3. Sources of Vedic Mythology

Vedic Mythology c3.s2

Language: English

§ 3. Sources of Vedic Mythology

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tendency to abstraction at the end of the Rigvedic period, exhibits in its latest book the beginnings of a kind of monotheism and even signs of pantheism. The hymns of this collection having been composed with a view to the sacrificial ritual, especially that of the Soma offering, furnish a disproportionate presentment of the mythological material of the age. The great gods who occupy an important position at the Soma sacrifice and in the worship of the wealthy, stand forth prominently; but the mythology connected with spirits, with witchcraft, with life after death, is almost a blank, for these spheres of belief have nothing to do with the poetry of the Soma rite. Moreover, while the character of the gods is very completely illustrated in these hymns, which are addressed to them and extol their attributes, their deeds, with the exception of their leading exploits, are far less definitely described. It is only natural that a collection of sacrificial poetry containing very little narrative matter, should supply but a scattered and fragmentary account of this side of mythology. The defective information given by the rest of the RV. regarding spirits, lesser demons, and the future life, is only very partially supplied by its latest book. Thus hardly any reference is made even here to the fate of the wicked after death. Beside and distinguished from the adoration of the gods, the worship of dead ancestors, as well as to some extent the deification of inanimate objects, finds a place in the religion of the Rigveda.

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The Sāmaveda, containing but seventy-five verses which do not occur in the RV., is of no importance in the study of Vedic mythology.

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The more popular material of the Atharvaveda deals mainly with domestic and magical rites. In the latter portion it is, along with the ritual text of the Kauśika sūtra, a mine of information in regard to the spirit and demon world. On this lower side of religion the Atharvaveda deals with notions of greater antiquity than those of the Rigveda. But on the higher side of religion it represents a more advanced stage. Individual gods exhibit a later phase of development and some new abstractions are deified, while the general character of the religion is pantheistic¹. Hymns in praise of individual gods are comparatively rare, while the simultaneous invocation of a number of deities, in which their essential nature is hardly touched upon, is characteristic. The deeds of the gods are extolled in the same stereotyped manner as in the RV.; and the AV. can hardly be said to supply any important mythological trait which is not to be found in the older collection.

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The Yajurveda represents a still later stage. Its formulas being made for the ritual, are not directly addressed to the gods, who are but shadowy beings having only a very loose connexion with the sacrifice. The most salient features of the mythology of the Yajurveda are the existence of one chief god, Prajāpati, the greater importance of Viṣṇu, and the first appearance of an old god of the Rigveda under the new name of Śiva. Owing, however, to the subordinate position here occupied by the gods in comparison with the ritual, this Veda yields but little mythological material.

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Between it and the Brāhmaṇas, the most important of which are the Aitareya and the Śatapatha, there is no essential difference. The sacrifice being the main object of interest, the individual traits of the gods have faded, the general character of certain deities has been modified, and the importance of others increased or reduced. Otherwise the pantheon of the Brāhmaṇas is much the same as that of the RV. and the AV., and the worship of inanimate objects is still recognized. The main difference between the mythology of the RV. and the Brāhmaṇas is the recognized position of Prajāpati or the Father-god as the chief deity in the latter. The pantheism of the Brāhmaṇas is, moreover, explicit. Thus Prajāpati is said to be the All (ŚB. 1, 3, 5¹⁰) or the All and everything (ŚB. 1, 6, 4²; 4, 5, 7²).

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The gods having lost their distinctive features, there is apparent a tendency to divide them into groups. Thus it is characteristic of the period that the supernatural powers form the two hostile camps of the Devas or gods on the one hand and the Asuras or demons on the other. The gods are further divided into the three classes of the terrestrial Vasus, the aerial Rudras, and the celestial Ādityas (§ 45). The most significant group is the representative triad of Fire, Wind, and Sun. The formalism of these works further shows itself in the subdivision of individual deities by the personification of their various attributes. Thus they speak of an ‘Agni, lord of food’, ‘Agni, lord of prayer’ and so forth².

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² BRI. 42; HRI. 182.

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The Brāhmaṇas relate numerous myths in illustration of their main subject-matter. Some of these are not referred to in the Saṃhitās. But where they do occur in the earlier literature, they appear in the Brāhmaṇas only as developments of their older forms, and cannot be said to shed light on their original forms, but only serve as a link between the mythological creations of the oldest Vedic and of the post-Vedic periods.

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¹ HRI. 153.

Linked texts (1)

Śatapathabrāhmaṇa — Yājñavalkya & Śāṇḍilya (Vedic teacher), Sanskrit