Vedic Mythology c3.s2.1

c3.s2.1

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.