Vedic Mythology c3.s3: § 4. Method to be Pursued

Vedic Mythology c3.s3

Language: English

§ 4. Method to be Pursued

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— Vedic mythology is the product of an age and a country, of social and climatic conditions far removed and widely differing from our own. We have, moreover, here to deal not with direct statements of fact, but with the imaginative creations of poets whose mental attitude towards nature was vastly different from that of the men of to-day. The difficulty involved in dealing with material so complex and representing so early a stage of thought, is further increased by the character of the poetry in which this thought is imbedded. There is thus perhaps no subject capable of scientific treatment, which, in addition to requiring a certain share of poetical insight, demands caution and sobriety of judgment more urgently. Yet the stringency of method which is clearly so necessary, has largely been lacking in the investigation of Vedic mythology. To this defect, no less than to the inherent obscurity of the material, are doubtless in considerable measure due the many and great divergences of opinion prevailing among Vedic scholars on a large number of important mythological questions.

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In the earlier period of Vedic studies there was a tendency to begin research at the wrong end. The etymological equations of comparative mythology were then made the starting point. These identifications, though now mostly rejected, have continued to influence unduly the interpretation of the mythological creations of the Veda. But even apart from etymological considerations, theories have frequently been based on general impressions rather than on the careful sifting of evidence, isolated and secondary traits thus sometimes receiving coördinate weight with what is primary. An unmistakable bias has at the same time shown itself in favour of some one particular principle of interpretation¹. Thus an unduly large number of mythological figures have been explained as derived from dawn, lightning, sun, or moon respectively. An *à priori* bias of this kind leads to an unconsciously partial utilization of the evidence.

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Such being the case, it may pove useful to suggest some hints with a view to encourage the student in following more cautious methods. On the principle that scientific investigations should proceed from the better known to the less known, researches which aim at presenting a true picture of the character and actions of the Vedic gods, ought to begin not with the meagre and uncertain conclusions of comparative mythology, but with the information supplied by Indian literature, which contains a practically continuous record of Indian mythology from its most ancient source in the RV. down to modern times². All the material bearing on any deity or myth ought to be collected, grouped, and sifted by the comparison of parallel passages, before any conclusion is drawn³. In this process the primary features which form the basis of the personification should be separated from later accretions.

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As soon as a person has taken the place of a natural force in the imagination, the poetical fancy begins to weave a web of secondary myth, into which may be introduced in the course of time material that has nothing to do with the original creation, but is borrowed from elsewhere. Primary and essential features, when the material is not too limited, betray themselves by constant iteration. Thus in the Indra myth his fight with Vṛtra, which is essential, is perpetually insisted on, while the isolated statement that he strikes Vṛtra's mother with his bolt (1, 32⁹) is clearly a later touch, added by an individual poet for dramatic effect. Again, the epithet 'Vṛtra-slaying', without doubt originally appropriate to Indra alone, is in the RV. several times applied to the god Soma also. But that it is transferred from the former to the latter deity, is sufficiently plain from the statement that Soma is 'the Vṛtra-slaying intoxicating plant' (6, 17¹¹), the juice of which Indra regularly drinks before the fray. The transference of such attributes is particularly easy in the RV. because the poets are fond of celebrating gods in couples, when both share the characteristic exploits and qualities of each other (cp. § 44). Attributes thus acquired must of course be eliminated from the essential features. A similar remark applies to attributes and cosmic powers which are predicated, in about equal degree, of many gods. They can have no cogency as evidence in regard to a particular deity⁴. It is only when such attributes and powers are applied in a predominant manner to an individual god, that they can be adduced with any force. For in such case it is possible they might have started from the god in question and gradually extended to others. The fact must, however, be borne in mind in this connexion, that some gods are celebrated in very many more hymns than others. The frequency of an attribute applied to different deities must therefore be estimated relatively. Thus an epithet connected as often with Varuṇa as with Indra, would in all probability be more essential to the character of the former than of the latter. For Indra is invoked in about ten times as many hymns as Varuṇa. The value of any particular passage as evidence may be affected by the relative antiquity of the hymn in which it occurs. A statement occurring for the first time in a late passage may of course represent an old notion; but if it differs from what has been said on the same point in a chronologically earlier hymn, it most probably furnishes a later development. The tenth and the greater part of the first book of the RV.⁵ are therefore more likely to contain later conceptions than the other books. Moreover, the exclusive connexion of the ninth book with Soma Pavamāna may give a different complexion to mythological matter contained in another book. Thus Vivasvat and Trita are here connected with the preparation of Soma in quite a special manner (cp. §§ 18, 23). As regards the Brāhmaṇas, great caution should be exercised in discovering historically primitive notions in them; for they teem with far-fetched fancies, speculations, and identifications⁶.

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In adducing parallel passages as evidence, due regard should be paid to the context. Their real value can often only be ascertained by a minute and complex consideration of their surroundings and the association of ideas which connects them with what precedes and follows. After a careful estimation of the internal evidence of the Veda, aided by such corroboration as the later phases of Indian literature may afford, further light should be sought from the closely allied mythology of the Iranians. Comparison with it may confirm the results derived from the Indian material, or when the Indian evidence is inconclusive, may enable us either to decide what is old and new or to attain greater definiteness in regard to Vedic conceptions. Thus without the aid of the Avesta, it would be impossible to arrive at anything like certain conclusions about the original nature of the god Mitra.

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The further step may now be taken of examining the results of comparative mythology, in order to ascertain if possible, wherein consists the Vedic heritage from the Indo-European period and what is the original significance of that heritage. Finally, the teachings of ethnology cannot be neglected, when it becomes necessary to ascertain what elements survive from a still remoter stage of human development. Recourse to all such evidence beyond the range of the Veda itself must prove a safeguard against on the one hand assuming that various mythological elements are of purely Indian origin, or on the other hand treating the Indo-European period as the very starting point of all mythological notions. The latter view would be as far from the truth as the assumption that the Indo-European language represents the very beginnings of Aryan speech⁷.

Linked texts (2)

Ṛgvedasaṃhitā — Sanskrit
Avesta — Avestan

Vedic Mythology c3.s3: § 4. Method to be Pursued

§ 4. Method to be Pursued

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