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Vedic Mythology c5: III. The Vedic Gods

Vedic Mythology c5

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III. The Vedic Gods

c5.1

§ 10. General character and classification. — Indefiniteness of outline and lack of individuality characterize the Vedic conception of the gods. This is mainly due to the fact that they are nearer to the physical phenomena which they represent, than the gods of any other Indo-European people. Thus the ancient Vedic interpreter Yāska¹ (Nir. 7, 4) speaking of the nature of the gods, remarks that what is seen of them is not anthropomorphic at all, as in the case of the Sun, the Earth, and others. The natural bases of the Vedic gods have, to begin with, but few specific characteristics, while they share some of the attributes of other phenomena belonging to the same domain. Thus Dawn, Sun, Fire have the common features of being luminous, dispelling darkness, appearing in the morning. The absence of distinctiveness must be still greater when several deities have sprung from different aspects of one and the same phenomenon. Hence the character of each Vedic god is made up of only a few essential traits combined with a number of other features common to all the gods, such as brilliance, power, beneficence, and wisdom. Certain great cosmical functions are predicated of nearly every leading deity individually. The action of supporting or establishing heaven and earth is so generally attributed to them, that in the AV. (19, 32) it is even ascribed to a magical bunch of *darbha* grass. Nearly a dozen gods are described as having created the two worlds, and rather more are said to have produced the sun, to have placed it in the sky, or to have prepared a path for it. Four or five are also spoken of as having spread out the earth, the sky, or the two worlds. Several (Sūrya, Savitṛ, Pūṣan, Indra, Parjanya, and the Ādityas) are lords of all that moves and is stationary.

c5.2

Such common features tend to obscure what is essential, because in hymns of prayer and praise they naturally assume special prominence. Again, gods belonging to different departments, but having prominent functions in common, are apt to be approximated. Thus Agni, primarily the god of terrestrial fire, dispels the demons of darkness with his light, while Indra, the aerial god of the thunderstorm, slays them with his lightning. Into the conception of the fire-god further enters his aspect as lightning in the atmosphere. The assimilation is increased by such gods often being invoked in pairs.

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These combinations result in attributes peculiar to the one god attaching themselves to the other, even when the latter appears alone. Thus Agni comes to be called Soma-drinker, Vṛtra-slayer, winner of cows and waters, sun and dawns, attributes all primarily belonging to Indra.

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The indefiniteness of outline caused by the possession of so many common attributes, coupled with the tendency to wipe out the few distinctive ones by assigning nearly every power to every god, renders identification of one god with another easy. Such identifications are as a matter of fact frequent in the RV.¹ Thus a poet addressing the fire-god exclaims: ‘Thou at thy birth, O Agni, art Varuṇa; when kindled thou becomest Mitra, in thee, O son of strength, all gods are centred; thou art Indra to the worshipper’ (5, 3¹). Reflexions in particular on the nature of Agni, so important a god in the eyes of a priesthood devoted to a fire cult, on his many manifestations as individual fires on earth, and on his other aspects as atmospheric fire in lightning and as celestial fire in the sun, aspects which the Vedic poets are fond of alluding to in riddles, would suggest the idea that various deities are but different forms of a single divine being. This idea is found in more than one passage of the RV. ‘The one being priests speak of in many ways; they call it Agni, Yama, Mātariśvan’ (1, 164⁴⁶; cp. AV. 10, 8²⁸. 13, 4¹⁵). ‘Priests and poets with words make into many the bird (= the sun) that is but one’ (10, 114⁵). Thus it appears that by the end of the Rigvedic period a kind of polytheistic monotheism had been arrived at. We find there even the incipient pantheistic conception of a deity representing not only all the gods but nature as well. For the goddess Aditi is identified not only with all the gods, but with men, all that has been and shall be born, air, and heaven (1, 89¹⁰); and Prajāpati is not only the one god above all gods, but embraces all things (10, 121⁸·¹⁰). This pantheistic view becomes fully developed in the AV. (10, 7¹⁴·²⁵) and is explicitly accepted in the later Vedic literature².

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In the older parts of the RV. individual gods are often invoked as the highest, but this notion is not carried out to its logical conclusion. The fact that the Vedic poets frequently seem to be engrossed in the praise of the particular deity they happen to be invoking, that they exaggerate his attributes to the point of inconsistency, has given rise to the much discussed theory which MAX MÜLLER originated and to which he has given the name of Henotheism or Kathenotheism³. According to this theory, ‘the belief in individual gods alternately regarded as the highest’, the Vedic poets attribute to the god they happen to be addressing all the highest traits of divinity, treating him for the moment as if he were an absolutely independent and supreme deity, alone present to the mind. Against this theory it has been urged⁴ that Vedic deities are not represented ‘as independent of all the rest’, since no religion brings its gods into more frequent and varied juxtaposition and combination, and that even the mightiest gods of the Veda are made dependent on others. Thus Varuṇa and Sūrya are subordinate to Indra (1, 101³), Varuṇa and the Aśvins submit to the power of Viṣṇu (1, 156⁴), and Indra, Mitra-Varuṇa, Aryaman, Rudra cannot resist the ordinances of Savitṛ (2, 38⁹). It has been further pointed out that in the frequent hymns addressed to the *viśvedevāḥ*, or All-gods, all the deities, even the lesser ones, are praised in succession, and that as the great mass of the Vedic hymns was composed for the ritual of the Soma offering, which included the worship of almost the entire pantheon, the technical priest could not but know the exact relative position of each god in that ritual. Even when a god is spoken of as unique or chief (*eka*), as is natural enough in laudations, such statements lose their temporarily monotheistic force through the modifications or corrections supplied by the context or even by the same verse. Thus a poet says that 'Agni alone, like Varuṇa, is lord of wealth'. It should also be remembered that gods are constantly invoked in pairs, triads, and larger groups, even the exalted Varuṇa being mostly addressed in conjunction with one other god (as in 6, 67) or with several other gods (as in 2, 28). Henotheism is therefore an appearance rather than a reality, an appearance produced by the indefiniteness due to undeveloped anthropomorphism, by the lack of any Vedic god occupying the position of a Zeus as the constant head of the pantheon, by the natural tendency of the priest or singer in extolling a particular god to exaggerate his greatness and to ignore other gods, and by the growing belief in the unity of the gods (cf. the refrain of 3, 55), each of whom might be regarded as a type of the divine. Henotheism might, however, be justified as a term to express the tendency of the RV. towards a kind of monotheism.

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The Vedic gods, as has been shown, had a beginning in the view of the Vedic poets, since they are described as the offspring of heaven and earth or sometimes of other gods. This in itself implies different generations of gods, but earlier (*pūrve*) gods are also expressly referred to in several passages (7, 21⁷ &c.). An earlier or first age of the gods is also spoken of (10, 72²⁻³). The AV. (11, 8¹⁰) speaks of ten gods as having existed before the rest. The gods, too, were originally mortal⁵. This is expressly stated in the AV. (11, 5¹⁹; 4, 11⁶). The Brāhmaṇas state this both of all the gods (ŚB. 10, 4, 3³) and of the individual gods Indra (AB. 8, 14⁴), Agni (AB. 3, 4), and Prajāpati (ŚB. 10, 1, 3¹)⁶. That they were originally not immortal is implied in the RV. For immortality was bestowed on them by Savitṛ (4, 54² = VS. 33, 54) or by Agni (6, 7⁴; AV. 4, 23⁶). They are also said to have obtained it by drinking Soma (9, 106⁸ cp. 109²⁻³), which is called the principle of immortality (ŚB. 9, 5, 1⁸). In another passage of the RV. (10, 53¹⁰), they are said to have acquired immortality, but by what means is not clear. According to a later conception Indra is stated to have conquered heaven by *tapas* or austerity (10, 167¹). The gods are said to have attained divine rank by the same means (TB. 3, 12, 3¹), or to have overcome death by continence and austerity (AV. 11, 5¹⁹) and to have acquired immortality through Rohita (AV. 13, 17). Elsewhere the gods are stated to have overcome death by the performance of a certain ceremony (TS. 7, 4, 2¹). Indra and several other gods are said to be unaging (3, 46¹ &c.), but whether the immortality of the gods was regarded by the Vedic poets as absolute, there is no evidence to show. According to the post-Vedic view their immortality was only relative, being limited to a cosmic age.

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The physical appearance of the gods is anthropomorphic, though only in a shadowy manner; for it often represents only aspects of their natural bases figuratively described to illustrate their activities⁷. Thus head, face, mouth, cheeks, eyes, hair, shoulders, breast, belly, arms, hands, fingers, feet are attributed to various individual gods. Head, breast, arms, and hands are chiefly mentioned in connexion with the warlike equipment of Indra and the Maruts. The arms of the sun are simply his rays, and his eye is intended to represent his physical aspect. The tongue and limbs of Agni merely denote his flames. The fingers of Trita are referred to only in order to illustrate his character as a preparer of Soma, and the belly of Indra only to emphasize his powers of drinking Soma⁸. Two or three gods are spoken of as having or assuming all forms (*viśvarūpa*). It is easy to understand that in the case of deities whose outward shape was so vaguely conceived in the RV. where they are spoken of as great and small, young and old (1, 27¹³). It is probable that this statement represents the settled view of the Vedic poets as to gradation of rank among the gods (cp. pp. 14. 17). It is only a seeming contradiction when in one passage (8, 30¹) it is said with reference to the gods, 'none of you is small or young; you are all great'; for a poet addressing the gods directly on this point could hardly have expressed himself differently.

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It is certain that two gods tower above the rest as leading deities about equal in power, Indra as the mighty warrior and Varuṇa as the supreme moral ruler. The older form of Varuṇa became, owing to the predominance of his ethical qualities, the supreme god of Zoroastrianism as Ahura Mazda, while in India Indra developed into the warrior god of the conquering Aryans. Varuṇa appears as preëminent only when the supreme laws of the physical and moral world are contemplated, and cannot be called a popular god. It has been held by various scholars that Varuṇa and the Ādityas were the highest gods of an older period, but were later displaced by Indra (p. 28). There is at any rate no evidence to show that Indra even in the oldest Rigvedic period occupied a subordinate position. It is true that Ahura Mazda is the highest god and Indra only a demon in the Avesta. But even if Indra originally possessed coördinate power with Varuṇa in the Indo-Iranian period, he was necessarily relegated to the background when the reform of the Avestan religion made Ahura Mazda supreme²⁰ (cp. p. 28). Next to Indra and Varuṇa come the two great ritual deities Agni and Soma. These two along with Indra are, judged by the frequency of the hymns addressed to them, the three most popular deities of the RV. For, roughly speaking, three-fifths of its hymns are dedicated to their praise.

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The fact that the hymns to Agni and Indra always come first in the family books, while the great majority of the hymns to Soma have a whole book, the ninth, to themselves, confirms this conclusion²¹. Following the number of the hymns dedicated to each of the remaining deities, combined with the frequency with which their names are mentioned in the RV., five classes of gods may be distinguished: 1) Indra, Agni, Soma; 2) Aśvins, Maruts, Varuṇa; 3) Uṣas, Savitṛ, Bṛhaspati, Sūrya, Pūṣan; 4) Vāyu, Dyāvā-pṛthivī, Viṣṇu, Rudra; 5) Yama, Parjanya²². The statistical standard can of course be only a partial guide. For Varuṇa is celebrated (mostly together with Mitra) in only about thirty hymns, his name being mentioned altogether about 250 times, while the Aśvins can claim over 50 hymns and are named over 400 times. Yet they cannot be said to approach Varuṇa in greatness. Their relative prominence is doubtless owing to their closer connexion with the sacrifice as deities of morning light. Again, the importance of the Maruts is due to their association with Indra. Similar considerations would have to enter into an estimate of the relative greatness of other deities in the list. Such an estimate involves considerable difficulties and doubts. A classification according to gradations of rank would therefore not afford a satisfactory basis for an account of the Vedic gods.

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Another but still less satisfactory classification, might take as its basis the relative age of the mythological conception, according as it dates from the period of separate national Indian existence, from the Indo-Iranian, or the Indo-European epoch. Thus Bṛhaspati, Rudra, Viṣṇu may be considered the creations of purely Indian mythology; at least there is no adequate evidence to show that they go back to an earlier age. It has already been indicated (§ 5) that a number of mythological figures date from the Indo-Iranian period. But as to whether any of the Vedic gods besides Dyaus may be traced back to the Indo-European period, considerable doubt is justified.

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A classification according to the age of the mythological creation would therefore rest on too uncertain a foundation.

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The stage of personification which the various deities represent, might furnish a possible basis of classification. But the task of drawing a clear line of demarcation would involve too many difficulties.

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On the whole, the classification of the Vedic deities least open to objection, is that founded on the natural bases which they represent. For though in some cases there may be a doubt as to what the physical substrate really is, and a risk is therefore involved of describing a particular deity in the wrong place, this method offers the advantage of bringing together deities of cognate character and thus facilitating comparison. It has therefore been adopted in the following pages. The various phenomena have been grouped according to the triple division suggested by the RV. itself and adhered to by its oldest commentator.¹

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¹ OST. 5, 219; BRI. 26; BDA. 12—14; ORV. 100. — 2 HRI. 138—40. — 3 MM., ASL. 526. 532. 546; Chips 1, 28; OGR. 266. 285. 298 f. 312 ff.; Science of Religion 52; PhR. 180 ff.; OST. 5. 6 f. 12 f. 125; OO. 3, 449; BÜHLER, OO. 1, 227; LRV. 3, XXVII f.; KRV. 33; note 113; ZIMMER, ZDA. 19(7), 175; HILLEBRANDT, Varuṇa und Mitra, 105; BRI. 26. — 4 WHITNEY, PAOS., Oct. 1881; ORV. 101; HOPKINS, Henotheism in the Rigveda, in Classical studies in honour of H. Drisler (New York 1894), 75—83; HRI. 139 &c. — 5 SVL. 134; cp. ZDMG. 32, 300. — 6 MUIR, JRAS. 20, 41—5; OST. 4, 54—8; 5, 14—17; cp. AV. 3, 22³; 4, 14¹; ŚB. 1, 7, 3¹; AB. 6, 20⁸; TS. 1, 7, 13; 6, 5, 3¹; HRI. 187. — 7 NIRUKTA 7, 6. 7. — 8 WC. 9. — 9 ORV. 347. 353. 355. 357—8. — 10 ORV. 93. — 11 OST. 5, 18. — 12 ORV. 238. — 13 BRV. 3, 203—4. — 14 BRV. 3, 199. — 15 ORV. 282. — 16 OST. 5, 18—20; ORV. 97—101; 281—7. 293—301. — 17 KĀTYĀYANA, Sarvānukramaṇī, Introd. § 2, 8; Sāyaṇa on RV. 1, 139¹¹. — 18 ‘Indra and Vāyu are closely allied’ (TS. 6, 6, 8 ³). Cp. HRI. 89. — 19 Agni, Vāyu, Sūrya are sons of Prajāpati (MS. 4, 2¹²). — 20 ORV. 94—8. — 21 HRI. 90. — 22 These classes and the statistics fournished below in the account given of the single gods, are based on data derived from LRV., GW., GRV. (2, 421—3), and AUFRECHT’S RV. II², 668—71.

A. The Celestial Gods

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§ 11. Dyaus.—By far the most frequent use of the word *dyaus* is as a designation of the concrete ‘sky’, in which sense it occurs at least 500 times in the RV. It also means ‘day’¹ about 50 times. When personified as the god of heaven, Dyaus is generally coupled with Earth in the dual compound *dyāvāpṛthivī*, the universal parents. No single hymn of the RV. is addressed to Dyaus alone. When he is mentioned separately the personification is limited almost entirely to the idea of paternity. The name then nearly always appears in the nominative or genitive case. The latter case, occurring about 50 times, is more frequent than all the other cases together. The genitive is regularly connected with the name of some other deity who is called the son or daughter of Dyaus. In about three-fourths of these instances Uṣas is his daughter, while in the remainder the Aśvins are his offspring (*napātā*), Agni is his son (*sūnu*) or child (*śiśu*), Parjanya, Sūrya, the Ādityas, the Maruts, and the Aṅgirases are his sons (*putra*). Out of its thirty occurrences in the nominative the name appears only eight times alone, being otherwise generally associated with Pṛthivī or mentioned with various deities mostly including Pṛthivī. In these eight passages he is three times styled a father (1, 90⁷. 164³³; 4, 1¹⁰), once the father of Indra (4, 72³), once he is spoken of as rich in seed (*suretāḥ*) and as having generated Agni (4, 17⁴);

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in the remaining three he is a bull (5, 36⁵) or a red bull that bellows downwards (5, 58⁶), and is said to have approved when Vṛtra was slain (6, 72³). In the dative the name is found eight times. In these passages in the RV. where they are spoken of as great and small, young and old (1, 27¹³). It is probable that this statement represents the settled view of the Vedic poets as to gradation of rank among the gods (cp. pp. 14. 17). It is only a seeming contradiction when in one passage (8, 30¹) it is said with reference to the gods, 'none of you is small or young; you are all great'; for a poet addressing the gods directly on this point could hardly have expressed himself differently. [It is certain that two gods tower above the rest as leading deities about equal in power, Indra as the mighty warrior and Varuṇa as the supreme moral ruler.] The older form of Varuṇa became, owing to the predominance of his ethical qualities, the supreme god of Zoroastrianism as Ahura Mazda, while in India Indra developed into the warrior god of the conquering Aryans. Varuṇa appears as preëminent only when the supreme laws of the physical and moral world are contemplated, and cannot be called a popular god. It has been held by various scholars that Varuṇa and the Ādityas were the highest gods of an older period, but were later displaced by Indra (p. 28). There is at any rate no evidence to show that Indra even in the oldest Rigvedic period occupied a subordinate position.

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It is true that Ahura Mazda is the highest god and Indra only a demon in the Avesta. But even if Indra originally possessed coördinate power with Varuṇa in the Indo-Iranian period, he was necessarily relegated to the background when the reform of the Avestan religion made Ahura Mazda supreme²⁰ (cp. p. 28). [Next to Indra and Varuṇa come the two great ritual deities Agni and Soma.] These two along with Indra are, judged by the frequency of the hymns addressed to them, the three most popular deities of the RV. For, roughly speaking, three-fifths of its hymns are dedicated to their praise. The fact that the hymns to Agni and Indra always come first in the family books, while the great majority of the hymns to Soma have a whole book, the ninth, to themselves, confirms this conclusion²¹. Following the number of the hymns dedicated to each of the remaining deities, combined with the frequency with which their names are mentioned in the RV., five classes of gods may be distinguished: 1) Indra, Agni, Soma; 2) Aśvins, Maruts, Varuṇa; 3) Uṣas, Savitṛ, Bṛhaspati, Sūrya, Pūṣan; 4) Vāyu, Dyāvā-pṛthivī, Viṣṇu, Rudra; 5) Yama, Parjanya²². The statistical standard can of course be only a partial guide. For Varuṇa is celebrated (mostly together with Mitra) in only about thirty hymns, his name being mentioned altogether about 250 times, while the Aśvins can claim over 50 hymns and are named over 400 times. Yet they cannot be said to approach Varuṇa in greatness.

c5.s1.1.4

Their relative prominence is doubtless owing to their closer connexion with the sacrifice as deities of morning light. Again, the importance of the Maruts is due to their association with Indra. Similar considerations would have to enter into an estimate of the relative greatness of other deities in the list. Such an estimate involves considerable difficulties and doubts. A classification according to gradations of rank would therefore not afford a satisfactory basis for an account of the Vedic gods.

c5.s1.2

Another but still less satisfactory classification, might take as its basis the relative age of the mythological conception, according as it dates from the period of separate national Indian existence, from the Indo-Iranian, or the Indo-European epoch. Thus Bṛhaspati, Rudra, Viṣṇu may be considered the creations of purely Indian mythology; at least there is no adequate evidence to show that they go back to an earlier age. It has already been indicated (§ 5) that a number of mythological figures date from the Indo-Iranian period. But as to whether any of the Vedic gods besides Dyaus may be traced back to the Indo-European period, considerable doubt is justified.

c5.s1.3

A classification according to the age of the mythological creation would therefore rest on too uncertain a foundation.

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The stage of personification which the various deities represent, might furnish a possible basis of classification. But the task of drawing a clear line of demarcation would involve too many difficulties.

c5.s1.5

On the whole, the classification of the Vedic deities least open to objection, is that founded on the natural bases which they represent. For though in some cases there may be a doubt as to what the physical substrate really is, and a risk is therefore involved of describing a particular deity in the wrong place, this method offers the advantage of bringing together deities of cognate character and thus facilitating comparison. It has therefore been adopted in the following pages. The various phenomena have been grouped according to the triple division suggested by the RV. itself and adhered to by its oldest commentator.

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¹ OST. 5, 219; BRI. 26; BDA. 12—14; ORV. 100. —

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² HRI. 138—40. —

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³ MM., ASL. 526. 532. 546; Chips 1, 28; OGR. 266. 285. 298 f. 312 ff.; Science of Religion 52; PhR. 180 ff.; OST. 5, 6 f. 12 f. 125; OO. 3, 449; BÜHLER, OO. 1, 227; LRV. 3, XXVII f.; KRV. 33; note 113; ZIMMER, ZDA. 19(7), 175; HILLEBRANDT, Varuṇa und Mitra, 105; BRI. 26. —

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⁴ WHITNEY, PAOS., Oct. 1881; ORV. 101; HOPKINS, Henotheism in the Rigveda, in Classical studies in honour of H. Drisler (New York 1894), 75—83; HRI. 139 &c. —

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⁵ SVL. 134; cp. ZDMG. 32, 300. —

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⁶ MUIR, JRAS. 20, 41—5; OST. 4, 54—8; 5, 14—17; cp. AV. 3, 22³; 4, 14¹; ŚB. 1, 7, 3¹; AB. 6, 20⁸; TS. 1, 7, 13; 6, 5, 3¹; HRI. 187. —

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⁷ NIRUKTA 7, 6. 7. —

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⁸ WC. 9. —

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⁹ ORV. 347. 353. 355. 357—8. —

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¹⁰ ORV. 93. —

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¹¹ OST. 5, 18. —

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¹² ORV. 238. —

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¹³ BRV. 3, 203—4. —

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¹⁴ BRV. 3, 199. —

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¹⁵ ORV. 282. —

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¹⁶ OST. 5, 18—20; ORV. 97—101; 281—7. 293—301. —

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¹⁷ KĀTYĀYANA, Sarvānukramaṇī, Introd. § 2, 8; Sāyaṇa on RV. 1, 139¹¹. —

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¹⁸ 'Indra and Vāyu are closely allied' (TS. 6, 6, 83). Cp. HRI. 89. —

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¹⁹ Agni, Vāyu, Sūrya are sons of Prajāpati (MS. 4, 2¹²). —

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²⁰ ORV. 94—8. —

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²¹ HRI. 90. —

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²² These classes and the statistics fournished below in the account given of the single gods, are based on data derived from LRV., GW., GRV. (2, 421—3), and AUFRECHT's RV. II², 668—71.

§ 11. Dyaus

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—By far the most frequent use of the word *dyaus* is as a designation of the concrete 'sky', in which sense it occurs at least 500 times in the RV. It also means 'day'¹ about 50 times. When personified as the god of heaven, Dyaus is generally coupled with Earth in the dual compound *dyāvāpṛthivī*, the universal parents. No single hymn of the RV. is addressed to Dyaus alone. When he is mentioned separately the personification is limited almost entirely to the idea of paternity. The name then nearly always appears in the nominative or genitive case. The latter case, occurring about 50 times, is more frequent than all the other cases together. The genitive is regularly connected with the name of some other deity who is called the son or daughter of Dyaus. In about three-fourths of these instances Uṣas is his daughter, while in the remainder the Aśvins are his offspring (*napātā*), Agni is his son (*sūnu*) or child (*śiśu*), Parjanya, Sūrya, the Ādityas, the Maruts, and the Aṅgirases are his sons (*putra*). Out of its thirty occurrences in the nominative the name appears only eight times alone, being otherwise generally associated with Pṛthivī or mentioned with various deities mostly including Pṛthivī. In these eight passages he is three times styled a father (1, 90⁷. 164³³; 4, 1¹⁰), once the father of Indra (4, 72³), once he is spoken of as rich in seed (*suretāḥ*) and as having generated Agni (4, 17⁴);

c5.s1.t1.1.2

in the remaining three he is a bull (5, 36⁵) or a red bull that bellows downwards (5, 58⁶), and is said to have approved when Vṛtra was slain (6, 72³). In the dative the name is found eight times. In these passages he is mentioned only three times quite alone, once being called the 'great father' (1, 71⁵), once 'lofty' (1, 54³), and once the 'lofty abode' (5, 47⁷). In two of the four occurrences in the accusative Dyaus is mentioned with Pṛthivī, once alone and without any distinctive statement (1, 174³), and once (1, 31⁴) Agni is said to have made him roar for man. Thus it appears that Dyaus is seldom mentioned independently and in only one-sixth of over ninety passages is his paternity not expressly stated or implied by association with Pṛthivī. The only essential feature of the personification in the RV. is in fact his paternity. In a few passages Dyaus is called a bull (1, 160³; 5, 36⁵) that bellows (5, 58⁶). Here we have a touch of theriomorphism inasmuch as he is conceived as a roaring animal that fertilizes the earth. Dyaus is once compared with a black steed decked with pearls (10, 68¹¹), an obvious allusion to the nocturnal sky. The statement that Dyaus is furnished with a bolt (*aśanimat*) looks like a touch of anthropomorphism. He is also spoken of as smiling through the clouds (2, 4⁶), the allusion being doubtless to the lightening sky².

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Such passages are, however, quite isolated, the conception of Dyaus being practically free from theriomorphism and anthropomorphism, excepting the notion of paternity. As a father he is most usually thought of in combination with Earth as a mother³. This is indicated by the fact that his name forms a dual compound with that of Pṛthivī oftener than it is used alone in the singular (§ 44), that in a large proportion of its occurrences in the singular it is accompanied by the name of Pṛthivī, and that when regarded separately he is not sufficiently individualized to have a hymn dedicated to his praise, though in conjunction with Pṛthivī he is celebrated in six. Like nearly all the greater gods⁴ Dyaus is sometimes called *asura*⁵ (1, 122¹· 131¹; 8, 20¹⁷) and he is once (6, 51⁵) invoked in the vocative as 'Father Heaven' (*dyauṣ pitar*) along with 'Mother Earth' (*pṛthivi mātar*). In about 20 passages the word *dyaus* is feminine, sometimes even when personified⁶. Dyaus, as has been pointed out (§ 6) goes back to the Indo-European period. There is no reason to assume that the personification in that period was of a more advanced type and that the RV. has in this case relapsed to a more primitive stage. On the contrary there is every ground for supposing the reverse to be the case. Whatever higher gods may have existed in that remote age must have been of a considerably more rudimentary type and can hardly in any instance have been conceived apart from deified natural objects⁷.

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As the Universal Father who with Mother Earth embraced all other deified objects and phenomena, he would have been the greatest among the deities of a chaotic polytheism. But to speak of him as the supreme god of the Indo-European age is misleading, because this suggests a ruler of the type of Zeus and an incipient monotheism for an extremely remote period, though neither of these conceptions had been arrived at in the earlier Rigvedic times.

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¹ v. Schröder, WZKM. 8, 126—7. —

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² PVS. 1, 111; SBE. 46, 205. —

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³ HRI. 171. —

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⁴ BDA. 119—23. —

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⁵ BDA. 86. —

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⁶ BDA. 114; cf. GW. s. v. *div*; Osthoff, IF. 5, 286, n. —

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⁷ BDA. 111. —

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The word is derived from the root *div*, to shine, thus meaning 'the bright one' and being allied to *deva*, god⁸.

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⁸ Cp. KZ. 27, 187; BB. 15, 17; IF. 3, 301. OST. 5, 21—3; OGR. 209; LRV. 3, 312—3; BRV. 1, 4—5; Sp.AP. 160; JAOS. 16, cxlv.

§ 12. Varuṇa

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—Varuṇa, as has been shown (p. 20), is by the side of Indra, the greatest of the gods of the RV. The number of hymns dedicated to his praise is not a sufficient criterion of his exalted character. Hardly a dozen hymns celebrate him exclusively. Judged by the statistical standard he would rank only as a third class deity; and even if the two dozen hymns in which he is invoked along with his double Mitra are taken into account, he would only come fifth in order of priority, ranking considerably below the Aśvins and about on an equality with the Maruts (cp. p. 20).

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The anthropomorphism of Varuṇa's personality is more fully developed on the moral than the physical side. The descriptions of his person and his equipment are scanty, more stress being laid on his activity. He has a face, an eye, arms, hands, and feet. He moves his arms, walks, drives, sits, eats and drinks. The poet regards the face (*anīkam*) of Varuṇa as that of Agni (7, 88² cp. 87⁶). The eye of Mitra and Varuṇa is the sun (1, 115¹; 6, 51¹; 7, 61¹. 63¹; 10, 37¹). The fact that this is always mentioned in the first verse of a hymn, suggests that it is one of the first ideas that occur when Mitra and Varuṇa are thought of. The eye with which Varuṇa is said in a hymn to Sūrya (1, 50⁶) to observe mankind, is undoubtedly the sun. Together with Aryaman, Mitra and Varuṇa are called sun-eyed (7, 66¹⁰), a term applied to other gods also. Varuṇa is far-sighted (1, 25⁵. ¹⁶; 8, 90²) and thousand-eyed (7, 34¹⁰). Mitra and Varuṇa stretch out their arms (5, 64²; 7, 62⁵) and they drive with the rays of the sun as with arms (8, 90²). Like Savitṛ and Tvaṣṭṛ they are beautiful-handed (*supāṇī*). Mitra and Varuṇa hasten up with their feet (5, 64⁷), and Varuṇa treads down wiles with shining foot (8, 41⁸). He sits on the strewn grass at the sacrifice (1, 26⁴; 5, 72²), and like other gods he and Mitra drink Soma (4, 41³ &c.). Varuṇa wears a golden mantle (*drāpi*) and puts on a shining robe (1, 25¹³). But the shining robe of ghee with which he and Mitra are clothed (5, 62⁴; 7, 64¹) is only a figurative allusion to the sacrificial offering of melted butter. The glistening garments which they wear (1, 152¹) probably mean the same thing. In the ŚB. (13, 3, 6⁵) Varuṇa is represented as a fair, bald, yellow-eyed old man¹. The only part of Varuṇa's equipment which is at all prominent is his car. It is described as shining like the sun (1, 122¹⁵), as having thongs for a pole (ibid.), a car-seat and a whip (5, 62⁷), and as drawn by well-yoked steeds (5, 62⁴). Mitra and Varuṇa mount their car in the highest heaven (5, 63¹). The poet prays that he may see Varuṇa's car on the earth (1, 25¹⁸).

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Mitra and Varuṇa's abode is golden and situated in heaven (5, 67²; 1, 136²) and Varuṇa sits in his mansions (*pastyāsu*) looking on all deeds (1, 25¹⁰. ¹¹). His and Mitra's seat (*sadas*) is great, very lofty, firm with a thousand columns (5, 68⁵; 2, 41⁵) and their house has a thousand doors (7, 88⁵). The all-seeing sun rising from his abode, goes to the dwellings of Mitra and Varuṇa to report the deeds of men (7, 60¹⁻³), and enters their dear dwelling (1, 152⁴). It is in the highest heaven that the Fathers behold Varuṇa (10, 14⁸). According to the ŚB. (11, 6, 1) Varuṇa, conceived as the lord of the Universe, is seated in the midst of heaven, from which he surveys the places of punishment situated all around him¹.

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The spies (*spaśaḥ*) of Varuṇa are sometimes mentioned. They sit down around him (1, 24¹³). They behold the two worlds; acquainted with sacrifice they stimulate prayer (7, 87³). Mitra's and Varuṇa's spies whom they send separately into houses (7, 61³), are undeceived and wise (6, 67⁵). In the AV. (4, 16⁴) it is said that Varuṇa's messengers descending from heaven, traverse the world; thousand-eyed they look across the whole world. The natural basis of these spies is usually assumed to be the stars; but the RV. yields no evidence in support of this view. The stars are there never said to watch, nor are the spies connected with night. The conception may very well have been suggested by the spies with whom a strict ruler on earth is surrounded². Nor are spies peculiar to Varuṇa and Mitra, for they are also attributed to Agni (4, 4³), to Soma (9, 73⁴⁻⁷. here perhaps suggested by the previous mention of Varuṇa), to demons combated by Indra (1, 33⁸), and to the gods in general (10, 10⁸). In one passage the Ādityas are said to look down like spies from a height (8, 47¹¹). That these spies were primarily connected with Mitra and Varuṇa is to be inferred from the fact that the Iranian Mithra also has spies, who are, moreover, called by the same name (*spaś*) as in the Veda³. The golden-winged messenger (*dūta*) of Varuṇa once mentioned in the RV. (10, 123⁶), is doubtless the sun.

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Varuṇa alone, or conjointly with Mitra, is often called a king (*rājā*), like the other leading deities and Yama (1, 24⁷·⁸ &c.)⁴. He is king of all, both gods and men (10, 132⁴; 2, 27¹⁰), of the whole world (5, 85³), and of all that exists (7, 87⁶). Varuṇa is also a self-dependent ruler (2, 28¹), a term generally applied to Indra. Much more frequently Varuṇa, alone or mostly in association with Mitra, is called a universal monarch (*samrāj*). This term is also applied to Agni a few times and oftener to Indra. Counting the passages in which Varuṇa and Mitra together are so called, it is connected with Varuṇa nearly twice as often as with Indra. Considering that for every eight or ten hymns celebrating Indra only one is dedicated to Varuṇa in the RV., the epithet may be considered peculiarly appropriate to Varuṇa.

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The attribute of sovereignty (*kṣatra*) is in a predominant manner appropriated to Varuṇa, generally with Mitra and twice with Aryaman also. Otherwise it is applied only once respectively to Agni, Bṛhaspati, and the Aśvins. Similarly the term ‘ruler’ (*kṣatriya*) in four of its five occurrences refers to Varuṇa or the Ādityas and once only to the gods in general. The epithet *asura* (§ 67) is connected with Varuṇa, alone or accompanied by Mitra, oftener than with Indra and Agni; and, taking account of the proportion of hymns, it may be said to be specially applicable to Varuṇa⁵. Mitra and Varuṇa are also called the mysterious and noble lords (*asurā aryā*) among the gods (7, 65²).

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The divine dominion of Varuṇa and Mitra is often referred to with the word *māyā*⁶. This term signifies occult power, applicable in a good sense to gods or in a bad sense to demons. It has an almost exact parallel in the English word ‘craft’, which in its old signification meant ‘occult power, magic’, then ‘skilfulness, art’ on the one hand and ‘deceitful skill, wile’ on the other. The good sense of *māyā*, like that of *asura* (which might be rendered by ‘mysterious being’) is mainly connected with Varuṇa and Mitra, while its bad sense is reserved for demons. By occult power Varuṇa standing in the air measures out the earth with the sun as with a measure (5, 85⁵), Varuṇa and Mitra send the dawns (3, 61⁷), make the sun to cross the sky and obscure it with cloud and rain, while the honied drops fall (5, 63⁴); or (ibid. ³·⁷) they cause heaven to rain and they uphold the ordinances by the occult power of the Asura (here = Dyaus or Parjanya)⁷. And so the epithet *māyin*, ‘crafty’, is chiefly applied to Varuṇa among the gods (6, 48¹⁴; 7, 28⁴; 10, 99¹⁰. 147⁵).

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In marked contrast with Indra, Varuṇa has no myths related of him, while much is said about him (and Mitra) as upholder of physical and moral order. Varuṇa is a great lord of the laws of nature. He established heaven and earth and dwells in all the worlds (8, 42¹). The three heavens and the three earths are deposited within him (7, 87⁵). He and Mitra rule over the whole world (5, 63⁷) or encompass the two worlds (7, 61⁴). They are the guardians of the whole world (2, 27⁴ &c.). By the law of Varuṇa heaven and earth are held apart (6, 70¹; 7, 86¹; 8, 41¹⁰). With Mitra he supports earth and heaven (5, 62³), or heaven, earth, and air (5, 69¹·⁴). He made the golden swing (the sun) to shine in heaven (7, 87⁵). He placed fire in the waters, the sun in the sky, Soma on the rock (5, 85²). He has made a wide path for the sun (1, 24⁸; 7, 87¹). Varuṇa, Mitra, and Aryaman open paths for the sun (7, 60⁴). The order (*ṛta*) of Mitra and Varuṇa is established where the steeds of the sun are loosed (5, 62¹). The wind which resounds through the air is Varuṇa's breath (7, 87²).

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By Varuṇa's ordinances (*vratāni*) the moon shining brightly moves at night, and the stars placed up on high are seen at night but disappear by day (1, 24¹⁰). In another passage (8, 41³) it is said that Varuṇa has embraced (*pari ṣaṣvaje*) the nights, and by his occult power has established the mornings or days (*usraḥ*). This can hardly indicate a closer connexion with night than that he regulates or divides night and day (cp. 7, 66¹¹). In fact it is the sun that is usually mentioned with him, and not the moon or night. Thus in the oldest Veda Varuṇa is the lord of light both by day and by night, while Mitra, as far as can be judged, appears as the god of the celestial light of day only.

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In the later Vedic period of the Brāhmaṇas Varuṇa comes to be specially connected with the nocturnal heaven⁸. Thus Mitra is said to have produced the day and Varuṇa the night (TS. 6, 4, 8³); and the day is said to belong to Mitra and the night to Varuṇa (TS. 2, 1, 7⁴)⁹. This view may have arisen from a desire to contrast Mitra, who was still felt to be related to the sun, with Varuṇa whose natural basis was more obscure. The antithesis between the two is differently expressed by the ŚB. (12, 9, 2¹²), which asserts that this world is Mitra, that (the celestial) world is Varuṇa.

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Varuṇa is sometimes referred to as regulating the seasons. He knows the twelve months (1, 25⁸)¹⁰; and the kings Mitra, Varuṇa, and Aryaman are said to have disposed the autumn, the month, day and night (7, 66¹¹).

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Even in the RV. Varuṇa is often spoken of as a regulator of the waters. He caused the rivers to flow; they stream unceasingly according to his ordinance (2, 28⁴). By his occult power the rivers swiftly pouring into the ocean do not fill it with water (5, 85⁶). Varuṇa and Mitra are lords of rivers (7, 64²). Varuṇa is already found connected with the sea in the RV., but very rarely, perhaps owing to its unimportance in that collection. Varuṇa going in the oceanic waters is contrasted with the Maruts in the sky, Agni on earth, and Vāta in air (1, 161¹⁴)¹¹. The statement that the seven rivers flow into the jaws of Varuṇa as into a surging abyss (8, 58¹²), may refer to the ocean¹². Varuṇa is said to descend into the sea (*sindhum*) like Dyaus (7, 87⁶)¹³. It is rather the aerial waters that he is ordinarily connected with. Varuṇa ascends to heaven as a hidden ocean (8, 41⁸). Beholding the truth and falsehood of men, he moves in the midst of the waters which drop sweetness and are clear (7, 49³). Varuṇa clothes himself in the waters (9, 90² cp. 8, 69¹¹. ¹²). He and Mitra are among the gods most frequently thought of and prayed to as bestowers of rain. Varuṇa makes the inverted cask (of the cloud) to pour its waters on heaven, earth, and air, and to moisten the ground, the mountains then being enveloped in cloud (5, 85³˙ ⁴). Mitra and Varuṇa have kine yielding refreshment and streams flowing with honey (5, 69²). They have rainy skies and streaming waters (5, 68⁵). They bedew the pasturage with ghee (= rain) and the spaces with honey (3, 62¹⁶). They send rain and refreshment from the sky (7, 64²). Rain abounding in heavenly water comes from them (8, 25⁶). Indeed, one entire hymn (5, 63) dwells on their powers of bestowing rain. It is probably owing to his connexion with the waters and rain, that in the fifth chapter of the Naighaṇṭuka Varuṇa is enumerated among the deities of the atmospheric as well as those of the celestial world. In the Brāhmaṇas Mitra and Varuṇa are also gods of rain¹⁴. In the AV. Varuṇa appears divested of his powers as a universal ruler, retaining only the control of the department of waters. He is connected with the waters as Soma with the mountains (AV. 3, 3³). As a divine father he sheds rain-waters (AV. 4, 15¹²). His golden house is in the waters (AV. 7, 83¹). He is the overlord of waters, he and Mitra are lords of rain (AV. 5, 24⁴· ⁵). In the YV. he is spoken of as the child (*śiśu*) of waters, making his abode within the most motherly waters (VS. 10, 7). The waters are wives of Varuṇa (TS. 5, 5, 4¹). Mitra and Varuṇa are the leaders of waters (TS. 6, 4, 3²).

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Varuṇa's ordinances are constantly said to be fixed, the epithet *dhṛtavrata* being preëminently applicable to him, sometimes conjointly with Mitra. The gods themselves follow Varuṇa's ordinances (8, 41⁷) or those of Varuṇa, Mitra, and Savitṛ (10, 36¹³). Even the immortal gods cannot obstruct the fixed ordinances of Mitra and Varuṇa (5, 69⁴ cp. 5, 63⁷). Mitra and Varuṇa are lords of order (*ṛta*) and light, who by means of order are the upholders of order (1, 23⁵). The latter epithet is mostly applied either to them and sometimes the Ādityas or to the gods in general. They are cherishers of order or right (1, 2⁸). Varuṇa or the Ādityas are sometimes called guardians of order (*ṛtasya gopā*), but this term is also applied to Agni and Soma. The epithet 'observer of order' (*ṛtāvan*), predominantly used of Agni, is also several times connected with Varuṇa and Mitra.

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Varuṇa's power is so great that neither the birds as they fly nor the rivers as they flow, can reach the limit of his dominion, his might, and his wrath (1, 24⁶). Neither the skies nor the rivers have reached (the limit of) the godhead of Mitra and Varuṇa (1, 151⁹). He embraces the All and the abodes of all beings (8, 41¹· ⁷). The three heavens and the three earths are deposited in him (7, 87⁵). Varuṇa is omniscient. He knows the flight of birds in the sky, the path of ships in the ocean, the course of the far-travelling wind, and beholds all the secret things that have been or shall be done (1, 25⁷⁻ ⁹· ¹¹). He witnesses men's truth and falsehood (7, 49³). No creature can even wink without him (2, 28⁶). The winkings of men's eyes are all numbered by Varuṇa, and whatever man does, thinks, or devises, Varuṇa knows (AV. 4, 16²· ⁵). He perceives all that exists within heaven and earth, and all that is beyond: a man could not escape from Varuṇa by fleeing far beyond the sky (AV. 4, 16⁴· ⁵). That Varuṇa's omniscience is typical is indicated by the fact that Agni is compared with him in this respect (10, 11¹).

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As a moral governor Varuṇa stands far above any other deity. His wrath is roused by sin, the infringement of his ordinances, which he severely punishes (7, 86³· ⁴). The fetters (*pāśāḥ*) with which he binds sinners, are often mentioned (1, 24¹⁵. 25²¹; 6, 74⁴; 10, 85²⁴). They are cast sevenfold and threefold, ensnaring the man who tells lies, passing by him who speaks truth (AV. 4, 16⁶). Mitra and Varuṇa are barriers, furnished with many fetters, against falsehood (7, 65³). Once Varuṇa, coupled with Indra, is said to tie with bonds not formed of rope (7, 84²). The term *pāśa* is only once used in connexion with another god, Agni, who is implored to loosen the fetters of his worshippers (5, 2⁷). It is therefore distinctive of Varuṇa. According to Bergaigne the conception of Varuṇa's fetters is based on the tying up of the waters, according to Hillebrandt on the fetters of night¹⁵. But is seems to be sufficiently accounted for by the figurative application of the fetters of criminals to moral guilt. Together with Mitra, Varuṇa is said to be a dispeller, hater, and punisher of falsehood (1, 152¹; 7, 60⁵. 66¹³). They afflict with disease¹⁶ those who neglect their worship (1, 122⁹). On the other hand, Varuṇa is gracious to the penitent. He unties like a rope and removes sin (2, 28⁵; 5, 85⁷˙⁸). He releases not only from the sins which men themselves commit, but from those committed by their fathers (7, 86⁵). He spares the suppliant who daily transgresses his laws (1, 25¹) and is gracious to those who have broken his laws by thoughtlessness (7, 89⁵). There is in fact no hymn to Varuṇa (and the Ādityas) in which the prayer for forgiveness of guilt does not occur, as in the hymns to other deities the prayer for worldly goods.

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Varuṇa has a hundred, a thousand remedies, and drives away death as well as releases from sin (1, 24⁹). He can take away or prolong life (1, 24¹¹. 25¹²; 7, 88⁴. 89¹). He is a wise guardian of immortality (8, 42²), and the righteous hope to see in the next world Varuṇa and Yama, the two kings who reign in bliss (10, 14⁷).

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Varuṇa is on a footing of friendship with his worshipper (7, 88⁴⁻⁶), who communes with him in his celestial abode and sometimes sees him with the mental eye (1, 25¹⁸; 7, 88²).

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What conclusions as to the natural basis of Varuṇa can be drawn from the Vedic evidence which has been adduced? It is clear from this evidence, in combination with what is said below about Mitra (§ 13), that Varuṇa and Mitra are closely connected with the sun, but that the former is the much more important deity. Mitra has in fact been so closely assimilated to the greater god that he has hardly an independent trait left. Mitra must have lost his individuality through the predominant characteristics of the god with whom he is almost invariably associated. Now, chiefly on the evidence of the Avesta, Mitra has been almost unanimously acknowledged to be a solar deity (§ 13). Varuṇa must therefore have originally represented a different phenomenon. This according to the generally received opinion, is the encompassing sky. The vault of heaven presents a phenomenon far more vast to the eye of the observer than the sun, which occupies but an extremely small portion of that expanse during its daily course. The sky would therefore appear to the imagination as the greater deity. The sun might very naturally become associated with the sky as the space which it traverses every day and apart from which it is never seen. The conception of the sun as the eye of heaven is sufficiently obvious. It could not very appropriately be termed the eye of Mitra till the original character of the latter had become obscured and absorbed in that of Varuṇa. Yet even the eye of Sūrya is several times spoken of in the RV. (p. 30). The attribute of ‘far-seeing’, appropriate to the sun, is also appropriate to the sky, which might naturally be conceived as seeing not only by day but even at night by means of the moon and stars. No real difficulty is presented by the notion of Varuṇa, who has become quite separate from his physical basis¹⁷, mounting a car in the height of heaven with Mitra. For such a conception is easily explicable from his association with a solar deity; besides every leading deity in the RV. drives in a car. On the other hand, the palace of Varuṇa in the highest heavens and his connexion with rain are particularly appropriate to a deity originally representing the vault of heaven. Finally, no natural phenomenon would be so likely to develope into a sovereign ruler, as the sky. For the personification of its vast expanse, which encompasses and rises far above the earth and on which the most striking phenomena of regular recurrence, the movements of the luminaries, are enacted, would naturally be conceived as watching by night and day all the deeds of men and as being the guardian of unswerving law. This development has indeed actually taken place in the case of the Zeus (= Dyaus) of Hellenic mythology. What was at first only an appellative of the sky has here become the supreme ruler of the gods dwelling in the serene heights of heaven, who gathers the clouds, who wields the thunderbolt, and whose will is law.

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The phenomena with which the two greatest gods of the RV. were originally connected, largely accounts for the difference in their personality. Varuṇa as concerned with the regularly recurring phenomena of celestial light, is the supreme upholder of law in the moral as well as the physical world. His character as such afforded no scope for the development of myths. Indra as the god fighting in the strife of the elements, was conceived by the militant Vedic Indian as a sovereign of the warrior type. Owing to his close connexion with the meteorological phenomena of the thunderstorm, which are so irregular in time and diversified in feature, the character of Indra on the one hand shows traits of capriciousness, while on the other he becomes the centre of more myths than any other deity of the RV. The theory of Roth as to the supersession of Varuṇa by Indra in the Rigvedic period, is dealt with below (§ 22).

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With the growth of the conception of Prajāpati (§ 39) as a supreme deity, the characteristics of Varuṇa as a sovereign god naturally faded away, and the dominion of the waters, only a part of his original sphere, alone remained to him. Thus he ultimately became in post-Vedic mythology an Indian Neptune, god of the Sea.

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