Vedic Mythology c5.1

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.