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Vedic Mythology c5.s2: B. The Atmospheric Gods

Vedic Mythology c5.s2

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B. The Atmospheric Gods

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§ 22. Indra. — Indra is the favourite national god of the Vedic Indians. His importance is indicated by the fact that about 250 hymns celebrate his greatness, more than those devoted to any other god and very nearly one-fourth of the total number of hymns in the RV. If the hymns in parts of which he is praised or in which he is associated with other gods, are taken into account, the aggregate is brought up to at least 300. As the name, which dates from the Indo-Iranian period and is of uncertain meaning, does not designate any phenomenon of nature, the figure of Indra has become very anthropomorphic and much surrounded by mythological imagery, more so indeed than that of any other god in the Veda. The significance of his character is, however, sufficiently clear. He is primarily the thunder-god, the conquest of the demons of drought or darkness and the consequent liberation of the waters or the winning of light forming his mythological essence. Secondarily Indra is the god of battle, who aids the victorious Aryan in the conquest of the aboriginal inhabitants of India.

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He is the dominant deity of the middle region. He pervades the air (1, 51²). He occurs among the gods of the air alone in the Naighaṇṭuka (5, 4), and is the representative of the air in the triad Agni, Indra (or Vāyu), Sūrya.

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Many of Indra’s physical features are mentioned. He has a body, a head, arms, and hands (2, 16²; 8, 85³). His belly is often spoken of in connexion with his powers of drinking Soma (2, 16² &c.). It is compared when full of Soma to a lake (3, 36⁸). His lips (the probable meaning of *śiprā*) are often referred to, the frequent attributes *suśipra* or *śiprin*, 'fair-lipped', being almost peculiar to him. He agitates his jaws after drinking Soma (8, 65¹⁰). His beard is violently agitated when he is exhilerated or puts himself in motion (2, 11¹⁷; 10, 23¹). He is tawny-haired (10, 965. 8) and tawny-bearded (10, 23⁴). His whole appearance is tawny, the changes being rung on that word (*hari*) in every verse of an entire hymn (10, 96) with reference to Indra. He is a few times described as golden (1, 7²; 8, 55³), an attribute distinctive of Savitṛ (p. 32), as golden-armed (7, 34⁴), and as iron-like (1, 56³; 10, 964. 8). His arms as wielding the thunderbolt are mentioned particularly often. They are long, far-extended, great (6, 19³; 8. 32¹⁰. 70¹), strong and well-shaped (SV. 2, 1219). Indra assumes the most beautiful forms and the ruddy brightness of the sun (10, 112³) and takes many different forms at will (3, 48⁴. 53⁸; 6, 47¹⁸).

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The thunderbolt (*vajra*)¹ is the weapon exclusively appropriate to Indra. It is the regular mythological name of the lightning stroke (cp. p. 59). It is generally described as fashioned for him by Tvaṣṭṛ (1, 32² &c.), but Kāvya Uśanā is also said to have made it and given it to him (1, 121¹²; 5, 34²). In the AB. (4, 1) it is the gods who are said to have provided Indra with his bolt. It lies in the ocean enveloped in water (8, 89⁹). Its place is below that of the sun (10, 27²¹). It is generally described as *āyasa* or metallic (1, 52⁸ &c.), but sometimes as golden (1, 57² &c.), tawny (3, 44⁴; 10, 96³) or bright (3, 44⁵). It is four-angled (4, 22²), hundred-angled (4, 17¹⁰), hundred-jointed (8, 6⁶ &c.), and thousand-pointed (1, 80¹² &c.). It is sharp (7, 18¹⁸ &c.). Indra whets it like a knife or as a bull his horns² (1, 130⁴. 55¹). It is spoken of as a stone (*aśman*) or rock (*parvata*: 7, 104¹⁹). The bolt in Indra's hand is compared with the sun in the sky (8, 59²). Epithets derived from or compounded with *vajra*, some of which are very frequent, are almost entirely limited to Indra. *Vajrabhṛt*, 'bearing the bolt', *vajrivat*, 'armed with the bolt', and *vajradakṣiṇa*, 'holding the bolt in his right hand' are applied to him exclusively, while *vajrabāhu* or *-hasta*, 'holding the bolt in his arm or hand', and the commonest derivative *vajrin*, 'armed with the bolt', otherwise occur as attributes of Rudra, the Maruts, and Manyu only once each respectively.

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Indra is sometimes said to be armed with a bow and arrows (8, 45⁴. 666. 11; 10, 1032. 3). The latter are golden, hundred-pointed, and winged with a thousand feathers (8, 667. 11). He also carries a hook (*aṅkuśa*) with which he bestows wealth (8, 17¹⁰; AV. 6, 82³) or which he uses as a weapon (10, 44⁹). A net with which he overwhelms all his foes is also attributed to him (AV. 8, 85-8).

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Indra is borne on a car which is golden (6, 29² &c.) and is swifter than thought (10, 112²). The epithet 'car-fighter' (*ratheṣṭhā́*) is exclusively appropriated to Indra. His car is drawn by two tawny steeds (*harī*)³, a term very frequently used and in the great majority of instances referring to Indra's horses. In a few passages a greater number than two, up to a hundred and even a thousand or eleven hundred are mentioned (2, 18⁴⁻⁷; 4. 46³; 6, 47¹⁸; 8, 19. 24). These steeds are sun-eyed (1, 161. 2). They snort and neigh (1, 30¹⁶). They have flowing manes (1, 10³ &c.) or golden manes (8, 32²⁹. 82²⁴). Their hair is like peacocks' feathers or tails (3, 45¹; 8, 1²⁵). They swiftly traverse vast distances and Indra is transported by them as an eagle is borne by its wings (2, 16³; 8, 34⁹). They are yoked by prayer (2, 18³ &c.), which doubtless means that invocations bring Indra to the sacrifice. Indra is a few times said to be drawn by the horses of Sūrya (10, 49⁷) or by those of Vāta (10, 22⁴⁻⁶), and Vāyu has Indra for his charioteer (4, 46². 48²) or his car-companion (7, 91⁶). Indra’s car and his steeds were fashioned by the Ṛbhus (1, 111¹; 5, 31⁴). Indra is once said to be provided with a golden goad (*kaśā*: 8, 33¹¹).

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Though the gods in general are fond of Soma (8, 2¹⁸. 58¹¹), Indra is preëminently addicted to it (1, 104⁹ &c.). He even stole it in order to drink it (3, 48⁴; 8, 4⁴). He is the one Soma-drinker among gods and men (8, 2⁴), only Vāyu, his companion, coming near him in this respect⁴. It is his favourite nutriment (8, 4¹²). The frequent epithet ‘Soma-drinker’ (*soma-pā*, *-pāvan*) is characteristic of him, being otherwise only applied a few times to Agni and Bṛhaspati when associated with Indra, and once besides to Vāyu alone.

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Soma is sometimes said to stimulate Indra to perform great cosmic actions such as supporting earth and sky or spreading out the earth (2, 15²). But it characteristically exhilerates him to carry out his warlike deeds, the slaughter of the dragon or Vṛtra (2, 15¹. 19²; 6, 47¹. ²⁠) or the conquest of foes (6, 27; 7, 22²; 8, 81⁶). So essential is Soma to Indra that his mother gave it to him or he drank it on the very day of his birth (3, 48²· ³· 329·¹⁰; 6, 40²; 7, 98³). For the slaughter of Vṛtra he drank three lakes⁵ of Soma (5, 29⁷ cp. 6, 17¹¹), and he is even said to have drunk at a single draught thirty lakes of the beverage (8, 66⁴). One entire hymn (10, 119) consists of a monologue in which Indra describes his sensations after a draught of Soma. But just as too much Soma is said to produce disease in men, so Indra himself is described as suffering from excessive indulgence in it and having to be cured by the gods with the Sautrāmaṇī ceremony⁶. Indra also drinks milk mixed with honey⁷ (8, 4⁸).

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He at the same time eats the flesh of bulls (10, 28³), of one (10, 27²), of twenty (10, 86¹⁴), or of a hundred buffaloes (6, 17¹¹; 8, 66¹⁰), or 300 buffaloes roasted by Agni (5, 29⁷). At the sacrifice he also eats an offering of cake (3, 52⁷· ⁸), as well as of grain (3, 35³. 43⁴; 1, 16²), and the latter his steeds are supposed to eat as well (3, 35⁷. 52⁷).

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Indra is often spoken of as having been born. Two whole hymns (3, 48; 4, 18) deal with the subject of his birth. Once (4, 18¹· ²⁠) he is represented as wishing to be born in an unnatural way through the side of his mother⁸. This trait may possibly be derived from the notion of lightning breaking from the side of the storm-cloud. On being born he illuminates the sky (3, 44⁴). Scarcely born he set the wheel of the sun in motion (1, 130⁹). He was a warrior as soon as born (3, 51⁸; 5, 30⁵; 8, 45⁴. 66¹; 10, 113⁴) and was irresistible from birth (1, 102⁸; 10, 133²). Through fear of him when he is born, the firm mountains, heaven and earth are agitated (1, 61¹⁴). At his birth heaven and earth trembled through fear of his wrath (4, 17²) and all the gods feared him (5, 30⁵)⁹. His mother is often mentioned (3, 48²· ³ &c.)¹⁰. She is once (4, 18¹⁰) spoken of as a cow (*gṛṣṭi*), he being her calf; and he is spoken (10, 111²) of as a bull, the offspring of a cow (*gārṣṭeya*). He is once (10, 101¹²) called the son of Niṣṭigrī, whom Sāyaṇa regards as synonymous with Aditi (cp. § 41). According to the AV. (3, 10¹²· ¹³⁠) Indra’s (and Agni’s) mother is Ekāṣṭakā, daughter of Prajāpati. Indra has the same father as Agni (6, 59²), who is the son of Dyaus and Pṛthivī (§ 35). According to one interpretation of a verse in a hymn (4, 17⁴) in which his father is twice mentioned, the latter is Dyaus. A similar inference may be drawn from a verse in an Indra hymn (10, 120¹) where it is said that ‘among the worlds that was the highest from which this fierce (god) was born’, and from a few other passages (cp. 6, 30⁵; 8, 36⁴ with 10, 54³, and 10, 138⁶ with 1, 164¹¹). His father is said to have made his thunderbolt (2, 17⁶), which is elsewhere generally described as fashioned by Tvaṣṭr (§ 38). Indra drank Soma in the house of his father, where it was given to him by his mother (3, 48²). He drank Soma in the house of Tvaṣṭṛ (4, 18³), Indra having at his birth overcome Tvaṣṭṛ and having stolen the Soma, drank it in the cups (3, 48⁴). Indra seizing his father by the foot crushed him, and he is asked in the same verse who made his mother a widow (4, 18¹²). From these passages it is clearly to be inferred that Indra's father whom he slays in order to obtain the Soma, is Tvaṣṭṛ¹¹ (cp. 1, 80¹⁴). The hostility of the gods, who in one passage (4, 30³) are said to have fought against him, is perhaps connected with the notion of his trying to obtain Soma forcibly.¹²

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A few different accounts are given of the origin of Indra. He is said to have been generated by the gods as a destroyer of fiends (3, 49¹), but the verb *jan* is here no doubt only used in the figurative sense of 'to constitute' (cp. 2, 13⁵; 3, 51⁸). Soma is once spoken of as the generator of Indra and some other gods (9, 96⁵). In the Puruṣa hymn Indra and Agni are said to have sprung from the mouth of the world-giant (10, 90¹³). According to the ŚB. (11, 1, 6¹⁴) Indra, as well as Agni, Soma, and Parameṣṭhin, is said to have been created from Prajāpati. The TB. (2, 2, 10¹) states that Prajāpati created Indra last of the gods.

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Agni is Indra's twin brother (6, 59²) and Pūṣan is also his brother (6, 55⁵). The sons of Indra's brother are once mentioned (10, 55¹), but who are meant by them is uncertain.

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Indra's wife is several times referred to (1, 82⁵. ⁶; 3, 53⁴. ⁶; 10, 86⁹. ¹⁰). Her name is Indrāṇī in a hymn in which she is represented as conversing with Indra (10, 86¹¹. ¹²) and occurs in a few other passages which contain enumerations of goddesses (1, 22¹²; 2, 32⁸; 5, 46⁸). The ŚB. expressly states Indrāṇī to be Indra's wife (14, 2, 1⁸). The AB. (3, 22⁷), however, mentions Prāsahā and Senā as Indra's wives¹³. These two are identified with Indrāṇī (TB. 2, 4, 2⁷. ⁸; MS. 3, 8⁴; 4, 12¹)¹⁴. PISCHEL (VS. 2, 52) thinks that Śacī is the Proper name of Indra's wife in the RV. as well as in post-Vedic literature¹⁵. The AV. (7, 38²) refers to an Asura female who drew Indra down from among the gods; and the Kāṭhaka (IS. 3, 479) states that Indra enamoured of a Dānavī named Vilistengā, went to live among the Asuras, assuming the form of a female among females and of a male among males.

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Indra is associated with various other gods. His chief friends and allies are the Maruts, who in innumerable passages are described as assisting him in his warlike exploits (§ 29). His connexion with these deities is so close that the epithet *marutvat*, 'accompanied by the Maruts', though sometimes applied to other gods, is characteristic of Indra, this epithet, as well as *marudgaṇa* 'attended by the Marut host', being sufficient to designate him (5, 42⁶; 9, 65¹⁰). With Agni Indra is more frequently coupled as a dual divinity than with any other god (§ 44)¹⁶. This is natural, as lightning is a form of fire. Indra is also said to have produced Agni between two stones (2, 12³) or to have found Agni hidden in the waters (10, 32⁶). Indra is further often coupled with Varuṇa and Vāyu, less frequently with Soma, Bṛhaspati, Pūṣan, and Viṣṇu (§ 44). The latter is a faithful friend of Indra and sometimes attends him in his conflict with the demons (§§ 17. 44)¹⁷.

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Indra is in three or four passages more or less distinctly identified with Sūrya¹⁸. Speaking in the first person (4, 26¹) Indra asserts that he was once Manu and Sūrya. He is once directly called Sūrya (10, 89²); and Sūrya and Indra are both invoked in another verse (8, 82⁴) as if they were the same person. In one passage Indra receives the epithet Savitṛ (2, 30¹). The ŚB. (1, 6, 4¹⁸), too, once identifies Indra with the sun, Vṛtra being the moon.

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The gigantic size of Indra is dwelt upon in many passages. When Indra grasped the two boundless worlds, they were but a handful to him (3, 30⁵). He surpasses in greatness heaven, earth, and air (3, 46³). The two worlds are but equal to the half of him (6, 30¹; 10, 119⁷). Heaven and earth do not suffice for his girdle (1, 173⁶). If the earth were ten times as large, Indra would be equal to it (1, 52¹¹). If Indra had a hundred heavens and a hundred earths, a thousand suns would not equal him nor both worlds (8, 59⁵).

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His greatness and power are lauded in the most unstinted terms. He has no parallel among those born or to be born (4, 18⁴). No one, celestial or terrestrial, has been born or shall be born, like to him (7, 32²³). No one, god or man, either surpasses or equals him (6, 30⁴). Neither former, later, nor recent beings have attained to his valour (5, 42⁶). Neither gods nor men nor waters have attained to the limit of his might (1, 100¹⁵). No one like him is known among the gods; no one born, past or present, can rival him (1, 165⁹). He surpasses the gods (3, 46³). All the gods yield to him in might and strength (8, 51⁷). Even the former gods subordinated their powers to his divine glory and kingly dignity (7, 21⁷). All the gods are unable to frustrate his deeds and counsels (2, 32⁴). Even Varuṇa and Sūrya are subject to his command (1, 101³ cp. 2, 38⁹ p. 16). He is besought to destroy the foes of Mitra, Aryaman, and Varuṇa (10, 89⁸. ⁹) and is said to have acquired by battle ample space for the gods (7, 98³). Indra alone is king of the whole world (3, 46²). He is the lord of all that moves and breathes (1, 101⁵). He is the king of things moving and of men (5, 30⁵); he is the eye of all that moves and sees (10, 102¹²). He is the leader of human races and divine (3, 34²). He is several times called a universal monarch (4, 19² &c.) and still oftener a self-dependent sovereign (3, 46¹ &c.; cp. p. 24). He is also said to rule alone (*eka*) by his might as an ancient seer (8, 64¹). A few times he receives the epithet *asura* (1, 174¹; 8, 79⁶). Indra bears several characteristic attributes expressive of power. *Śakra* ‘mighty’ applies to Indra about 40 times and only about five times to other gods. *Śacīvat*, ‘possessed of might’ describes Indra some fifteen times and other deities only twice. The epithet *śacīpati* ‘lord of might’, occurring eleven times in the RV. belongs to Indra with only one exception (7, 67⁵), when the Aśvins as ‘lords of might’ are besought to strengthen their worshippers with might (*śacībhiḥ*). In one of these passages (10, 24²) Indra is pleonastically invoked as ‘mighty lord of might’ (*śacīpate śacīnām*). This epithet survives in post-Vedic literature as a designation of Indra in the sense of ‘husband of Śacī’ (a sense claimed for it by PISCHEL even in the RV.). The very frequent attribute *śatakratu*, ‘having a hundred powers’, occurring some 60 times in the RV. is with two exceptions entirely limited to Indra. In the great majority of instances *satpati*, ‘strong lord’ is appropriated to Indra. Indra’s strength and valour are also described with various other epithets. He is strong (*tavas*), nimble (*nṛtu*), victorious (*tura*), heroic (*śūra*), of unbounded force (1, 11⁴. 102⁶), of irresistible might (1, 84²). He is clothed in might like the elephant and bears weapons like the terrible lion (4, 16¹⁴). He is also young (1, 11⁴ &c.) and unaging (*ajara*), as well as ancient (*pūrvya*).

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Having dealt with Indra’s personal traits and his character, we now come to the great myth which is the basis of his nature. Exhilerated by Soma and generally escorted by the Maruts he enters upon the fray with the chief demon of drought, most frequently called by the name of Vṛtra, the Obstructor (§ 68) and also very often styled *ahi* the ‘Serpent’ or ‘Dragon’ (§ 64). The conflict is terrible. Heaven and earth tremble with fear when Indra strikes Vṛtra with his bolt (1, 80¹¹; 2, 11⁹. ¹⁰; 6, 17⁹); even Tvaṣṭṛ who forged the bolt trembles at Indra's anger (1, 80¹⁴). Indra shatters Vṛtra with his bolt (1, 32⁵. 61¹⁰; 10, 89⁷). He strikes Vṛtra with his bolt on his back (1, 32⁷. 80⁵), strikes his face with his pointed weapon (1, 52¹⁵), and finds his vulnerable parts (3, 32⁴; 5, 32⁵). He smote Vṛtra who encompassed the waters (6, 20² &c.) or the dragon that lay around (*pariśayānam*) the waters (4, 19²); he overcame the dragon lying on the waters (5, 30⁶). He slew the dragon hidden in the waters and obstructing the waters and the sky (2, 11⁵), and smote Vṛtra, who enclosed the waters, like a tree with the bolt (2, 14²). Thus ‘conquering in the waters’ (*apsujit*) is his exclusive attribute. Indra being frequently described as slaying Vṛtra in the present or being invoked to do so, is regarded as constantly renewing the combat, which mythically represents the constant renewal of the natural phenomena.

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For many dawns and autumns Indra has let loose the streams after slaying Vṛtra (4, 19⁸) or he is invoked to do so in the future (8, 78⁴). He cleaves the mountain, making the streams flow or taking the cows (1, 57⁶; 10, 89⁷), even with the sound of his bolt (6, 27⁴). When he laid open the great mountain, he let loose the torrents and slew the Dānava, he set free the pent up springs, the udder of the mountain (5, 32¹· ²). He slew the Dānava, shattered the great mountain, broke open the well, set free the pent up waters (1, 57⁶; 5, 33¹). He releases the streams which are like imprisoned cows (1, 61¹⁰) or which, like lowing cows, flow to the ocean (1, 32²). He won the cows and Soma and made the seven rivers to flow (1, 32¹²; 2, 12¹²). He releases the imprisoned waters (1, 57⁶. 103²), released the streams pent up by the dragon (2, 11²), dug out channels for the streams with his bolt (2, 15³), let the flood of waters flow in the sea (2, 19³), caused the waters pent up by Vṛtra to flow (3, 26⁶; 4, 17¹). Having slain Vṛtra, he opened the orifice of the waters which had been closed (1, 32¹¹). His bolts are dispersed over ninety rivers (1, 80⁸). References to this conflict with Vṛtra and the release of the waters are extremely frequent in the RV. The changes on the myth are rung throughout the whole of one hymn (1, 80). Another deals with the details of the Vṛtra fight (1, 32).

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That this exploit is Indra's chief characteristic, is shown by the manner in which the poet epitomizes the myth in the two first verses of the latter hymn: ‘I will proclaim the heroic deeds of Indra, which the wielder of the bolt first performed: he slew the dragon lying on the mountain, released the waters, pierced the belly of the mountains’. The physical elements are nearly always indicated by the stereotyped figurative terms ‘bolt’, ‘mountain’, ‘waters or rivers’, while lightning, thunder, cloud, rain (*vṛṣṭi*, *varṣa*, or the verb *vṛṣ*) are seldom directly named (1, 52⁵· ⁶· ¹⁴ &c.)¹⁹. The rivers caused to flow are of course often terrestrial (BRV. 2, 184), but it cannot be doubted that waters and rivers are in the RV. very often conceived as aerial or celestial (1, 10⁸; 2, 20⁸. 22⁴ cp. BRV. 2, 187). Apart from a desire to express the Vṛtra myth in phraseology differing from that applied to other gods, the large stores of water (cp. *arṇas*, flood) released by Indra would encourage the use of words like ‘streams’ rather than ‘rain’. The ‘cows’ released by Indra may in many cases refer to the waters, for we have seen that the latter are occasionally compared with lowing cows. Thus Indra is said to have found the cows for man when he slew the dragon (5, 29³ cp. 1, 52⁸). The context seems to shew that the waters are meant when Indra is described as having, with his bolt for an ally, extracted the cows with light from darkness (1, 33¹⁰).

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But the cows may also in other cases be conceived as connected with Indra's winning of light, for the ruddy beams of dawn issuing from the blackness of night are compared with cattle coming out of their dark stalls (p. 47). Again, though clouds play no great part in the RV.²⁰ under their literal name (*abhra* &c.) it can hardly be denied that, as containing the waters, they figure mythologically to a considerable extent under the name of cow (*go*: § 61), as well as udder (*ūdhar*), spring (*utsa*), cask (*kavandha*), pail (*kośa*) and others. Thus the rain-clouds are probably meant when it is said that the cows roared at the birth of Indra (8, 59⁴).

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It is however rather as mountains (*parvata*, *giri*: p. 10) that they appear in the Indra myth. They are the mountains (1, 32¹) on which the demons dwell (1, 32²; 2, 12¹¹), or from which he casts them down (1, 130⁷; 4, 30¹⁴; 6, 26⁵). Indra shoots forth his well-aimed arrow from these mountains (8, 66⁶). He cleft wide the mountain to release the cows (8, 45³⁰). Or the cloud is a rock (*adri*) which encompasses the cows and which Indra moves from its place (6, 17⁵). He loosened the rock and made the cows easy to obtain (10, 112⁸). He released the cows which were fast within the stone (6, 43³ cp. 5, 30⁴). The cloud rocks or mountains would seem to represent the stationary rainless clouds seen during drought, while the cloud cows would rather be the moving and roaring rain-cloud (p. 10). Oldenberg (ORV. 140 f.) thinks that to the poets of the RV. the mountains as well as the rivers in the Vṛtra-myth are terrestrial, though he admits that they were originally aerial and at a later period also were understood as such.

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In the mythical imagery of the thunderstorm the clouds also very frequently become the fortresses (*puraḥ*)²¹ of the aerial demons. They are spoken of as ninety, ninety-nine, or a hundred in number (2, 14⁶. 19⁶; 8, 17¹⁴. 87⁶). These fortresses are 'moving' (8, 1²⁸), autumnal (1, 130⁷. 131⁴. 174²; 6, 20¹⁰), made of metal (2, 20⁸) or stone (4, 30²⁰)²². Indra shatters them (1, 51⁵ &c.), and so the epithet 'fort-shatterer' (*pūrbhid*) is peculiar to him. In one verse (10, 111¹⁰) he is spoken of as a fort-shatterer and lover of waters at the same time. In another the various features of the myth are mentioned together: he slew Vṛtra, broke the castles, made a channel for the rivers, pierced the mountain, and made over the cows to his friends (10, 89⁷).

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Owing to the importance of the Vṛtra-myth the chief and specific epithet of Indra is *Vṛtrahan*, 'Vṛtra-slayer'²³. It is applied about 70 times to him in the RV. The only other deity who receives it with any frequency is Agni; but this is due to Agni's frequent association with Indra as a dual divinity. The few applications of the epithet to Soma are also clearly secondary (§ 37)²⁴. Though Indra is sometimes expressly stated to have slain Vṛtra by his own might alone (1, 165⁸; 7, 21⁶; 10, 138⁶) other deities are very often associated with him in the conflict. The gods in general are said to have placed him in the van for action or battle (1, 55³; 6, 17⁸) or the slaughter of Vṛtra (8, 12²²). They are also said to have increased his vigour for the fray with Vṛtra (10, 113⁸), or to have infused might or valour into him (1, 80¹⁵; 6, 20²; 10, 48³. 120³), or to have placed the bolt in his hands (2, 20⁸). But most frequently he is urged on and fortified by the Maruts (3, 32⁴; 10, 73¹. ² &c. § 29). Even when the other gods terrified by Vṛtra fled away (8, 85⁷ cp. 4, 18¹¹; AB. 3, 20), they stood by him; but the Maruts themselves are in one passage said to have deserted him (8, 7³¹). Agni, Soma, and Viṣṇu are often also allied with Indra in the fight with Vṛtra. Even priests on earth sometimes associate themselves with Indra in his combats (5, 30⁸; 8, 51¹¹; 10, 44⁹). The worshipper (*jaritā*) is said to have placed the bolt in Indra's hands (1, 63²), and the sacrifice is spoken of as having assisted the bolt at the slaughter of the dragon (3, 32¹²). Hymns, prayers, and worship, as well as Soma, are also often described as increasing (*√vṛdh*) the vigour of Indra²⁵.

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Besides Vṛtra, Indra engages in conflict with many minor demons also (§ 69). One of these, Uraṇa, mentioned only once (2, 14⁴) is described as having 99 arms, while another, Viśvarūpa, is three-headed and six-eyed (10, 99⁶). He does not always slay them with his bolt. Thus one of them, Arbuda, he crushes with his foot or pierces with ice (1, 51⁶; 8, 32²⁶). Sometimes Indra is described as destroying demons in general. Thus he is said to sweep away the Asuras with his wheel (8, 85⁹), to consume the Rakṣases with his bolt as fire a dry forest (6, 18¹⁰) and to overcome the *druhaḥ* or malignant spirits (4, 23⁷. 28²).

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With the liberation of the waters is connected the winning of light, sun, and dawn. Indra won light and the divine waters (3, 34⁸). The god is invoked to slay Vṛtra and win the light (8, 78⁴). When Indra had slain the dragon Vṛtra with his metallic bolt, releasing the waters for man, he placed the sun visibly in the heavens (1, 51⁴. 52⁸). Indra, the dragon-slayer, set in motion the flood of waters to the sea, generated the sun, and found the cows (2, 19³). He gained the sun and the waters after slaying the demons (3, 34⁸. ⁹). When Indra slew the chief of the dragons and released the waters from the mountain, he generated the sun, the sky and the dawn (1, 32⁴; 6, 30⁵). The sun shone forth when Indra blew the dragon from the air (8, 3²⁰). Though the sun is usually the prize of the conflict, it also appears as Indra’s weapon, for he burns the demon with the rays of the sun (8, 12⁹). Without any reference to the Vṛtra fight, Indra is said to find the light (3, 34⁴; 8, 15⁵; 10, 43⁴) in the darkness (1, 108⁸; 4, 16⁴). Indra is the generator of the sun (3, 49⁴). He placed the sun, the brilliant light, in the sky (8, 12³⁰). He made the sun to shine (8, 3⁶. 87²), and made it mount in the sky (1, 7³). He gained the sun (1, 100⁶. ¹⁸; 3, 34⁹) or found it in the darkness in which it abode (3, 39⁵) and made a path for it (10, 111³).

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Indra produces the dawn as well as the sun (2, 12⁷. 21⁴; 3, 31¹⁵; 32⁸. 49⁴). He has made the dawns and the sun to shine (3, 44²). He has opened the darkness with the dawn and the sun (1, 62⁵). He steals the dawn with the sun (2, 20⁵). The cows which are mentioned along with sun and dawn (1, 62⁵; 2, 12⁷; 6, 17⁵) or with the sun alone (1, 7³; 2, 19³; 3, 34⁹; 6, 17³. 32²; 10, 138²) as found, delivered, or won by Indra, probably do not so much represent the waters²⁵ or rainclouds, as the morning beams (§ 61) or, according to BERGAIGNE (BRV. 1, 245) and others, the red clouds of dawn. The waters are probably meant by the ruddy watery (*apyā*) cows (9, 108⁶), but the morning beams or clouds in the following passages. The dawns on seeing Indra went to meet him, when he became the lord of the cows (3, 31⁴). When he overcame Vṛtra he made visible the cows (*dhenāḥ*) of the nights (3, 34³ cp. BRV. 2, 200). Dawn is in some passages spoken of in expressions reminding of the winning of the cows. Thus ‘Dawn opens the darkness as cows their stall’ (1, 92⁴). Dawn opens the doors of the firm rock (7, 79⁴). The cows low towards the dawns (7, 75⁷). The Aṅgirases burst open the cowstalls of Uṣas on the heights (6, 65⁵). The dawn is sometimes said to have been produced along with the sun in the same passages in which the conquest of the waters is celebrated (1, 32¹· ². ⁴; 6, 30⁵; 10, 138¹· ²). Thus there appears to be a confusion between the notion of the restoration of the sun after the darkness of the thunderstorm and the recovery of the sun from the darkness of night at dawn. The latter trait is in the Indra myth most probably only an extension of the former.

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Indra’s activity in the thunderstorm is sometimes more directly expressed. Thus he is said to have created the lightnings of heaven (2, 13⁷) and to have directed the action of the waters downwards (2, 17⁵).

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With the Vṛtra fight, with the winning of the cows and of the sun, is also connected that of Soma. When Indra drove the dragon from the air, fires, the sun, and Soma, Indra's juice, shone forth (8, 3²⁰). After his victory over the demon, he chose Soma for his drink (3, 36⁸). After he conquered the demons, Soma became his own property (7, 98⁵); he became the king of the Soma mead (6, 20³). Indra disclosed the juice pressed with stones and drove out the cows (3, 44⁵). He won Soma at the same time as the cows (1, 32¹²). He found in heaven the hidden nectar (6, 44²³). He found the honey accumulated in the ruddy cow (*usriyāyām*: 3, 39⁶). The raw cow goes with ripe milk, in the ruddy cow is accumulated all sweetness, which Indra placed there for enjoyment (3, 30¹⁴). Indra places ripe milk in the cows (8, 32²⁵), which are raw (8, 78⁷) black or red (1, 62⁹), and for which he opens the gates (6, 17⁶). These passages seem to have primarily at least a mythological reference to rainclouds, as the context in most cases describes the great cosmical actions of Indra.

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Indra is said to have settled the quaking mountains and plains (2, 12²; 10, 44⁸). In a later text Indra is said to have cut off the wings of the mountains, which originally alighted wherever they pleased and thus made the earth unsteady. The wings became the thunder clouds (MS. 1, 10¹³). This is a favourite myth in post-Vedic literature. PISCHEL (VS. 1, 174) traces its origin to a verse of the RV. (4, 54⁵). Indra also fixed the bright realms of the sky (8, 14⁹). He supported the earth and propped the sky (2, 17⁵ &c.). He holds asunder heaven and earth as two wheels are kept apart by the axle (10, 89⁴). He stretches out heaven and earth (8, 3⁶) like a hide (8, 6⁵). He is the generator of heaven and earth (8, 36⁴ cp. 6, 47⁴). He generated that which is and shall be by his great secret name (10, 55²) and made the nonexistent into the existent in a moment (6, 24⁵). The separation and supporting of heaven and earth are sometimes described as the result of Indra's victory over a demon (5, 29⁴), who held them together (8, 6¹⁷). When he was born for the Vṛtra fight, Indra spread out the earth and fixed the sky (8, 78⁵). The dragon-slayer made earth visible to heaven, when he opened a path for the streams (2, 13⁵). Similarly he is said to have found heaven and earth which were hidden (8, 85¹⁶) or to have won them along with light and waters (3, 34⁸). Possibly the effect of light extending the range of vision and seeming to separate heaven and earth apparently pressed together by darkness, may have been the starting point of such conceptions.

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Indra, the wielder of the thunderbolt, who destroys the aerial demons in battle, is constantly invoked by warriors (4, 24³ &c.). As the great god of battle he is more frequently called upon than any other deity as the helper of the Aryans in their conflicts with earthly enemies. He protects the Aryan colour and subjects the black skin (3, 34⁹; 1, 130⁸). He dispersed 50 000 of the black race and rent their citadels (4, 16¹³). He subjected the Dasyus to the Aryan (6, 18³) and gave land to the Aryan (4, 26²). He turns away from the Ārya the weapon of the Dasyu in the land of the seven rivers (8, 24²⁷). Other deities are only occasionally referred to as protectors of the Āryas, as the Aśvins (1, 117²¹), Agni (8, 92¹), or the gods in general (6, 21¹¹).

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More generally Indra is spoken of as the one compassionate helper (1, 84¹⁹; 8, 55¹³. 69¹), as the deliverer and advocate of his worshippers (8, 85²⁰), as their strength (7, 31⁵), and as a wall of defence (8, 69⁷). His friend is never slain or conquered (10, 152¹). Indra is very often called the friend of his worshippers²⁷, sometimes even a brother (3, 53⁵), a father (4, 17¹⁷; 10, 48¹) or a father and mother in one (8, 87¹¹). He was also the friend of the fathers in the olden time (6, 21⁸ cp. 7, 33⁴), and the epithet Kauśika which he once receives (1, 10¹¹), implies that he particularly favoured the family of the Kuśikas²⁸. Indra does not desire the friendship of him who offers no libations (10, 42⁴). But he bestows goods and wealth on the pious man (2, 19⁴. 22³; 7, 27³), and is implored not to be diverted by other worshippers (2, 18³ &c.)²⁹. All men share his benefits (8, 54⁷). Both his hands are full of riches (7, 37³). He is a treasury filled with wealth (10, 42²). He can shower satisfying wealth on his worshippers as a man with a hook shakes down ripe fruit from a tree (3, 45⁴). Gods and mortals can no more stop him wishing to give than a terrific bull (8, 70³). He is an ocean of riches (1, 51¹), and all the paths of wealth lead to him as the rivers to the sea (6, 19⁵). One entire hymn in particular (10, 47) dwells on the manifold wealth which Indra bestows. Cows and horses are the goods which Indra, like other gods, is most often asked to bestow (1, 16⁹. 101⁴ &c.), and it is chiefly to him that the epithet *gopati*, 'lord of cows' is applied. His combats are frequently called *gaviṣṭi*, literally 'desire of cows' (8, 24⁵ &c.) and his gifts are considered the result of victories (4, 17¹⁰. ¹¹ &c.: cp. BRV. 2, 178). Indra also bestows wives (4, 17¹⁶) and male children (1, 53⁵ &c.). His liberality is so characteristic that the very frequent attribute *maghavan*, 'bountiful' is almost entirely monopolized by him in the RV. (cp. p. 48) and in post-Vedic literature remains his exclusive epithet. The epithet *vasupati*, 'lord of wealth', is also predominantly applicable to Indra.

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Though the main myth concerning Indra is his combat with Vṛtra, various other stories attached themselves to him as the performer of heroic deeds. Some passages describe Indra as coming into conflict with Uṣas. He struck down the wain (*anas*) of Dawn (10, 73⁶). He shattered the wain of Uṣas with his bolt and rent her slow (steeds) with his swift (mares: 2, 15⁶). Terrified at the bolt of Indra, Uṣas abandoned her wain (10, 138⁵). Indra performed the heroic manly exploit of striking and crushing the female meditating evil, Uṣas, the daughter of the sky; her wain lay shattered in the river Vipāś and Uṣas fled away in terror (4, 30⁸⁻¹¹). The obscuration of the dawn by a thunderstorm is usually regarded as the basis of this myth. Against such an interpretation Bergaigne urges that it is not Indra who obscures the sky but a demon, and that the application of the bolt, Indra's characteristic weapon, need not be restricted to the Vṛtra-fight. He concludes that the sunrise overcoming the delaying dawn (cp. 2, 15⁶; 5, 79⁹) is here conceived as a victory of Indra bringing the sun³⁰.

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Indra comes in conflict with the sun in the obscure myth about a race run between the swift steed Etaśa, who draws a car, and the sun drawn by his yellow steeds. The sun being ahead is hindered by Indra. His car loses a wheel, a loss which in some way seems to have been caused by Indra (§ 60 D). With this myth is probably connected the statement that Indra stopped the tawny steeds of the sun (10, 92⁸). Indra is also associated with the myth of the rape of Soma. For it is to him that the eagle brings the draught of immortality (§ 37). Another myth which is not often mentioned and the details of which chiefly occur in a single hymn (10, 108) is that of the capture by Indra of the cows of the Paṇis (§ 67). These demons, who here seem to be the mythical representatives of the niggards who withhold cows from the pious sacrificer, possess herds of cows which they keep hidden in a cave far away beyond the Rasā, a mythical river. Saramā, Indra's messenger, tracks the cows and asks for them in Indra's name, but is mocked by the Paṇis. In another passage (6, 39²) Indra desiring the cows around the rock is said to have pierced Vala's unbroken ridge and to have overcome the Paṇis. Elsewhere the cows are spoken of as confined by the demon Vala without reference to the Paṇis, and driven out by Indra (2, 12³; 3, 30¹⁰). In various passages the Aṅgirases are associated with Indra in piercing Vala, shattering his strongholds, and releasing the cows (§ 54).

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Fragmentary references, often in enumerations, are frequently made to the victory of Indra over Dāsas or Dasyus. These are primarily human foes whose skin is black (1, 130⁸ cp. 2, 20⁷), who are noseless (5, 29¹⁰), are godless and do not sacrifice. Though mythological elements are no doubt largely mingled in the account of his victory over individual Dāsas, the foundation of these myths seems to be terrestrial and human. For while Vṛtra is slain for the good of man in general, individual human beings are mentioned for whom or with whom Indra overcame the Dāsa or Dāsas. These *protégés* of Indra are not as a rule ancestors of priests but are princes or warriors who seem to have been historical. Thus Divodāsa Atithigva³¹ is the father of the famous king Sudās, his Dāsa foe being Śambara, the son of Kulitara (§ 69 B). But when the term *dāsa* is applied to the dragon (*ahi*), from whom Indra wrests the waters (2, 11²) or to the three-headed six-eyed monster whom Trita combats (10, 99⁶) or to Vyaṁsa who struck off Indra's jaws (4, 18⁹), it unmistakably designates regular demons. An account of Namuci and other Dāsas vanquished by Indra will be found in the chapter on demons.

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A myth which seems to have no general significance but to be simply the invention of a later poet of the RV., is that of Indra and Vṛṣākapi, the details of which are given somewhat obscurely in RV. 10, 86. This hymn describes a dispute between Indra and his wife Indrāṇī about the monkey Vṛṣākapi, who is the favourite of the former and has damaged the property of the latter. Vṛṣākapi is soundly threshed and escapes, but afterwards returns, when a reconciliation takes place. v. Bradke considers the story a satire, in which under the names of Indra and Indrāṇī a certain prince and his wife are intended³².

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Among stories preserving historical traits is that of Indra having safely brought Turvaśa and Yadu across the rivers (1, 174⁹ &c.). They are the eponymous heroes of two closely connected Aryan tribes, which are, however, sometimes mentioned by the poets in a hostile sense. This varying attitude is a tolerably sure indication of historical matter. Here the national warrior god appears as the patron of Aryan migrations. In another passage Indra is said with Suśravas to have crushed twenty chiefs and their 60099 warriors with fatal chariot wheel. The accounts of the conflicts of king Sudās have all the appearence of a historical character. Thus Indra is said to have helped him in the battle of the ten kings (7, 33³), to have aided him in answer to the prayers of his priests the Tṛtsus (among whom Vasiṣṭha is prominent), and to have drowned his foes in the river Paruṣṇī (7, 18⁹. ¹³).

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Finally, a hymn of the RV. (8, 80) relates how a maiden named Apālā having found Soma beside a river and having pressed it with her teeth, dedicates it to Indra who approaches and from whom she receives as a reward the fulfilment of certain desires³³.

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Regarded as a whole the attributes of Indra are chiefly those of physical superiority and of dominion over the physical world. Energetic action is characteristic of him, while passive sway is distinctive of Varuṇa. Indra is a universal monarch, not as the applier of the eternal laws of the universe nor as a moral ruler, but as an irresistible warrior whose mighty arm wins victory, whose inexhaustible liberality bestows the highest goods on mankind, and who delighting in the exhileration of magnificent Soma sacrifices, confers rich rewards on the hosts of priests officiating in his worship. The numerous hymns which celebrate him dwell on these features in more or less stereotyped terms and are seldom free from references to the Soma offering. He is not usually described as possessing the moral elevation and grandeur of Varuṇa. There are, however, several passages which ascribe to Indra actions characteristic of Varuṇa³⁴. There are also a few, mostly in the later books, in which an ethical character is attributed to him and faith in him is confessed or enjoined (1, 55⁵ &c.), faith in the reality of his existence being sometimes expressed as against the disbelief of sceptics (2, 12⁵ &c.)³⁵. Once he is said in a late passage of the RV. to have attained heaven by austere fervour (10, 167¹ cp .159⁴).

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To the more intense anthropomorphism of Indra’s nature are doubtless due certain sensual and immoral traits which are at variance with the moral perfection elsewhere attributed to him and essential to the character of the Vedic gods. This incongruity cannot be accounted for by different passages representing chronologically different stages in the development of his character, for it is apparent in the words of the same poet, sometimes even in the same verse. It is chiefly connected with his excessive fondness for Soma. In one passage (8, 67⁵· ⁶) he is said to hear and see everything, viewing the zeal of mortals, and in the next verse his belly is described as full of the vigorous draught. One entire hymn (10, 119) consists of a monologue in which Indra is intoxicated with Soma, boasting of his greatness and capricious power. It is even indicated that he once suffered from the effects of excessive drinking (§ 69). His love of Soma is even represented as having driven him to parricide (4, 18¹²). In judging morally of Indra’s immoderate indulgence in Soma, it must be borne in mind that the exhilaration of Soma partook of a religious character in the eyes of the Vedic poets and that the intoxicating influence of Soma itself led to its being regarded as the drink of immortality. It is probably from the latter point of view that Indra is conceived as having performed his grandest cosmical feats, such as fixing heaven and earth, under the influence of Soma (2, 15²). And the evident sympathy of the poets with the effect of Soma on the god but reflects the moral standard to the age. Amorous adventures, on the other hand, are entirely absent from the exploits of Indra in the RV. and there is hardly a trace of such even in the Brāhmaṇas, except that he is spoken of as the paramour of Ahalyā the wife of Gautama³⁶. It is only natural that the poetry of the Soma offering should have dwelt on the thirsty aspect of his nature.

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It has been maintained by ROTH³⁷ followed by WHITNEY (JAOS. 3, 327) that the preeminence of Varuṇa as belonging to an older order of gods was in the course of the Rigvedic period transferred to Indra. This view is based partly on the fact that not a single entire hymn in the tenth book is addressed to Varuṇa, while Indra is celebrated in forty-five. There are, however, two hymns (126, 185) of book X, in which Varuṇa is lauded with two other Ādityas, and in many single verses of that book Varuṇa is invoked or referred to along with other deities. The argument from the number of hymns is not very cogent, as in all the earlier books of the RV. far more hymns are addressed to Indra than to Varuṇa. In book III no hymn is devoted to Varuṇa but 22 to Indra, and in book II there is only one to Varuṇa and 23 to Indra. Moreover, these two books added together are considerably shorter than the tenth alone. It is, however, true that Varuṇa is much less frequently mentioned in the last book than in the earlier books of the RV. Beyond this fact there seems to be no direct and decisive proof of the supersession of Varuṇa by Indra during the composition of the RV. One hymn (4, 42) of the earlier part, describing in the form of a dialogue the rivalry between Indra and Varuṇa has, however, been regarded (GKR. 27) as characteristically indicating a transition from an older period in the relative importance of the two gods. The conclusion is perhaps hardly justified by the statements of another (cp. GRV. 2, 401) of the last book (10, 124)³⁸. At the same time it must be remembered that on the one hand Varuṇa seems to have occupied a more important position than Indra in the Indo-Iranian period, while on the other, Indra in the Brāhmaṇas (AB. 8, 12) and in the epics has become chief of the Indian heaven and even maintains this position under the Purāṇic triad Brahmā-Viṣṇu-Śiva, though of course subordinate to them³⁹. Varuṇa meanwhile had become divested of his supreme powers by the time of the AV. (p. 26). Thus there must have been at least a gradually increasing popularity of Indra even in the Rigvedic age. By Benfey (OO. 1, 48) and Bréal (Hercule et Cacus 101) Indra in the Vedas is considered rather to have superseded the ancient Dyaus. This may perhaps with greater probability be maintained with regard to the Indo-Iranian Trita Āptya. For Trita though rarely mentioned in the RV. is there described as performing the same exploits as Indra, occasionally appearing even as the more important personage in the myth (§ 23).

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³⁷ ZDMG. 6, 73; PW.; cp. BRI. 27. —

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³⁸ ORV. 95—7; OST. 5, 121—6. —

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³⁹ ZDMG. 6, 77; 25, 31. —

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The name of Indra occurs only twice in the Avesta⁴⁰. Beyond the fact of his being no god, but only a demon, his character there is uncertain⁴¹. Indra's distinctive Vedic epithet *vṛtrahan* also occurs in the Avesta in the form of *vərəthraghna*, which is, however, unconnected with Indra or the thunderstorm myth, designating merely the God of Victory⁴². Thus it is probable that the Indo-Iranian period possessed a god approaching to the Vedic form of the Vṛtra-slaying Indra. It is even possible that beside the thundering god of heaven, the Indo-European period may have known as a distinct conception a thundergod gigantic in size, a mighty eater and drinker, who slays the dragon with his lightning bolt⁴³. The etymology⁴⁴ of Indra is doubtful, but that the root is connected with that in *indu*, drop, seems likely.

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¹ ZDMG. 32, 296—7; WZKM. 9, 232. —

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² HVM. 1, 44, note. —

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³ ZDMG. 1, 67. —

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⁴ HVM. 1, 119. —

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⁵ Roth on Nir. 5, 11; KHF. 138—9. —

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⁶ SB. 5, 5, 49; 12, 7, 111; TS. 2, 3, 2, cp. HVM. 1, 266; Zimmer, AIL. 275. —

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⁷ HVM. 238. —

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⁸ PVS. 2, 242—53; Lang, Myth, Ritual and Religion 1, 183; 2, 113 f. 244. —

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⁹ PVS. 2, 249. —

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¹⁰ Ibid. 2, 51—4; Macdonell, JRAS. 27, 183. —

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¹¹ BRV. 3, 58—62; PVS. 1, 44. —

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¹² Ibid. 1, 211. —

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¹³ Cp. ibid. 2, 38, note 1. —

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¹⁴ Bloomfield, ZDMG. 48, 549—51. —

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¹⁵ Ibid. 548. —

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¹⁶ Macdonell, JRAS. 25, 470—1; 27, 175. —

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¹⁷ Ibid. 27, 175. —

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¹⁸ HRI. 92. —

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¹⁹ Other passages 1, 804. 14; 2, 134; 4, 262; 8, 319. 20. 61; 10, 928. 1249; AV. 13, 441. —

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²⁰ HVM. 1, 313. —

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²¹ Zimmer, AIL 42. —

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²² Also Kaṭhaka IS. 12, 161; JRAS. 27, 181. —

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²³ ZDMG. 8, 460. —

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²⁴ Macdonell, JRAS. 25, 472. —

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²⁵ OST. 5, 91—2. —

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²⁶ Aufrecht, ZDMG. 13, 497; BRV. 1, 259; KRV. 42 (raincloud). —

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²⁷ OST. 5, 104—5. —

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²⁸ OST. 5, 348—9.

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²⁹ OST. 5, 106—7. —

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³⁰ BRV. 2, 193; cp. Sonne, KZ. 10, 416—7; MM. Chips 2, 91 f.; ORV. 169; HRI. 77, note. —

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³¹ BRV. 2, 209; HVM. 1, 96. 107. —

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³² ZDMG. 46, 465 cp. ORV. 172—4. —

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³³ Aufrecht, IS. 4, 1—8; Oldenberg, ZDMG. 39, 76—7. —

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³⁴ BRV. 3, 143. —

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³⁵ OST. 5, 103—4. —

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³⁶ Weber, Sitzungsberichte der Berliner Akad. 1887, p. 903. —

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⁴⁰ Spiegel, Av. Tr. III, lxxxi; Sp. AP. 195; OST. 5, 121, note 212. —

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⁴¹ Darmesteter, SBE. IV2, lxxii; Hillebrandt, ZDMG. 48, 422. —

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⁴² Sp. AP. 195. —

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⁴³ ORV. 34, note 1; 134; v. Schröder, WZKM. 9, 230. —

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⁴⁴ YN. 10, 8; Sāyaṇa on RV. 1, 34; Benfey, OO. 1, 49; Roth, PW.; MM., LSL. (1891) 2, 543, note; OGR. 218; AR. 396; OST. 5, 119, note. 208; GW.; BB. 1, 342; BRV. 2, 166; Bollensen, ZDMG. 41, 505—7; Jacobi, KZ. 31, 316; IF. 3, 235.

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KHF. 8; Roth, ZDMG. 1, 72; Whitney, JAOS. 3, 319—21; Delbrück, ZVP. 1865, 277—9; OST. 5, 77—139; 4, 99—108; LRV. 3, 317; KRV. 40—7; BRI. 12—3; BRV. 2, 159—96; Perry, Indra in the Rigveda, JAOS. 11, 117—208; Hillebrandt, Literaturblatt f. Or. Philol. 1884—5, p. 108; Die Sonnwendfeste in Altindien (1889), 16; Sp. AP. 194—7; HVBP. 60—80; ORV. 134—75; ZDMG. 49, 174—5; HRI. 91—6; v. Schröder, WZKM. 9, 230—4.

§ 23. Trita Āptya

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Trita Āptya is not celebrated in any entire hymn of the RV. but is only incidentally mentioned there in forty passages occurring in twenty-nine hymns. The epithet Āptya accompanies or alternates with Trita seven times in four hymns of the RV. (1, 109; 5, 41; 8, 47; 10, 8). He is oftenest mentioned or associated with Indra; he is seven times connected or identified with Agni, is several times spoken of with the Maruts, and ten times with Soma either as the beverage or the deity. Trita is mentioned alone as having rent Vṛtra by the power of the Soma draught (1, 187¹).

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The Maruts aided Trita and Indra in the victory over Vṛtra (8, 7²⁴). Such action must have been regarded as characteristic of Trita, for it is mentioned as an illustration. When Indra in the Vṛtra fight strove against the withholder of rain, he cleft him as Trita cleaves the fences of Vala (1, 52⁴·⁵). So again the man who is aided by Indra-Agni, pierces rich strongholds like Trita (5, 86¹). Trita Āptya knowing his paternal weapons and urged by Indra fought against and slew the three-headed son of Tvaṣṭṛ and released the cows (10, 8⁸). In the following stanza Indra performs exactly the same feat; for he strikes off the three heads of Viśvarūpa the son of Tvaṣṭṛ and takes possession of the cows. Indra (or perhaps Agni) subdued the loudly roaring three-headed six-eyed demon and Trita strengthened by his might slew the boar (i. e. the demon, cp. 1, 121¹¹) with iron-pointed bolt (10, 99⁶). Here the feat performed by the two gods is again identical. Indra produced cows for Trita from the dragon (10, 48²). Indra delivered over Viśvarūpa the son of Tvaṣṭṛ to Trita (2, 11¹⁹). Indra strengthened by the Soma-pressing Trita, cast down Arbuda and with the Aṅgirases rent Vala (2, 11²⁰). When the mighty Maruts go forth and the lightnings flash, Trita thunders and the waters roar (5, 54²). In two obscure passages of a Marut hymn (2, 34) the bright path of the Maruts is said to shine forth when Trita appears (v. 10) and Trita seems to be conceived as bringing the Maruts on his car (v. 14). In an Agni hymn the winds are said to have found Trita, instructing him to help them (10, 115⁴). The flames of Agni rise when Trita in the sky blows upon him like a smelter and sharpens him as in a smelting furnace (5, 9⁵). Trita eagerly seeking him (Agni) found him on the head of the cow; he when born in houses becomes as a youth the centre of brightness, establishing himself in dwellings. Trita enveloped (in flames) seated himself within his place (10, 46³·⁶). Trita is spoken of as in heaven (5, 9⁵). His abode is secret (9, 102²). It is remote; for the Ādityas and Uṣas are prayed to remove ill deeds and evil dreams to Trita Āptya (8, 47¹³⁻⁷). It seems to be in the region of the sun. For the poet says: 'Where those seven rays are, there my origin is extended; Trita Āptya knows that; he speaks for kinship': which seems to mean that he claims kinship with it (1, 105⁹). In the same hymn (v. 17) Trita is described as buried in a well (*kūpe*) and praying to the gods for help; Bṛhaspati heard him and released him from his distress. In another passage (10, 87) Trita within a pit (*vavre*) prays to his father and goes forth claiming his paternal weapons; and in the next stanza (10, 8⁸) he fights with Viśvarūpa. Indra is said to drink Soma beside Viṣṇu, Trita Āptya, or the Maruts (8, 12¹⁶) and to delight in a hymn of praise beside Trita (Vāl. 4¹). In the ninth book, doubtless owing to its peculiar character, Trita appears in the special capacity of a preparer of Soma, a feature alluded to only once in the rest of the RV. (2, 11²⁰). Soma is purified by Trita (9, 34⁴). Trita's maidens (the fingers) urge the tawny drop with stones for Indra to drink (9, 32². 38²). Soma occupies the secret place near the two pressing stones of Trita (9, 102²) and is besought to bring wealth in a stream on the ridges (*pṛṣṭheṣu*) of Trita (9, 102³). Soma caused the sun along with the sisters to shine on the summit (*sānu*) of Trita (9, 37⁴). They press out the stalk, the bull that dwells on the mountains, who, like a buffalo, is purified on the summit; hymns accompany him as he roars; Trita cherishes (him who is like) Varuṇa in the ocean (9, 95⁴). When Soma pours the mead, he calls up the name of Trita (9, 86²⁰).

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