Vedic Mythology c5.s2.t6.1

c5.s2.t6.1

Each of the two names of wind Vāyu and Vāta is used to express both the physical phenomenon and its divine personification. But Vāyu is chiefly the god and Vāta the element. Vāyu is celebrated alone in one whole hymn besides parts of others, and in about half a dozen others conjointly with Indra. Vāta is invoked only in two short hymns (168 and 186) at the end of the tenth book of the RV. The names of both sometimes occur in the same verse (6, 50¹²; 10, 92¹³). The difference between the two is illustrated by the fact that Vāyu alone is as a god associated with Indra, the two deities being then often invoked as Indravāyū. This couple was regarded as so closely connected by the ancient native interpreters, that either of them might represent the deities of the atmospheric region in the Vedic triad (Nir. 7, 5). Vāta on the other hand, being less fully personified, is only associated with Parjanya (§ 31), whose connexion with the thunderstorm is much more vivid than that of Indra. Different sets of epithets are applied to the two wind-gods, those belonging to Vāta being chiefly expressive of the physical attributes of swiftness and violence.