Vedic Mythology c5.s6.2

Language: English

c5.s6.2.1

There can be little doubt that the analogy for this favourite formation was furnished by Dyāvāpṛthivī, Heaven and Earth², the pair which to early thought appeared so indissolubly connected in nature, that the myth of their conjugal union is found widely diffused among primitive peoples³ and has therefore probably come down to the Veda from a period anterior to that immediately preceding the separation of the Indo-European nations. In the RV. itself this couple is so closely associated that while they are invoked as a pair in six hymns, not one is devoted to the praise of Dyaus alone and only one of three verses to that of Pṛthivī. So hard was it for the poets to dissociate the two, that even in this hymn Pṛthivī is praised for sending the rain of heaven from her cloud (5, 84³). The dual compound, moreover, occurs much more frequently than the name of Dyaus as a god. It occurs, including the comparatively rare synonyms *Dyā́vākṣā́mā* and *Dyā́vābhū́mī*, about a hundred times, or more frequently than the name of any other pair. Heaven and Earth are also called *rodasī*, the two worlds (spoken of as sisters, 1, 185⁵, owing to the gender of the word), an expression occurring at least a hundred times in the RV. Heaven and Earth are parents, being often styled *pitarā*, *mātarā*, *janitrī*, and also separately addressed as father and mother (1, 159¹⁻³. 160²). They are primeval parents (7, 53²; 10, 65⁸). Their marriage is referred to in the AB. (4, 27⁵⁻⁶)⁴.

c5.s6.2.2

They have made and sustain all creatures (1, 159². 160². 185¹). Though themselves footless, they support much offspring with feet (1, 185²). They are the parents of the gods also; for to them exclusively belongs the epithet *deváputre*, ‘having the gods as sons’. They are in particular said to be the parents of Bṛhaspati (7, 97⁸) and, with the Waters and Tvaṣṭṛ, to have begotten Agni (10, 2⁷). At the same time they are in different passages spoken of as themselves created by individual gods. Thus a poet observes that he who produced heaven and earth must have been the most skilful artisan of all the gods (1, 160⁴; 4, 56³). Indra is said to have generated or fashioned them (6, 30⁵; 8, 36⁴; 10, 29⁶. 54³). Viśvakarman produced them (10, 81² cp. AV. 12, 1⁶⁰)⁵. They received their forms from Tvaṣṭṛ (10, 110⁹). They sprang from the head and feet of Puruṣa (10, 90¹⁴). But one poet is puzzled as to how they were produced and which of the two first came into being (1, 185¹; cp. p. 13)⁶. Many of the epithets applied to Dyāvāpṛthivī are suggested by their physical characteristics. The one is a prolific bull, the other a variegated cow (1, 160³). They are both rich in seed (1, 159²; 6, 70¹·²). They yield milk, ghee, and honey abundantly (6, 70^{1-5}), and produce *amṛta* (1, 159². 185⁶). They never grow old (6, 70¹). They are great (1, 159¹) and wide-extended (1, 160²). They are broad and great abodes (1, 185⁶).

c5.s6.2.3

They are fair-faced, wide, manifold, with ends which are far away (1, 185^{6. 7}). Sometimes, however, moral qualities are attributed to them. They are wise and promote righteousness (1, 159¹). As father and mother they guard beings (1, 160²) and protect from disgrace and misfortune (1, 185¹⁰). They grant food and wealth (6, 70⁶; 1, 159⁵) or bestow great fame and dominion (1, 160⁵). They are sufficiently personified to be called leaders of the sacrifice and to be conceived as seating themselves around the sacrifice (4, 56^{2. 7}), as coming to their worshippers along with the heavenly folk (7, 53²), or taking the sacrifice to the gods (2, 41²⁰). But Heaven and Earth never attained to a living personification or importance in worship. These two deities are quite coördinate. But in most of the other couples one of the two greatly predominates, his characteristic qualities being shared by his companion. Thus Indra-Agni are conjointly called 'wielders of the bolt' and 'Vṛtra-slayers'. Occasionally an attribute of the lesser deity is predicated of both. Thus Indra-Viṣṇu are together said to have taken wide strides (6, 69⁵). Frequent association of this kind may lead to a deity receiving by himself an epithet to which he originally had no right. Thus Agni when mentioned alone is often called a 'Vṛtra-slayer'. The characteristics of each member of the pair are, however, in some passages distinguished⁷.