Vedic Mythology c5.s6.2.3

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.