Vedic Mythology c6.s4: § 54. Aṅgirases

Vedic Mythology c6.s4

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§ 54. Aṅgirases

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The Aṅgirases are sons of heaven² (3, 53⁷; 10, 67² cp. 4, 2¹⁵). They are seers who are sons of the gods (10, 62⁴). A single Aṅgiras being regarded as their ancestor, they are also termed 'sons of Aṅgiras' (10, 62⁵). Poets speak of them as 'fathers' (ib. ²), 'our fathers' (1, 71²), or 'our ancient fathers' (1, 62²). They are once mentioned as fathers with the Atharvans and Bhṛgus (10, 14⁶), being especially associated with Yama (ib.³⁻⁵). They are also in a more general way connected with other groups of divine beings, the Ādityas, Vasus, Maruts (7, 44⁴; 8, 35¹⁴), or the Ādityas, Rudras, Vasus, as well as the Atharvans (AV. 11, 8¹³). Soma is offered to them (9, 62⁹), and they are invoked like gods (3, 53⁷; 10, 62). They are brahman priests (7, 42¹). They found Agni hidden in the wood (5, 11⁶) and thought of the first ordinance of sacrifice (10, 67²). It is by sacrifice that they obtained immortality as well as the friendship of Indra (10, 62¹).

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With the latter deity the Aṅgirases are closely associated. To them Indra disclosed the cows (8, 52³), for them he opened the stall (1, 51³. 134⁴), and drove out the cows which were hidden, casting down Vala (8, 14⁸). Accompanied by them Indra pierced Vala (2, 11²⁰) and drove out the cows (6, 17⁶). As their leader Indra is twice called *aṅgirastama*, chief Aṅgiras (1, 100⁴. 130³). Soma (as inspiring Indra) is also once said to have opened the cowstall for the Aṅgirases (9, 86²³). In connexion with the myth of the deliverance of the cows the song of the Aṅgirases is characteristic. Praised by them Indra pierced Vala (2, 15⁸), and burst the cowstalls (4, 16¹⁸), slew Vala and opened his citadels (6, 18⁵), or dispelled the darkness, spread out the earth, and established the lower space of heaven (1, 62⁵). So characteristic is their singing that the Maruts with their varied songs are said to be like the Aṅgirases (10, 78⁵), and the gods are invoked to the offering with the chants of the Aṅgirases (1, 107²). Hymns addressed by actual priests to Indra are also several times compared with those of the Aṅgirases (1, 62¹. ² &c). Incidentally Indra assumes a less prominent position than the Aṅgirases in the myth of the cows. Thus the Aṅgirases are said to have emptied the stall containing cows and horses, with Indra as their companion (10, 62⁷). Here we have the transition to the omission of Indra altogether, his characteristic action being directly attributed to the Aṅgirases themselves. By the rite they drove out the cows and pierced Vala (ib. ²), caused the sun to mount the sky, and spread out mother earth (ib. ³). By the rite they cleft the rock and shouted with the cows (4, 3¹¹). Singing they found the cows (1, 62²). They burst the rock with their songs and found the light (1, 72²). The Aṅgirases are further connected with the finding of the cows of the Paṇis for Indra by Saramā (10, 108⁸. ¹⁰), who is said to have assisted Indra and the Aṅgirases in tracking them (1, 62³ cp. 72⁸). The Aṅgirases are also described alone as having found the cows and steeds of Paṇi (1, 83⁴). Bṛhaspati, who is connected with the same myth (10, 108⁶. ¹¹), receives the epithet *Āṅgirasa* when piercing the rock and capturing the cows (6, 73¹) or giving cows like Bhaga (10, 68²).

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Bṛhaspati is even directly called Aṅgiras when he drives out the cows and releases the waters with Indra (2, 23¹⁸). Otherwise in nearly all the occurrences of the word in the singular, Aṅgiras is an epithet of Agni, who is the first seer Aṅgiras (1, 31¹), the ancient Aṅgiras (10, 92¹⁵) or the oldest (1, 127²) and the most inspired (6, 11³) of the Aṅgirases. Agni is several times also called the chief Aṅgiras (1, 75² &c.). This term is, however, once or twice applied to Indra, Uṣas, and Soma. Sometimes Aṅgiras only designates an ancient priest without direct allusion to Agni, as when ‘the ancient Aṅgiras’ is mentioned in an enumeration of ancestors (1, 139⁹) or when the context shows that in the form *aṅgirasvat* the singular sense ‘like Aṅgiras’ is meant (1, 45³). In one passage (1, 31¹⁷), in which the poet exclaims, ‘O Agni, come to us as to Manus, as to Aṅgiras, o Aṅgiras’, the name designates both the ancestor and Agni.

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¹ KHF. 10; OST. 5, 23; GW.; BRV. 1, 47—8; 2, 308—21; WC. 69—72; ORV. 127—8. —

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² Cp. BDA. 45. —

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According to the tradition found in the Anukramaṇī of the RV., the Aṅgirases must have been regarded as an actual priestly family, as the composition of the ninth book is attributed to members of it³. Priestly families also seem to be alluded to in the compound Atharvā-aṅgirasaḥ, which occurs as a designation of the AV. in that Veda itself (AV. 10, 7²⁰) and later (ŚB. 11, 5, 6⁷ &c.)⁴.

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⁴ Cp. Bloomfield, JAOS. 17, 180—2; SBE. 42, xvii—xxvii. —

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On the whole it seems probable that the Aṅgirases were originally conceived as a race of higher beings intermediate between gods and men, as attendants of Agni, who is so often described as a messenger between heaven and earth (p. 96), and that their priestly character was a later development⁵. They may possibly have been personifications of the flames of fire as messengers to heaven (cp. RV. 7, 3³). This view is borne out by the etymological connexion of *aṅgiras* with the Greek ἄγγελος, ‘messenger’⁶. Weber, however, is of opinion that they were originally priests of the Indo-Iranian period⁷.

Cites (3)

Ṛgvedasaṃhitā — Sanskrit
Atharvavedasaṃhitā — Atharvan & Aṅgiras, Sanskrit
Śatapathabrāhmaṇa — Yājñavalkya & Śāṇḍilya (Vedic teacher), Sanskrit