The Religions of India Part 11

Upon a golden chariot he rides to battle, driving two or many red or yellow steeds; he is like the sun in brilliancy, and like the dawn in beauty; he is multiform, and cannot really be described; his divine name is secret; in appearance he is vigorous, huge; he is wise and true and kind; all treasures are his, and he is a wealth-holder, vast as four seas; neither his greatness nor his generosity can be comprehended; mightiest of G.o.ds is he, filling the universe; the heavens rest upon his head; earth cannot hold him; earth and heaven tremble at his breath; he is king of all; the mountains are to him as valleys; he goes forth a bull, raging, and rushes through the air, whirling up the dust; he breaks open the rain-containing clouds, and lets the rain pour down; as the Acvins restore the light, so he restores the rain; he is (like) fire born in three places; as the giver of rain which feeds, he creates the plants; he restores or begets Sun and Dawn (after the storm has pa.s.sed);[6] he creates (in the same way) all things, even heaven and earth; he is a.s.sociated with Vishnu and P[=u]shan (the sun-G.o.ds), with the Acvins, with the Maruts (storm-G.o.ds) as his especial followers, and with the artisan Ribhus.

With Varuna he is an Aditya, but he is also a.s.sociated with another group of G.o.ds, the Vasus (x. 66. 3), as Vasupati, or 'lord of the Vasus.' He goes with many forms (vi. 47. 18).[7]

The luminous character[8] of Indra, which has caused him to be identified with light-G.o.ds, can be understood only when one remembers that in India the rainy season is ushered in by such displays of lightning that the heavens are often illuminated in every direction at once; and not with a succession of flashes, but with contemporaneous ubiquitous sheets of light, so that it appears as if on all sides of the sky there was one lining of united dazzling flame. When it is said that Indra 'placed light in light,' one is not to understand, with Bergaigne, that Indra is identical with the sun, but that in day (light) Indra puts lightning (x. 54. 6; Bergaigne ii. p. 187).

Since Indra's lightning[9] is a form of fire, there is found in this union the first mystic dualism of two distinct G.o.ds as one. This comes out more in Agni-wors.h.i.+p than in Indra-wors.h.i.+p, and will be treated below. The snake or dragon killed by Indra is Vritra, the restrainer, who catches and keeps in the clouds the rain that is falling to earth.

He often is called simply the snake, and as the Budhnya Snake, or snake of the cloud-depths, is possibly the Python (=Budh-nya).[10]

There is here a touch of primitive belief in an old enemy of man--the serpent! But the Budhnya Snake has been developed in opposite ways, and has contradictory functions.[11]

Indra, however, is no more the lightning than he is the sun. One poet says that he is like the sun;[12] another, that he is like the lightning (viii. 93. 9), which he carries in his arms (viii. 12. 7); another, that he is like the light of dawn (x. 89. 12). So various are the activities, so many the phenomena, that with him first the seer is obliged to look back of all these phenomena and find in them one person; and thus he is the most anthropomorphized of the Vedic G.o.ds.

He is born of heaven or born of clouds (iv. 18), but that his mother is Aditi is not certain. As the most powerful G.o.d Indra is again regarded as the All-G.o.d (viii. 98. 1-2). With this final supremacy, that distinction between battle-G.o.ds and G.o.ds sovereign, which Bergaigne insists upon--the sovereign G.o.ds belonging to _une conception unitaire de l'ordre du monde_ (iii. p. 3; ii. p.

167)--fades away. As Varuna became gradually greatest, so did Indra in turn. But Varuna was a philosopher's G.o.d, not a warrior's; and Varuna was not double and mystical. So even the priest (Agni) leaves Varuna, and with the warrior takes more pleasure in his twin Indra; of him making an All-G.o.d, a greatest G.o.d. Varuna is pa.s.sive; Indra is energetic; but Indra does not struggle for his lords.h.i.+p. Inspired by _soma_, he smites, triumphs, punishes. Victor already, he descends upon his enemies and with a blow destroys them. It is rarely that he feels the effect of battle; he never doubts its issue.

There is evidence that this supremacy was not gained without contradiction, and the novelty of the last extravagant Indra-wors.h.i.+p may be deduced, perhaps, from such pa.s.sages as viii. 96. 15; and 100.

3, where are expressed doubts in regard to the existence of a real Indra. How late is the wors.h.i.+p of the popular Indra, and that it is not originality that causes his hymns to be placed early in each collection, may be judged from the fact that only of Indra (and Agni?) are there idols: viii. 1. 5; iv. 24. 10: "Who gives ten cows for my Indra? When he has slain his foe let (the purchaser) give him to me again."[13] Thus it happens that one rarely finds such poems to Indra as to Dawn and to other earlier deities, but almost always stereotyped descriptions of prowess, and mechanical invitations to come to the altar and reward the hymn-maker. There are few of Indra's many hymns that do not smack of _soma_ and sacrifice. He is a warrior's G.o.d exploited by priests; as popularly conceived, a sensual giant, friend, brother, helper of man. One example of poetry, instead of ritualistic verse-making to Indra, has been translated in the introductory chapter. Another, which, if not very inspiring, is at least free from obvious _soma_-wors.h.i.+p--which results in Indra being invoked chiefly to come and drink--is as follows (vi. 30):

Great hath he grown, Indra, for deeds heroic; Ageless is he alone, alone gives riches; Beyond the heaven and earth hath Indra stretched him, The half of him against both worlds together!

So high and great I deem his G.o.dly nature; What he hath stablished there is none impairs it.

Day after day a sun is he conspicuous, And, wisely strong, divides the wide dominions.

To-day and now (thou makest) the work of rivers, In that, O Indra, thou hast hewn them pathway.

The hills have bowed them down as were they comrades; By thee, O wisely strong, are s.p.a.ces fastened.

'Tis true, like thee, O Indra, is no other, Nor G.o.d nor mortal is more venerable.

Thou slew'st the dragon that the flood encompa.s.sed, Thou didst let out the waters to the ocean.

Thou didst the waters free, the doors wide opening, Thou, Indra, brak'st the stronghold of the mountains, Becamest king of all that goes and moveth, Begetting sun and heaven and dawn together.

THE MARUTS.

These G.o.ds, the constant followers of Indra, from the present point of view are not of great importance, except as showing an unadulterated type of nature-G.o.ds, wors.h.i.+pped without much esoteric wisdom (although there is a certain amount of mystery in connection with their birth).

There is something of the same pleasure in singing to them as is discernible in the hymns to Dawn. They are the real storm-G.o.ds, following Rudra, their father, and accompanying the great storm-bringer, Indra. Their mother is the variegated cow Pricni, the mother cloud. Their name means the s.h.i.+ning, gleaming ones.

HYMN TO THE MARUTS (vii. 56. 1-10).

Who, sooth, are the gleaming related heroes, the glory of Rudra, on beauteous chargers?

For of them the birthplace no man hath witnessed; they only know it, their mutual birthplace.

With wings expanded they sweep each other,[14]

and strive together, the wind-loud falcons.

Wise he that knoweth this secret knowledge, that Pricni the great one to them was mother.[15]

This folk the Maruts shall make heroic, victorious ever, increased in manhood; In speed the swiftest, in light the lightest, with grace united and fierce in power-- Your power fierce is; your strength, enduring; and hence with the Maruts this folk is mighty.

Your fury fair is, your hearts are wrothful, like maniacs wild is your band courageous.

From us keep wholly the gleaming lightning; let not your anger come here to meet us.

Your names of strong ones endeared invoke I, that these delighted may joy, O Maruts.

What little reflection or moral significance is in the Marut hymns is ill.u.s.trated by i. 38. 1-9, thus translated by Muller:

What then now? When will ye take us as a dear father takes his son by both hands, O ye G.o.ds, for whom the sacred gra.s.s has been trimmed?

Where now? On what errand of yours are you going, in heaven, not on earth? Where are your cows sporting? Where are your newest favors, O Maruts? Where are blessings? Where all delights? If you, sons of Pricni, were mortals and your praiser an immortal, then never should your praiser be unwelcome, like a deer in pasture gra.s.s, nor should he go on the path of Yama.[16] Let not one sin after another, difficult to be conquered, overcome us; may it depart, together with greed. Truly they are terrible and powerful; even to the desert the Rudriyas bring rain that is never dried up. The lightning lows like a cow, it follows as a mother follows after her young, when the shower has been let loose. Even by day the Maruts create darkness with the water-bearing cloud, when they drench the earth, etc.

The number of the Maruts was originally seven, afterwards raised to thrice seven, and then given variously,[17] sometimes as high as thrice sixty. They are the servants, the bulls of Dyaus, the glory of Rudra (or perhaps the 'boys of Rudra'), divine, bright as suns, blameless and pure. They cover themselves with s.h.i.+ning adornment, chains of gold, gems, and turbans. On their heads are helmets of gold, and in their hands gleam arrows and daggers. Like heroes rus.h.i.+ng to battle, they stream onward. They are fair as deer; their roar is like that of lions. The mountains bow before them, thinking themselves to be valleys, and the hills bow down. Good warriors and good steeds are their gifts. They smite, they kill, they rend the rocks, they strip the trees like caterpillars; they rise together, and, like spokes in a wheel, are united in strength. Their female companion is Rodas[=i]

(lightning, from the same root as _rudra_, the 'red'). They are like wild boars, and (like the sun) they have metallic jaws. On their chariots are speckled hides; like birds they spread their wings; they strive in flight with each other. Before them the earth sways like a s.h.i.+p. They dance upon their path. Upon their chests for beauty's sake they bind gold armor. From the heavenly udder they milk down rain.

"Through whose wisdom, through whose design do they come?" cries the poet. They have no real adversary. The kings of the forest they tear asunder, and make tremble even the rocks. Their music is heard on every side.[18]

RUDRA.

The father of the Maruts, Rudra, is 'the ruddy one,' _par excellence_ and so to him is ascribed paternity of the 'ruddy ones.' But while Indra has a plurality of hymns, Rudra has but few, and these it is not of special importance to cite. The features in each case are the same.

The Maruts remain as G.o.ds whose function causes them to be invoked chiefly that they may spare from the fury of the tempest. This idea is in Rudra's case carried out further, and he is specially called on to avert (not only 'cow-slaying' and 'man-slaying' by lightning,[19] but also) disease, pestilence, etc. Hence is he preeminently, on the one hand, the kindly G.o.d who averts disease, and, on the other, of destruction in every form. From him Father Manu got wealth and health, and he is the fairest of beings, but, more, he is the strongest G.o.d (ii. 33. 3, 10). From such a prototype comes the later G.o.d of healing and woe--Rudra, who becomes civa.[20]

RAIN-G.o.dS.

There is one rather mechanical hymn directed to the Waters themselves as G.o.ddesses, where Indra is the G.o.d who gives them pa.s.sage. But in the unique hymn to the Rivers it is Varuna who, as general G.o.d of water, is represented as their patron. In the first hymn the rain-water is meant.[21] A description in somewhat jovial vein of the joy produced by the rain after long drought forms the subject matter of another lyric (less an hymn than a poem), which serves to ill.u.s.trate the position of the priests at the end of this Vedic collection. The frogs are jocosely compared to priests that have fulfilled their vow of silence; and their quacking is likened to the noise of students learning the Veda. Parjanya is the G.o.d that, in distinction from Indra as the first cause, actually pours down the rain-drops.

THE FROGS.[22]

As priests that have their vows fulfilled, Reposing for a year complete, The frogs have now begun to talk,-- Parjanya has their voice aroused.

When down the heavenly waters come upon him, Who like a dry bag lay within the river, Then, like the cows' loud lowing (cows that calves have), The vocal sound of frogs comes all together.

When on the longing, thirsty ones it raineth, (The rainy season having come upon them), Then _akkala_![23] they cry; and one the other Greets with his speech, as sons address a father.

The one the other welcomes, and together They both rejoice at falling of the waters; The spotted frog hops when the rain has wet him, And with his yellow comrade joins his utterance.

When one of these the other's voice repeateth, Just as a student imitates his teacher, Then like united members with fair voices, They all together sing among the waters.

One like an ox doth bellow, goat-like one bleats; Spotted is one, and one of them is yellow; Alike in name, but in appearance different, In many ways the voice they, speaking, vary.

As priests about th' intoxicating[24] _soma_ Talk as they stand before the well-filled vessel, So stand ye round about this day once yearly, On which, O frogs, the time of rain approaches.

(Like) priests who _soma_ have, they raise their voices, And pray the prayer that once a year is uttered; (Like) heated priests who sweat at sacrifices, They all come out, concealed of them is no one.

The sacred order of the (year) twelve-membered, These heroes guard, and never do neglect it; When every year, the rainy season coming, The burning heat receiveth its dismission.[25]

In one hymn no less than four G.o.ds are especially invoked for rain--Agni, Brihaspati, Indra, and Parjanya. The two first are sacrificially potent; Brihaspati, especially, gives to the priest the song that has power to bring rain; he comes either 'as Mitra-Varuna or P[=u]shan,' and 'lets Parjanya rain'; while in the same breath Indra is exhorted to send a flood of rain,--rains which are here kept back by the G.o.ds,[26]--and Agni is immediately afterwards asked to perform the same favor, apparently as an a.n.a.logue to the streams of oblation which the priest pours on the fire. Of these G.o.ds, the pluvius is Parjanya:

Parjanya loud extol in song, The fructifying son of heaven; May he provide us pasturage!

He who the fruitful seed of plants, Of cows and mares and women forms, He is the G.o.d Parjanya.

For him the melted b.u.t.ter pour In (Agni's) mouth,--a honeyed sweet,-- And may he constant food bestow![27]

This G.o.d is the rain-cloud personified,[28] but he is scarcely to be distinguished, in other places, from Indra; although the latter, as the greater, newer G.o.d, is represented rather as causing the rain to flow, while Parjanya pours it down. Like Varuna, Parjanya also upsets a water-barrel, and wets the earth. He is identical with the Slavic Perkuna.

For natural expression, vividness, energy, and beauty, the following hymn is unsurpa.s.sed. As a G.o.d unjustly driven out of the pantheon, it is, perhaps, only just that he should be exhibited, in contrast to the tone of the sacrificial hymnlet above, in his true light.

Occasionally he is paired with Wind; and in the curious tendency of the poets to dualize their divinities, the two become a compound, _Parjanyav[=a]t[=a]_ ("Parjanya and V[=a]ta"). There is, also, vii.

101, one mystic hymn to Parjanya. The following, v. 83, breathes quite a different spirit:[29]

Greet him, the mighty one, with these laudations, Parjanya praise, and call him humbly hither; With roar and rattle pours the bull his waters, And lays his seed in all the plants, a foetus.

He smites the trees, and smites the evil demons, too; While every creature fears before his mighty blow, E'en he that hath not sinned, from this strong G.o.d retreats, When smites Parjanya, thundering, those that evil do.