A History of Sanskrit Literature Part 3

The hymns of the Rigveda being mainly invocations of the G.o.ds, their contents are largely mythological. Special interest attaches to this mythology, because it represents an earlier stage of thought than is to be found in any other literature. It is sufficiently primitive to enable us to see clearly the process of personification by which natural phenomena developed into G.o.ds. Never observing, in his ordinary life, action or movement not caused by an acting or moving person, the Vedic Indian, like man in a much less advanced state, still refers such occurrences in Nature to personal agents, which to him are inherent in the phenomena. He still looks out upon the workings of Nature with childlike astonishment. One poet asks why the sun does not fall from the sky; another wonders where the stars go by day; while a third marvels that the waters of all rivers constantly flowing into it never fill the ocean. The unvarying regularity of sun and moon, and the unfailing recurrence of the dawn, however, suggested to these ancient singers the idea of the unchanging order that prevails in Nature. The notion of this general law, recognised under the name rita (properly the "course" of things), we find in the Rigveda extended first to the fixed rules of the sacrifice (rite), and then to those of morality (right). Though the mythological phase presented by the Rigveda is comparatively primitive, it yet contains many conceptions inherited from previous ages. The parallels of the Avesta show that several of the Vedic deities go back to the time when the ancestors of Persians and Indians were still one people. Among these may be mentioned Yama, G.o.d of the dead, identical with Yima, ruler of paradise, and especially Mitra, the cult of whose Persian counterpart, Mithra, obtained from 200-400 A.D. a world-wide diffusion in the Roman Empire, and came nearer to monotheism than the cult of any other G.o.d in paganism.

Various religious practices can also be traced back to that early age, such as the worship of fire and the cult of the plant Soma (the Avestan Haoma). The veneration of the cow, too, dates from that time. A religious hymn poetry must have existed even then, for stanzas of four eleven-syllable (the Vedic trishtubh) and of four or three eight-syllable lines (a.n.u.shtubh and gayatri) were already known, as is proved by the agreement of the Avesta with the Rigveda.

From the still earlier Indo-European period had come down the general conception of "G.o.d" (deva-s, Lat. deu-s) and that of heaven as a divine father (Dyaus pita, Gr. Zeus pater, Lat. Jupiter). Probably from an even remoter antiquity is derived the notion of heaven and earth as primeval and universal parents, as well as many magical beliefs.

The universe appeared to the poets of the Rigveda to be divided into the three domains of earth, air, and heaven, a division perhaps also known to the early Greeks. This is the favourite triad of the Rigveda, constantly mentioned expressly or by implication. The solar phenomena are referred to heaven, while those of lightning, rain, and wind belong to the air. In the three worlds the various G.o.ds perform their actions, though they are supposed to dwell only in the third, the home of light. The air is often called a sea, as the abode of the celestial waters, while the great rainless clouds are conceived sometimes as rocks or mountains, sometimes as the castles of demons who war against the G.o.ds. The thundering rain-clouds become lowing cows, whose milk is shed and bestows fatness upon the earth.

The higher G.o.ds of the Rigveda are almost entirely personifications of natural phenomena, such as Sun, Dawn, Fire, Wind. Excepting a few deities surviving from an older period, the G.o.ds are, for the most part, more or less clearly connected with their physical foundation. The personifications being therefore but slightly developed, lack definiteness of outline and individuality of character. Moreover, the phenomena themselves which are behind the personifications have few distinctive traits, while they share some attributes with other phenomena belonging to the same domain. Thus Dawn, Sun, Fire have the common features of being luminous, dispelling darkness, appearing in the morning. Hence the character of each G.o.d is made up of only a few essential qualities combined with many others which are common to all the G.o.ds, such as brilliance, power, beneficence, and wisdom. These common attributes tend to obscure those which are distinctive, because in hymns of prayer and praise the former naturally a.s.sume special importance. Again, G.o.ds belonging to different departments of nature, but having striking features in common, are apt to grow more like each other. a.s.similation of this kind is encouraged by a peculiar practice of the Vedic poets--the invocation of deities in pairs. Such combinations result in attributes peculiar to the one G.o.d attaching themselves to the other, even when the latter appears alone. Thus when the Fire-G.o.d, invoked by himself, is called a slayer of the demon Vritra, he receives an attribute distinctive of the thunder-G.o.d Indra, with whom he is often coupled. The possibility of a.s.signing nearly every power to every G.o.d rendered the identification of one deity with another an easy matter. Such identifications are frequent enough in the Rigveda. For example, a poet addressing the fire-G.o.d exclaims: "Thou at thy birth, O Agni, art Varuna; when kindled thou becomest Mitra; in thee, O Son of Might, all G.o.ds are centred; thou art Indra to the worshipper" (v. 3, 1).

Moreover, mystical speculations on the nature of Agni, so important a G.o.d in the eyes of a priesthood devoted to a fire-cult, on his many manifestations as individual fires on earth, and on his other aspects as atmospheric fire in lightning and as celestial fire in the sun--aspects which the Vedic poets are fond of alluding to in riddles--would suggest the idea that various deities are but different forms of a single divine being. This idea is found in more than one pa.s.sage of the later hymns of the Rigveda. Thus the composer of a recent hymn (164) of the first book says: "The one being priests speak of in many ways; they call it Agni, Yama, Mataricvan." Similarly, a seer of the last book (x. 114) remarks: "Priests and poets with words make into many the bird (i.e. the sun) which is but one." Utterances like these show that by the end of the Rigvedic period the polytheism of the Rishis had received a monotheistic tinge.

Occasionally we even find shadowed forth the pantheistic idea of a deity representing not only all the G.o.ds, but Nature as well. Thus the G.o.ddess Aditi is identified with all the deities, with men, with all that has been and shall be born, with air, and heaven (i. 89); and in a cosmogonic hymn (x. 121) the Creator is not only described as the one G.o.d above all G.o.ds, but is said [3] to embrace all things. This germ of pantheism developed through the later Vedic literature till it a.s.sumed its final shape in the Vedanta philosophy, still the most popular system of the Hindus.

The practice of the poets, even in the older parts of the Rigveda, of invoking different G.o.ds as if each of them were paramount, gave rise to Professor Max Muller's theory of Henotheism or Kathenotheism, according to which the seers held "the belief in individual G.o.ds alternately regarded as the highest," and for the moment treated the G.o.d addressed as if he were an absolutely independent and supreme deity, alone present to the mind. In reality, however, the practice of the poets of the Rigveda hardly amounts to more than the exaggeration--to be found in the Homeric hymns also--with which a singer would naturally magnify the particular G.o.d whom he is invoking. For the Rishis well knew the exact position of each G.o.d in the Soma ritual, in which nearly every member of the pantheon found a place.

The G.o.ds, in the view of the Vedic poets, had a beginning; for they are described as the offspring of heaven and earth, or sometimes of other G.o.ds. This in itself implies different generations, but earlier G.o.ds are also expressly referred to in several pa.s.sages. Nor were the G.o.ds regarded as originally immortal; for immortality is said to have been bestowed upon them by individual deities, such as Agni and Savitri, or to have been acquired by drinking soma. Indra and other G.o.ds are spoken of as unaging, but whether their immortality was regarded by the poets as absolute there is no evidence to show. In the post-Vedic view it was only relative, being limited to a cosmic age.

The physical aspect of the Vedic G.o.ds is anthropomorphic. Thus head, face, eyes, arms, hands, feet, and other portions of the human frame are ascribed to them. But their forms are shadowy and their limbs or parts are often simply meant figuratively to describe their activities. Thus the tongue and limbs of the fire-G.o.d are merely his flames; the arms of the sun-G.o.d are simply his rays, while his eye only represents the solar orb. Since the outward shape of the G.o.ds was thus vaguely conceived, while their connection with natural phenomena was in many instances still evident, it is easy to understand why no mention is made in the Rigveda of images of the G.o.ds, still less of temples, which imply the existence of images. Idols first begin to be referred to in the Sutras.

Some of the G.o.ds appear equipped as warriors, wearing coats of mail and helmets, and armed with spears, battle-axes, bows and arrows. They all drive through the air in luminous cars, generally drawn by horses, but in some cases by kine, goats, or deer. In their cars the G.o.ds come to seat themselves at the sacrifice, which, however, is also conveyed to them in heaven by Agni. They are on the whole conceived as dwelling together in harmony; the only one who ever introduces a note of discord being the warlike and overbearing Indra.

To the successful and therefore optimistic Vedic Indian, the G.o.ds seemed almost exclusively beneficent beings, bestowers of long life and prosperity. Indeed, the only deity in whom injurious features are at all prominent is Rudra. The lesser evils closely connected with human life, such as disease, proceed from minor demons, while the greater evils manifested in Nature, such as drought and darkness, are produced by powerful demons like Vritra. The conquest of these demons brings out all the more strikingly the beneficent nature of the G.o.ds.

The character of the Vedic G.o.ds is also moral. They are "true" and "not deceitful," being throughout the friends and guardians of honesty and virtue. But the divine morality only reflects the ethical standard of an early civilisation. Thus even the alliance of Varuna, the most moral of the G.o.ds, with righteousness is not such as to prevent him from employing craft against the hostile and the deceitful man. Moral elevation is, on the whole, a less prominent characteristic of the G.o.ds than greatness and power.

The relation of the worshipper to the G.o.ds in the Rigveda is in general one of dependence on their will, prayers and sacrifices being offered to win their favour or forgiveness. The expectation of something in return for the offering is, however, frequently apparent, and the keynote of many a hymn is, "I give to thee that thou mayst give to me." The idea is also often expressed that the might and valour of the G.o.ds is produced by hymns, sacrifices, and especially offerings of soma. Here we find the germs of sacerdotal pretensions which gradually increased during the Vedic age. Thus the statement occurs in the White Yajurveda that the Brahman who possesses correct knowledge has the G.o.ds in his power. The Brahmanas go a step farther in saying that there are two kinds of G.o.ds, the Devas and the Brahmans, the latter of whom are to be held as deities among men. In the Brahmanas, too, the sacrifice is represented as all-powerful, controlling not only the G.o.ds, but the very processes of nature.

The number of the G.o.ds is stated in the Rigveda itself to be thirty-three, several times expressed as thrice eleven, when each group is regarded as corresponding to one of the divisions of the threefold universe. This aggregate could not always have been deemed exhaustive, for sometimes other G.o.ds are mentioned in addition to the thirty-three. Nor can this number, of course, include various groups, such as the storm-G.o.ds.

There are, however, hardly twenty individual deities important enough in the Rigveda to have at least three entire hymns addressed to them. The most prominent of these are Indra, the thunder-G.o.d, with at least 250 hymns, Agni with about 200, and Soma with over 100; while Parjanya, G.o.d of rain, and Yama, G.o.d of the dead, are invoked in only three each. The rest occupy various positions between these two extremes. It is somewhat remarkable that the two great deities of modern Hinduism, Vishnu and civa, who are equal in importance, should have been on the same level, though far below the leading deities, three thousand years ago, as Vishnu and Rudra (the earlier form of civa) in the Rigveda. Even then they show the same general characteristics as now, Vishnu being specially benevolent and Rudra terrible.

The oldest among the G.o.ds of heaven is Dyaus (identical with the Greek Zeus). This personification of the sky as a G.o.d never went beyond a rudimentary stage in the Rigveda, being almost entirely limited to the idea of paternity. Dyaus is generally coupled with Prithivi, Earth, the pair being celebrated in six hymns as universal parents. In a few pa.s.sages Dyaus is called a bull, ruddy and bellowing downwards, with reference to the fertilising power of rain no less than to the lightning and thundering heavens. He is also once compared with a black steed decked with pearls, in obvious allusion to the nocturnal star-spangled sky. One poet describes this G.o.d as furnished with a bolt, while another speaks of him as "Dyaus smiling through the clouds," meaning the lightening sky. In several other pa.s.sages of the Rigveda the verb "to smile" (smi) alludes to lightning, just as in cla.s.sical Sanskrit a smile is constantly compared with objects of dazzling whiteness.

A much more important deity of the sky is Varuna, in whom the personification has proceeded so far that the natural phenomenon which underlies it can only be inferred from traits in his character. This obscurity of origin arises partly from his not being a creation of Indian mythology, but a heritage from an earlier age, and partly from his name not at the same time designating a natural phenomenon, like that of Dyaus. The word varuna-s seems to have originally meant the "encompa.s.sing" sky, and is probably the same word as the Greek Ouranos, though the identification presents some phonetic difficulties. Varuna is invoked in far fewer hymns than Indra, Agni, or Soma, but he is undoubtedly the greatest of the Vedic G.o.ds by the side of Indra. While Indra is the great warrior, Varuna is the great upholder of physical and moral order (rita). The hymns addressed to him are more ethical and devout in tone than any others. They form the most exalted portion of the Veda, often resembling in character the Hebrew psalms. The peaceful sway of Varuna is explained by his connection with the regularly recurring celestial phenomena, the course of the heavenly bodies seen in the sky; Indra's warlike and occasionally capricious nature is accounted for by the variable and uncertain strife of the elements in the thunderstorm. The character and power of Varuna may be sketched as nearly as possible in the words of the Vedic poets themselves as follows. By the law of Varuna heaven and earth are held apart. He made the golden swing (the sun) to shine in heaven. He has made a wide path for the sun. The wind which resounds through the air is Varuna's breath. By his ordinances the moon shining brightly moves at night, and the stars placed up on high are seen at night but disappear by day. He causes the rivers to flow; they stream unceasingly according to his ordinance. By his occult power the rivers swiftly pouring into the ocean do not fill it with water. He makes the inverted cask to pour its waters and to moisten the ground, while the mountains are wrapt in cloud. It is chiefly with these aerial waters that he is connected, very rarely with the sea.

Varuna's omniscience is often dwelt on. He knows the flight of the birds in the sky, the path of ships in the ocean, the course of the far-travelling wind. He beholds all the secret things that have been or shall be done. He witnesses men's truth and falsehood. No creature can even wink without him. As a moral governor Varuna stands far above any other deity. His wrath is roused by sin, which is the infringement of his ordinances, and which he severely punishes. The fetters with which he binds sinners are often mentioned. A dispeller, hater, and punisher of falsehood, he is gracious to the penitent. He releases men not only from the sins which they themselves commit, but from those committed by their fathers. He spares the suppliant who daily transgresses his laws, and is gracious to those who have broken his ordinances by thoughtlessness. There is, in fact, no hymn to Varuna in which the prayer for forgiveness of guilt does not occur, as in the hymns to other deities the prayer for worldly goods.

With the growth of the conception of the creator, Praj.a.pati, as a supreme deity, the characteristics of Varuna as a sovereign G.o.d naturally faded away, and the dominion of waters, only a part of his original sphere, alone remained. This is already partly the case in the Atharva-veda, and in post-Vedic mythology he is only an Indian Neptune, G.o.d of the sea.

The following stanzas from a hymn to Varuna (vii. 89) will ill.u.s.trate the spirit of the prayers addressed to him:--

May I not yet, King Varuna, Go down into the house of clay: Have mercy, spare me, mighty Lord.

Thirst has come on thy worshipper Though standing in the waters' midst: [4]

Have mercy, spare me, mighty Lord.

O Varuna, whatever the offence may be That we as men commit against the heavenly folk When through our want of thought we violate thy laws, Chastise us not, O G.o.d, for that iniquity.

There are in the Rigveda five solar deities, differentiated as representing various aspects of the activity of the sun. One of the oldest of these, Mitra, the "Friend," seems to have been conceived as the beneficent side of the sun's power. Going back to the Indo-Iranian period, he has in the Rigveda almost entirely lost his individuality, which is practically merged in that of Varuna. With the latter he is constantly invoked, while only one single hymn (iii. 59) is addressed to him alone.

Surya (cognate in name to the Greek Helios) is the most concrete of the solar deities. For as his name also designates the luminary itself, his connection with the latter is never lost sight of. The eye of Surya is often mentioned, and Dawn is said to bring the eye of the G.o.ds. All-seeing, he is the spy of the whole world, beholding all beings and the good or bad deeds of mortals. Aroused by Surya, men pursue their objects and perform their work. He is the soul or guardian of all that moves and is fixed. He rides in a car, which is generally described as drawn by seven steeds. These he unyokes at sunset:--

When he has loosed his coursers from their station, Straightway Night over all spreads out her garment (i. 115, 4).

Surya rolls up the darkness like a skin, and the stars slink away like thieves. He shines forth from the lap of the dawns. He is also spoken of as the husband of Dawn. As a form of Agni, the G.o.ds placed him in heaven. He is often described as a bird or eagle traversing s.p.a.ce. He measures the days and prolongs life. He drives away disease and evil dreams. At his rising he is prayed to declare men sinless to Mitra and Varuna. All beings depend on Surya, and so he is called "all-creating."

Eleven hymns, or about the same number as to Surya, are addressed to another solar deity, Savitri, the "Stimulator," who represents the quickening activity of the sun. He is pre-eminently a golden deity, with golden hands and arms and a golden car. He raises aloft his strong golden arms, with which he blesses and arouses all beings, and which extend to the ends of the earth. He moves in his golden car, seeing all creatures, on a downward and an upward path. He shines after the path of the dawn. Beaming with the rays of the sun, yellow-haired, Savitri raises up his light continually from the east. He removes evil dreams and drives away demons and sorcerers. He bestows immortality on the G.o.ds as well as length of life on man. He also conducts the departed spirit to where the righteous dwell. The other G.o.ds follow Savitri's lead; no being, not even the most powerful G.o.ds, Indra and Varuna, can resist his will and independent sway. Savitri is not infrequently connected with the evening, being in one hymn (ii. 38) extolled as the setting sun:--

Borne by swift coursers, he will now unyoke them: The speeding chariot he has stayed from going.

He checks the speed of them that glide like serpents: Night has come on by Savitri's commandment.

The weaver rolls her outstretched web together, The skilled lay down their work in midst of toiling, The birds all seek their nests, their shed the cattle: Each to his lodging Savitri disperses.

To this G.o.d is addressed the most famous stanza of the Rigveda, with which, as the Stimulator, he was in ancient times invoked at the beginning of Vedic study, and which is still repeated by every orthodox Hindu in his morning prayers. From the name of the deity it is called the Savitri, but it is also often referred to as "the Gayatri," from the metre in which it is composed:--

May we attain that excellent Glory of Savitri the G.o.d, That he may stimulate our thoughts (iii. 62, 10).

A peculiarity of the hymns to Savitri is the perpetual play on his name with forms of the root su, "to stimulate," from which it is derived.

Pushan is invoked in some eight hymns of the Rigveda. His name means "Prosperer," and the conception underlying his character seems to be the beneficent power of the sun, manifested chiefly as a pastoral deity. His car is drawn by goats and he carries a goad. Knowing the ways of heaven, he conducts the dead on the far path to the fathers. He is also a guardian of roads, protecting cattle and guiding them with his goad. The welfare which he bestows results from the protection he extends to men and cattle on earth, and from his guidance of mortals to the abodes of bliss in the next world.

Judged by a statistical standard, Vishnu is only a deity of the fourth rank, less frequently invoked than Surya, Savitri, and Pushan in the Rigveda, but historically he is the most important of the solar deities. For he is one of the two great G.o.ds of modern Hinduism. The essential feature of his character is that he takes three strides, which doubtless represent the course of the sun through the three divisions of the universe. His highest step is heaven, where the G.o.ds and the fathers dwell. For this abode the poet expresses his longing in the following words (i. 154, 5):--

May I attain to that, his well-loved dwelling, Where men devoted to the G.o.ds are blessed: In Vishnu's highest step--he is our kinsman, Of mighty stride--there is a spring of nectar.

Vishnu seems to have been originally conceived as the sun, not in his general character, but as the personified swiftly moving luminary which with vast strides traverses the three worlds. He is in several pa.s.sages said to have taken his three steps for the benefit of man.

To this feature may be traced the myth of the Brahmanas in which Vishnu appears in the form of a dwarf as an artifice to recover the earth, now in the possession of demons, by taking his three strides. His character for benevolence was in post-Vedic mythology developed in the doctrine of the Avatars ("descents" to earth) or incarnations which he a.s.sumed for the good of humanity.

Ushas, G.o.ddess of dawn, is almost the only female deity to whom entire hymns are addressed, and the only one invoked with any frequency. She, however, is celebrated in some twenty hymns. The name, meaning the "Shining One," is cognate to the Latin Aurora and the Greek Eos. When the G.o.ddess is addressed, the physical phenomenon of dawn is never absent from the poet's mind. The fondness with which the thoughts of these priestly singers turned to her alone among the G.o.ddesses, though she received no share in the offering of soma like the other G.o.ds, seems to show that the glories of the dawn, more splendid in Northern India than those we are wont to see, deeply impressed the minds of these early poets. In any case, she is their most graceful creation, the charm of which is unsurpa.s.sed in the descriptive religious lyrics of any other literature. Here there are no priestly subtleties to obscure the brightness of her form, and few allusions to the sacrifice to mar the natural beauty of the imagery.

To enable the reader to estimate the merit of this poetry I will string together some utterances about the Dawn G.o.ddess, culled from various hymns, and expressed as nearly as possible in the words of their composers. Ushas is a radiant maiden, born in the sky, daughter of Dyaus. She is the bright sister of dark Night. She shines with the light of her lover, with the light of Surya, who beams after her path and follows her as a young man a maiden. She is borne on a brilliant car, drawn by ruddy steeds or kine. Arraying herself in gay attire like a dancer, she displays her bosom. Clothed upon with light, the maiden appears in the east and unveils her charms. Rising resplendent as from a bath, she shows her form. Effulgent in peerless beauty, she withholds her light from neither small nor great. She opens wide the gates of heaven; she opens the doors of darkness, as the cows (issue from) their stall. Her radiant beams appear like herds of cattle. She removes the black robe of night, warding off evil spirits and the hated darkness. She awakens creatures that have feet, and makes the birds fly up: she is the breath and life of everything. When Ushas shines forth, the birds fly up from their nests and men seek nourishment. She is the radiant mover of sweet sounds, the leader of the charm of pleasant voices. Day by day appearing at the appointed place, she never infringes the rule of order and of the G.o.ds; she goes straight along the path of order; knowing the way, she never loses her direction. As she shone in former days, so she shines now and will shine in future, never aging, immortal.

The solitude and stillness of the early morning sometimes suggested pensive thoughts about the fleeting nature of human life in contrast with the unending recurrence of the dawn. Thus one poet exclaims:--

Gone are the mortals who in former ages Beheld the flushing of the earlier morning.

We living men now look upon her shining; They are coming who shall in future see her (i. 113, 11).