In the Sanskrit language the myths common to the
Aryan nations are presented in, perhaps, their simplest form. Hence the
special value of Hindu myths in a study of Comparative Mythology. But it
would be an error to suppose that the myths of the Greeks, Romans,
Slavs, Norsemen, old Germans, and Celts were derived from those of the
Hindus. For the myths, like the languages, of all these various races,
of the Hindus included, are derived from one common source. Greek,
Latin, Sanskrit, etc., are but modifications of a primitive Aryan
language that was spoken by the early “Aryans” before they branched away
from their original home in Central Asia, to form new nationalities in
India, Greece, Northern Europe, Central Europe, etc.
The Sanskrit language is thus not
the mother, but the elder sister of Greek and the kindred tongues: and
Sanskrit or Hindu mythology is, in like manner, only the elder sister of
the other Aryan mythologies. It is by reason of the discovery of this
common origin of these languages that scholars have been enabled to
treat mythology scientifically. For example, many names unintelligible
in Greek are at once explained by the meaning of their Sanskrit
equivalents. Thus, the name of the chief Greek god, Zeus, conveys no
meaning in itself. But the Greek sky-god Zeus evidently corresponds to
the Hindu sky-god Dyaus, and this word is derived from a root
dyu meaning “to shine”. Zeus then, the Greek
theos, and the Latin
dues,
meant originally “the glistening ether”. Similarly other Greek names
are explained by their counterparts, or cognate words in Sanskrit. Thus
the name of Zeus’s wife, Hera, belongs to a Sanskrit root
svar,
and originally meant the bright sky: the goddess herself being primarily
the bright air. Athena is referred to Sanskrit names meaning the light
of dawn, and Erinys is explained by the Sanskrit
Saranyn.
In the Hindu Pantheon there are two great classes of gods — the Vedic
and the Brahmanic. The Vedic gods belong to the very earliest times,
appear obviously as elemental powers, and are such as would have been
worshipped by a simple, uninstructed, agricultural people. The Brahmanic
religion was, in great part at least, a refined development of the
former; and was gradually displacing the simpler worship of Vedism as
early as fifteen centuries or more before the birth of Christ. Five or
six centuries before the last event, Dissent, under the name and form of
Buddhism, became the chief religion of India; but in about ten
centuries Brahmanism recovered its old position. Buddhism now retains
but comparatively few followers in India. Its chief holds are in Burma,
Siam, Japan, Thibet, Nepaul, China, and Mongolia: and its followers, in
the present day, perhaps outnumber those of all other religions put
together.
The Vedic Gods
DYAUS was, as we have already indicated, the god of the bright sky, his name being connected with that of Zeus through the root
dyu.
As such Dyaus was the Hindu rain-god, i.e., primarily, the sky from
which the rain fell. That the god-name and the sky-name were thus
interchangeable is evident from such classical expressions as that "Zeus
rains" (i.e., the sky rains), and meaning a damp atmosphere. In such
expressions there is hardly any mythological suggestion: and the meaning
of the name Dyaus, — like those of the names Ouranos and Kronos in
Greek, — always remained too transparent for it to become the nucleus of
a myth. Dyaus, however, was occasionally spoken of as an overruling
spirit. The epithet,
Dyaus pitar, is simply
Zeus pater —
Zeus the father; or, as it is spelled in Latin, Jupiter. Another of his
names, Janita, is the Sanskrit for genitor, a title of Zeus as the
father or producer. Dyaus finally gave place to his son Indra.
VARUNA is also a sky-god: according to another account, a water-god. The name is derived from
Var, to cover, or to overarch: and so far
Varuna
means “the vault of heaven”. Here, then, we seem to find a clue to the
meaning of the Greek Ouranos, whom we already know to have been a
sky-god:
Ouranos means “the coverer”, but, as observed above, the
name would have remained unintelligible apart from its reference to the
Sanskrit name. The myth of Varuna is a wonderful instance of the
readiness and completeness with which the Hindu genius spiritualized its
sense impressions. From the conception of air (or breath), the
thousand-eyed (or starred) Varuna who overlooked all men and things, the
Indian Aryans passed to the loftier conception of Varuna as an
all-seeing god or providence, whose spies, or angels, saw all that took
place. Some of the finest passages in the Vedic hymns are those in which
the all-seeing Varuna is addressed: as in the following verses — the
second of which is so remarkable for its pathetic beauty — from Müller’s
Rigveda:
Let me not yet, O Varuna, enter into the house of clay: have mercy, Almighty, have mercy!
If I go along trembling like a cloud driven by the wind : have mercy, Almighty, have mercy!
Through want of strength, thou strong and bright god, have I gone to the wrong shore: have mercy, Almighty, have mercy!
Thirst came upon the worshipper, tho’ he stood in the midst of the waters: have mercy, Almighty, have mercy!
Whenever we men, O Varuna, commit an offence before the
heavenly host, whenever we break thy law through thoughtlessness: have
mercy, Almighty, have mercy!
This complete transition from the physical to the spiritual, this
abstract or contemplative bias of the Hindu mind, is curiously instanced
in the name Aditi. Originally it meant the illimitable space of sky
beyond the far east, whence the bright light gods sprang. Then Aditi
became a name for the mother in whose lap the gods were nursed; and
finally, it seems a name for the incomprehensible and Infinite and
Absolute of the metaphysicians.
INDRA — The connection, or identity, between Zeus
and Dyaus seems to be chiefly a philological one. There is a greater
resemblance between Indra and Zeus than between Zeus and Dyaus. Indra,
as the hurler of the thunderbolts, and as a “cloud compeller”, coincides
with Zeus and Thor.
The myth of Indra — the favourite Vedic god — is a further instance
of that transition from the physical to spiritual meaning to which we
have referred; though Indra is by no means so spiritual a being as
Varuna. It is also a good instance of the fact that, as the comparative
mythologists express it, the further back the myths are traced the more
“atmospheric” do the gods become. First, of the merely physical Indra.
His name is derived from
indu, “drop-sap”. He is thus the god of rain. The name
parjanya
means “rain-bringer”. Indra shatters the cloud with his bolt, and
releases the imprisoned waters. His purely physical origin is further
indicated by the mythical expression that the clouds moved in Indra as
the winds in Dyaus — an expression implying that Indra was a name for
the sky.
Also, the stories told of him correspond closely with some in
classical mythology. Like Hermes and Herakles, he was endowed with
precocious strength; like Hermes he goes in search of the cattle, the
clouds which the evil powers have driven away; and like Hermes he is
assisted by the breezes — though in the Hindu myth by the storms rather —
the Maruts, or the crushers. His beard of lightning is the red beard of
Thor. In a land with the climatic conditions of India, and among an
agricultural people, it was but natural that the god whose fertilizing
showers brought the corn and wine to maturity should be regarded as the
greatest of all.
He who as soon as born is the first of the deities, who has done
honour to the gods by his exploits; he at whose might heaven and earth
are alarmed, and who is known by the greatness of his strength: he, men,
is Indra.
He who fixed firm the moving earth; who tranquillized the incensed
mountains; who spread the spacious firmament; who consolidated the
heavens: he, men, is Indra.
He who, having destroyed Abi, set free the seven rivers: who
recovered the cows detained by Bale; who generated fire in the clouds;
who is invincible in battle: he, men, is Indra.
He under whose control are horses and cattle, and villages, and all
chariots; who gave birth to the sun and to the dawn; and who is the
leader of the waters: he, men, is Indra.
He to whom heaven and earth bow down,; he at whose might the
mountains are appalled; he who is the drinker of the Soma juice, the
firm of frame, the adamant armed, the wielder of the thunderbolt; he,
men, is Indra.
May we envelop thee with acceptable praises as husbands are embraced by their wives!