"The sage whose spirit's gaze intense This God, the Soul (from fleshly eyes Impenetrably veiled) descries, No longer dotes on things of sense. "Derived from no anterior source, The soul, unborn, exempt from all "The smiter thinks that he can slay, The smitten fears that he is slain : The thoughts of both alike are vain; The soul survives the murderous fray. "Steel cannot cut, nor cleave, nor tear, "A man casts from him on the shelf His garments old, and newer takes; "The man who learns the soul to be He, by his Maker's grace, at last Its majesty attains to see. "It travels far and wide, at rest; Moves everywhere, although asleep; Say, who but I the secret deep Of this mysterious god has guessed? 498 The ideas in this and the preceding verse are taken from the Bhagavadgită. "By reasoning, thought, or many books, This hidden soul is sought in vain ; "Elected thus, the sage believes His oneness with the One supreme, "And soon from imperfection purged, And freed from circling life and death, He calmly yields his vital breath, And in the sovereign Soul is merged.499 499 In the last two verses I have stated the Vedantic doctrine more explicitly than it is expressed in the Katha Upanishad. 336 SECTION XXI. MINOR DIVINITIES. TRITA APTYA, AHIRBUDHNYA, AND AJA EKAPĀD. The following account of the deity, Trita, is given in the Lexicon of Messrs. Böhtlingk and Roth, s.v. :— "Trita is the name of a Vedic god, who appears principally in connection with the Maruts, Vata or Vayu, and Indra, and to whom, as to these other deities, combats with demons, Tvashtra, Vṛitra, the Serpent, and others are ascribed. He is called Aptya, and his abode is conceived of as remote and hidden: hence arises the custom of wishing that evil may depart to him. He bestows long life. Several passages show the lower and certainly later view of Trita, that he fights with the demons under the guidance and protection of Indra, and thus lead to the conception of a rishi Trita (Nirukta, iv. 6)." Reference has been already made to Trita (a) in p. 117, where Professor Roth's opinion, that he was an ancient god superseded by Indra, is quoted, (b) in p. 230, where two texts (R.V. x. 8, 8, and x. 99, 6), relating to his conflicts with the three-headed demon, are cited, and (c) in p. 195, where a prayer to Ushas, to drive away sleeplessness to Trita Aptya (R.V. viii. 47, 14 ff.) is adduced. Some of the other detached verses relating to this divinity (to whom no separate hymn is dedicated) are the following: i. 52, 5; i. 105, 9; i. 163, 2 f.; i. 187, 1; ii. 11, 19 f., etc. Ahirbudhnya is, according to the Lexicon of Messrs. Böhtlingk and Roth, 8.v., budhnya, "the Dragon of the deep, who is reckoned among the deities of the middle sphere." The deep in which he resides is the atmospheric ocean. Aja Ekapad is, according to the same authorities, s.v., "the Onefooted Impeller, probably a storm-god; according to the commentators he represents the sun." See Roth's Illustrations of the Nirukta, p. 165. These two gods, like Trita, are merely mentioned in detached verses. SECTION XX. THE GODDESSES MENTIONED IN THE VEDIC HYMNS. Of the goddesses mentioned in the Rig-veda some have been noticed already in former parts of this volume, viz., Prithivi (pp. 21 ff.); Aditi, the mother of the Adityas, and representative of the universe (pp. 35 ff.); Diti, her counterpart (p. 42 f.); Nishțigri, the mother (pp. 13 and 79), and Indrānī (p. 82), the wife of Indra; 500 Priśni, the mother of the Maruts (p. 147); Ushas (pp. 181 ff.); and Sūryā, the daughter of the Sun, and spouse of the Asvins, or of Soma (pp. 335 ff.). Various other goddesses are also celebrated in the hymns of the Rigveda, such as Agnāyī, Varuṇānī, Rodasī, Rākā, Sinīvālī, Sraddhā (Faith), Aramati, and the Apsarases, whose names, however, occur but rarely; and Sarasvati, with her cognates, who receive considerably greater prominence. In R.V. i. 22, 11, the goddesses, wives of the heroes (the gods), with uncut wings, are besought to protect and bless the worshipper (abhi no devir avasā mahaḥ śarmanā nṛipatnīḥ | achhinnapatrāḥ sachantām). Compare Vāj. S. xi. 61, and Satap. Br. vi. 5, 4, 8). (1) Sarasvati. Sarasvati is a goddess of some, though not of very great, importance in the Rig-veda. As observed by Yaska (Nirukta, ii. 23) she is celebrated both as a river and as a deity 501 (tatra Sarasvati ity etasya nadīvad devatāvach cha nigamāḥ bhavanti). As an instance of the former 600 Indrāni says, in R.V. x. 86, 9: "This mischievous creature lusts after me, as if I had no husband or sons, and yet I am the wife of Indra, and the mother of a hero," etc. (avīrām iva mām ayam sarārur abhi manyate | utāham asmi vīriņī Indrapatnī). Indrāṇī, as we have seen above, p. 82, is mentioned in the Taitt. Br. ii. 4, 2, 7, from which it appears that different goddesses had been competitors for the hand of Indra, and that Indrānī has been chosen because she surpassed them all in voluptuous attractions. In the same work, ii. 8, 8, 4, Vāch is said to be the wife of Indra. 601 See also Sayana on R.V. i. 3, 12: Dvividhā hi Sarasvatī vigrahavad-devatā nadi-rupā cha. character, he refers to R.V. vi. 61, 2, which I shall quote further on. She was no doubt primarily a river deity, as her name, "the watery," 50 clearly denotes, and in this capacity she is celebrated in a few separate passages. Allusion is made in the hymns, as well as in the Brahmanas (Rishayo vai Sarasvatyām satram āsata | ityādi | Ait. Br. ii. 19; Haug, vol. ii. p. 112) to sacrifices being performed on the banks of this river and of the adjoining Dṛishadvatī; 503 and the Sarasvatī in particular seems to have been associated with the reputation for sanctity, which, according to the well-known passage in the Institutes of Manu (ii. 17 f., quoted in the 2nd vol. of this work, p. 416 f.), was ascribed to the whole region, called Brahmävartta, lying between these two small streams, and situated immediately to the westward of the Jumna. The Sarasvati thus appears to have been to the early Indians what the Ganges (which is only twice named in the Rig-veda) became to their descendants. 504 Already in R.V. i. 3, 10 (where, however, she is perhaps regarded as the goddess of sacrifice) she is described as "the purifier" (pāvakā naḥ Sārasvati); and in R.V. x. 17, 10 = Vāj. San. 4, 2; A.V. vi. 51, 2 (after Sarasvati has been mentioned, verses 7-9), the waters are thus celebrated: Apo asmān mātaraḥ śundhayantu ghṛitena no ghṛitāpvaḥ punantu | viśvam hi ripram pravahanti devīr ud id ābhyaḥ śuchir ā pūtaḥ emi | "May the Waters, the mothers, cleanse us, may they (the waters) who purify with butter, purify us with butter; for these goddesses bear away defilement; I come up out of them pure and cleansed." When once the river had acquired a divine character, it was quite natural that she should be regarded as the patroness of the ceremonies which were 502 Sarasvati saraḥ ity udaka-nāma sartes tad-vatī (Nirukta, ix. 26). The Brahmavaivartta-purana, ii. 5, as referred to in Professor Aufrecht's Cat. p. 23, col. 2, has a legend that the Sarasvati was changed into a river by an imprecation of the Gangă. In the A,V. vi. 100, 1, three Sarasvatis are spoken of, but no explanation is given of their difference. 503 R.V. iii. 23, 4: "I place thee, Agni, on the abode of Ila (compare iii. 29, 4), on the most excellent spot of the earth, on the most auspicious of days. Shine, so as to enrich us, in a place of human resort, on the banks of the Drishadvatī, the Āpayā, the Sarasvati" (ni tvā dadhe vare ā pṛithivyāḥ iṭāyās pade sudinatve ahnām | Dṛishadvatyām mānushe Apayāyām Sarasvatyām revad Agne didīhi). 504 It is clear from the passages quoted in the 2nd vol. of this Work, p. 415 ff. that the Sarasvati continued in later times also to be regarded as a sacred river, but this character was shared by other Indian streams, if not by them all. |