Eternal India Encyclopedia

RELIGIONS

Eternal India

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THE HINDU PANTHEON

THE VEDIC GODS

The pastoral Aryans worshipped the forces of nature which they

invested with divinity. Agni, the god of fire, is one of the most promi-

nent deities of the Aryans. Surya and Savitri are the two names by

which the sun is addressed in the Vedic hymns. Savitri refers to the sun

when invisible, Surya when it is visible. It is to the sun that the Gayatri,

the most sacred hymn of the Vedas, is addressed at its rising by every

devout Brahmin.

Soma is the god who represents and animates the juice of the soma

plant which was drunk only at sacrifices and produced hallucinatory

and exhilarating effects.

Indra was the greatest god of the Aryans. He was their war god and

also their weather god. He destroyed their enemies with the thunder

bolt which he carried in his hand. He was associated with thunder and

lightning. As lord of the atmosphere he governed the weather and is

bestower of rain - More hymns are addressed to Indra than to any other

deity in the Vedas with the exception of rain.

Vayu is the god of the winds. He is often associated with Indra and

rides in the same car with him, Indra being the charioteer. When Soma

was brought to the gods, a dispute arose as to who should have the first

draught. This was decided by a race. Vayu was nearing the winning

post first when Indra suggested a compromise: both should come in

together and Vayu should give him a quarter of the divine draught.

Vayu agreed to this and so the juice was shared between them. In later

years, the name Soma was given to the moon since the moon has the

nature of Soma.

Second only to Indra among the Aryan gods was Varuna, a per-

sonification of the sky, the maker and upholder of heaven and earth. He

is all-knowing and he knows what goes on in the hearts of men. He was

depicted as sitting in a palace in the heavens with the other gods around

him. In the later mythology Varuna lost some of hrs importance and

was regarded as the god of the ocean.

Yama, lord of the dead, was the first of mortals who died and leads

the way for those who depart this life. In the Rig-Veda Yama is

nowhere represented, as he is in later mythology, as having anything

to do with the punishment of the wicked. The kingdom over which

Yama rules is a bright place where the virtuous dwell. He grants bright

homes to the pious who dwell with him. Rudra meaning "howler,

roarer or terrible" is the god of storms. He is both a destructive deity

who brings diseases upon men and cattle as well as a beneficent deity,

guardian of healing herbs. Rudra later developed into the god Shiva.

THE PURANIC DEITIES

The chief sources of the modem mythology of Hinduism are the

two great epics - the

Ramayana

and

Mahabharata

- and the

Puranas

("Ancient stories", eighteen in number). The epics treat of the

legendary actions of gods and heroes as mortal men while the

Puranas

celebrate the powers and works of gods.

The most important of the

Puranas

are the Vayu, Vishnu, Agni,

Bhavishya and Bhagavata Puranas. Each

Purana

is devoted to the

praise of some specfied deity who is declared to be supreme while the

others are described as incarnations. Unlike the Vedas which could be

read only by the Brahmins, the Epics and

Puranas

could be read by

everyone.

Brahma is the supreme soul of the universe from which all things

emanate and to which all things return. This supreme soul receives no

worship but it is the object of abstract meditation by sages.

Brahma is the first member of the Hindu trinity — the creator of the

universe. He sprang from the mundane egg deposited by the Supreme

first cause. (According to the earlier teaching of the Vedas, Prajapati,

the lord of creatures, was the creator). When Brahma has created the

world, it remains unaltered for one of his days, a period of 2,160,000,000

years. The world is then consumed by fire but the sages, gods and

elements survive. His name is invoked in religious services but he is

not worshipped. His consort is Saraswati, goddess of learning, also

called Brahmi. His vehicle is a swan or goose.

Vishnu, the preserver, is the second god of the Hindu trinity. The

worshippers of Vishnu recognise in him the supreme being from which

all things emanate. In the

Varaha Purana,

as he sleeps on the serpent

Shesha

in the primeval ocean a lotus springs from his navel and in the

middle of this lotus Brahma who creates the world appears. Once the

world is created Vishnu awakes to rule in his heaven,

Vaikuntha.

He is depicted as a man of dark blue colour with four arms: in one

hand he holds a club, in another a shell, in the third a chakra or discus,

with which he slays his enemies, and in the fourth a lotus. He rides upon

the bird Garuda and is dressed in yellow robes. On his right hand is

seated his consort, Lakshmi.

THE AVATAARS

Vishnu has assumed ten incarnations or

avatars

(descents) to save

the world from total destruction. They are:

The Fish

: Vishnu took the form of a fish when the earth

was overwhelmed by a deluge. He warned the seventh

Manu and progenitor of the human race, of the coming

danger and told him to build a ship. When the flood came

Manu fastened the ship to a horn on the head of the fish and

was conducted by it to safety.

The Tortoise

: Vishnu became a tortoise and dived to the

bottom of the cosmic ocean to retrieve the divine nectar

(amrit) which had been lost in the flood. On his back the gods

placed Mount Mandera and churned the ocean by twisting the

divine snake around the mountain and twirling the mountain

by pulling the snake. From the ocean emerged the

nectariamrit).

The boar

: When the demon Hiranyakasipu cast the earth into

the depths of the cosmic ocean, Vishnu became an enormous

boar and raised the earth on his tusk,

The Man-Lion

(Narasimha) : The tyrant Hiranyakasipu

had obtained a boon from Brahma that he would not be

killed by man or beast. He persecuted everybody including

his own son, Prahlada, who was a devotee of Vishnu.

Taunting Prahlada, the tyrant struck a stone pillar demand-

ing to know whether Vishnu was present in it. Vishnu

emerged from the pillar as

Nara-simha,

half-man and half-

lion, and killed Hiranyakasipu.

The Dwarf

(Vamana): A demon king called Bali had by his de-

votions and austerities gained dominion over the three worlds,

depriving the gods of their power. Vishnu assumed the form

of a dwarf, appeared before Bali and sought as a boon as much

space as he could cover in three steps. When the boon was