DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.638#0084
THE GREAT VEDIC DEITIES
vanish in daylight. The birds flying in the air, the rivers
in their sleepless flow, cannot attain a knowledge of his
power and wrath. But he knows the flight of the birds
in the sky, the course of the far-travelling wind, the paths
of ships on the ocean, and beholds all secret things that
have been or shall be done. He witnesses men's truth
and falsehood."1
He is the Omniscient One. " Man prayed to him for
forgiveness for sin, and to be spared from the conse-
quences of evil-doing:
May I not yet, King Varuna,
Go down into the house of clay:
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 god, for that iniquity.
Rigveda, vii, 8<j.2
His messengers descend
Countless from his abode—for ever traversing
This world and scanning with a thousand eyes its inmates.
Whate'er exists within this earth, and all within the sky,
Yea, all that is beyond, King Varuna perceives. . . .
May thy destroying snares, cast sevenfold round the wicked,
Entangle liars, but the truthful spare, O King!
Rigveda, iv, l6.3
In contrast to the devotional spirit pervading the
Varuna hymns is the attitude adopted by Indra's wor-
shippers; the following prayer to the god of battle is
characteristic:—
O Indra, grant the highest, best of treasures,
A judging mind, prosperity abiding,
1 Muir's Original Sanscrit Texts, v, 58, ff.
8 Professor Macdonell's A History of Sanskrit Literature.
• Indian Wisdom, Sir Monier Williams.
vanish in daylight. The birds flying in the air, the rivers
in their sleepless flow, cannot attain a knowledge of his
power and wrath. But he knows the flight of the birds
in the sky, the course of the far-travelling wind, the paths
of ships on the ocean, and beholds all secret things that
have been or shall be done. He witnesses men's truth
and falsehood."1
He is the Omniscient One. " Man prayed to him for
forgiveness for sin, and to be spared from the conse-
quences of evil-doing:
May I not yet, King Varuna,
Go down into the house of clay:
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 god, for that iniquity.
Rigveda, vii, 8<j.2
His messengers descend
Countless from his abode—for ever traversing
This world and scanning with a thousand eyes its inmates.
Whate'er exists within this earth, and all within the sky,
Yea, all that is beyond, King Varuna perceives. . . .
May thy destroying snares, cast sevenfold round the wicked,
Entangle liars, but the truthful spare, O King!
Rigveda, iv, l6.3
In contrast to the devotional spirit pervading the
Varuna hymns is the attitude adopted by Indra's wor-
shippers; the following prayer to the god of battle is
characteristic:—
O Indra, grant the highest, best of treasures,
A judging mind, prosperity abiding,
1 Muir's Original Sanscrit Texts, v, 58, ff.
8 Professor Macdonell's A History of Sanskrit Literature.
• Indian Wisdom, Sir Monier Williams.