DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.638#0086
THE GREAT VEDIC DEITIES 29
service instead. We may justly infer from all these cir-
cumstances that the worship of the ' celestials' occupied
at one time in the history of the race a position of
greater importance than its place in the Rigveda directly
suggests."1
The following extracts from a Mitra-Varuna hymn
indicate the attitude of the early priests towards the
" Celestial deities ":—
To the gods Mitra and Varuna let our praise go forth with
power, with all reverence, to the two of mighty race.
These did the gods establish in royal power over themselves,
because they were wise and the children of wisdom, and
because they excelled in power.
They are protectors of hearth and home, of life and strength;
Mitra and Varuna, prosper the mediations of your wor-
shippers. . . .
As the sun rises to-day do I salute Mitra and Varuna, and
glorious Aryaman. . . . The blessings of heaven are
our desire. . . . Prof. Arnold's translation.
In Babylonian mythology the sun is the offspring of
the moon. The Semitic name of the sun god is Samas
(Shamash), the Sumerian name is Utu; among other
non-Semitic names was Mitra, "apparently the Persian
Mithra". The bright deity also "bears the names of
his attendants ' Truth ' and ' Righteousness', who guided
him upon his path as judge of the earth".2
It may be that the Indian Mitra was originally a sun
;od; the religion of the sun god Mithra spread into
Europe. " Dedications to Mithra the Unconquered Sun
lave been found in abundance."3 Vedic references sug-
gest that Mitra had become a complex god in the pre-
1 The Rigveda, by Professor E. Vernon Arnold, p. 16 [Popular Studies in Mythology,
nance, and Folklore).
' the Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, by Dr. T. G. Pinches, p. 68.
* Frazer*s "Golden Eougb." {Adonis, Attis, Osiris, p. 255, a., third edition).
service instead. We may justly infer from all these cir-
cumstances that the worship of the ' celestials' occupied
at one time in the history of the race a position of
greater importance than its place in the Rigveda directly
suggests."1
The following extracts from a Mitra-Varuna hymn
indicate the attitude of the early priests towards the
" Celestial deities ":—
To the gods Mitra and Varuna let our praise go forth with
power, with all reverence, to the two of mighty race.
These did the gods establish in royal power over themselves,
because they were wise and the children of wisdom, and
because they excelled in power.
They are protectors of hearth and home, of life and strength;
Mitra and Varuna, prosper the mediations of your wor-
shippers. . . .
As the sun rises to-day do I salute Mitra and Varuna, and
glorious Aryaman. . . . The blessings of heaven are
our desire. . . . Prof. Arnold's translation.
In Babylonian mythology the sun is the offspring of
the moon. The Semitic name of the sun god is Samas
(Shamash), the Sumerian name is Utu; among other
non-Semitic names was Mitra, "apparently the Persian
Mithra". The bright deity also "bears the names of
his attendants ' Truth ' and ' Righteousness', who guided
him upon his path as judge of the earth".2
It may be that the Indian Mitra was originally a sun
;od; the religion of the sun god Mithra spread into
Europe. " Dedications to Mithra the Unconquered Sun
lave been found in abundance."3 Vedic references sug-
gest that Mitra had become a complex god in the pre-
1 The Rigveda, by Professor E. Vernon Arnold, p. 16 [Popular Studies in Mythology,
nance, and Folklore).
' the Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, by Dr. T. G. Pinches, p. 68.
* Frazer*s "Golden Eougb." {Adonis, Attis, Osiris, p. 255, a., third edition).