DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0026
14 Vedism.
In the foregoing hymn we detect the first dim outline of the
later philosophical theories, both Sankhyan and Vedantic.
The idea of the female principle as necessary to the act of
creation is also, it may be seen, vaguely implied—an idea
which gathered such strength subsequently that every princi-
pal deity in the later mythology has his feminine counterpart,
who shares the worship paid to the male god, and who some-
times receives the greater homage of the two. That this idea
is not fully developed in the Rig-veda is proved by the fact
that the wives of the chief gods, such as IndranI, Agnayl, etc.,
are not associated with their husbands as objects of worship,
and even Lakshml and SarasvatT, though named, are not
adored.
The next example from the 121st hymn of the tenth
Mandala is often quoted to furnish an argument for main-
taining that the original faith of the Hindus was monotheistic.
The hymn is addressed to Hiranya-garbha, a form of the
Supreme Being, no doubt originally a personification of the
Sun. In the Vedanta philosophy, Hiranya-garbha represents
the third condition of the Supreme Spirit (see p. 34). In
the later system he must be regarded as related to the God
Vishnu.
What god shall we adore with sacrifice ?
Him let us praise, the golden child that rose
In the beginning, who was born the lord—
The one sole lord of all that is—who made
The earth, and formed the sky, who giveth life,
Who giveth strength, whose bidding gods revere,
Whose hiding-place is immortality,
Whose shadow, death; who by his might is king
Of all the breathing, sleeping, waking world.
Where'er let loose in space, the mighty waters
Have gone, depositing a fruitful seed,
And generating fire, there he arose
Who is the breath and life of all the gods,
Whose mighty glance looks round the vast expanse
Of watery vapour—source of energy,
Cause of the sacrifice—the only God
Above the gods.
In the foregoing hymn we detect the first dim outline of the
later philosophical theories, both Sankhyan and Vedantic.
The idea of the female principle as necessary to the act of
creation is also, it may be seen, vaguely implied—an idea
which gathered such strength subsequently that every princi-
pal deity in the later mythology has his feminine counterpart,
who shares the worship paid to the male god, and who some-
times receives the greater homage of the two. That this idea
is not fully developed in the Rig-veda is proved by the fact
that the wives of the chief gods, such as IndranI, Agnayl, etc.,
are not associated with their husbands as objects of worship,
and even Lakshml and SarasvatT, though named, are not
adored.
The next example from the 121st hymn of the tenth
Mandala is often quoted to furnish an argument for main-
taining that the original faith of the Hindus was monotheistic.
The hymn is addressed to Hiranya-garbha, a form of the
Supreme Being, no doubt originally a personification of the
Sun. In the Vedanta philosophy, Hiranya-garbha represents
the third condition of the Supreme Spirit (see p. 34). In
the later system he must be regarded as related to the God
Vishnu.
What god shall we adore with sacrifice ?
Him let us praise, the golden child that rose
In the beginning, who was born the lord—
The one sole lord of all that is—who made
The earth, and formed the sky, who giveth life,
Who giveth strength, whose bidding gods revere,
Whose hiding-place is immortality,
Whose shadow, death; who by his might is king
Of all the breathing, sleeping, waking world.
Where'er let loose in space, the mighty waters
Have gone, depositing a fruitful seed,
And generating fire, there he arose
Who is the breath and life of all the gods,
Whose mighty glance looks round the vast expanse
Of watery vapour—source of energy,
Cause of the sacrifice—the only God
Above the gods.