Page:The Mythology of the Aryan Nations.djvu/237

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MYTHOLOGY OF THE ARYAN NATIONS.
205

CHAP. II.

generated, Pani by force : thou, Soma, didst baffle the devices and CHAP, weapons of the mahgnant secreter of the (stolen) wealth (the cattle)."[1]

But at once the poet recurs to metaphors suggested by the process of preparing the Soma juice.

"In the filter, which is the support of the world, thou, pure Soma, art purified for the gods. The Usijas first gathered thee. In thee all these worlds are contained."[2]

"The Soma flowed into the vessel for Indra, for Vishnu; may it be honied for Vayu."[3]

"Pouring forth streams, the Soma hastens to Indra, Vayu, Varuna, the Maruts, and to Vishnu."[4]

"Indu, do thou flow sweet to Indra, to Vishnu. Preserve from sin the men who praise thee."[5]

"Soma, Indu, purified, thou exhilaratest Varuna, thou exhila- ratest Mitra, thou exhilaratest Indra, thou exhilaratest Vishnu, thou exhilaratest the troop of the Maruts, thou exhilaratest the gods and the great Indra that they may be merry."[6]

When in the later mytholog}', Mahadeva had thrown the older deities into the shade, Vishnu, Soma, and Agni became different parts of his bow and arrow;" for all the world," we are told, "is formed of Agni and Soma, and is said to be composed of Vishnu, and Vishnu is the soul of Mahadeva of boundless power."[7] So with Uma, as divine knowledge, Soma, as the supreme spirit, falls into the ranks of correlative deities."[8]

Powers of Soma. With the change which came over later Hindu thought the Powers of popularity of Soma passed away ; but the hymns of the Rig Veda suffice to show how great a charm the Soma drink had possessed far the people. It was to them life in health, strength in weakness, medicine in sickness, the restoration of youth in old age; and the vigour which it imparted to human beings was imparted with unstinting lavishness to the gods. The exultation of Indra is the

  1. ↑ H. H. Wilson, R. V. S. iii. 461.
  2. ↑ R. V. ix. 86 ; Muir, Sanskrit Texts, part iv. p. 99.
  3. ↑ R. V. ix. 63, 3 ; Muir, Sanskrit Texts, part iv. p. 80.
  4. ↑ R. V. ix. 65, 20; Muir, Sanskrit Texts, part iv. p. 80.
  5. ↑ R. V. ix. 56, 4; Muir, Sanskrit Texts, part iv. p. 80.
  6. ↑ R. V. ix. 90, 5; Muir, Sanskrit Texts, part iv. p. 80.
  7. ↑ Muir, Sanskrit Texts, part iv. p. 189. Uma is also the wife of Mahadeva, ib. 227. For further details respecting Uma, see Muir, ib. p. 357, et seq. Of genuine mythology the story of Uma, if it can be called a story, exhibits very little. It has been drawn out to suit an idea, but the idea has not been suggested by the myth. "Uma is divine knowledge; thou who existest with her, O Soma, supreme spirit, &c." Hence her attributes are plastic enough, and thus she becomes identified with Ambika, the sister of Rudra, a being not much more clearly defined than Uma herself.
  8. ↑ Max Müller, Lectures on Language, second scries, 486.
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