Page:History of India Vol 1.djvu/101

Rh ern Hindus to accept him in his Vedic character as a mere sun-god. Yet such he is in the Rig-Veda, and he is a very humble deity in the Vedic pantheon, far below Indra or Varuna, Savitri or Agni. It was not till the Puranic times, long after the Christian Era, that Vishnu was considered a Supreme Deity. In the Veda, Vishnu is said to traverse space in three steps, and



is thus to be identified with the sun at dawn, at noon, and at sunset.

Fire was an object of worship in ancient India, where sacrificial fire received the highest regard. As no sacrifice could be performed without fire, Agni, or fire, was called the invoker of the gods. So high was the esteem in which fire was held among the gods of the Rig- Veda, that when the ancient commentator Yaska tried to reduce the number of the Vedic gods to three, he named Agni, or fire, as the god of the earth, Indra or Vayu as the god of the firmament, and the Sun as the god of the sky.