Page:The Land of the Veda.djvu/100

90 “are for the most part of a temporal and personal description—wealth, food, life, posterity, cattle, cows, and horses; protection against enemies, victory over them, and sometimes their destruction. There are a few indications of a hope of immortality and of future happiness, but they are neither frequent, nor, in general, distinctly announced. In one or two passages Yama, and his office of ruler of the dead, are obscurely alluded to. There is little demand for moral benefactions.”—Vol. I, p. 25.

So merely fanciful, so wearisome and monotonous, so contemptuously irreverent are the great bulk of these Vedic prayers, (to Indra especially,) that Professor Wilson, with all his patience, can scarce believe them to be earnest. Take, for instance, the following Hymn. It is addressed to the goddess Anna Devata, personified as Pitu, or material food, and is recited by a Brahmin when about to eat. Pitu is also identified with the Soma juice, mentioned below. The Rishi is Agastya, and the reader can judge if any utterances (and this, too, professing to be sacred and inspired) that he has ever seen, more fully illustrates the words of Holy Writ, “Whose God is their belly, whose glory is their shame, who mind earthly things:”

“1. I glorify Pitu, the great, the upholder, the strong, by whose invigorating power Trita slew the mutilated Vritra.

“2. Savory Pitu; sweet Pitu; we worship thee: become our protector.

“6. The thoughts of the mighty gods are fixed, Pitu, upon thee: by thy kind and intelligent assistance Indra slew Ahi.

“8. And since we enjoy the abundance of the waters and the plants, therefore, Body, do thou grow fat!

“9. And since we enjoy. Soma, thy mixture with boiled milk or boiled barley, therefore. Body, do thou grow fat!

“10. Vegetable cake of fried meal, do thou be substantial, wholesome, and invigorating; and, Body, do thou grow fat!

“11. We extract from thee, Pitu, by our praises, the sacrificial food, as cows yield butter for oblation; from thee, who art exhilarating to the gods; exhilarating also to us.”—Rig-Veda, Vol. II, p. 194. Sukta viii.