Page:The Mythology of All Races Vol 6 (Indian and Iranian).djvu/143

THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE BRAHMANAS 99 spiritual teacher, sickness, and disease, are of innumerable names and forms, and the prudent man mentions all he can.

The sages of the Rgveda are, on the whole, treated more and more as mere men in subsequent literature and their mythology shows little development. Nevertheless, Manu, the son of Vivasvant, who is the hero of the tale of the deluge, is a prominent figure throughout the entire period. One day, as he was washing his hands, a small fish happened to be in the water, and at its request he spared its life in return for a promise to save him in the flood which the fish predicted. In due course the fish which Manu carefully brought up, first in a vessel and then in a trench, grew great and was allowed to go back to the sea, after warning its benefactor to build himself a ship. In course of time the flood came, and Manu made a ship which the fish dragged until it rested on the northern mountain, whereupon the flood gradually subsided, and Manu, going down from the heights, with Ida, the personification of the sacrifice, renewed the human race. Manu now counts also as the first lawgiver, for whatever he said was, we are told, medicine. Atri likewise remains famous for his conflict with the Asura Svarbhanu who eclipses the sun, while the Ahgirases and the Adityas are distinguished by their ritual disputes, in which, however, the Adityas win the day and first attain heaven.

In the world of the dead Yama is still king, and we hear of his golden-eyed and iron-hoofed steeds; but he is also duplicated or triplicated by the abstract forms of Antaka ("the Ender"), Mrtyu ("Death"), and Nirrti ("Decease"), which are placed beside him; and Mrtyu becomes his messenger. The heaven in which the virtuous dead rest is depicted in the same colours as in the Rgveda: it is made clear that in it men reunite with wives and children, and that abundance of joy reigns there. Streams of ghee, milk, honey, and wine abound; and bright, many-coloured cows yield all desires. There are neither rich nor poor, powerful nor downtrodden; and the joys of the blest