Page:The Mythology of All Races Vol 6 (Indian and Iranian).djvu/38

18 As in this hymn the gods are said to come into being after the creation of the universe, so in other philosophic hymns they are brought into existence from the waters, and in one place they are divided into groups born from Aditi ("Boundless"), the waters, and the earth. The Ādityas in particular are constantly derived from Aditi. Yet speculation is free and changes easily: Dawn is the mother of the sun and is born of Night, by reason of temporal sequence; while for local causes Sky and Earth are the all-parents. Or the greatest of a class is parent of the rest, as the storm-god Rudra ("Roarer") of the Rudras, the wind of the storm-gods, Sarasvatī of rivers, and Soma of plants. A certain mysticism and love of paradox result in a declaration that Indra produced his parents, Sky and Earth, or that Dakṣa (a creator-god) is at once father and son of Aditi. Similar vagueness prevails regarding men. They must be included in the general parentage of Sky and Earth, but the priestly family of the Aṅgirases are sprung directly from Agni, and the sage Vasiṣṭha is the child of Mitra and Varuṇa by Urvaśī, an Apsaras, or heavenly nymph. Yet they are also descended from Manu, son of Vivasvant, or from Yama, the brother of Manu, and his sister Yamī, and this pair claim kinship with the Gandharva (celestial bard) and the water-nymph.

There is too little distinction between gods and men for us to be surprised that the gods were once mere mortals, or that there are ancient as well as more recent gods. How they won immortality is uncertain: Savitṛ or Agni bestowed it upon them, or they obtained it by drinking soma, whereas Indra gained it by his ascetic practices. Yet it seems clear that they did get it and that when the gods are called unaging, it does not mean, as in the mythology of the epic, that they endure only for a cosmic age; for this latter concept is bound up with the philosophy which sees no progress in the world and which, therefore, resolves all existence into a perpetual series of growth and passing away.

Many as are the names of the gods, there is much that they