Page:The Mythology of All Races Vol 6 (Indian and Iranian).djvu/50

26 pre-eminence of Indra. Yet there is no real evidence, save perhaps a certain diminution of mention in the tenth book of the Ṛgveda, that the worship of Varuṇa was on the decline in this period, and the real source of the loss of his greatness is to be traced to the growth of the conception of the creator god, Prajāpati or Viśvakarman, at the end of the period of the Ṛgveda and in the following epoch. Driven thus from his high functions, Varuṇa became connected with the night and the waters.

Mitra has but one hymn addressed to him alone (iii. 59), and in it he is said to bring men together when he utters speech and to gaze on the tillers with unwinking eye. The characteristics of assembling men and regulating the course of the sun confirm the view that, as suggested by the Persian evidence, he is a solar god. The name is used repeatedly to denote "friend," but it is not proved that the god is derived from that application of the term.

Mitra's indefinite character and lack of personality may be due in part to the co-existence of his rival Sūrya as the sun-god par excellence. Sūrya is constantly the actual solar element and is conceived in many forms, as a bird, a flying eagle, a mottled bull, the gem of the sky, the variegated stone set in the heaven. He is also the weapon of Mitra and Varuṇa, or the felloe of their car, or the car itself. He shines forth in the lap of the dawns and is the son of Aditi, and his father is Dyaus, even though many other gods are said to produce the sun. He triumphs over the darkness and the witches, drives away sickness and evil dreams, and prolongs life. His evil power as burning heat is not known to the Ṛgveda, unless it be hinted at in the myth that Indra overcame him and stole his wheel, which may point to the obscuration of the sun by the storm, here possibly regarded as tempering its excessive heat, though it is equally susceptible of the opposite interpretation. In another aspect Sūrya is Savitṛ, the "Impeller" or "Instigator," the golden-handed, the golden-tongued, with chariot of gold. He it is who