Page:The Religion of the Veda.djvu/259

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The Beginnings of Hindu T11e030phy 243

He even rules th’ immortal world Which must sustain itself by food.

3. “Thus great is this his majesty” Yet even beyond in strength he goes. A quarter of him all beings are. Three quarters are immortal beyond.”

The most signiﬁcant of all monotheistic personiﬁ- cations is derived from the sphere of worship and ritual, namely the God Brihaspati or Brahmanaspati, “Lord of Prayer or Devotion.” He presents him—- self at ﬁrst as a mere personiﬁcation of the acts of the poets and priests. We remember a preceding statement that the Vedic poets’ consciousness is in vaded by and impressed with the dignity and charm of their own poetic devotions. They go so far as to lift this very devoutness to the level of divinity.‘ In Brihaspati we have a personiﬁcation of prayer and religious performance both in one. A beautiful stanza of the Rig~Veda " has it: “When, 0 Brihas~ pati, men ﬁrst sent forth the earliest utterance of speech, giving names to things, then was disclosed a jewel treasured within them, most excellent and pure.” In another famous hymn of the Rig-Veda ” Vac, “ Holy Speech,” is represented as the companion and upholder of the gods, and as the foundation of

1See above, p. 206. 9 IO. 71.1 3 10. 125

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