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of moral sentiments, because these gods are believed to protect men, not only against the assaults of nature, against disease and suffering, but also against the temptations of sin. Rv. viii. 13. 14. " May evil betide him, the curs- ing mortal, the enemy who, double-tongued, would deal us a felon's blow. 15. You gods are with the righteous; you know man in their hearts. Come to the true man, and to the false, ye Vasus ! 16. We implore the protection of the mountains, and the protection of the waters.^ Heaven and earth, remove from us all evil. 17. Carry us, 0 Vasus, by your blessed protection, as it were in your ship, across all dangers. 18. To our offspring, to our race, and thus to our- selves, make life longer to live, ye valiant Adityas ! 21. 0 Mitra, Aryaman, Varuna, and ye Winds, grant us an abode free from sin, full of men, glori- ous, with three bars. 22. We, who are but men, the bondsmen of death, prolong our time well, 0 Adityas, that we may live ! Indra, one of the principal gods of the Veda, is likewise invoked, together with the Adityas, as a god who may pardon sin. " Whatever sin we have com- mitted against you^," the poet says, " let us obtain, O Indra, the broad safe light of day ; let not the long darkness come upon us ! " Indra is clearly conceived as a moral being in the following verse (Rv. viii. 21. 14.) : " Thou never findest a rich man to be thy friend ; > Rt. viii. 31. 10. 2 Rf. ii. 27. 14. HTMN TO IKDRA. 543 wine-swillers despise thee. But when thou thunderest, when thou gatherest (the clouds), then thou art called like a father." Out of a large number of hymns addressed to the same god, we select one that is ascribed to Vasishtha. (Rv. vii. 32.) 1. Let no one, not even those who worship thee, delay thee far from us ! Even from afar come to our feast ! Or, if thou art here, listen to us ! 2. For these here who make prayers for thee, sit together near the libation, like flies round the honey. The worshippers, anxious for wealth, have placed their desire upon Indra, as we put our foot upon a chariot. 3. Desirous of riches, I call liim who holds the thunderbolt with his arm, and who is a good giver, like as a son calls his father. 4. These libations of Soma, mixed with milk, have been prepared for Indra: thou, armed with the thunderbolt, come with the steeds to drink of them for thy delight ; come to the house ! 5. May he hear us, for he has ears to hear. He is asked for riches ; will he despise our prayers ? He could soon give hundreds and thousands; — no one could check him if he wishes to give. 6. He who prepares for thee, 0 Vritra-killer, deep libations, and pours them out^ before thee, that hero thrives with Indra, never scorned of men. ^ DhavaH is explained as a neuter verb by the commentaiy, ^ he who rans towards thee." Dhavati, however, is a technical term, applied to the libations of the Soma-juice, as may be seen, Rv. viii. 1. 17. ''Sota hi somam adribhih a im enam apsu dha- vata," 'Tress the Soma with stones, make it run into the water." 544 HYMN TO INDRA. 7. Be thou, 0 mighty, the shield of the mighty (Vasishthas) when thou drivest together the fighting men. Let us share the wealth of him whom thou hast slain; bring us the household of him who is hard to vanquish. 8. Offer Soma to the drinker of Soma, to Indra, the lord of the thunderbolt ; roast roasts ; make him to protect us : Indra, the giver, is a blessing to him who gives oblations. 9. Do not grudge, ye givers of Soma ; give strength^ to the great god, make him to give wealth ! He alone who perseveres, conquers, abides, and flou- rishes : the gods are not to be trifled with. 10. No one surrounds the chariot of the liberal worshipper, no one stops it. He whom Indra pro- tects and the Maruts, he will come into stables full of cattle. 11. He will, when fighting, obtain spoiP, 0 Indra, the mortal, whose protection thou shouldest be. 0 hero, be thou the protection of our chariots, and of our men ! 12. His share is exceeding great, like the wealth of a winner. He who is Indra with his steeds, him no enemies can subdue ; may he give strength to the sacrificer ! 13. Make for the sacred gods a hymn that is not small, that is well set and beautiful ! Many snares pass by him who abides with Indra through his sacrifice. 1 Dakshata is construed with the dative, and the caesura for- bids to join mahe with raje. A similar construction occurs vii. 97. 8., Dakshajjftja dakshata, where the commentator explains it rightly. * This verse shows signs of a later origin ; the ideas are taken from the preceding verse. HYMN TO INDBA, 545 14. What ihortal dares to attack him who is rich in thee? Through faith in thee, 0 mighty, the strong acquires spoil in the day of battle. 15. Stir us mighty Vasishthas in the slaughter of the enemies, stir us who give their dearest treasures* Under thy guidance, 0 HaryaSva, we shall with our wise counsellors overcome all hardships. 16. To thee belongs the lowest treasure; thou rearest the middle treasure ; thou art king always of all the highest treasure ; no one withstands thee in the flock, 17. Thou art well known as the benefactor of every one, whatever battles there be. Every one of these kings of the earth implores thy name, when wishing for help. 18. If I were lord of as much as thou, I should support the sacred bard, thou scatterer of wealth, I should not abandon him to misery. 19. I should award wealth day by day to him who magnifies, I should award it to whosoever it be.' We have no other friend but thee, no other happiness, no other father, 0 mighty ! 20. He who perseveres acquires spoil with his wife as his mate ; I bend Indra, who is invoked by many, for you, as a wheelwright bends a wheel made of strong wood. 21. A mortal does not get riches by scant praise : no wealth comes to the grudger. Th^ strong man it is, 0 mighty, who in the day of battle is a precious gift to thee like as to me. 22. We call for thee, 0 hero, like cows that have 1 According to the Commentator Kuhachidvid means " where- ever he be." It may perhaps mean the ignorant. N N 546 HYMN TO IKDRiL not been milked ; we praise thee as ruler of all that moves, 0 Indra, as ruler of all that is immovable. 23. There is no one like thee in heaven or earth ; he is not born, and will not be bom. 0 mighty Indra, we call upon thee as we go fighting for cows and horses. 24. Bring all this to those who are good, 0 Indra, be they old or young^ ; for thou, 0 mighty, art the rich of old, and to be called in every battle. 25. Push away the unfriendly, 0 mighty, make us treasures easy to get ! Be the protector of our- selves in the fight, be the cherisher of our friends ! 26. Indra, give wisdom to us, as a father to his sons. Teach us in this path, let us living see the sun ! 27. Let not unknown wretches, evil disposed and unhallowed, tread us do^vn. Through thy help, 0 hero, let us step over the rushing eternal waters 1 In this hymn Indra is clearly conceived as the su^ preme god, and we can hardly understand how a people who had formed so exalted a notion of the deity and embodied it in the person of Indra, could, at the same sacrifice, invoke other gods with equal praise. When Agni, the lord of fire, is addressed by the poet, he is spoken of as the first god, not inferior even to Indra. While Agni is invoked, Indra is for- gotten; there is no competition between the two, nor any rivalry between them or other gods. This is a most important feature in the religion of the Veda, and has never been taken into consideration by those who have written on the history of ancient polytheism. ^ Jjajah stands for jjajasa^. HYBINS TO A6KI. 547 There are other hymns, again, in which the notion of a deity is much less prominent. Indra is there represented like a hero fighting against enemies. He is liable to defeat, his heart fails him in the combat, and though at last he invariably conquers, he does so rather by an effort than by the mere assertion of his power. Agni, .again, in many hymns, is simply described as a power of nature, as the fire such as it is seen in heaven and on earth. Many things that have become to us familiar, struck the poets of the Veda as wonderful and mysterious. They describe the power of the fire with an awe which, to the natural philosopher of the present day, must appear childish.