sual severity, a ruddy glare is seen in the sky. The lightning begins to play incessantly, sometimes in broad sheets of flame, sometimes in blinding flashes which are instantly followed by the crashing thunder. The rain streams down in torrents. It is the typical thunder-storm of the tropics.1 What wonder that a profound impression was made on men accustomed to worship the lightning and the fire, the sun and the moon, the dawn and the wind? Although the Aryans may have met with an occasional tornado to the

1 Cf. Rev. H. Caunter, on the setting in of the monsoon, quoted in SBE., xxvi., Introd., pp. xxiii.-xxiv. Cf. also EH., p. 94. It was the writer's good fortune to be at Grinnell, Iowa, on June 17, 1882. The atmospheric conditions resembleď` in a striking manner those which are said to attend the breaking up of the Indian monsoon, except that the action was compressed within the limits of a single day. There was the same hazy look, the same lifelessness of the air, and a similar gradual formation of clouds. When the cloud masses had finally taken shape and were set in motion, a most brilliant and dazzling effect was produced. Magnificent colors, beggaring description, covered the southern half of the sky; while through the clouds, in the west, shone a triangular patch resembling a huge sheet of burnished brass. Clouds of a general balloon shape, but coiled into a spiral form and ending in wicked-looking twisting tails, appeared in the midst of the most brilliant scarlet which shaded off into all the colors of the rainbow. The lightning was incessant. All nature seemed hushed, and the very animals appeared to be cowed by the approaching storm. Such a phenomenon,-followed, as it was, by a fearful roaring and crashing as the wind wrought its awful havoc (houses were demolished and the ground fairly bristled in places with huge splinters), and succeeded immediately thereafter by an agreeable healthgiving coolness which prevailed for weeks in delightful contrast to the oppressive heat preceding the tornado,—is quite sufficient to give the beholder a vivid conception of the Indian hurricanes, and to make the figures of the Veda seem natural and fitting. In this light, the Hindu storm gods,-Rudra (cf. his beauty and strength, R-V., ii. 33, 3; his coiled hair, i. 114, 1; etc.), Indra (cf. his golden car, vi. 29, 2; his constant use of the thunderbolt, as in ii. II, 10; etc.), and the Maruts (cf. their beautiful appearance, ii. 34, 2; the splendor unfolded by the skins worn on their shoulders, i. 166, 10; etc.),—all seem very lifelike and intelligible. See K., note 143, or M., v., p. 98. The absence of references to M. in the first part of the paper is due to the fact that the writer was unable to obtain a copy of M. for reference until after that part of the paper was in print. The same is true of AH. and AM.

north of the Hindu Kush, the shifting monsoon must have intensified their reverence, given a new color to their conceptions, and taxed to the utmost their powers of expres sion. In the effort to picture these manifestations of divine power, the Rṣis gave to posterity their boldest conceptions of the gods whom they saw in these phenomena.

As has been intimated, fire, possibly from its connection with the lightning, was probably regarded as sacred even in Indo-European days, although it does not seem to have developed into a divinity, or daimon, until Indo-Iranian times. Among the Hindus, from its intimate connection with the sacrifice, 'Fire' became the special god of the Brahmans; but, although Agni took on various new char

It is hardly to be supposed, however, that no one attempted to compose hymns before the time of the Indo-Iranians,-the art of hymn-making did not spring Minerva-like into existence, and the Indo-Europeans had objects of worship,-nor can it be assumed that the Rik is mostly a survival from the actual Indo-Iranian period. There may be a few hymns and scattered stanzas which have survived, in practically their original form, from those early times; but they can hardly be identified. That older material should not be drawn upon by the poet-sages, however, would be contrary to all human history and experience; and many a survival of this kind there doubtless is, especially in the older hymns. The present form of certain hymns implies just such a process. The prevailing view is therefore probably correct, that the Rik was composed, for the most part, in the Рañjāb, though many hymns doubtless originated in the Kabul valley to the west. Cf. EH., pp. 15–16.

2 Men seem to have first learned to produce fire by observing that the wind caused dead or resinous twigs on the interlocking branches of trees to take fire by friction. They then began to obtain fire in the same way from the same woods. This was the Hindu method. The sticks used were the 'parents' of Agni, the production of fire being looked upon as an act of begetting. He was the 'youngest' of the gods, because 'born' (kindled) anew every morning. The fire consumed the kindling sticks, and he was accordingly said to devour his parents. Fire burns with flames, and so the notion arose that Agni devours the forest with strong teeth. That the figures based on these simple physical facts were taken more or less literally seems clear; but how much they imply is a question. It is hardly safe, for example, to assume, simply because Agni was said to do so, that the Hindus once ate their parents. They may have done so; but Agni's powers in this direction seem, as a matter of

acteristics as a deity, his original physical features were always retained. In time, the light and heat of the sun were attributed to him, and his threefold birth-as fire, lightning, and sun-is one of the great mysteries of the Rik. Many were the feats of Agni, and he occupied a large place in the lives of the people. His hymns are placed first in the "Family-books."

4

The sun, at first worshiped as Sūrya,3 received, as god of the shepherds, the name Pūṣan, 'Nourishing-one'; while deeper thinkers, seeing an animating spirit behind the physical orb, came to call him Savitr, 'Impeller.' Others still, observing his daily feat of crossing the sky, he was said to do it in three strides,-called him Visņu, 'Activeone.' The new names may have been confined, at first, to certain families or localities; but they seem to have soon become general. In this way the sun came to stand for several gods in the Vedic hymns.

Closely associated with 'Sun,' are the Açvins, 'Horseguiding-ones,' often likened to the Dioskouroi, with whom fact, to have been regarded with wonder. Cf. MM3., pp. 253-257, and .R-V., x. 79, 4.

1 1In this respect, Soma alone is like him; for the other gods became more and more abstract, and finally lost, except in certain surviving forms of expression, their original physical nature. They ultimately became either entirely anthropomorphic or practically disappeared,—in some cases by absorption into other deities.

2 K., pp. 35-37. EH., pp. 105-112. B., pp. 9-10. O., pp. 43-47 and 102-133. AB., i., pp. 11-148, and ii., pp. 4-22. MM3., pp. 120, 127, 144202, 264-271, and 303-305. AM., 35, pp. 88-100. M., v., pp. 199–223. K., pp. 54-55. EH., pp. 17-19 and 40-46. AM., 14, pp. 30-32. M., iv., pp. 109-110, and v., pp. 155–161.

K., pp. 55-56, and notes 209-212. EH., pp. 50-56. B., p. 20. O., pp. 230-233. AB., ii., pp. 420-430. AM., 16, pp. 35-37. M., v., pp. 171-180.

K., pp. 56-58, and notes 216–222. pp. 64-65. AB., iii., pp. 38-64. AM., III, and v., pp. 162–170.

EH., pp. 46–50. B., p. 20. O., 15, pp. 32-34. M., iv., pp. 110–

EH., pp. 56-58. B., p. 20. O., pp. 227-230.

K., p. 56. AB., ii., PP. 414-419. AM., § 17, pp. 37–42. M., iv., pp. 63–98 and 114–115.

they may have been originally identical;1 but they elude a careful analysis, and may possibly have been developed independently. If they were once identical with Castor and Pollux, they must go back to the latter part of the IndoEuropean period. They seem to refer to the twilight, which is very brief in India, and are associated with 'Dawn' (Usas). They are the husbands of Surya, the daughter of the sun. Uṣas follows the Açvins and brings the first light to men. Many of the most beautiful passages in the Rik are addressed to this goddess, and it appears likely that the Dawn-cult was mostly developed in the Pañjāb.

3

But by far the most conspicuous figure in the Vedas is Indra. To him more hymns are addressed than to any other deity; and his deeds, many and various, are celebrated with due glory. Some of them are not to his credit, and his worshipers at length came to feel that his violence. and treachery needed an excuse. Trita was accordingly made the scapegoat, and received the blame. The origin of Indra's name is not known. Many theories have been advanced in regard to it, and the attempt has been made to trace him back to a deified giant,-an "old man of the mountains," or some local hero.

1K., pp. 49-52, and notes 171-172. EH., pp. 80-86. B., p. 21. O., pp. 207-215. AB., ii., pp. 431-510. AM., 21, pp. 49-54. 2 K., pp. 52-54, and note 193. EH., pp. 19-20 and 73-80. B., PP. 8 and 21. O., pp. 236-238. AB., i., pp. 241-250. AM., 20, pp. 46-49. M., v., pp. 181-198.

8 K., pp. 40-49, and note 141. EH., pp. 20-21 and 91-96. B., pp. 1213. O., pp. 95-97 and 134-185. AB., ii., pp. 157-366. E. D. Perry, in JAOS., xi., 1885, pp. 117-208. AM., 22, pp. 54-66. M., iv., pp. 79-91, 94-96, and 99-109; and v., pp. 77-139.

4 See JR., pp. 292-300 and 623. While it must be confessed that there is abundant material of the kind necessary to make out a fairly good case, there is also much of a very different sort. For example, in R-V., iv. 18, 10, his mother is called a cow, while vrsan, which may mean 'bull,' is a common epithet of the god. He was no Apis, however. See E. W. Hopkins, in JAOS., xvi., 1896, pp. ccxxxvi.-ccxxxix.; and MM2., pp. 395-398.

But Indra was not a deified man.1 He was a storm-god, the god of the warrior classes; and, if he seems to have

Vayu, or Vāta, the god being B., p. 14. O.,

1 From the fact that, without exception, Indra's name comes first in the 'pair' deities of which he forms a part (see K., note 114, and JAOS., xi., 1885, p. 208), it has been inferred that the word Indra "had an original adjective value." E. W. Fay, in AJP., xvii., Apr., 1896, p. 14, footnote 4. It is certainly peculiar that with both Agni and Vayu (Indrāgnî and Indravayû) the word loses its accent; while with the latter and possibly also with the former,-the form would be the same in either case, it remains in the singular. The hymns to Indravāyū, moreover, and most of those to Indragni, are placed by one of the most careful investigators of the subject (E. V. Arnold, in JAOS., xviii., 1897, pp. 352-353) among the oldest in the Rik. Can it be that the word was originally used as an epithet of one or both of these gods? There are some reasons for believing that this may have been the case. means 'Blowing-one, Wind,' the prevailing name for Vayu, for the wind Vāta. K., p. 38. EH., pp. 87-91. pp. 224-226. AB., i., pp. 25-28. AM., 30, pp. 81-83. M., v., pp. 143146. Wind' was worshiped by the Indo-Iranians, if not earlier, and the Avestan Vayu is a fiend-smiter, is bright and glorious, and has a golden car and furnishings. He works highly and is powerful to afflict. To him Ahura Mazdah offers sacrifice, as does Thraètaona,—it is by this means that he obtains power to conquer Azhi Dahāka (cf. Indra and Trita unitedly fighting Ahi),—and he grants the prayer of his maiden worshipers for young and beautiful husbands as well as those of the Aryans for power to smite their foes. SBE., iv., Introd., p. lxiv. Ib., xxiii., pp. 249-263. Indra, then, has some of the features of both Vayu and Åtar (see above, lv., Jan., 1898, p. 104), as they appear in the Avesta. The Vedic Vayu has a thousand cars, or wagons, R-V., ii. 41, 1, and he blesses his worshipers with gifts, viii. 46, 25; but his hymns are mostly invitations to the Soma-pressing,-there are two, x. 168 and 186, to Vāta, praising his chariot (the rushing wind) and asking for blessings,—as are those to Indravāyā. Vāyu is mentioned but once, iv. 21, 4, as taking part in Indra's battles (see Perry, l. c., pp. 162–163), although he has Indra as his companion or rides in the same chariot with him and with him receives the first draught of Soma. AM., pp. 55-56. M., v., p. 144. If the later identification of Indra and Vayu, which is found in the Brahmanas (MM., Lect. v., p. 167, EH., p. 89, Perry, l. c., p. 145), was based upon an original unity followed by a differentiation of the two, the lack of other references to Vayu as taking part in Indra's battles becomes clear, as does also the fact that Vayu alone sometimes receives the first draught of Soma. See R-V., i. 134, 1. The origin of the word Indra, as has been said, is unknown, but the etymology which is most satisfactory, on the whole, connects In d-ra with in d-u, 'drop' (of Soma or light),