The gods of India
The second millennium BC. e. was a time when the tribes of the Aryans and Iranians coexisted on the territory of India. Therefore, the languages and culture of the two peoples were in close connection, which was reflected in speech, cults and religion. The creation of Vedic mythology refers to this period, which was reflected in the monument of Indian literature of the Rigveda, in which more than a thousand hymns dedicated to the gods were collected.
As in ancient mythology, the gods of Indiasubmitted to the patriarchate. At the head of the pantheon was Dyaus, he was the deity of heaven and heavenly light. However, in the Rig Veda his cult was already in a state of extinction. In total there were thirty-three deities in the Vedic pantheon. Some of them lived on Earth, the other lived in Heaven, the third was considered universal.
Later hymns by the supreme god are calledVaruna. He was a judge, a formidable punisher of people for their sins. In the mythology of the Rigveda, the head of the pantheon is Indra, the god of thunder, who defeated the dragon Vritra, who threatened to devour the universe. The other, most revered Gods of India, described in the cult of the Rig Veda, are the god of fire Agni, the deity of the sacred drink Soma. In addition to them, the pantheon included deities, personifying natural phenomena: the sun god Surya, the goddess of the dawn Ushas, the twin brothers Ashvina, who were associated with the twilight evening and the pre-dawn.
The Rigveda reflected the earliest stagethe creation of myths, when the elements were deified. So, the gods of Ancient India were divided into two groups: asuras and devas. The first lived in air spheres and later began to be perceived as anthropomorphic elements hostile to man. The devas called the gods.
Late November literary monuments includeYajurvedu, Atharvavedu and Brahman cycle. In them the religious ideas of that epoch were developed and evolved. The god-creator Prajapati was brought to the fore. He was called the creator of the universe and the father of the gods. Gradually changed the role of other deities, possibly borrowed from non-Aryan cults. Vishnu is one of them. In the Brahmanas, his name was associated with the mythology of the sun and the rite of sacrifice. The deity Rudra, who later found the name of Shiva, absorbed the archaic features of earlier cults of peoples inhabiting India before the arrival of the Aryans.
They did not have special temples. For special ceremonies, which the gods of India demanded, altars were built. Sometimes, they acquired the most bizarre outlines. For example, in the form of a bird. They performed sacrifices. In the Late Vedas, the attitude towards rites has changed. Now it was believed that the gods are powerless before the priest, whose actions are of magical significance. The priests were called earth gods.
When the new gods of India Vishnu and Shiva came, the role ofIndra declined, he withdrew to the background. The meaning of other idols also changed. Varuna became the god of terrestrial and atmospheric waters, Soma turned into the god of the moon. Some of the secondary (the old pantheon) were altogether consigned to oblivion.
At the end of the Vedic period, the doctrine ofkarma. According to him, the number of good and evil deeds committed by a person in his life can affect his rebirth. The soul falls after death in heaven or hell, and then settles into another living being. This explains the position of a person in society: punishment for the sins of a past life or retribution for good deeds. The circle of rebirths concerned not only people, but also gods.
Since the time of Brahman, the idea of a cosmicthe power that a man can acquire, indulging in ascetic torment of flesh and self-sacrifice. So in mythology there was a force hostile to idols. The new god, Brahma, came to replace the late Vedic chapter of the Prajapati pantheon. The importance of Shiva and Vishnu increased, and Indra, although considered "king of the gods", moved to a subordinate position. In the later Vedas appeared Yama, a man who, after death, was able to open the way to the afterlife and became a king there.
Archaic Vedic mythology and language helpTo study the past of all Indo-European peoples and the deep connection between them. At the same time, India, its gods, remain the subject of continuing interest to this day.
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