Besides Prag^pati, there is, however, another deity who lays claim to the possession of the sacred steed ; for the horse is Varu«a's sacrificial animal (5at. Br. V, 3, 1,5 ; VI, ^> i> 5 ; Taitt. Br. Ill, 9, 16, i); nay, Varu«a is even the lord of all one-hoofed cattle {V^. S. XIV, 30 ; 5at. Br. VIII, 4, 3, 13). This connection of the horse with Varu«a seems natural enough, seeing that this god, as the king of heaven and the upholder of the law, is the divine represen- tative of the earthly king ; whence the R^^asiiya, or corona- tion-ceremony, is called Varu«a's consecration (Sat Br. V, 4, 3, 21 ; cf. II, 2, 3, i). For this reason the barley also is sacred to Varu«a ^ (XIII, 3, 8, 5) ; and accordingly, during the same ceremony, the king offers a barley-mash to Vani«a, in the house of his Sdta, or charioteer and herald ; a horse being the sacrificial fee for this offering (V, 3, i, 5). In the Vedic hymns, this association of the god Varu«a with the noble quadruped finds a ready, if rather common- place, explanation in a common natural phenomenon: Varu«a*s horse is none other than the fiery racer who pursues his diurnal course across the all-encompassing arch of heaven, the sphere of Varu^a *, the all-ruler. It is ih the
* Dr. Hillebrandty 'Varana ond Mitra,' p. 65, is inclined to refer this con- nection to VamMa*8 character as the god of waters and the rains, as £ivoaring the crops and fertility generally.
' Whilst it may be a matter of opinion whether, with Professor Bmgmann (Gmndr. II, p. 154), we have to take the original form of this name to be * Torvanos,' or whether the * u * of the Sanskrit word is merely due to the dulling influence of the preceding r (cf. tarumi, dhfini^a, kanuia), the etymo- logical identity of Waru«as' and oipavos is now probably questioned by few scholars. The ethical attributes of thb mythological conception seem to
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XX ^ATAPATHA-BRAHMAJVA.
form of the horse that the Sun is thus lauded in the h^mn Hig'V. I, 163, recited by the Hotrt on the second Soma- day of the Axvamedha, after the horse has been led up to the sacrificial stake, and to the slaughtering-place M — i. *When, first bom (just bom), thou didst neigh, uprising from the sea, or from the vapoury region, the falcon's wings and the deer's feet — praiseworthy greatness was innate in thee, O steed 1 ' . . . 4. ' Three fetterings 2, they say, are thine in the sky, three in the waters, three within the sea ; and like unto Varu;;a, O steed, dost thou appear to me, where, they say, thy highest birth-place is.' And since, as in these verses, the upper regions commonly present them- selves to the eye of the Vedic singer under the semblance of a heavenly sea, Varu«a also comes to be looked upon as the divine representative of the waters ; whilst the horse, for the same reason, is supposed to have sprung from the waters. Of any connection of the sacrificial horse with Pra^pati, on the other hand, as of the Pra^pati theory of the sacrifice generally, clearly shadowed forth in the Purusha-sOkta, and so decidedly dominant during the Br^hma^a period, no trace is to be found in the earlier hymns. Indeed, if we have any right to assume that the horse-sacrifice was known and practised in the earlier times, it can scarcely be doubted that King Varu«a must have been the deity to whom this victim was chiefly consecrated.
The close and natural relations between the sun and the
heavens find their hallowed expression in the divine duad
Mitra and Vam«a. Though, judged by the number of
xne to find a sufficiently intelligible explanation without resorting to outside influence to account for them. Indeed, Dr. Hillebrandt's * Varuna nnd Mitra* gives a fairly complete and satisfactory account of this figure of the Indian pantheon in all its relations.
* Sec Shi. Br. XIII, 5, i, 17, 18.
^ That is, probably, three halting- places (? the points of rising, culminating, and setting). Perhaps also the three statements are merely meant as an emphatic repetition of one and the same locality — ^the sky, the sea of waters ; though, possibly, three different strata of the upper region may be intended. Professor Ludwig, on the other hand, takes * trtwi bandhanini * in the sense of * three fetters,' and Professor Hillcbrandt, 1. c, in that of * three relations (or connections, Beziebungcn).'
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Introduction. Xxi
hymns addressed to them, singly or jointly, this pair of deities occupies a somewhat subordinate position in the Vedic pantheon, there is reason to believe that it formed a more prominent feature of a phase of belief lying beyond the period reflected in the hymns of the -^/g-veda. Judging from the peculiar character of these deities, one might indeed be inclined to claim for the people that formed religious conceptions such as these a long period of peaceful dwell- ing and normal intellectual growth. If such was the case, the occupation of the land of the seven rivers and the gradual eastward drift certainly proved a turning-point in the development of this Aryan people. But, in any case, the decided change of climate ^, and the close contact with aboriginal tribes of inferior culture, could hardly fail, along with the changed conditions of life, to influence consider- ably the character of the people, and to modify their religious notions and intellectual tendencies. As, in their struggles against hostile tribes, the people would naturally look to leaders of deed and daring rather than to mild and just rulers, so the violent war of elements, periodically con- vulsing the heavens in these regions, after long and anxious seasons of heat and drought, and striking awe and terror into the minds of men, might seem to them to call for a heavenly champion of a different stamp than the even- headed and even-tempered Varu«a, — it would need a divine leader of dauntless, and even ferocious, spirit to fight the worshipper's battle against his earthly and unearthly foes. Such a champion the Vedic Aryans indeed created for themselves in the person of Indra, the divine representative, as it were, of their warlike kings, and the favourite subject of their song. And side by side with him, and sharing with him the highest honours — nay, even taking precedence of him — we find the divine priest, Agni, the deified fire of sacrifice, as representing the all-pervading, all-supporting
* Whilst the climate of Baluchistan is regulated, as in Europei by the succession of four seasons, the climate of the districts east of the Indus, as of India generally, shows the characteristic threefold division of rainy, cool, and hot seasons (S. Pottinger, Beloochistan, p. 319 seqq.).
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light of heaven ; just as we found Mitra, the sun, by the side of Varuwa, the god of the all-encompassing heaven. Not as if Agni and Indra had ever entirely superseded Mitra and Varu«a. On the contrary, all these gods con- tinue to share, in a greater or less degree, the affections of the Vedic singers ; and as regards Varu«a and Indra in particular, their relations are well expressed by Vasish/Aa when he says {Rig-v. VII, 82, 2 ; 5), that the one (Varuwa) is * samr^^ ' (universal ruler, overlord) ; and the other (Indra) *svar^^' (self-ruler, independent lord) ; — and that, ever since the time when these two, by their power, created all the beings in the world, Mitra serves Varuwa in peace, whilst the mighty (Indra) goesTorth with the Manits in quest of glory. Even in the sacrificial ritual, Mitra and Varu«a continue to play an important part, seeing that one of the priests — the MaitrAvaruwa — is named after them, that they receive various oblations, and that at the end of every Soma- sacrifice at least one sterile co\y is offered to them,apparently as an expiatory victim, for shortcomings in the sacrifice ^, thus accentuating once more the ethical character of these deities. It is thus not to be wondered at that, whilst Agni and Indra are most commonly referred to in the Brdhma«as as the divine representatives of the Brahman and Kshatra, or the spiritual and the political powers — the high priest and king— respectively, the very same is the case as regards Mitra and Varu«a*; and the Maruts, representing the common people, are accordingly associated with Varuwa,
^ Taitt. S. VI, 6, 7, 4, explains this ofTering as symbolicaUy smoothing down the sacrifice torn up by recited verses and chanted hymns, even as a field, torn up by the plough, is levelled by a roller (* matya,' taken however by S&y. in the sense of * cow-dung '). The S&t, Br. does not allude to the expiatory character of the offering, but there can be no doubt that it is of an essentially piacular signifidance. It need scarcely be mentioned that the ' avabhrrlha,' or lustral bath, at the end of Soma- and other sacrifices, is distinctly explained (II, 5, a, 46; IV, 4, 5, 10) as intended to clear the Sacrificer of all guilt for which he is liable to Varuwa. Cf. Taitt. Br. Ill, 9, 15, 'At the lustral bath he offers the last oblation with ** To GumhBksi hail ! " for <7umbaka is Varona : he thus finally frees himself from Varu»a by offering.*
» See, for instance. Sat. Br. IV, i, 4, a; V, 3, a, 4; IX, 4, a, 16; Maitr. S. IV, 5, 8 j Taitt. Br. Ill, i, 2, 7 (kshatrasya T§^k Vanwio.dhir^).
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INTRODUCTION. XXill
as their king or ruler (^at. Br. II, 5, 2, 34), just as they are with Indra (II, 5, a, 27). One might thus expect that Indra would claim the same special connection ^ with the sacrificial horse as that which is conceded to Varu»a. The reason why this is not the case probably is that, in the Br&hma^a period, the notion of the horse having, like the sun, originated from the cosmic waters had become as firmly established as was the traditional connection — nay, even identity ^ — of Varu«a with the element of water generally.
The interpretation of this legend presents, however, some difficulties. Dr. Hillebrandt, * Varu^a und Mitra ' (p. 64), translates the first sentence by — *Pr^f4pati fiihrte dem
^ Since aU the gods are conoemed in the Ajvamedha — whence the horse is called 'vaifmdeya' — Indra would of course have a general interest in it. India is also associated with the hone in so far as he is said to have first mounted it, ^fg-veda I, 163, 3, 9. India's two bays (had) of course belong to a different conception.
> Apo vai Vanimul, Maitr. S. IV, 8, 5.
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Varuwa das Ross fort^' — *Pra^lipati led the horse away from Varu«a ' : this would undoubtedly make better sense, but, unfortunately, the construction of * nl ' with the dative in this sense would involve a decided solecism. SSya^a, on the other hand, takes it in the same sense as we have done, and he explains that it is just by giving away the horse whose deity he himself is that Pr^^pati forfeits his godhead^. He feels, however, afterwards constrained to assign to ' pratigrA^Ati ' the causal force of ' he causes it to be taken, he gives it away/ which is clearly impossible. But whatever the correct interpretation of the opening clause may be, it seems at all events clear that the sacrificial horse is represented in the legend as undergoing a change of ownership from the one deity to the other.
When one compares the ceremonial of the A^amedha, as expounded in the Br&hma;;a, with the ritual indications contained in the two hymns already referred to, one is struck by the very marked contrast between the two. For whilst, on the central day of the Ajvamedha alone, the ritual requires the immolation of not less than 349 victims bound to twenty-one stakes (p. 311, n. i) — not counting two sets of eleven Savanlya victims (p. 383, n. 3) subsequently added thereto — the hymns (I, 162, 2-4 ; 163, 1 2) seem only to mention two victims, viz. the horse itself, and a he-goat. This latter animal which is to precede the horse when led to the sacrificial ground (and stake), and to
^ This, DO doubt, might possibly be taken to mean * Pn^pati led away the horse for Vani^a,' but Dr. Hillebrandt could hardly have meant it in this sense, since his argument apparently is that the horse (like Varufia himself) represents the aqueous element, and that thus, by taking to himself the horse, Pra^pati incurs dropsy. The exact point which interests us here, viz. the relation between Pra^pati and Varuna as regards the sacrificial horse, lies outside Dr. Hillebrandt's inquiry.
