* On this hymn see A. Weber, Ind. Stud. V, 1 78 seq. ; J. Ehni, Zeitsch. der D. M. G. XXXIII, p. 166 seq.
Introduction. Xv
as harnessing Svar's Etaj-a ; in IX, 36, 3 ; 49, 5 as causing the lights to shine (^oti;;/shi vi-rokayan; pratnavad ro/^ayan ruka./i) ; in IX, 42, i as producing the h'ghts of the sky (and) the sun in the (heavenly) waters ; in IX, 41, 5 as filling the two wide worlds (rodasi), even as the dawn, as the sun, with his rays. Nay, the poet of IX, 86, 29, ' Thou art the (heavenly) ocean (samudra) . . . thine are the lights (^o- tiwshi), O Pavamana, thine the sun,' seems to conceive Soma as the bright ether, the azure ' sea of light ' generally ; and a similar conception is perhaps implied when, in IX, 107, 20, the bard sings, ' Thine I am, O Soma, both by night and by day, for friendship's sake, O tawny one, in the bosom (of the sky ^) : like birds have we flown far beyond the sun scorching with heat.'
On the other hand, it must not be forgotten that similar functions to those here referred to are ascribed to other deities besides Soma, without there being any cogent reason for assuming an intentional rapprochement, still less iden- tification of these deities with Soma ; and, in point of fact, the allusions in the hymns are too vague to enable us to determine the exact relations between Soma and the heavenly light. Indeed, it may be questioned whether there was any very clear apprehension of these relations ; or whether, prior to the ultimate identification of Soma with the moon, we have not to deal with a body of floating ideas rather than with a settled mythological conception of the divine Soma. During his brief term of existence on earth — from his mountain birth to his final consummation as 'the supreme offering' (uttamaw havis) — the outward form of Soma passes through a succession of changes from which the poet would draw many a feature wherewith to endow the divine object of his fancy. He might thus repre- sent Soma now as a shining tree springing from the moun- tains of the sky ; now as a luminous drop or spark moving through the heavens, and shedding light all around ; or as innumerable drops of light scattered over the wide aerial
' tJdhani, lit. in, or on, the udder (whence Soma is milked, i.e. the sky).
XVI 5ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
expanse ; now as a glittering stream, or again, as a vast sea of liquid light.
The references of the Avesta to the divine Haoma are even less definite and explicit than those of the Vedic hymns. His connection with the heavenly light, though not perhaps so close as that of Mithra and other deities, is unmistakable enough ^ ; but we look in vain for any clear indication as to what the exact relations are. It is certain, however, that nowhere in the Avesta is there any passage which could warrant us to assume an identification of Haoma with either the Sun or the Moon. In Ya^-na IX, 81-82, we are told that Haoma was the first to be invested by Ahura-Mazda with the zone, spangled with stars, and made in heaven, in accordance with the good Mazda-ya^nic law ; and that girt therewith he dwells upon the heights of the mountain to uphold the sacred ordinances. It is difficult to see what else the star-spangled zone (the heavenly counterpart of the ordinary Kusti of the orthodox Parsi) could here refer to, except the milky way, or perhaps the starry sky generally ; — unless, indeed, as is scarcely likely, some special constellation be implied ; — but neither this nor any other passage enables us in any way to define the divine personality of Haoma.
Soma's descent to the earth, as pictured in the Vedic hymns, is attended with violent disturbances in the regions of the sky, in which Indra generally plays the principal part. It is admitted on all hands that we have to look upon these supernal struggles as mythic impressions of ordinary atmo- spheric phenomena, especially those of the Indian monsoon and rainy season, and the violent thunderstorms by which they are usually accompanied. According to the needs and anxieties by which he was swayed at the moment, these atmospheric occurrences presented themselves to the poet's mind chiefly in two different hghts. Either, the approaching masses of clouds brought with them the long-desired rain, and the prospect of abundant food for man and beast : in that case the gods were doing battle for the possession of
* Cf. Spiegel, Eranische Alterthumskunde, II, p. 1 14.
Introduction. Xvu
the celestial waters, or the heavenly cows, too long confined by malicious demons in their mountain strongholds ; or, after a time of tempest and gloom, one longed to see again the bright sky and the golden sunlight, to cheer life and ripen the crops : in which case it was a struggle for the recovery of the heavenly light.
The relation in which Soma stands to Indra is mainly that of the fiery beverage, the welcome draughts of which give the warrior god the requisite strength and nerve for battling with the demons of drought and darkness. Indra's favourite weapon is the thousand-spiked, iron or golden thunderbolt, the lightning. But inasmuch as it is Soma that enables Indra effectually to wield his weapon, the poet might, by a bold, yet perfectly natural, metaphor, identify the potent drink with the terrible bolt. This identification is indeed met with in several passages of the Rik ^, notably in IX, 47, 3, ' When his song of praise is brought forth, then Soma, the powerful (indriya) liquor, becomes the thousand- fold-winning thunderbolt ; ' in IX, 73, 7, ' Indra's thunder- bolt, the bountiful (vibhuvasu) bull, the exhilarating Soma clarifies itself in a manner pleasing to the heart ;' and in IX, 77, 1, 'This sweet (Soma) has roared in the tub, Indra's thunderbolt, more beautiful than the beautiful one ^.' Not less natural is the simile implied in epithets, properly applying to Indra, — such as 'vr/trahan' (slayer of Vn'tra), and 'goda' (cow-giver), — when applied to Soma, who helps him to make good those titles of his ; just as one can understand their being occasionally applied to Agni, the sacrificial fire, as the medium through which the libations reach Indra. A similar kind of poetic figure is involved in passages representing Soma as exercising an influence, not on Indra himself, but on the weapons wielded by him ^;
' Cf. A. Bergaigne, Religion Vedique, II, 253. In the Brahmawas it is not Soma, but the pressing-stone, that is identified with the Va^ra.
^ Prof. Ludwig proposes to read ' va^rat ' instead of ' va<§TO,' thus ' more beautiful than Indra's beautiful thunderbolt.' But even if we retain the received reading, 'vapushaA' might refer to the (real) thunderbolt; though, of course, it may also be taken as referring either to the sun, or to Agni, or to some other deity or heavenly object.
' Cf. A. Bergaigne, II, 251.
Xviii 5'ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiSrA.
such as VIII, 76, 9, ' O Indra, drink the pressed Soma, . . . sharpening the thunderbolt with its strength;' or IX, 96, 13, where Soma is called upon to join Indra, and produce weapons for him (^anayayudhani) ; or VIII, 15^ 7, where the Soma-cup (dhishawa) is said to whet Indra's power, his daring and intelligence, as well as the desirable thunder- bolt.
But, while most scholars will probably be content to apply this kind of interpretation to cases of an apparent identification of Soma and the Va^ra such as those referred to, M. Bergaigne is evidently in favour of their identity pure and simple. Now, it cannot be denied that the authors of some of those passages may really have in- tended to represent Soma as virtually or actually the same as the thunderbolt ; but even if that were so, we should hardly be justified in assuming this identity to have been anything like a settled and universally accepted conception in the times of the hymns. There surely is some danger in treating a miscellaneous collection like the Rig-veda, as if it were a uniform and homogeneous production, and in generalizing from one or two isolated passages. In this respect I cannot help thinking that M. Bergaigne has often gone farther than many scholars will be prepared to follow him. Thus another of his favourite theories seems to be the ultimate identity of Soma and Agni. But close as the relations of these two deities undoubtedly are, and even admitting that they may occasionally have been the object of those syncretist tendencies which we see so often at work in the mythological speculations of the i?/shis, nevertheless I cannot but think that to the generality of Vedic poets Agni and Soma were perfectly distinct deities, as distinct from each other as the two visible objects v/hich represent them on earth. Indeed, M. Bergaigne himself has to admit (I, 167) that, 'as the fire and beverage were in reality dis- tinct on earth, this distinction was inevitably extended sometimes to their divine forms.' But if such is the case, and if they are actually invoked together in one and the same hymn, should one not think that even in those divine forms of theirs they must at least have
Introduction. Xix
been regarded as two different manifestations of the same divinity ?
Soma makes his descent to the earth in showers of rain, amid thunder and lightning. Here a new problem presents itself: in this strife of elements, what is the exact pheno- menon in which we are to recognise the divine Soma as temporarily embodied ? It used to be taken for granted that the rain of the thunderstorm must be so regarded, being as it were the atmospheric counterpart of the earthly Soma drops, expressed from the juicy stalk and flowing into the vat. M. Bergaigne, however, has put forward the theory that it is not the rain, but the lightning, that really repre- sents Soma ; and has tried to show, with no little ingenuity, that several passages of the Ri\<. can only, or at any rate most naturally, be explained by the light of his theory. Now, according to an old myth, frequently alluded to in the hymns. Soma was brought down to the earth by an eagle or falcon (xyena). Thus we read in I, 93, 6, ' Matarii"van has brought down the one (Agni) from the sky, and the vSyena has churned the other (Soma) from the (celestial) rock.' A. Kuhn saw in this bird only another form of Indra who, in two passages (I, 32, 14 ; X, 99, 8), is indeed directly likened to a ^yena. On the other hand, this identification is rendered doubtful by two other passages (I, 80, 2 ; IV, 18, 13), in which the ^yena is represented as bringing the Soma to Indra himself. Here, then, is a veritable crux. M. Bergaigne does not hesitate to cut the knot by identify- ing the Soma-bearing bird with the lightning ; and the lightning again being to him no other than Soma, the myth thus resolves itself into the rather commonplace fact that Soma takes himself down to the earth. He only needed to go a step further by identifying Soma, not only with Agni and the lightning, but also with Indra himself, and the phantasmagory would have been complete. Indeed, one of M. Bergaigne's disciples, M. KouHkovski, has already come very near supplying this deficiency, when he remarks (Revue de Linguistique, XVIII, p. 3), that in the hymn IV, 26 ' we have to do with a twofold personage, composed of the attributes of Indra and Soma.'
XX ^-ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
