THE ORIGIN OF THEOSOPHY 487 



first seven deal with single gods (eka) ; the next two with dual gods 

 (dvdu); the tenth with a plural group of divine beings (eke). To 

 realize how subtly all this is done, we must notice that the three 

 important divinities of stanzas three, four, and five all carry weapons 

 or tools; yet the stanzas keep them so distinctly apart that no hearer 

 could possibly have been in doubt : 



3. "An axe (vagi) of brass one carries in his hands; he is firmly 

 fixed among the gods." 



It is the god Tvashtar, " Fashioner." 



4. "A bolt (vajra) is fixed within the hand of one; the demons 

 with it does he slay." 



It is the god Indra, the Hercules of the Veda. 



5. "A sharp weapon one holds in his hand; strong (ugra) he is; 

 the urine (i. e. rain) of heaven is his remedy (jalashabheshaja)." 



It is the god Rudra (Civa). 

 The eighth stanza reads: 



vibhir dva carata ekaya saha pra pravaseva vasatah. 



"Two gods together with one goddess travel, drawn by birds; 

 like travelers do they travel far." 



The two Agvins, the young sons of the morning, suspiciously 

 similar to the Dioskuri, Castor and Pollux, travel with their bride 

 Surya, the young sun-maiden, upon a car drawn by birds. As they 

 are at the same time the heavenly physicians, they are thought to 

 be particularly welcome guests, and they stop off, in the course of 

 their travels, at the houses of the pious, and this cunning riddle 

 is the invitation extended to them. 



The other hymn of the Rig- Veda (1, 164) is the piece de resistance 

 of the riddle literature. It is an assemblage of fifty-two longer stanzas, 

 all of them, except one, riddles whose answers are not given. The 

 one whose answer is stated is identical with the first one cited in this 

 paper. The others involve objects or ideas which, instead of being 

 called by their ordinary names, are indicated, either by their well- 

 known qualities, or, preferably, by some mystic or symbolic indica- 

 tion. Numbers especially play a great part in these indications. The 

 subjects are either cosmic, that is, pertaining to nature; mythological, 

 that is, referring to the accepted legends about the gods; psycho- 

 physical, that is, pertaining to the human organs and sensations; 

 or finally, crude and tentative philosophy or theosophy. Heaven and 

 earth, sun and moon, air, clouds and rain; the course of the sun, the 

 year, the seasons, months, days and nights; the human voice, self- 

 consciousness, life and death; the origin of the first creature and the 

 originator of the universe such are the abrupt and bold themes. 

 The mysticism and symbolism of these riddles make their solution 

 a task of unequal certainty; yet on the whole they also are remark- 



