564 MR J. MUIR ON THE PRINCIPAL DEITIES OF THE RIGVEDA. 



prosperous and ungodly man, while he protects his own servants, and leads 

 them into a "large room,"* into celestial light and security. 



Vdyu and the 3£aruts. 



Vayu, or the Wind, who, as we have seen, is often associated with Indra, 

 does not occupy a very prominent position in the Rigveda. But few epithets 

 are applied to him. He is called beautiful or conspicuous, and handsome in 

 form. He is thousand-eyed, and swift as thought. Like other deities who have 

 been already passed under review, he rides in a shining 'golden chariot, drawn 

 by ruddy or purple steeds, and his team is sometimes said to consist of as many 

 as a hundred, or even a thousand horses. Indra frequently rides by his side. 

 In one of the latest hymns (x. 168), the phenomena of the wind are picturesquely 

 described. His chariot rolls along, resounding, and rending all it encounters. 

 He drives before him, as he advances, the dust of the earth. He never ceases to 

 move along the paths of the atmosphere. The poet then asks, in phrases some of 

 which are almost those of St John (iii. 8), " In what place was he born ? whence 

 has he sprung ? Soul of the deities, source of the universe, this god wanders 

 where he lists ; his sound is heard, but his form is not (seen)." 



The Maruts or Rudras, deities of the storm, receive in the Rigveda a much 

 more frequent and enthusiastic celebration than Vayu. They are the sons of Rudra 

 (who will be noticed below) and Prisni. Numerous hymns are dedicated to their 

 honour, in which they are described by a great variety of picturesque epithets. 

 They are compared to blazing fires ; they are free from soil, and of sun-like 

 brilliancy. In one place they are thus apostrophised : — " Spears rest upon your 

 shoulders, ye Maruts ; ye have anklets on your feet, golden ornaments on your 

 breasts, fiery lightnings in your hands, and golden helmets on your heads." They 

 shatter the demon of drought into fragments ; they are clothed with rain ; they 

 distribute showers over all the world, and alleviate the burning heat ; they shake 

 the mountains, the earth, and both the worlds ; they overturn trees, and like 

 wild elephants, they consume the forests ; they have iron teeth ; they roar like 

 lions, and all creatures are afraid of them ; they are swift as thought ; they ride, 

 with whips in their hands, in golden cars, with golden wheels, drawn by ruddy, 

 tawny, or speckled horses, with which their chariots are said to be winged. 



The Maruts, as we have seen, are frequently described as the attendants of 

 Indra ; but they are the subjects of celebration in many separate hymns in which 

 that deity is never mentioned. 



Budra. 

 Rudra, who, under the name of Siva, or Mahadeva, and as the third person 



* This is a plirase of frequent occurrence in the Rigveda. Compare the very similar expres- 

 sions in Psalms xviii. 19, xxxi. 8, and cxviii. 5, 



