•570 MR J. MUIR ON THE PRINCIPAL DEITIES OF THE RIGVEDA. 



Although Agni is not in general celebrated in the same lofty strains as Indra 

 and Varuna, there are yet a few passages in which the attributes of creator and 

 preserver of the universe are assigned to him by the Vedic poets. Thus, he is 

 said to have produced the two worlds ; to have meted out the regions of the air, 

 and the heavenly luminaries ; to have spread out heaven and earth, like two 

 skins : to have propped up the sky ; and to exceed the universe in greatness. All 

 the deities fear and reverence him. He delivers them from evil. His ordinances 

 are not violated. He knows the races of the gods, the recesses of heaven, and 

 the secrets of men. He beholds all worlds. He is celebrated and worshipped by 

 Mitra, Varuna, the Maruts, and the 3339 divinities. Through him Varuna, Mitra, 

 and Aryaman triumph. He is sometimes identified with other gods, such as 

 Indra, Vishnu, Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman, Tvashtri, Rudra, and is said to compre- 

 hend them all within himself, as the circumference of a wheel surrounds the 

 spokes. He is also at times associated with some of the other deities, especially 

 Avith Indra, in several of whose functions, such as that of thunderer, slayer of 

 Vrittra, and destroyer of cities, he is said to participate, and of whom he is in 

 one place said to be the twin brother. 



The votaries of Agni prosper. He is the friend of the man who entertains him 

 as a guest, and he bestows protection and wealth on the worshipper who sweats 

 to bring him fuel, and wearies his head to serve him. He has it in his power to 

 bestow many kinds of blessings, and to avert many species of misfortunes, and 

 is therefore supplicated to grant his favour and protection, and to be an iron wall 

 with a hundred ramparts to shield his votaries. He is master of all the 

 treasures in the earth, the atmosphere, and the sky. All blessings proceed from 

 him. as branches from a tree. 



In one passage, the worshipper naively says to Agni, — " If I were thou, 

 and thou wert I, thy aspirations should be fulfilled on the spot ;" and again, — 

 '^ If, Agni, thou wert a mortal, and I an immortal, I would not abandon thee to 

 wrong, or to penury. My worshipper should not be poor, nor distressed, nor 

 miserable." 



The blessings which this god is solicited to bestow are almost entirely of a 

 physical character ; but in one or two places, he is asked to forgive sin. He 

 appears occasionally to be regarded as the arbiter of immortality ; and in a funeral 

 hymn he is besought to convey the " unborn part" of the deceased to the world 

 of the righteous. 



The Asvins. 



The Asvins seem to have been a puzzle even to the oldest Indian commen- 

 tators, one of whom, Yaska, refers to them in the following terms (Nirukta, 

 xii. 1) : — " Now come the deities whose sphere is the heaven. Of these the two 

 Asvins are the first in order. They are called Asvins (from a root as), because 



