282 
Surya. “The Shining ” (Tiele). Greek, Helios; Latin, 
Sol, the Sun. 
Tvashtri. “The Creator” (Lenormant). “The Maker” 
(Muller). A solar Hephaistos. 
Ushas. “ The Dawn.” Greek, Eds, Aiis, Auos. Also 
called Ahana. Greek, Athena, “the Brilliant;” and Sa- 
ranyu, Greek, Erinnys, the ‘ running’ light. 
Varuna. “The Coverer” (Tiele). Greek, Oui’anos. The 
God of heaven, the Asura and head of the Yedic Pantheon. 
After having ruled in the Oversea, Varuna in later times was 
degraded to the Undersea, and became an Okeanos.* 
Vaiju. “The gentler wind.” Cf. Lat. Favonius. The 
spirit-breath of heaven. 
Vishnu. “The Penetrater ” (Gubernatis). The Sun, as 
striding across heaven. 
Vivasvat. “The Brilliant” (Roth). Heavenly light and 
the sun. 
Yama. “ The Twin.” Cf. Lat. Gemini. The Iranian 
Yima, who reigned in the happy golden age of the past. By 
Yama and his twin-sister Yami some understood Day and 
Night, or Light and Darkness. Yama is especially the 
western or setting sun. He reigns over the departed, for to 
die is but to go away; and the fathers, the elder worthies of 
the human race, dwell with Yama in bliss in the unseen 
world. 
Such, then, are the principal divinities of the Rig-Veda. 
There are also many minor figures, goddesses, who play 
unimportant parts, for a goddess, to use an Assyrian expres- 
sion, is originally merely the ‘ reflection ’ of her husband-god ; 
ideal personifications, such as Vach, ‘ Voice/ Sraddha, 
‘ Faith/ and the like; compound names for the supreme 
divinity, and other heterogeneous concepts ; but the foregoing 
list contains all, or nearly all, the personages of any real 
importance. 
20. Analysis of the Vedic Divinities. 
Reckoning the Asvins and the Maruts as each one person- 
age, the list contains twenty-nine names, from which we may 
at once deduct the three special phases of Agni, namely, 
* Cf. the position of the Homeric Okeanos : — 
*E pxopai 6\po/ift>ri iro\v<p6p[3ov ntipara yaitjg, 
’{iKtavpp Tt, Otdip y'iviaiv. 
(II. xiv. 301-2.) 
