300 
With those forms of thine which are auspicious convey it 
to the world of the righteous.” * * * § 
33. The Essence of the Vedic Divinities. 
Such, then, are the Vedic divinities; from being few they 
become many. In various passages thirty-three gods are 
alluded to, but, according to others, there are one hundred 
and eighty Maruts alone ; and elsewhere it is said that three 
thousand three hundred and thirty-nine gods have worshipped 
Agni. Thus Pantheons extend. As time goes on, other im- 
portant figures appear upon the stage ; Brahma, a personifica- 
tion of “ the magic power hidden in the sacred word and in 
prayers;”f Siva,J Krishna, § but these ax*e not Vedic divinities, 
and therefore do not concern us. Goddesses also play an im- 
portant part, a sure sign of degeneration ; the miserable 
doctrine of the transmigration of the soul, entirely unknown to 
the Rig-Veda , makes its appearance to the torment of man- 
kind ; and, after many a weary age, including the reaction of 
Buddhism and its suppression, we reach a vague and atheistic 
pantheism or a grovelling superstition ; a truly remarkable 
instance of mental evolution, although at the same time un- 
doubtedly a descent of man. And, amid the crowd of shadowy 
forms that make up the group of Vedic divinities, where do 
we find reality save in the Asura, Varuna, Mitra, Surya- 
Savitri, Yama, and Agni ? And these, again, resolve them- 
selves into God, the sun-god, and the universal spirit of 
divinity. They are all known elsewhere ; alike in name 
(Ahura, Ouranos, Mithra, Helios, Yima, Ogni) and in reality. 
34. The Law of Circle. 
Thus we can see how, long ere the days of Zoroaster, there 
* Rig-Veda, X. xvi. 
t Tiele, Outlines of the History of the Ancient Religions, 125. 
X Siva, “ the Gracious,” is merely a euphemistic appellation of Sarva, 
“the Wrathful.” And Sarva, in turn, is merely an epithet of Rudra con- 
sidered as the Mahadeva (Megastheos) or “ Great god.” And Rudra, “ the 
Terrible,” is as noticed (sup. sec. 19), merely an epithet of Agni. Thus 
much out of little. The Hindu Trimurti, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, is a 
modern philosophical concept, arbitrarily attached to these names. ( Vide 
Tiele, Outlines, 153.) 
§ Krishna, “ the Black,” “ the hidden sun-god of the night ” (Tiele, 0?t<- 
lines, 145), is undoubtedly a very ancient mythological figure, but probably 
non- Aryan in origin. The nocturnal sun is a remarkable feature in Egypt 
and Akkad, and the dark colour harmonizes with the complexion of those 
dusky races who were subdued by the lighter Semites and Aryans . Shem 
is probably connected with the Assyrian samu,“ brownish,” and Japhet (r>3') 
with ippu, “white,” ippatn, “white race.” (Fide Rev. Prof. Sayce, Assyrian 
Lectures, 145.) 
