The Rig Veda: An Anthology

Agni (literally, “fire”) is the personification of the sacrificial fire and the domestic hearth. He was born to or freed from the cosmic waters, wherein his spirit still exists. As the sacrificial fire, he eats oblations; as the fire of cremation, he consumes the bodies of the dead. Agni is associated with the sun and lightning; as the carrier of the priests’ sacrificial offerings, he is the messenger of the gods, the divine mediator between mankind and the Vedic deities. Like Soma, Agni is both a physical substance and a god; both are invoked more frequently than any other deities in the Rig Veda.

The Asvins (literally, “horsemen”) are the twin sons of the sun. They are benefactors of mankind associated with the function of fertility: They restore sexual potency and assist in childbirth, cure blindness and other ailments, and rescue the lost and drowning. In addition to being divine physicians, they protect warriors and bring abundance and wealth to their worshippers. The Asvins, whose epithet is “husbands of beauty,” are suitors of their sister, the daughter of the sun, and bless courtship and marriages. Their rescue of Atri, a priest locked in a pit or coffin by demons, is the most fully elaborated of their deeds in the Rig Veda.

The Asuras are demonic opponents or rivals of the Vedic gods. The term originally applied to the earliest generation of Vedic deities and sometimes describes divinities such as the sun or Rudra. Later, however, the Asuras are associated with darkness and known for evil deeds. The Asuras throw Atri into a pit and hide Agni in the waters. Vrtra, the demon Indra famously defeated, is an Asura; so is the devourer of the sun whose evil magic Indra and Atri overcome.

Dawn (Usas) is the personified goddess of daybreak and the most prominent female deity in the Rig Veda. Her feminine beauty is the subject of many of the text’s most lyrical hymns. She is the mother of cows and calves, symbols of the ruddy clouds and milky skies of dawn. Her suitor, the sun, pursues her by following her into the sky. Dawn is also associated with Vedic sacrificial ritual, which begins with the early morning kindling of the sacrificial fire and the first pressing of soma.

Indra is the preeminent deity in the Rig Veda, a warrior god and destroyer of obstacles. Closely related to the soma sacrifice, he is celebrated for consuming copious amounts of the sacred intoxicant, which instills him with physical strength, courage, and poetic inspiration. Indra’s attribute is the mace, or thunderbolt, which has martial significance and functions as a fertility symbol. As king of the gods, Indra has many roles in Vedic mythology. His chief deeds include freeing the waters imprisoned by the Asuras; killing the demonic serpent Vrtra, from whose body Indra forms the heavens and earth; and liberating cattle from the Vala cave. Along with Soma and Agni, he is the most frequently invoked god in the Rig Veda and the subject of many hymns.

Manu is the eponymous father of mankind, the primordial ancestor who first sacrificed and offered soma to the gods. In the Rig Veda, his name interchangeably indicates contemporary man or his mythic progenitor.

The sons of Rudra, the Maruts are a brotherhood of wind gods who serve as Indra’s companions in battle, always appearing as a collective in the Rig Veda. Under the influence of soma, the Maruts perform heroic deeds such as assisting Indra in his struggle with Vrtra and opening a spring for the thirsty sage Gotama. Several Vedic hymns describe their rivalry with Indra over the right to a sacrifice offered by the priest Agastya.

Pusan is the god of roads, travelers, and journeys. The son of Aditi, he is a charioteer occasionally identified as the driver of the sun, whose daughter is his consort. One hymn (6.55) alludes to Pusan’s incestuous relationships with his sister and mother, though this familial connection is vague.

Rudra is a fierce, unpredictable deity, the antecedent of Siva in later Hinduism. Jealous of homage paid to other gods, he is invoked separately and not invited to the soma sacrifice jointly shared by other members of the Vedic pantheon. Hymns dedicated to Rudra typically attempt to appease the god’s anger rather than invite his presence, giving him euphemistic epithets, such as “the merciful one.” Rudra’s complementary aspect as a healer lends ambivalence to his character.

Like Agni, Soma is both a ritual substance and a Vedic deity. Soma is the personified sacred drink extracted from the leaves or stalks of the soma plant and offered to the gods in the important soma sacrifice. Mythically, Soma is the elixir of immortality, praised as a healer, protector, and inspirer of men. Vedic hymns depict Soma in many forms, often as a male and occasionally a female animal. Soma is frequently identified with cosmic elements such as the sun, with the pillar that separates the sky from the earth, and with the navel of Order. Because the Rig Veda is primarily a collection of hymns centered on the Soma sacrifice, Soma, Agni, and Indra, are the most frequently invoked deities in the text.

The sun appears in the Rig Veda as two masculine gods: Surya and Savitr. Surya traverses the heavens in a chariot pulled by seven horses; he is closely associated with the fire god Agni and the sovereign deity Varuna. By virtue of his all-seeing power, he functions as the “eye of Varuna” or the “eye of heaven.” Indra, Varuna, Agni, Soma, and Visnu are all credited with giving birth to the sun, setting him in the heavens, or rescuing him from imprisonment by the demon “sunlight-devourer.”

Savitr (literally “the impeller”) is the personification of the rising and setting sun. He compels all creatures to their daily activities at daybreak and to home and rest at sunset. Closely associated with Surya, Savitr has golden eyes, arms, and hands; in his nocturnal aspect, he appears in a chariot studded with bright gems, likely personifying the Milky Way.

Tvastr, the divine artisan, is the father of Indra and fashioner of his son’s characteristic weapon, the thunderbolt (or mace). He forms the embryo within the womb; in the dialogue of Yama and Yami (10.10), Yami claims that Tvastr bound her and her twin brother together as husband and wife as they were gestating in the uterus.

Varuna, one of the Adityas, embodies the function of kingly sovereignty. Associated with the sun, which symbolizes his regal authority and omniscience, Varuna observes men’s actions and punishes offenses against sacred law (rta), ensnaring and binding transgressors with fetters. He also performed several acts of cosmic creation, such as establishing the sun in the heavens and separating the earth and sky. Varuna is closely associated with the waters, which he liberally distributes on the earth. Symbolically, Varuna’s waters represent mercy and expiation in his role as the divine judge of human deeds.

Visnu is a Vedic deity whose scope greatly expands in classical Hinduism. Often associated with Indra, Visnu is known primarily in the Rig Veda for the three great strides that separate the heaven and earth, establishing the two-fold cosmos. After this archetypal act of creation, Visnu retreats to a hidden refuge in the mountains where the fountain of honey, or immortality, flows.

The killing of the demon Vrtra (literally, “restrainer”) is one of Indra’s most prolific heroic deeds. The serpent-like Asura confined the waters in a mountain until Indra slew and dismembered the demon, freeing the waters that enable life. By the same act, Indra released the sun, the sky, and the dawn, forming the earth and heaven from Vrtra’s body.