such of our sacred songs as posterity may deem worthy of preservation. In certain respects, however, the picture of the God of the Brahmans will be found to resemble the modern Trinitarian view of the Deity; and it will be as perplexing for the theologian of the future to comprehend the circumstances under which one or other of the three persons of the Godhead is appealed to by worshippers of the same or of different creeds, as it is difficult for us to understand why the Vedic hymn is addressed now to Indra, then to Varuna; now to Soma, or again to Agni; each being in turn exalted as the greatest of the Gods. And yet we are told there was but one God, and that "That which is One, the wise call it in divers manners, they call it Agni, Yama, Matarisvan;" . . . "they call him Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni." This confusion in the picture we must therefore accept as the inevitable result of an obscure antiquity, a clouded past, and of our own feeble vision.

Still it was a grand tableau of the Deity, for it was drawn from the universe itself; and, like all such visions, it was, to the orthodox, a revealed, an inspired view of the Creator!

God was Nature-Nature's phenomena, Nature's forces. The dawn of day awakens Man from his slumbers, whilst :

"Sun and Moon go on in regular succession that we may see Indra and believe.

When Indra hurls again and again his thunderbolt then they believe the brilliant god."

He is omnipresent, but whether as nature itself, or as a

*The designations of the Deity are here intentionally italicised to show how they varied.

Person behind and yet pervading nature, it is difficult

to say:

"This earth too, belongs to Varuna the King, and this wide sky with its ends far apart; the two seas (the sky and the ocean) are Varuna's loins; he is also contained in this small drop of water. He who would flee far beyond the sky, even he would not be rid of Varuna the King. His spies proceed from Heaven towards this world; with thousand eyes they overlock this earth."

He is omniscient as well:

"If a man thinks he is walking by stealth the gods know it all. If a man stands or walks or hides; if he goes to lie down or to get up; what two people sitting together whisper, King Varuna knows it, he is there as the third.” By his omniscience and almighty power he rules the world, and he governs it with order and with love:

"He who knows the place of the birds that fly through the sky, who on the waters knows the ships :-He the upholder of order who knows the twelve months with the offspring of each. . . . . He who knows the track of the wind, of the wide, the bright, the mighty; and knows those who reside on high . . . . he the wise sits there to govern. From thence perceiving all wondrous things, he sees what has been, and what will be done. May he the wise Âditya make our paths straight all our days, may he prolong our lives."

....

But the heaven in which the Aryan God sits enthroned, grand though it be, is, like many a modern heaven, a material one:

"Where there is eternal light; in the world where the Sun is placed, in that immortal imperishable world, place me O Soma!

Where King Vaivasvata reigns; where the secret place of heaven is, where these mighty waters are, there make me immortal!

Where life is free, in the third heaven of heavens, where the worlds are radiant there make me immortal!"

And carnal it is, as well as material :

"Where wishes and desires are . . . . where there is happiness

and delight, where joy and pleasure reside, where the desires of our desire are attained, there make me immortal!"

The Vedic Deity is beneficent and bountiful; the giver of all good gifts:

66

“O God (Indra) have mercy, give me my daily bread. . . .

Raise up wealth to the worshipper thou mighty Dawn.
... Thou art the giver of horses, Indra, thou art the
giver of cows, the giver of corn, the strong lord of wealth:
the old guide of man disappointing no desires: to him we
address this song.
All this wealth around here is

known to be thine alone; take from it, Conqueror! bring
it hither.

Thou the love of all who givest us food; who givest us wealth in cows, horses and chariots . give us riches

high and wide.

....

Agni* accept this log which I offer to thee, accept this my service. . . Thou Lord of wealth and giver of wealth, be thou wise and powerful. . . . . He gives us rain from heaven. . . . he gives us food a thousand fold."

And a frowning God, he can be also; a God of war as well as peace:

"A victory to the warriors when he visits their camp.

From battle to battle thou advancest bravely, from town to town thou destroyest this with might.

Thou hast felled down with the chariot wheel these seventy kings of men who had attacked the friendless Susravas and gloriously the sixty thousand and ninety-nine forts. Thou Indra hast succoured Susravas with thy succours."

* Meaning "Fire."

But a God, as merciful as he is strong:

"Through want of strength, thou strong and bright god, have I gone wrong; have mercy Almighty, have mercy!"

Although he hates sin, he shows mercy even to sinners; and favours the just and good:

"Absolve us from the sins of our Fathers and from those which we committed with our bodies. . . . .

...

It was not our doing O Varuna, it was temptation, an in-
toxicating draught, passion, dice, thoughtlessness. . . . .
Thou, Indra, never findest a rich man to be thy friend, wine-
swillers despise thee.
However we break thy laws from day to day, men as we are
O God Varuna; do not deliver us unto death nor to the
blow of the furious, nor to the wrath of the spiteful.

Varuna is merciful even to him who has committed sin.
Was it an old sin O Varuna that thou wishest to destroy the
friend who always praises thee!

Tell me thou unconquerable Lord and I will quickly turn to
Thee with praise, freed from sin!

...

His path is easy and without thorns who does what is right. . .
The kind mortal is greater than the great in heaven.
He who gives alms goeth to the highest place in heaven, he
goes to the Gods."

The Vedic God has intimate relations with the worshipper who seeks to approach him:

"Yearning for him, the far-seeing, my thoughts move onwards as kine move to their pastures.

Sharpen my mind like the edge of iron; whatever I now may utter longing for Thee, do thou accept it, make me possessed of God."

And finally, He is the Divine Creator of all things, a

wise Being to whom worship and meditation are due and were believed to be acceptable:

"He, the creator of the earth: or he, righteous who created

the heaven; he also created the bright and mighty

waters.

Wise and mighty are the works of him who stemmed asunder the wide firmaments, heaven and earth.

Thou O wise God art Lord of all, of heaven and earth.

Let us meditate on the adorable light of the divine creator, may he rouse our minds."

These are the most important details of the picture; these the features which will be presented to us again and again as we travel down the stream of religious thought in Man, but if we draw back a few paces, and seek to grasp the whole conception of the Vedic Godhead as it presented itself to his adorers, with the heaven in which he dwelt, we find the task more difficult.

Kneeling on earth, the imagination of his worshippers influences, and is in turn affected by the varied aspects of the Deity enthroned above. Reason suggests that he is One, for all the powers he wields appear directed to one end, the order of the universe, embracing, too, the happiness of Man. And yet, how could one person stand alone in the performance of such miracles? Could he, alone, ride forth each morn upon the sun, each night upon the moon; flash lightning from the skies; roll in the thunder; break up the clouds in torrents, or distil the gentle rain? Could he cause plants to grow and sprout; their flowers to ripen into seeds and luscious fruits; give life to animals and man? Could this same God lead warriors to battle now, and then raise up the tend❜rest