The gods of India

The second millennium BC. E. Was the time when the tribes of the Aryans and Iranians coexisted on the territory of India. Therefore, the languages and culture of the two peoples were in close connection, which was reflected in speech, cults and religion. The creation of Vedic mythology refers to this period, which was reflected in the monument of Indian literature of the Rigveda, in which more than a thousand hymns dedicated to the gods were collected.

As in ancient mythology, the gods of India submitted to the patriarchate. At the head of the pantheon was Dyaus, he was the deity of heaven and heavenly light. However, in the Rig Veda his cult was already in a state of extinction. There were thirty-three deities in the Vedic pantheon. Some of them lived on Earth, the other lived in Heaven, the third was considered universal.

Later hymns are called the supreme god Varuna. He was a judge, a formidable punisher of people for sins. In the mythology of the Rigveda, the head of the pantheon is Indra, the god of thunder, who defeated the dragon Vritra, who threatened to devour the universe. Other, the most revered Gods of India, described in the cult of the Rig Veda, are the god of fire Agni, the deity of the sacred drink Soma. In addition to them, the pantheon included deities, personifying natural phenomena: the sun god Surya, the goddess of the dawn Ushas, the twin brothers Ashvina, who were associated with the twilight evening and the pre-dawn.

In the Rigveda, the earliest stage in the creation of myths was found, when the elements were deified. So, the gods of Ancient India were divided into two groups: asuras and devas. The first lived in air spheres and later began to be perceived as anthropomorphic hostile elements of man. The devas called the gods.

Late Vedic literary monuments include Yajurveda, Atharvavedu and Brahman cycle. In them the religious ideas of that epoch were developed and evolved. The god-creator Prajapati was brought to the forefront. He was called the creator of the universe and the father of the gods. Gradually changed the role of other deities, possibly borrowed from non-Aryan cults. Vishnu is one of them. In the Brahmanas, his name was associated with the mythology of the sun and the rite of sacrifice. The deity of Rudra, who later found the name of Shiva, absorbed the archaic features of earlier cults of peoples that inhabited India before the arrival of the Aryans.

They did not have special temples. For special ceremonies, which the gods of India demanded, altars were built. Sometimes, they acquired the most bizarre outlines. For example, in the form of a bird. They performed sacrifices. In the later Vedas, the attitude toward rituals changed. Now it was believed that the gods are powerless before the priest, whose actions are of magical significance. The priests were called earth gods.

When the new gods of India Vishnu and Shiva came, Indra's role diminished, he retreated to the background. The meaning of other idols also changed. Varuna became the god of earthly and atmospheric waters, Soma turned into the god of the moon. Some of the secondary (the old pantheon) were at all consigned to oblivion.

At the end of the Vedic period, the doctrine of karma arose. According to him, the number of good and evil deeds committed in his life by man, can affect his rebirth. The soul falls after death in heaven or hell, and then settles into another living being. This explains the position of a person in society: punishment for the sins of a past life or retribution for good deeds. The circle of rebirths concerned not only people, but also gods.

From the time of Brahman, the idea of cosmic power arose, which a man can acquire, indulging in ascetic torment of flesh and self-sacrifice. So in mythology there was a force hostile to idols. The new god, Brahma, came to replace the late-Vedic chapter of the Prajapati pantheon. The significance of Shiva and Vishnu increased, and Indra, although considered "king of the gods," moved to a subordinate position. In the later Vedas appeared Yama, a man who, after death, was able to open the road to the afterlife and became a king there.

The archaic nature of Vedic mythology and language helps to study the past of all Indo-European peoples and the deep connection between them. At the same time, India, its gods, remain the subject of everlasting interest to this day.