Although morality is not an issue in Indra’s myth, it plays a role in those of the other principal Vedic deities. Central to ancient morality was the notion of rita, which appears to have been the fidelity with which the alliances between humans (and between humans and the gods) were observed—a quality necessary for the preservation of the physical and moral order of the universe. Varuna, an older sovereign god, presides over the observance of rita with Mitra (related to the Persian god Mithra). Thus, Varuna is a judge before whom a mortal may stand guilty, while Indra is a king who may support a mortal monarch. Typical requests that are made of Varuna are for forgiveness, for deliverance from evil committed by oneself or others, and for protection; Indra is prayed to for bounty, for aid against enemies, and for leadership against demons and dasyus.
Distinct from both is Agni, the fire, who is observed in various manifestations: in the sacrificial fire, in lightning, and hidden in the logs used in fires. As the fire of sacrifice, he is the mouth of the gods and the carrier of the oblation, the mediator between the human and the divine orders. Agni is above all the good friend of the Vedic people, who prayed to him to strike down and burn their enemies and to mediate between gods and humans.
Among other Vedic gods, only a few stand out. One is Vishnu, who seems more important perhaps in retrospect because of later developments associated with him. He is famous for the three strides with which he traversed the universe, thus creating and possessing it. This pervasiveness, which invites identification with other gods, is characteristic of his later mythology. His function as helper to the conqueror-god Indra is important.
Impersonality is increased by the prevalence of pairs and groups of gods. Thus, Varuna and Mitra are members of the group of Adityas (sons of Aditi, an old progenitrix), who generally are celestial gods. They are also combined in the double god Mitra-Varuna. Indra and Vishnu are combined as Indra-Vishnu. There is also Rudra, an ambivalent god who is dreaded for his unpredictable attacks (though he can be persuaded not to attack); Rudra is also a healer responsible for 1,000 remedies. Although there are many demons (rakshasas), no one god embodies the evil spirit; rather, many gods have their devil within, inspiring fear as well as trust.
Among the perpetually beneficent gods are the Ashvins (horsemen), helpers and healers who often visit the needy. Almost otiose is the personified heaven, Dyaus, who most often appears as the sky or as day. As a person, he is coupled with Earth (as Dyava-Prithivi) as a father; Earth by herself is more predominantly known as Mother (Matri). Apart from Earth, the other goddess of importance in the text of the Rigveda is Ushas (Dawn), who brings in the day and thus brings forth the Sun.
In the later Vedic period the significance of the Rigvedic gods and their myths began to wane. The peculiar theism of the Rigveda—in which any one of several different gods might be hailed as supreme and the attributes of one god could be transferred to another (called “kathenotheism” by the Vedic scholar Max Müller)—stressed godhead more than individual gods. In the end this led to a pantheism of Prajapati, the deified sacrifice or the ritualized deity, who, with his consort Vach, the speech of ritual recitation, is said to have begotten the world.
During the Vedic period, Purusha fused with the figure Narayana (“Scion of Man”) and with Prajapati (“Lord of Creatures”). In the speculative thought of the ritualists, Prajapati emerged as the creator god and in many respects as the highest divinity—the One, the All, or Totality. He was the immortal father even of the gods, whom he transcends, encompasses, and molds into one complex. By a process of emanation and self-differentiation (by dividing himself), Prajapati created all beings and the universe. After this creation, Prajapati became the disintegrated and differentiated All of the phenomenal world and was exhausted. By means of a rite, he then reintegrated himself to prepare for a new phase of creativity. Because the purpose of a sacred rite is the restitution of the organic structural norm, which ensures the ordered functioning of the universe, Prajapati’s rite was regarded as the prototype for all Vedic and Hindu rites. Thus, by performing the rite, those offering sacrifice to Prajapati may temporarily restore oneness and totality within themselves and within the universe. Ethical and social doctrines
In Vedic times, sin (enas) or evil (papman) was associated with illness, enmity, distress, or malediction; it was conceived of as a sort of pollution that could be neutralized by ritual or other devices. An individual could incur sin by improper behaviour, especially improper speech. Thus, one could be guilty of anrita—i.e., infidelity to fact, or departure from what is true and real or from what constitutes the established order—whether or not one had deliberately committed a crime. Other transgressions included making mistakes in sacrifices and coming into contact with corpses, ritually impure persons, or persons belonging to the lower classes of society. These acts were only rarely considered to be misdeeds against a god or violations of moral principles of divine origin, and the consciousness of guilt was much rarer than the fear of the evil consequences of sin, such as disease or untimely death. Sometimes, however, a god (Agni, the evil-devouring fire, or Varuna, the god of order, whose role included punishing and fettering the “sinner”) was invoked to forgive the neglect or transgression or to release the sinner from its concrete results. More usually, however, these results were abrogated by means of purifications, such as the ceremonial use of water, and a variety of expiatory rites.
The pure who earned ritual merits hoped to win a safe world (loka) or condition. The meticulous effort to purify oneself from every evil also involved shanti, the observance of various customs regarding the avoidance of inauspicious occurrences. Ritual purity was the principal concern of the compilers of the manuals of dharma (religious law), which have contributed much to the special character of Hinduism. According to the authorities on dharma, ritual purity is the first approach to dharma, the resting place of the Vedas (brahman), the abode of prosperity (shri), the favourite of the gods, and the means of clearing (soothing) the mind and of seeing (realizing) the atman in the body. The sacred: nature, humanity, and God
The Vedic poets were convinced that the world is an organized cosmos governed by order and truth and that it is always in danger of being damaged or destroyed by the powers of chaos (asat). This conviction inspired the performance of rituals to preserve the order of the universe, and it found mythological expression in the continual conflict between gods (devas) and antigods (asuras).
Gods were conceived as presiding over certain provinces of the universe or as being responsible for cosmic or social phenomena. Their deeds are timeless and exemplary presentations of mythic events replete with power and universal significance. To retain their vitality and efficacy, mythical events need to be repeated—that is, celebrated and confirmed by means of the spoken word and ritual acts. Vedic and Brahmanic rites