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Bhaga is recognized as an (=A]ditya (luminous deity) and was perhaps a sun-god of some class, possibly of all, as the name in Slavic is still kept in the meaning 'god,' literally 'giver.' In the Rig Veda the word means, also, simply god, as in bhágabhakta, 'given by gods'; but as a name it is well known, and when thus called Bhaga is still the giver, 'the bestower' (vidhart[=á]). As bhaga is also an epithet of Savitar, the name may not stand for an originally distinct personality. Bhaga has but one hymn.[40] There is in fact no reason why Bhaga should be regarded as a sun-god, except for the formal identification of him as an (=A]dityà, that is as the son of Aditi (Boundlessness, see below); but neither S[=u]rya nor Savitar is originally an (=A]dityà, and in Iranic bagha is only an epithet of Ormuzd.
HYMNS TO PC=UJSHAN AND BHAGA.
To P[=UJSHAN (vi. 56).
The man who P[=u]shan designates With words like these, 'mush-eater he,' By him the god is not described.
With P[=u]shan joined in unison That best of warriors, truest lord, Indra, the evil demons slays.
'T is he, the best of warriors, drives
The golden chariot of the sun Among the speckled kine (the clouds).
Whate'er we ask of thee to-day, O wonder-worker, praised and wise, Accomplish thou for us that prayer.
