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5. HINDU GODS
None of these gods are found in the Rig Veda except Vishnu. Vishnu appears as a minor subordinate god there. All other gods grew out of myths and legends during the period after the second century AD through myths as given in Puranas.
In the Rigveda, Vishnu is mentioned 93 times. He is frequently invoked alongside other deities, especially Indra, whom he assists in killing Vritra, and with whom he drinks Soma, the hallicinating drink of the gods. Indra is called Indrānuja and "Upendra", both referring to Vishnu as being the brother of Indra. Vishnu is often identified with the Sun in the three steps that he takes over the world.
Rig Veda I and X references:
The 'Vishnu Sukta' of the Rig Veda (1.154) says that the first and second of Vishnu's strides (those encompassing the earth and air) are visible to men and the third is in the heights of heaven (sky). This last place is described as Vishnu's supreme abode in RV 1.22.20 But Sun is not a high-ranking deity in Rig Veda.
Visvakarma Sukta of Rig Veda (10.82) refers to Vishnu indirectly as the Supreme God.
The Rig Veda (1.22.20) states: "All the suras (i.e., the devas) look always toward the feet of Lord Vishnu.
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There is no reference to Siva in the Vedas, except as a quality. There are some hymns addressed to Rudra, a fierce storm god, the father of Maruts, who heals with his thousand medicines. It is said that the practice of worshipping Siva was a non Aryan and actually a Dravidian practice which was slowly incorporated into Vedic religion as an ongoing process of reconciliation with the non Aryan tribes.
Another specialty of the gods of Hinduism as represented in the modern Hinduism is that they are all personal gods and not connected with the forces of nature. There is a radical difference between the Vedic gods and Hindu gods.
Something happened between the second century BC when Vedas were written down and the third century AD that it transformed the gods of Hindu religion from Pantheism to Polytheism and then to Henotheism.
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