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August, 1883.1
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Scandinavians he is Ymir; Omorcas among the tortoise, we seem to be among the Indians of the Chaldeans; and the savage Tinnehs have their North Pacific coast, or the Australians, who derive representative of Purusha. Among the Tinnehs men from lizards. But when the tortoise is idennot a man, but a dog, is the victim. The limbs tified with Aditya, and when the Adityas prove to of Set and Osiris in Egypt, of Dionysus Zagreus be solar deities, and when Aditi, their mother, is in Greece, of Ru in Mangaia, were "utilized" in recognized as the Dawn, the Earth, or Attica the manufacture of various plants, stones, ani. (according to the interpretations of various schonials and metals. We have never observed these lars), then we perceive the superiority of Aryan coincidences noted by learned disputante as to fancy. the meaning of the myth of Purusha. The only The gods in the Vedic religion are, on the whole, peculiarity of the Vedio hymn is its ritual cha- to be regarded as the usual departmental deities racter. In the other stories the giants were of Polytheism. They do not confine themselves to sliced into component parts of the universe in a their departments, and now one, now another god rude casual way, in the Purusha Sakta the gods is regarded as supreme for the moment, probably sacrifice Purusha with all due attention to ritual. by a bard in whose clan that god received pecu"These were the earliest rites," says the Rig liar honour. The gods are, in many cases, nature Veda; and very nice rites they were, and uncom- gods; that is, Thunder, Fire, the Heaven and so monly "near the beginning." Necessarily the forth, are worshipped as personal beings; and a ritnal details must be later than the elaboration god who directs thunder, or animates fire, or conof sacrifice (whether that be late or early), but trols heaven, is next evolved in fancy. But it the general savage conception is a feature of the is a peculiarity of the savage imagination to myths of very backward ces in various parts of regard the great powers and phenomena of nature the world. Haug observes, and we partly agree not only as persons, but as savage persons. Now with him, that "the ideas which the hymn con- the savage draws no fixed line between himself tains are certainly of a primeval antiquity. In and the other things, animate or inanimate, in the fact the hymn is found in the Yajur Veda among world. He, or at least his medicine man, may the formule connected with human sacrifices, become a bird, beast or fish; may transform which were formerly practised in India. Were others into the same shapes; may fly in the air; we to pursue the topic of cosmogonic myths may influence the weather; may " milk the sky. among the Vedic people, it would be easy to show cow," as the Zulus say, or "trap the Thunderthat Vishņu, when in the shape of a boar, brought bird,” as Kaffirs and Red Men beliere. Now up the world from the waters, was equivalent when the savage worships Thunder, the Heaven, to the North American cayotes and musk-rats, the Wind, or what not, he worships them as who performed the same useful feat. The myth persons, and moreover as persons gifted wit of the origin of species in the Satapatha Brdh- the power of transmigration and with the other mana is a very curious and disgusting." Purusha accomplishments we have described. He "anwas alone in the world. He differentiated himself thropomorphizes" the powers of nature, but the into husband and wife; afterwards the woman anthropomorphic shape in which he casts them is reflected that Purusha was both her father and all unlike our civilized conception of what is lord. Reasoning that their union was a crime, anthropomorphic. He makes gods in what he she assumed all manner of animal forms, and conceives to be his own image, and a very old became in each shape the mother of a separate image it is. All people do the same. The ritual. species. The animal metamorphoses and ama- istic compilers of the Brdhmanas make their tory pursuits of Zeus, Kronos, Demeter, Nemesis gods constantly engaged in sacrifice; always busy and other Greek gods are analogous to this singu- with ritual details that drive away the evil spirits; lar story. In the Satapatha Brahmana the earth always engaged in magical austerities. But the was only the size of a span. A boar called conservatism of religion does not allow the Vedio Ernuka fished it up. Here the myth recurs believer, while he regards his gods as constantly among the Navajoes, while the boar, as we have occupied in ritual, to discard the older savage said, recalls the musk-rat of the Tacullies. He, notions, according to which the gods behaved just too, fished up a fragment of soil, which grew into like savage sorcerers. Consequently the Veda the earth as we know it. If the Brdhmands are and the Brdhmanas often show us the gods in "near the beginning of thought, they are also animal form fighting with animals, afraid of enenear the notions of the Tacullies and the Nava- mies (the Asuras), changing their foes into stars, joes. Of course the Aryan mind has not been and in other ways behaving just like the halfidle. When we find the Satapatha Brahmana anthropomorphic and half-theriomorphic deities declaring that all creatures are descended from a l of the Australians, Hottentots, and Bushmen.
