The Myths and Gods of India: The Classic Work on Hindu Polytheism from the Princeton Bollingen Series

472 Pages·1991·5.63 MB·English

by  Alain Daniélou

Viṣṇu sleeping on the serpent Śeṣa
Daśāvatāra temple, Deogaṛh (Central India), 7th century
I WISH TO EXPRESS MY
GRATITUDE TO
Pandit N. Ramachandra Bhatt
FOR HIS CONSTANT AND UNTIRING HELP IN THE LATER STAGES
OF THE PREPARATION OF THIS WORK AND FOR HIS MOST
VALUABLE CRITICISMS AND SUGGESTIONS
‘The One without color appears
by the manifold application of his power
with many colors in his hidden purpose.
May the Being of Splendor in whom the world dissolves
and from whom it rises
grant us a clear understanding.
He is Agni, the lord-of-fire,
and he is the Sun, and the Wind, and Moon.
He is the Seed, the Immense-Being,
He is the Lord-of-Progeny.
You are woman, and you are man,
You are the youth and the maiden,
and the old man tottering with a staff.
You are born again facing all directions.
You are the bluely and the red-eyed parrot,
the cloud pregnant with lightning.
You are the seasons and the seas,
the Beginningless, the Abiding Lord
from whom the spheres are born.
Ṥvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 4.1–4. [1]
Contents
Cover Image
Title Page
Dedication
Foreword
List of Illustrations
Note on Translation of the Sanskrit
Note on Pronunciation
ONE: Philosophy
Chapter 1 • The Theory of Polytheism
The Language of Symbols
The Representation of the Transcendent
The Nondual Principle
Monotheism and Polytheism
Nondualism and Monism
The Equivalence of Religions
Chapter 2 • The Nature of the Ultimate
The Origin of Existence
The Perceptible Continua: Space, Time, and Thought
The Three Modes of Being: The Substrata of Space, Time, and
Consciousness
The “I” and the Self
The Realization of the Soul
Immensity (brahman), the Common Substratum
The Three Fundamental Qualities and the Trinity
The Three States of Experience
The Three Qualities and Manifestation
The Power-of-Illusion (māyā)
Illusion and Ignorance
Nature
The Living Individuality as the Power That Can Oppose Nature
The Power of Nature as the Obstacle to Knowledge
The Fundamental Duality
“God” (Īśvara) and the Illusion of Divine Unity
Life as the One Deity
The Relationship of “God” and the Universe
The Causal Word
Dangers of Applied Metaphysics
Chapter 3 • The Cosmic Being
Macrocosm and Microcosm
Cosmic Duration
Cosmic Location
The Nature of Manifestation
The Appearance of the Universe
Cosmic Consciousness
The Personification and the Description of the Cosmic Being
TWO: The Gods of the Vedas
Chapter 4 • The Cosmic Sacrifice
Fire and Offering, Agni and Soma
The Relation of the Spheres
The Ritual of Sacrifice (yajña)
The Forms of the Sacrifice
The Technique of the Sacrifice
The Creation of Man
The Last Sacrifice
The Way of the Gods
The Way of the Fathers
Divinity as the Embodiment of the Sacrifice
The Image of the Sacrifice
The Inner Yajña of the Yogi
Chapter 5 • The Thirty-Three Gods
The Three Spheres of Agni
The Three Aspects of Deities
The Number of the Gods
Chapter 6 • The Spheres and Their Deities
The Eight Spheres of Existence, the Vasus
The Earth
Agni (Fire)
The Ten Forms of Fire
The Sphere of Space and the Lord-of-Wind (Vāyu)
The Sky (Dyaus)
The Sun (Sūrya)
The Image of the Sun
Dawn (Uṣas)
The Constellations (nakṣatra)
The Moon, the Cup-of-Offerings (Soma)
The Story of the Moon
Chapter 7 • The Divinities of the Sphere of Space
The Divinities of Space and Life, the Maruts and the Rudras
The Maruts (Immortals)
A Legend of the Maruts
Indra, the Ruler of Heaven
Chapter 8 • The Ādityas, the Sovereign Principles
Aditi (the Primordial Vastness), Source of the Ādityas
Mitra (Friendship), Solidarity
Aryaman (Chivalry)
Bhaga (the Inherited Share)
Varuṇa (the Coverer or Binder), the Mysterious Law of the Gods
Dakṣa (Ritual Skill)
Aṁśa (the Share of the Gods)
Tvaṣṭṛ (the Shaper), Craftsmanship, the God of Industry
Pūṣan (the Nourisher), Security, the Protector of Cattle
Vivasvat, the Ancestor, the Embodiment of Morality or Ancestral Law
Savitṛ (the Vivifier), the Magic Power of Words
Śakra (the Mighty), the Divinity of Courage and Outer Security
Viṣṇu, the All-pervading Light of Knowledge, the Cosmic Law Pervading
the Three Worlds
Chapter 9 • Other Vedic Deities
The Aśvins, the Twin Horse-headed Gods of Agriculture and Physicians of
the Gods
The Regents of the Directions
Yama (the Binder), the Lord of Death
Manifold-Secret (Citra-gupta), the Scribe of the Lord of Death
Kubera, the Lord of Riches
The Yakṣas, Guardians of the Earth’s Treasures
Misery (Nirṛta)
Nirṛti, the Goddess of Misery
Trita (the Third) or Āptya, the Water Deity