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present in all nature is somewhat nebulous and undefined l. Perhaps the most ancient and beautiful deification was that of Dyaus2, 'the sky,' as Dyaush-pitar, 'Heavenly Father' (the Zeus or Ju-piter of the Greeks and Romans). Then, closely connected with Dyaus, was a goddess A-diti, ' the Infinite Expanse,' conceived of subsequently as the mother of all the gods. Next came a development of the same conception called Varuna, ' the Investing Sky,' said to answer to Ahura Mazda, the Ormazd of the ancient Persian (Zand) mythology, and to the Greek Οὐρανός—but a more spiritual conception, leading to a worship which rose to the nature of a belief in the great Πατὴρ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν
- ↑ Though vaguely stated in the Veda, it was clearly defined in the time of Manu ; see the last verses of the twelfth book (123-125) : ' Him some adore as transcendently present in fire; others in Manu, lord of creatures ; some as more distinctly present in Indra, others in pure air, others as the most high eternal Spirit. Thus the man who perceives in his own soul, the supreme soul present in all creatures, acquires equanimity towards them all, and shall be absorbed at last in the highest essence.' In the Purusha-sukta of the Rig-veda (X. 90), which is one of the later hymns, probably not much earlier than the earliest Brahmana, the one Spirit is called Purusha. The more common name in the later system is Brahman, neut. (uom. Brahma), derived from root brih, ' to expand,' and denoting the universally expanding essence or universally diffused substance of the universe. For it is evident that this later creed was not so much monotheistic (by which I mean the belief in one god regarded as a personal Being external to the universe, though creating and governing it) as pantheistic; Brahman in the neuter being 'simple infinite being'—the only real eternal essence—which, when it passes into actual manifested existence, is called Brahma, when it develops itself in the world, is called Vishnu, and when it again dissolves itself into simple being, is called S'iva; all the other innumerable gods and demigods being also mere manifestations of the neuter Brahman, who alone is eternal. This appears to be the genuine pantheistic creed of India to this very day.
- ↑ From dyu or dyo, the same as the Old German Tiu or Ziu, who, according to Professor Max Mtiller, afterwards became a kind of Mars (whence Tues-day). For Dyaush-pitar see Rig-veda VI. 51. 5.
