128 The Religion of the Veda
U.
fire, is “ scion of the rm,” or “ first—born of the rm." He performs his work with flat, carries oblations to the gods “ on the path of star.” Prayers, lowing like cattle,“ longing for the mama-drink,” take effect in accordance with flat.“ A figure of Speech, bold to the point of grotesqueness, turns prayer into “Tm..- fiuid, distilled by the tongue.” Holy sacrifice, in distinction from foul magic, is performed with rm: “ I call upon the gods, undefilod by Witchcraft. With yrs I perform any work, carry out my thought.” Thus exclaims a poetic mind conscious of its own reotitudefI
Finally in man’s activity the gym manifests itself as the moral law. Here it takes by the hand the closely kindred idea of truth, safycz. Untruth, on the other hand, is earns, more rarely amtycz, the same two words with prefix of negation. The two words mz‘ya and alarm form a close dual compound, “truth and lie,” “sincerity and falsehood,” both zealously watched over by God Varuna.‘ They remain the standard WOI‘dS for these twin opposites for all Hindu time... Varuna is the real trustee of the are. When God Agni struggles towards the rm he is said in a remarkable passage to become for the time being God Varuna.“
1 Rig-Veda 9. 94. 2. “Haiti, 9. 75. 2.. 3 ma, 7. 34. 8. 4 ma, 7. 49. 3. 5 1451's., It). 8. 5.
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