xxxiii, 4), and his hand is restorative and healing (ib., II, xxxiii, 7). He is lord of all remedies (ib., V, xlii, 11) and bestows them (ib., II, xxxiii, 12), so that he is besought by his worshippers to avert suffering from their children (ib., VII, xlvi, 2). His healing functions are also appealed to for a wound or bruise (Atharva., VI, lvii), and his curing aid is invoked with Soma's (ib., VII, xlii).37

SARASVATI

IN the Rigveda, Sarasvati is the goddess of rivers and is spoken of in connection with Agni and Savitṛ. In the Brāhmaṇas, she is the goddess of eloquence and wisdom. Sarasvati assisted the Aśvins in restoring to Indra the vigor he had lost (White Yajurveda, xix, 12), she is associated with deities who assist procreation and bestow wealth, progeny, and immortality (Rigveda, II, xli, 17; X, xxx, 12; clxxxiv, 2; Atharva., V, xxv, 3).38

SAVITR

IN the Rigveda, Savitṛ ('Stimulator') is a form of the sun-god, personifying the divine power of the sun. He alone is 'lord of vivifying power,' the exciter of all motion and activity. To him is attributed mighty splendor, and he goes in a golden car, seeing all creatures. The 'golden-handed Savitṛ' moves between heaven and earth; he sets the sun in motion. He is a divine physician who drives away disease (Rigveda, I, xxxv, 9) and removes it (ib., X, c, 8); and he bestows long life on man (ib., IV, liv, 2). In modern science he would represent heliotherapy.

39

37 Macdonell, op. cit., pp. 74-77; Bergaigne, op. cit., iii, 31-38; Keith, op. cit., pp. 38, 82-83; Muir, op. cit., iv, 299-320.

38 Macdonell, op. cit., pp. 86-88; also Bergaigne, op. cit., i, 325-328; Muir, op. cit., v, 337-343.

39 Macdonell, op. cit., pp. 32-35; Bergaigne, op. cit., iii, 38-64; Muir, op. cit., v, 162-170.

SOMA

SOMA ('Pressed Juice'), a Vedic deity to whom the whole of the ninth book of the Rigveda is devoted, is identical with the Avestan Haoma (q.v.), and the sacrifice to him forms the main feature of the ritual of the Rigveda. He was a drink made from a plant which cannot be identified with any known existing species, and whose abode was on the top of the mountains, whence it was brought to Indra by an eagle. The juice was pressed from the young shoots of the plant, and being filtered and mixed with milk, sour milk, honey, or barley water, became soma (or amṛta), the celestial nectar of the gods, loved by gods and men, which gave immortality to those who drank it. The juice, of a ruddy, brown color, flowed with the speed of lightning and gave out a sound like thunder. It was exhilarating and caused ecstasy of feeling, its deification probably being due to these qualities. Most of the great and successful feats of the gods were performed under its influence, with the strength and courage it gave them. Soma is called the celestial child, born of the sun and sky, bird of heaven, lord of plants, king of the gods and mortals, king of the whole earth. He was a healing deity. He was medicine for the sick, healed whatever was sick (Rigveda, VIII, lxi, 17), and made the blind to see and the lame to walk (ib., VIII, lxviii, 2; X, xxv, 11). He was the guardian of men's bodies (ib., VIII, xlviii, 9), bestowing length of life in this world (ib., I, xci, 6; VIII, xlviii, 4, 7; IX, iv, 6; xci, 6). He rendered poisons powerless (Atharva., IV, 6). He gave light, granted blessings, slew demons, dispelled sin from the heart, and promoted truth.

In post-Vedic literature (and perhaps in the late Vedic period), Soma is connected with the moon and becomes a lunar deity.

According to the epic and Purāņas, Soma at one time

Reproduced from "The Mythology of All Races," by permission of Marshall Jones Company, Boston.

was lost in the flood with many other precious things, and both gods and demons desired it. The deities consulted Visņu, since without it they had been waning in power, so that the demons were gaining the advantage in their conflicts. Viṣṇu advised that the ocean of milk should be churned, and to assist he became incarnate as a tortoise (the second Great Avatar). After prolonged churning by means of the mountain Mandara, which was poised on the tortoise, and around which the cosmic serpent, Vasoky, was wrapped and pulled from either end by gods and demons, Dhanvantari (q.v.), the physician of the gods, appeared bearing the cup of amṛta. This delighted both gods and demons, but the former finally gained the amṛta and thereby acquired sufficient strength to drive their enemies, the demons, to their underground abode. In this myth, the celestial origin of Soma from the sky-ocean is obvious.1o

SURYA

SURYA, one of the early Vedic divinities of the sun, whose name is etymologically connected with the Greek "Hλos, is the most concrete of the Indian solar deities, and in India absorbs the function of the special sun-gods, such as Savitr (q.v.). Although he became a faded deity, according to the Brāhmaṇas, his worship continued under the name of Suraj. In the Rigveda, he drives away disease and evil dreams (X, xxxvii, 4). In the Atharvaveda (I, xxii; cf. Rigveda, I, 1, 11), he is invoked to cure heartburn and jaundice, and to bring back the ruddy hue of health; he is besought to heal pustules (Atharva., VI, lxxxiii, 1); indirectly he cures cough (ib., VII, cvii); and he is entreated for clear vision (ib., XIX, xliii, 3)."

41

40 Macdonell, op. cit., pp. 104-115; Bergaigne, op. cit., i, 148-225; Keith, op. cit., pp. 46-48, 90-91, 136-137; Spiegel, Die arische Periode und ihre Zustände, pp. 168-178; Muir, op. cit., ii, 469; v, 258-271. 41 Quackenbos, The Sanskrit Poems of Mayūra, no. 32.