Part 15 (2/2)

In the prayers for the dead, Illa Ticci was appealed to, to protect the body, that it should not see corruption nor become lost in the earth, and that he should not allow the soul to wander aimlessly in the infinite s.p.a.ces, but that it should be conducted to some secure haven of contentment, where it might receive the sacrifices and offerings which loving hands laid upon the tomb.[1] Were other G.o.ds also called upon, it was that they might intercede with the Supreme Divinity in favor of these pet.i.tions of mortals.

[Footnote 1: Ibid., p. 154.]

To him, likewise, the chief priest at certain times offered a child of six years, with a prayer for the prosperity of the Inca, in such terms as these:--

”Oh, Lord, we offer thee this child, in order that thou wilt maintain us in comfort, and give us victory in war, and keep to our Lord, the Inca, his greatness and his state, and grant him wisdom that he may govern us righteously.”[1]

[Footnote 1: Herrera, _Historia de las Indias_, Dec. v, Lib. iv, cap. i.]

Or such a prayer as this was offered up by the a.s.sembled mult.i.tude:--

”Oh, Viracocha ever present, Viracocha Cause of All, Viracocha the Helper, the Ceaseless Worker, Viracocha who gives the beginnings, Viracocha who encourages, Viracocha the always fortunate, Viracocha ever near, listen to this our prayer, send health, send prosperity to us thy people.”[1]

[Footnote 1: Christoval de Molina, _The Fables and Rites of the Incas_, p.

29. Molina gives the original Qquichua, the translation of which is obviously incomplete, and I have extended it.]

Thus Viracocha was placed above and beyond all other G.o.ds, the essential First Cause, infinite, incorporeal, invisible, above the sun, older than the beginning, but omnipresent, accessible, beneficent.

Does this seem too abstract, too elevated a notion of G.o.d for a race whom we are accustomed to deem gross and barbaric? I cannot help it. The testimony of the earliest observers, and the living proof of language, are too strong to allow of doubt. The adjectives which were applied to this divinity by the native priests are still on record, and that they were not a loan from Christian theology is conclusively shown by the fact that the very writers who preserved them often did not know their meaning, and translated them incorrectly.

Thus even Garcila.s.so de la Vega, himself of the blood of the Incas, tells us that neither he nor the natives of that day could translate _Ticci_.[1]

Thus, also, Garcia and Acosta inform us that Viracocha was surnamed _Usapu_, which they translate ”admirable,”[2] but really it means ”he who accomplishes all that he undertakes, he who is successful in all things;”

Molina has preserved the term _Ymamana_, which means ”he who controls or owns all things;”[3] the t.i.tle _Pachayachachi_, which the Spanish writers render ”Creator,” really means the ”Teacher of the World;” that of _Caylla_ signifies ”the Ever-present one;” _Taripaca_, which has been guessed to be the same as _tarapaca_, an eagle, is really a derivative of _taripani_, to sit in judgment, and was applied to Viracocha as the final arbiter of the actions and destinies of man. Another of his frequent appellations for which no explanation has been offered, was _Tokay_ or _Tocapo_, properly _Tukupay_.[4] It means ”he who finishes,” who completes and perfects, and is ant.i.thetical to _Ticci_, he who begins. These two terms express the eternity of divinity; they convey the same idea of mastery over time and the things of time, as do those words heard by the Evangelist in his vision in the isle called Patmos, ”I am Alpha and Omega; I am the Beginning and the End.”

[Footnote 1: ”Dan (los Indios), otro nombre a Dios, que es Tici Viracocha, que yo no se que signifique, ni ellos tampoco.” Garcila.s.so de la Vega, _Comentarios Reales_, Lib. ii, cap. ii.]

[Footnote 2: Garcia, _Origen de los Indios_, Lib. iii, cap. vi; Acosta, _Historia, Natural y Moral de las Indias_, fol. 199 (Barcelona 1591).]

[Footnote 3: Christoval de Molina, _The Fables and Rites of the Incas_, Eng. Trans., p. 6.]

[Footnote 4: Melchior Hernandez, one of the earliest writers, whose works are now lost, but who is quoted in the _Relacion Anonima_, gives this name _Tocapu_; Christoval de Molina (ubi sup.) spells it _Tocapo_; La Vega _Tocay_; Molina gives its signification, ”the maker.” It is from the word _tukupay_ or _tucuychani_, to finish, complete, perfect.]

Yet another epithet of Viracocha was _Zapala_.[1] It conveys strongly and positively the monotheistic idea. It means ”The One,” or, more strongly, ”The Only One.”

[Footnote 1: Gomara, _Historia de las Indias_, p. 232 (ed. Paris, 1852).]

Nor must it be supposed that this monotheism was unconscious; that it was, for example, a form of ”henotheism,” where the devotion of the adorer filled his soul, merely to the forgetfulness of other deities; or that it was simply the logical law of unity a.s.serting itself, as was the case with many of the apparently monotheistic utterances of the Greek and Roman writers.

No; the evidence is such that we are obliged to acknowledge that the religion of Peru was a consciously monotheistic cult, every whit as much so as the Greek or Roman Catholic Churches of Christendom.

Those writers who have called the Inca religion a ”sun wors.h.i.+p” have been led astray by superficial resemblances. One of the best early authorities, Christoval de Molina, repeats with emphasis the statement, ”They did not recognize the Sun as their Creator, but as created by the Creator,” and this creator was ”not born of woman, but was unchangeable and eternal.”[1]

For conclusive testimony on this point, however, we may turn to an _Informacion_ or Inquiry as to the ancient belief, inst.i.tuted in 1571, by order of the viceroy Don Francisco de Toledo. The oldest Indians, especially those of n.o.ble birth, including many descendants of the Incas, were a.s.sembled at different times and in different parts of the country, and carefully questioned, through the official interpreter, as to just what the old religion was. The questions were not leading ones, and the replies have great uniformity. They all agreed that Viracocha was wors.h.i.+ped as creator, and as the ever-present active divinity; he alone answered prayers, and aided in time of need; he was the sole efficient G.o.d. All prayers to the Sun or to the deceased Incas, or to idols, were directed to them as intercessors only. On this point the statements were most positive[2]. The Sun was but one of Viracocha's creations, not itself the Creator.

[Footnote 1: Christoval de Molina, _The Fables and Rites of the Incas_, pp. 8, 17. Eng. Trans. ]

<script>