Part 148 (2/2)

Mr. Moor, in his ”Hindu Pantheon,” says:

”Most, if not all, of the G.o.ds of the Hindoo Pantheon will, on close investigation, resolve themselves into the _three powers_ (Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva), and those powers into _one Deity_, Brahm, _typified by the Sun_.”[562:5]

Mr. Squire, in his ”Serpent Symbol,” observes:

”It is highly probable that the triple divinity of the Hindoos was originally no more than a personification of the _Sun_, whom they called _Three-bodied_, in the triple capacity of _producing_ forms by his general _heat_, _preserving_ them by his _light_, or _destroying_ them by the counteracting force of his _igneous_ matter. _Brahma_, the _Creator_, was indicated by the _heat of the Sun_; _Vishnu_, the _Preserver_, by the _light of the Sun_, and _Siva_, the _Reproducer_, by the _orb of the Sun_. In the morning the Sun was _Brahma_, at noon _Vishnu_, at evening _Siva_.”[562:6]

”He is at once,” says Mr. c.o.x, in speaking of the Sun, ”the 'Comforter'

and 'Healer,' the 'Saviour' and 'Destroyer,' who can slay and make alive at will, and from whose piercing glance no secret can be kept hid.”[562:7]

Sir William Jones was also of the opinion that the whole Triad of the Hindoos were identical with the Sun, expressed under the mythical term O. M.

The idea of a _Tri-murti_, or triple personification, was developed gradually, and as it grew, received numerous accretions. It was first dimly shadowed forth and vaguely expressed in the _Rig-Veda_, where a triad of princ.i.p.al G.o.ds, _Agni_, _Indra_, and _Surya_ is recognized. And these three G.o.ds are _One_, the SUN.[562:8]

We see then that the religious myths of antiquity and the fireside legends of ancient and modern times, have a common root in the mental habits of primeval humanity, and that they are the earliest recorded utterances of men concerning the visible phenomena of the world into which they were born. At first, thoroughly understood, the _meaning_ in time became unknown. How stories originally told of the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, &c., became believed in as facts, is plainly ill.u.s.trated in the following story told by Mrs. Jameson in her ”History of Our Lord in Art:” ”I once tried to explain,” says she, ”to a good old woman, the meaning of the word _parable_, and that the story of the _Prodigal Son_ was not a fact; she was scandalized--she was quite sure that Jesus would never have told anything to his disciples that was not true. Thus she settled the matter in her own mind, and I thought it best to leave it there undisturbed.”

Prof. Max Muller, in speaking of ”the comparison of the different forms of Aryan religion and mythology in India, Persia, Greece, Italy and Germany,” clearly ill.u.s.trates how such legends are transformed from intelligible into unintelligible myths. He says:

”In each of these nations there was a tendency to change the original conception of divine powers, to misunderstand the many names given to these powers, and to misinterpret the praises addressed to them. In this manner some of the divine names were changed into half-divine, half-human heroes, and at last the myths which were true and intelligible as told originally of the _Sun_, or the _Dawn_, or the _Storms_, were turned into legends or fables too marvelous to be believed of common mortals. This process can be watched in India, in Greece, and in Germany. The same story, or nearly the same, is told of G.o.ds, of heroes, and of men. The divine myth became an heroic legend, and the heroic legend fades away into a nursery tale. Our nursery tales have well been called the modern _patois_ of the ancient mythology of the Aryan race.”[563:1]

In the words of this learned author, ”we never lose, we always gain, when we discover the most ancient intention of sacred traditions, instead of being satisfied with their later aspect, and their modern misinterpretations.”

FOOTNOTES:

[553:1] This picture would give us the story of Hercules, who strangled the serpent in his cradle, and who, in after years, in the form of a giant, ran his course.

[553:2] This would give us St. George killing the Dragon.

[553:3] This would give us the story of the monster who attempted to devour the Sun, and whom the ”untutored savage” tried to frighten away by making loud cries.

[553:4] This would give us the story of Samson, whose strength was renewed at the end of his career, and who slew the Philistines--who had dimmed his brilliance--and bathed his path with blood.

[553:5] This would give us the story of Oannes or Dagon, who, beneath the clouds of the evening sky, plunged into the sea.

[553:6] This would give us the story of Hercules and his bride Iole, or that of Christ Jesus and his mother Mary, who were at their side at the end of their career.

[553:7] This would give us the story of the labors of Hercules.

[553:8] This is the Sun as _Seva_.

[553:9] Here again we have the Sun as Siva the _Destroyer_.

[553:10] Here we have Apollo, Achilleus, Bellerophon and Odysseus.

[553:11] This would give us the story of Samson, who was ”the friend of the children of men, and the remorseless foe of those powers of darkness” (the Philistines), who had stolen away his bride. (See Judges, ch. xv.)

[554:1] This would give us the stories of _Thor_, the mighty warrior, the terror of his enemies, and those of Cadmus, Romulus or Odin, the wise chieftains, who founded nations, and taught their people knowledge.

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