Part 21 (2/2)
We read in the Rig-Veda, VI. 52, 4: ”May the rising Dawns protect me, may the flowing Rivers protect me, may the firm Mountains protect me, may the Fathers protect me at this invocation of the G.o.ds.” Here nothing can be clearer than the separate existence of the Fathers, apart from the Dawns, the Rivers, and the Mountains, though they are included in one common Devahuti, however, or invocation of the G.o.ds.
We must distinguish, however, from the very first, between two cla.s.ses, or rather between two concepts of Fathers, the one comprising the distant, half-forgotten, and almost mythical ancestors of certain families or of what would have been to the poets of the Veda, the whole human race, the other consisting of the fathers who had but lately departed, and who were still, as it were, personally remembered and revered.
The old ancestors in general approach more nearly to the G.o.ds. They are often represented as having gone to the abode of Yama, the ruler of the departed, and to live there in company with some of the Devas (Rig-Veda VII. 76, 4, devana_m_ sadhamada_h_; Rig-Veda X. 16, 1, devana_m_ va_s_ani_h_).
We sometimes read of the great-grandfathers being in heaven, the grandfathers in the sky, the fathers on the earth, the first in company with the adityas, the second with the Rudras, the last with the Vasus. All these are individual poetical conceptions.[281]
Yama himself is sometimes invoked as if he were one of the Fathers, the first of mortals that died or that trod the path of the Fathers (the pit_ri_ya_n_a, X. 2, 7) leading to the common sunset in the West.[282] Still his real Deva-like nature is never completely lost, and, as the G.o.d of the setting sun, he is indeed the leader of the Fathers, but not one of the Fathers himself.[283]
Many of the benefits which men enjoyed on earth were referred to the Fathers, as having first been procured and first enjoyed by them.
They performed the first sacrifices, and secured the benefits arising from them. Even the great events in nature, such as the rising of the sun, the light of the day and the darkness of the night, were sometimes referred to them, and they were praised for having broken open the dark stable of the morning and having brought out the cows, that is, the days (X. 68, 11).[284] They were even praised for having adorned the night with stars, while in later writing the stars are said to be the lights of the good people who have entered into heaven.[285] Similar ideas, we know, prevailed among the ancient Persians, Greeks, and Romans. The Fathers are called in the Veda truthful (satya), wise (suvidatra), righteous (_ri_tavat), poets (kavi), leaders (pathik_ri_t), and one of their most frequent epithets is somya, delighting in Soma, Soma being the ancient intoxicating beverage of the Vedic _Ri_s.h.i.+s, which was believed to bestow immortality,[286] but which had been lost, or at all events had become difficult to obtain by the Aryans, after their migration into the Punjab.[287]
The families of the Bh_ri_gus, the Angiras, the Atharvans[288] all have their Pit_ri_s or Fathers, who are invoked to sit down on the gra.s.s and to accept the offerings placed there for them. Even the name of Pit_ri_ya_gn_a, sacrifice of the Fathers, occurs already in the hymns of the Rig-Veda.[289]
The following is one of the hymns of the Rig-Veda by which those ancient Fathers were invited to come to their sacrifice (Rig-veda X.
15):[290]
1. ”May the Soma-loving Fathers, the lowest, the highest, and the middle, arise. May the gentle and righteous Fathers who have come to life (again), protect us in these invocations!
2. ”May this salutation be for the Fathers to-day, for those who have departed before or after; whether they now dwell in the sky above the earth, or among the blessed people.
3. ”I invited the wise Fathers ... may they come hither quickly, and sitting on the gra.s.s readily partake of the poured-out draught!
4. ”Come hither to us with your help, you Fathers who sit on the gra.s.s! We have prepared these libations for you, accept them! Come hither with your most blessed protection, and give us health and wealth without fail!
5. ”The Soma-loving Fathers have been called hither to their dear viands which are placed on the gra.s.s. Let them approach, let them listen, let them bless, let them protect us!
6. ”Bending your knee and sitting on my right, accept all this sacrifice. Do not hurt us, O Fathers, for any wrong that we may have committed against you, men as we are.
7. ”When you sit down on the lap of the red dawns, grant wealth to the generous mortal! O Fathers, give of your treasure to the sons of this man here, and bestow vigor here on us!
8. ”May Yama, as a friend with friends, consume the offerings according to his wish, united with those old Soma-loving Fathers of ours, the Vasish_th_as, who arranged the Soma draught.
9. ”Come hither, O Agni, with those wise and truthful Fathers who like to sit down near the hearth, who thirsted when yearning for the G.o.ds, who knew the sacrifice, and who were strong in praise with their songs.
10. ”Come, O Agni, with those ancient fathers who like to sit down near the hearth, who forever praise the G.o.ds, the truthful, who eat and drink our oblations, making company with Indra and the G.o.ds.
11. ”O Fathers, you who have been consumed by Agni, come here, sit down on your seats, you kind guides! Eat of the offerings which we have placed on the turf, and then grant us wealth and strong offspring!
12. ”O Agni, O _G_atavedas,[291] at our request thou hast carried the offerings, having first rendered them sweet.
Thou gavest them to the Fathers, and they fed on their share. Eat also, O G.o.d, the proffered oblations!
13. ”The Fathers who are here, and the Fathers who are not here, those whom we know, and those whom we know not, thou _G_atavedas, knowest how many they are, accept the well-made sacrifice with the sacrificial portions!
14. ”To those who, whether burned by fire or not burned by fire, rejoice in their share in the midst of heaven, grant thou, O King, that their body may take that life which they wish for!”[292]
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